Saturday sky...

Feeling more than a little bit peeved. I was 90% of the way through a post, and the computer decided that it was time to reboot… GRRRRRR

So I’ll try again.

First: I am a very spoilt woman – on Thursday when I came home from a coffee morning at Adam’s school in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief (part of their World’s Biggest Coffee Morning) there was not just one parcel waiting for me – no, there were two parcels. One I had been expecting – Marie has recently had a stash sale to raise funds and make space for… more stash, and I nobly assisted by buying this:

2×50g of Koigu KPM semi-solids, in that red that cameras just can’t seem to capture. (John has a new camera – it doesn’t talk to people like mine does, and it’s not red, but it’s very nice!) I’m thinking it’s just what I need for the cablenet socks
The second parcel contained these:

(actually that’s not all they contained, there were two bars of chocolate, but I don’t wish to talk about why there’s now only one… ) The book (The Cook’s Companion from Marks & Spencer) is lovely – lots of snippets about food – my favourite so far is the Japanese superstition that if you lie down immediately after eating a meal you will turn into a cow. Thank you soooooooo much Denise (and Denise, if you click on those two pictures to make them bigger, you’ll see my Qwyzzle notes!)

Second: The eponymous sky:
– pretty clouds!

Third: There has been preserving going on…

Elderberry cordial (yummy – esp when poured over yoghurt – which goes pink – this is very important when you are a 2 1/2 year old girl… ) and rosehip syrup. I remember as a child that my friend Julia was alwas given rosehip syrup when she had a cold – I used to love it, but my mother never bought it. I’ve not been able to find it anywhere around here.
– the makings of pear and orange jam – a recipe from John’s parents – very nice – a bit like a light marmalade.

Even the not-so-observant among you will notice that there has been no knitting content so far – yarn, but no knitting. My mojo seems to be on holiday – I’m not quite sure why – maybe it’s because the final 40 rows of the Sunrise Circle Jacket are killing me. (They are very loooooooooonnnnnnnngggggggggg rows – and mathematically speaking there is very little difference between 40 and infinity… ) Maybe it’s because there are 5 other projects bursting to get on the needles, but I’m being firm, no more new projects until I’ve finished some UFOs – the weather is getting colder, and the excuse that “I won’t need that until the autumn/winter” is getting rather thin.

Oh, and we’re trying potty training again – I’m feeling a lot more optimistic this evening than I was this morning…

Woodlice

If you read all the comments on my previous post, you will see that my cute snail caused something of a hijacking on the subject of creepy-crawlies. I made some assertions regarding woodlice – and then followed up with some research. Here is more than you could possibly want to know about them – including how to keep them as pets!

Bedsock of doom...

Well, it can be kind of easy to forget that this is a knitting blog. But there has been knitting going on, I promise. The Sunrise Circle Jacket has got to the “I-hope-it-looks-as-good-in-real-life-as-it-does-in-my-head” stage and I’m also working on a secret project which may or may not work, and if it does I may or may not tout it round the usual suspects.

However, I am currently embroiled in . I’m thinking that it’s more of a bedsock than a regular sock – DK is just a bit too thick to my way of thinking, but then my target is in Chicago, and it does get pretty cold there… Anyway, I’m clearly more brazen than Donni, I’m going to flash my sock.

So here it is, the Bedsock of Doom (bwahaha!) (bwahaha? mwahaha? Oh – you figure it out – scary laugh of some sort anyway).

And just because, here is a snail that tried to come in with the elderberries (yup, same bush as Friday Eye Candy below) I’ve picked to make syrup (it really can’t be that hard – elderberries, sugar, cloves… )

Saturday sky

From the front of the house:

From the back of the house:

Growing up...

Yesterday I lost Ruth. She’d been shouting at the boys (it was Thursday, I pick up our neighbour’s boy from school as well as Adam). I’d been chatting on the phone to Big Ruth (she’s feeling poorly – go on, go and leave her a message to cheer her up). I’d had to finish the conversation to sort out some toilet issues. Then I came back downstairs – no Ruth. Living room? No Ruth. Kitchen? No Ruth. Pantry? No Ruth. Outhouse? No Ruth. Start to worry. No, she can’t possibly have gone outside – I was standing next to the front door the whole time, and the back door is locked. Ask Adam – he says she’s downstairs. Check downstairs again – no Ruth. Try upstairs – her bedroom door is shut – look in her room – there is a lump under the bedclothes. As I quietly ask “Ruth, are you alright?” a miserable little face appears saying “Mummy, my not feel vewwy well”.

My little girl is growing up – she knows to go to bed when she’s poorly.

And my little boy … he had something sad to tell us over dinner. Becky doesn’t want to marry him. She’s going to marry Louis. When we assured him that there’s plenty of time, and she may change her mind in the next 14 years or so, he sadly said no, she wouldn’t.

