A couple of folk in The Swap have 'tagged' me with this questionnaire now, so I guess I ought to do it. Must be quick though - I have socks to knit!!
1) What were you doing 10 years ago?
Teaching in a secondary school in Oldham (near Manchester - the 'wrong' side of the Pennines!)
2) name 5 things on you TO-DO list for today?
Knit another motif repeat on first Pink Passion sock
Knit another motif repeat on second Pink Passion sock
Lift clean laundry from floor onto spare bed
Replace black print cartridge
Book train ticket to Cockermouth for Woolfest next Friday (yippee!! - + no guilt cos I have 8 hours knitting time on train!)
3) snacks that you enjoy?
apple crisps
oranges
sherbet lemons(fruity eh?)
4) what would you do if you were a billionaire?
Fund social projects for young people in the UK
Have Mum and Dad's home gutted and swanked up for them (don't think they'd want to move after nearly fifty years there!)
Buy a super-eco car (fuel cells?)
Go to S.O.A.R.
Buy a country property for eco-renovation and have the renovation done for the Wigworthy clan to inhabit
5) Name places you have lived.
Huddersfield
York
Easingwold (tiny market town 15 miles north of York)near Raskelf ('middle of nowhere'!)Ulverston (Market town next to the English Lakes)
Lindal- in- Furness (village near Ulverston)
Brighouse (small textile town in south Pennines)
6) what jobs have you held?
Cafe dogsbody
Specialist nurse (learning disabilities)
Teacher (religious education)
Lecturer (theology/religious studies)
Freelance writer for AOL
7) Who are you tagging?
Lily Clearwater
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Monday, 2 June 2008
Felting
Gosh - a whole month since I posted! I do seem to be on a slippery slide with frequency of posting here. Let's see if I can improve the numbers in June!
I do have quite a few things to report, including a lovely holiday in the North York Moors last week. The highlight was the pirate day at Whitby Abbey, where Tom and Toby got to fire cannons, properly drilled by a lovely old sailor. There were some 'infantry' (re-enactment) there firing real cannons (not the toy ones the boys were drilled with) - the noise was incredible.
On the craft front there has, of course, been a lot of activity. My biggest project has been creating a bag for a design competition that the headmistress at Hogwarts instigated. My entry was my first ever felting project. It's rather cute, and I love the felting. There are some far more stylish and aesthetically effective designs that others have done though, so I don't know how much chance it has. She's planning to select four or five winners. I did mine with very reasonably priced British yarn that I found out about in Ravelry, from New Lanark Mills. Since I finished it my darling twin-sister has claimed it for her own!!
So photos of said project:
I do have quite a few things to report, including a lovely holiday in the North York Moors last week. The highlight was the pirate day at Whitby Abbey, where Tom and Toby got to fire cannons, properly drilled by a lovely old sailor. There were some 'infantry' (re-enactment) there firing real cannons (not the toy ones the boys were drilled with) - the noise was incredible.
On the craft front there has, of course, been a lot of activity. My biggest project has been creating a bag for a design competition that the headmistress at Hogwarts instigated. My entry was my first ever felting project. It's rather cute, and I love the felting. There are some far more stylish and aesthetically effective designs that others have done though, so I don't know how much chance it has. She's planning to select four or five winners. I did mine with very reasonably priced British yarn that I found out about in Ravelry, from New Lanark Mills. Since I finished it my darling twin-sister has claimed it for her own!!
So photos of said project:
The latin roughly translates as 'Never Needle a Magical Knitter' (latin scholars - please don't flame me for the grammar!)
There are several other works in progress, including the Gryffindor Pride socks which I have now almost finished, and should be publishing the pattern in a day or so. Today yarn arrived (from New Lanark!) for some baby stuff for my sister-in-law's baby - she's expecting a girl in August. I'm planning to knit and felt some booties, and knit a fairisle cardigan, and design and knit a skirt (cos I can't find a decent pattern for baby skirts!)
I've been posting a few of my patterns in Ravelry, and when I have time (Hah!!) I plan to create a section in this blog to link them. My other big news is that I have just submitted a pattern to Lark Books for posssible publication in a book they're planning for autumn next year! Watch this space...
Sunday, 4 May 2008
New Term at Hogwarts
Just a quick post to let any readers who might be interested know that the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap, of which my recent posts have been very full, is starting a new term. Information about the swap may be found at the new website which also has a link to the swap blog where folk can sign up. The button in my sidebar here will take you to the main site.
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Socks and sock kit.