Maturity and heartbreak.

Eye Candy Friday

Elderberries – the same bush I used to get some to make Hedge Jelly

Five things to eat before you die... (and real life bloggers...)

I’ve seen this one in a couple of places:
Five things to eat before you die

1. Chocolate – yes, I know it’s obvious (it’s even in my tagline), yes, I know everyone knows, but I’m going to say Montezuma’s Smooth Milk Chocolate – high cocoa solids for a milk chocolate, but not so high it keeps me buzzing all night.
2. Lamb from Heron Farm (except that they don’t do lamb any more – or pork either )
3. My mother’s walnut and coffee gateau with mandarin orange. (Sorry, excuse me while I go to my happy place – John doesn’t like nuts or coffee, so she never makes this when he’s around (he’s not allergic, he just doesn’t like them), but she’s promised to make it for my 40th birthday party next year. [Note to self – MUST BOOK PARTY!])
4. Gluten-free spinach and cheese lasagne from Rainbow Cafe (would you believe I went there last week, and didn’t blog about it – it was good, very, very good!)
5. Cooked breakfast – preferably the whole works – bacon, sausage, black pudding, fried (gluten-free) bread, grilled tomato, grilled mushroom (you can keep the baked beans), hash browns, followed by coffee and (gluten-free) toast and marmalade.

And Kathryn has a list of all the bloggers she has really met – you know, in person, rather than just online.

So here’s my list – in no particular order:
John
Kathryn
Ruth
Matthew
Rosie
Daisy
Emma
Mary
Liz
Kate
Nic
Steve
Bekki
Scarlet
Ruth
Alison

It’s not as many as it feels (and if I’ve missed someone off, I’m very, very, very, very sorry – add a comment and I’ll sort it out – Heather – I still don’t know your URL… ) – and it’s very odd realising that there are some people I haven’t actually met – I’ve been commenting and emailing them for so long that I must have met them by now, surely!

Reality check...

So today I go into work, and I’m all excited about my email from Debbie Stoller, so I start talking:

“You remember my sock pattern, you know, the one I designed and didn’t get into Knitty – that online knitting magazine, well yesterday I got an email from Debbie Stoller – she’s really big in the knitting world – she wrote Stitch and Bitch – and was instrumental in the whole feminist knitting revival thing that’s going on at the moment – and she wants my pattern for a page-a-day knitting calendar. I’m going to get $25 for it.”

Colleagues’ response:

!?

And so I start thinking through what I’ve said. Nope – there isn’t a single bit that doesn’t make me sound like a total nutter. But hey – they’re all maths teachers – what do they know?

Happy, happy, happy...

Well, I’m blobbing around – just two things are really penetrating the major brain fog. One is that I NEED TO GO AND COOK DINNER – and very soon, and the other is that I received this email yesterday…

Dear Anne,

Thanks so much for submitting a pattern for my new Stitch ‘n Bitch book.
When I sent out my Call for Submissions I never expected to receive so many
quality patterns written by such talented and enthusiastic designers. It’s
been really difficult deciding which patterns to use because they are all so
excellent, and I am very sorry that it has taken me so long to make my
decisions.

Sigh, ah well. Never mind… but read on…

While I will not be able to include your project in the SNB Advanced book, I
would very much like to include it in a different project that I am working
on: The Stitch ‘n Bitch Page-A-Day Calendar for 2008. The calendar will
contain tidbits about knitting culture, history, and yarn, and at least once
a week, we feature an original pattern for knitters to rip out and take with
them. We want your pattern to be one of those featured!

Oooh, ooooh, oooooohhh!!

Please let me know if you are interested in being a part of this project

Well duh! (In the nicest possible way!)

Thanks so much for submitting, and knit on!

xxxoo deb———————————-
Debbie Stoller

Yes, that’s an email to ME! from THE Debbie Stoller, saying that she wants to use my sock pattern.

Happy, happy, happy!

We have a Winner... and other stories

(and being a total idiot I’ve just typed this out, then shut the window before publishing it – smacks head on desk)

Well, the winner is… (drum roll)... Lorinda, whose comment not only made me laugh out loud (I can’t wait for Adam to get started on www.stuffonmymum.com) but was also chosen by the random number generator (thanks Chris).

And as for the other stories…

I love this time of year, I love foraging in the hedgerows – this year I’ve found brambles and haws and elderberries. (Some of the brambles made a wonderful apple and bramble cobbler, the rest are in the freezer. The haws (as in hawthorn) and elderberries were mixed with crab apples from our little tree in the garden (it’s only 2 1/2 – John planted it while I was in labour with Ruth… eventually I did stagger the length of the garden to ask him rather plaintively to please keep me company!) and they went to make Hedge Jelly.

Anyway, today there was a birthday party at the vicarage to celebrate 5 years of Godly Play in the UK and Europe (slightly surreal singing Happy Birthday to an educational system…). At one point the vicar wandered off, returning with a branch of small yellow/red fruit, asking for identification. One was sliced open and identified as a crab apple. My foraging senses were alerted. I was assured that no-one else wanted them, so, equipped with a pair of the vicar’s wife’s wellies and some carrier bags, I set off, leaving the vicarage behind me:

Then on past part of the graveyard (which I’m including here because it looked wonderfully cheerful in the bright sunshine with all the rather gaudy flowers):

Then through a gate, where I was met by this view:

See all the long greenery – that’s nettles, that is – and no, I didn’t get to go along that path, that would be too easy – I had to go round the side – between the nettles and the brambles:

But then, when I got there, I did indeed find this:

and picked (well the vicar cut down for me) nearly 5 lb of crab apples. So excuse me please while I go and get them ready to cook tonight…

Saturday sky plus...

Sky outside our house at 19:50 this evening.

I have a new camera phone, so I need a new phone case… so I knitted one (duh!) And here it is:

Pattern: My own (alternating fern lace (from Harmony Guide Vol 1) on front, plain stocking stitch on back – knitted in the round using 42 sts) 3rd row from top K1, yo K2tog to create eyelet holes for drawstring, 3 needle bind-off at the bottom.)
Yarn: 100% cotton DK – found in bargain bin.
Needles: 3mm dpns (It was a pretty thin DK!)

If I make another one I’ll probably use fewer stitches – 36 would probably be enough.

And because the camera phone is a new toy, we have to play with it – John took this this morning – don’t we look happy:

Oh and entries to my caption contest below seem to be drying up, so I’ll use a random number generator tomorrow (Sunday) (Chris? I know you know one… ) and pick a winner – comp closes at 6pm BST.

Eye Candy Friday

A washing line full of laundry drying in the sun (see how I’ve sneaked some sky in there too… ) Just ignore the fact that the lawn needs mowing – OK?

Memes

I’ve been tagged by my lovely husband

One book…

1. One book that changed your life:
The Case Against Christ by John Young – a terribly evangelical sort of conversion experience, and I’m not sure that I would be so easily swayed these days, but at the time I remember wanting to throw it across the room in sheer frustration at not being able to “disagree with it.
2. One book you’ve read more than once:
OOoooh – so many many of these. Let’s say The Benefits of Passion by Catherine Fox
3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
Not fair, not fair, I want more than one… (I’m assuming that the Bible and complete works of Shakespeare are provided?) But if I have to settle, lets say Charlotte Bronte’s Shirley.
4. A book that made you laugh:
Pride and Prejudice – John and I read it to each other as a bedtime story when we were newly married – the scene where Mr Bennet discusses Lizzy’s reaction to Mr Collins’ proposal is wonderful.
5. A book that made you cry:
There are two main contenders for this – Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (when Ginger dies – my mother had read it to me at bedtime and came upstairs again a couple of hours later to find me still inconsolable) and Good Wives (sequel to Little Women) when Beth dies.
6. A book I wish I’d written:
The definitive guide to … something everyone wants a definitive guide for…
7. A book I wish had never been written:
The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman by Louis de Bernieres – I found it too upsetting and had to give up.
8. A book I am currently reading:
Hey – I may find project monogamy impossible when I’m knitting, but at the moment I’m succeeding with my reading: The Last Kabalist in Lisbon by Richard Zimmler. It’s funny reading the Amazon reviews – it gets 1 star or 5 stars depending on the reviewer. I can’t say I’m that impressed with it – for one thing he uses a linguistic foible that sets my teeth on edge. People no longer give things to one another, they gift them. (And yes, I know a lot of knitters do it, and I still love you all anyway… )
9. A book I’ve been meaning to read:
God’s Politics: Why the American Right gets it wrong and the Left doesn’t get it by Jim Wallis – I bought it a while ago, and heard him speak at Greenbelt, but still haven’t got round to reading more than the introduction.
10. A book I wish had been written:
A good resource for doing bedtime prayers with a pre-schooler – maybe with some different sorts of activities like pictures to look at and discuss rather than just stories (which are great, but I’m greedy, I want something more).