It is with great shame that I note I have neglected this blog so much that as yet I haven't even posted pictures of the kit I received last week from my 'spoiler' in the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap. Running two blogs has proved rather challenging, and I admit that I have prioritised the blog I set up for the sock kit swap. It is a 'character blog' in which I post about events in my life as Emma Wigworthy, a knitting and spinning housewitch from Ottery St. Catchpole (mysteriously relocated to somewhere in Pennine Yorkshire!!). If you want to visit and read some of these magical ramblings you are most welcome to. The blog is called 'Yarns fromOttery St. Catchpole', and a lot more exciting than this muggle version of my life! Since the swap is over, and the next swap (starting at the beginning of May) is not to be secret, I can now connect together these two existences. Pictures of the kit I received last week appear at this other blog.
The current knitting news is that I have finished the Hufflepuff socks and published the pattern in my new Ravelry Pattern Store and at my Etsy shop:
The current knitting news is that I have finished the Hufflepuff socks and published the pattern in my new Ravelry Pattern Store and at my Etsy shop:
Friday, 4 April 2008
Ravenclaw Pride Socks
These are what I've been busy knitting the last 2 or 3 weeks. I designed them after a friend in the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap suggested that I should do some 'proper Ravenclaw socks'. The pattern is for sale as a pdf in my Etsy shop (which is still named after a nefarious fairytale spinner, despite what Freyalyn told me about the meaning of his name!!). I have designed similar socks for the other Hogwarts houses, yet to be knitted. And I really need to do some spinning - my wheel has been rather neglected of late with all this designing and knitting going on. I shall (commits herself) spend at least an hour spinning silk this weekend.
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Wonderful Wales
In my defence I have been away on holiday, though not for quite the whole time since my last post!! We rented a wonderful remote farmhouse in Wales where we basked in the peace and quiet (in between blasts of cbeebies from the satellite TV!), walked (yes- even in the biting cold that was the weather this Easter!), read and knitted (well - I knitted, Dave made paper models with the boys).
The farmhouse was idyllic - it was derelict until the very recent renovation (we are the second tenants the owners have had!) which was commissioned by the estate owner who deals in oak. So there were lots of replacement oak beams, oak internal walls and floors (apart from the slate slabs in the kitchen), and even oak toilet cisterns! The estate has a water turbine so we had an electric aga for heating and cooking, as well as the stove in the lounge which we kept feeding with bits of the old beams!
Sadly I have no photos of my own to share - our camera has become so temperamental it will only take a couple of pictures in between battery changes. Dave is looking for a new one for us. I can however post some pinched photos and links. This is the valley (the 'Tanat' valley) where we stayed - the farmhouse was right at the head, not far from the waterfall you can just see in this picture:
First off we visited a sculpture park and nature reserve at Lake Vyrnwy, where Dave bought me some binoculars to be my birthday present (a few days away now). We spotted siskins and coaltits among the many bluetits and chaffinches feeding near the hide we visited.
Next we visited the Centre for Alternative Technology which has changed a fair bit in the 8 years since last time we were there. Lots more displays, especially about recycling, and even more stuff about alternative ways to create electricity. They've installed a biomass boiler. Dave was disappointed not to see stuff about 'digesters', and I was disappointed by the poor state of the planting areas. Our last visit to CAT was a major inspiration in our own gardening, recycling, and energy-saving efforts. Nevertheless the boys loved the interactive displays. And after our experience at the farmhouse I've got even more enthusiastic about finding a property for our future rural eco-home (our dream) where we could operate a water turbine.
In the lounge of our farmhouse there was a big metal plaque behind the stove with a hare, some oak leaves, and the name 'Melangell' cast into it. We found out when we visited the little church in the valley that Melangell was a 7th century saint in the valley who saved a hare from being killed by the local prince's hounds (it hid under her robes while she was praying). The prince was so impressed by her holiness that he gave her the valley for her own and she founded a religious community there (now gone, all but the church which still has an ancient Romanesque shrine to her - the only remaining Romanesque Christian shrine in the UK apparently). Here's a picture of the shrine and an icon of St. Melangell for you:
The major treats of the holiday for the boys were our visits to King Arthur's Labyrinth (truly wonderful experience) and our ride on the Bala lakeside steam railway. I think my personal favourite was our walk to the waterfall near the farmhouse. The weather was sunny that day, the boys were so much fun to be with on the walk, and the location was like the best lake district fells without any other walkers at all (which never happens in the Lake District, and especially not during the Easter break!).