Update – Yes, I know the title says “Memes”, not just “Meme” – there were two of the things…

The second one was

Six weird things about me

Well, first of all, these are all things I consider to be endearing, but others may disagree…

1. I freak out if anyone walks on newspaper – well, paper of any kind really, but especially newspaper.
2. I still keep thinking I can carry on reading once my eyes have closed (and therefore I’m basically asleep).
3. I don’t like being cuddled unexpectedly.
4. I’m seriously looking for a Granny Trolley – when Ruth outgrows the pushchair I’m going to need something like that to carry the shopping home.
5. I received my first Christmas stocking when I was 18 – and it was at New Year.
6. I have been known to try to teach obstreperous Year 9s (13-14 year olds) in my sleep. (And scared John by shouting at him to be quiet… )

And now I’m supposed to nominate people to have a go – hah – I’ll get in before Ruth (John’s already nominated her) and say Louise (The Life and Times), Becky (Mooknits), Ruth (So Life’s a Bowl of Cherries… – despite the fact I always ignore it when she tags me ), Emma (Chocolate, knowledge and life – despite the fact I ignore her tagging just as much as I ignore her sister’s… and oh, I don’t know – please, if you think it looks fun, have a go. And if I’ve tagged you and you hate the idea, don’t hate me, just ignore me.

So I am that mean... (caption contest)

I emailed this picture to Ruth saying that I couldn’t stop giggling at it, but at least I’m not mean enough to put it on my blog…

(click on the image to get a larger one)

But then she pointed out that it would make an excellent caption contest, so sorry Adam pet, I really am the kind of mother who will humiliate my child for a cheap laugh.

Go on – entertain me further…

Happy Clappy

Since it is traditional to photograph a wrap hanging in a tree, I have done just that:

Pattern: Clapotis
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock; Colour: Sand Ridge
Needles: 6mm

I love the colours of this – they remind me of these pictures:
– a picture I took in Blackpool this summer
and
– a picture from Marnie MacLean’s blog.
You can see more of Marnie’s pictures here (scroll down to find some wonderful sea and sand photos).

Now to wrap it up and take it to the post office… I hope the recipient likes it!

A milestone...

Adam started school today:

and try as I might (and it’s not the sort of thing I try particularly hard with) I can’t get myself particularly worked up about it. It is a big deal, but the heartbreaking wrench came when I went back to work when he was 4 months old. Then I wept as if he’d died for 2 days – and it was just as bad when I had to leave Ruth. But this – well, I know he’s ready, I know he’ll have a better time than he would cooped up at home, and I know that he’s very familiar with the whole thing already, having been to the pre-school nursery which is literally in the room next-door. I’m going to miss Mrs Moseley, the nursery assistant, who is just the most wonderful and genuinely enthusiastic woman I’ve ever met – fortunately Ruth will be starting there in a year’s time… But my overriding emotion – relief that the summer is over, that we can get back into a routine.

After dropping him off Ruth and I found this caterpillar on the rosebush just outside our front door:

I’ve no idea what it is – I’ll have to do some research (or if some kind caterpillar-spotter reads this, they could always leave me a comment and let me know… )

Update – I think it’s an Orgyia antiqua – but I’m more than happy to be contradicted (well, on this point…)

Treadmills...

Go on, have a look here – big thanks to Liz at Reach Out and Touch the Screen for the link. Totally compulsive viewing. (Her challenge is to watch it only once – I’ve failed… )

Update – Donni has been doing her homework – look at what else she’s found.

Further update – Liz also found this – go see the lego people on treadmills…

Follow up... (and Saturday Sky)

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin:

Once upon a time I was a student at university in Manchester. While there I heard a story about a friend of a friend of a friend. Xanthe* failed her 2nd year exams and dropped out. She maintained contact with some of her friends who noticed that she had put on a lot of weight, and were concerned that she was depressed and comfort-eating. One weekend in the holidays she went to stay with Matilda**. Matilda woke in the middle of one night to realise that Xanthe had just given birth to a baby boy. After phoning for an ambulance and getting Xanthe sorted out, Matilda then had to phone Xanthe’s parents to inform them that they were grandparents. No-one had had any idea that there was a baby on the way. (Apparently she had even gone to the doctor’s suffering with swollen ankles, and he hadn’t thought to ask.)

Wind forward a few years…

The beginning of a new academic year. New colleagues start in the dept. We get chatting – it turns out that Lisa was at the same university as me, at the same time as me, in the same hall of residence as my friend. (Remember Xanthe was the friend of a friend of a friend… ) So I ask her if she remembers the above story. It turns out that she does, she’s still in contact with Xanthe who now has an 18 year-old son who is applying to Cambridge University. She’s now married and has two more children. (And she went back to university and finished her degree course and later qualified as a teacher.)

I love happy endings.

Speaking of happy endings – following our trailer debacle it became obvious that we needed two things – a new camera, and another mobile phone. (You can see where this is going, right?)

So yes, I now have a pretty red phone, and it takes pictures – so here is our extremely dull and grey Saturday Sky!

*Names have been changed – and Xanthe is such a fun name…

**Matilda was Ruth’s “bump name”

New Magknits...

... is up here

Some lovely socks and some pretty tops – I esp love Fathom Harvill’s Honorine

(I don’t need any more projects, I don’t need any more projects, I don’t need any more projects… )