The farmhouse was idyllic - it was derelict until the very recent renovation (we are the second tenants the owners have had!) which was commissioned by the estate owner who deals in oak. So there were lots of replacement oak beams, oak internal walls and floors (apart from the slate slabs in the kitchen), and even oak toilet cisterns! The estate has a water turbine so we had an electric aga for heating and cooking, as well as the stove in the lounge which we kept feeding with bits of the old beams!
Sadly I have no photos of my own to share - our camera has become so temperamental it will only take a couple of pictures in between battery changes. Dave is looking for a new one for us. I can however post some pinched photos and links. This is the valley (the 'Tanat' valley) where we stayed - the farmhouse was right at the head, not far from the waterfall you can just see in this picture:
First off we visited a sculpture park and nature reserve at Lake Vyrnwy, where Dave bought me some binoculars to be my birthday present (a few days away now). We spotted siskins and coaltits among the many bluetits and chaffinches feeding near the hide we visited.
Next we visited the Centre for Alternative Technology which has changed a fair bit in the 8 years since last time we were there. Lots more displays, especially about recycling, and even more stuff about alternative ways to create electricity. They've installed a biomass boiler. Dave was disappointed not to see stuff about 'digesters', and I was disappointed by the poor state of the planting areas. Our last visit to CAT was a major inspiration in our own gardening, recycling, and energy-saving efforts. Nevertheless the boys loved the interactive displays. And after our experience at the farmhouse I've got even more enthusiastic about finding a property for our future rural eco-home (our dream) where we could operate a water turbine.
In the lounge of our farmhouse there was a big metal plaque behind the stove with a hare, some oak leaves, and the name 'Melangell' cast into it. We found out when we visited the little church in the valley that Melangell was a 7th century saint in the valley who saved a hare from being killed by the local prince's hounds (it hid under her robes while she was praying). The prince was so impressed by her holiness that he gave her the valley for her own and she founded a religious community there (now gone, all but the church which still has an ancient Romanesque shrine to her - the only remaining Romanesque Christian shrine in the UK apparently). Here's a picture of the shrine and an icon of St. Melangell for you:
The major treats of the holiday for the boys were our visits to King Arthur's Labyrinth (truly wonderful experience) and our ride on the Bala lakeside steam railway. I think my personal favourite was our walk to the waterfall near the farmhouse. The weather was sunny that day, the boys were so much fun to be with on the walk, and the location was like the best lake district fells without any other walkers at all (which never happens in the Lake District, and especially not during the Easter break!).
Monday, 10 March 2008
My swap package
Oh dear - I have rather neglected this bog the last couple of weeks haven't I? Let's hope a load of pictures will make up for it!
My sock kit swap partner has now recieved her packages (two in the event, to avoid £10 extra if it was all in one box!) Sadly the rhubarb and ginger jam and pumpkin pickle I made for her didn't make it in one piece - the jars broke on the journey. I may send her replacements. She was very pleased with the rest of the stuff, and as she has now got it I can, at last, post pictures here of the things I've been busy with since Christmas for the swap.
The rules were quite prescriptive regarding the main contents of the kit: sock yarn and a handmade bag in the partner's house colours, stitchmarkers, sock needles, and a sock pattern. Other extras were, of course, permitted.
Putting it all together has been quite a journey of creativity for me. It started with the bag, for which I had chosen a pattern (free from a link in Ravelry) even before I knew what house my partner belonged to. I also ordered fabric for lining the bag before partners were announced, as I thought it would work for all houses. After the e-mail arrived with my partner's details (a Slytherin) I hotffooted over to Texere and bought green cotton yarn, and some silver, glittery yarn for the bag. Using my newly acquired i-cord skills, a witches hat button from an e-bay purchase, and my new harmony circulars (:D), I created this:
The stitchmarkers were lots of fun - an enquiry on Ravelry gleaned several links to tutorials for making them, which I did using beads from texere and other bits and pieces from ebay. I presented them on a card decorated with the Slytherin crest, and packaged them in a little green organza bag. For the pattern I printed a copy of Durmstrang socks and presented it in a folder I embossed with my partner's name and decorated with the Slytherin crest. Needles I got from Get knitted - Knitpicks Harmony of course (I am in love with them after all!!), and made a case to present them in, again embossed with my partner's name and decorated with the Slytherin crest. I also included a book of sock patterns I got at a reasonable price from Amazon. It has some cute patterns for childrens' socks I think will prove useful as my partner has a 3-year-old little boy.
My sock kit swap partner has now recieved her packages (two in the event, to avoid £10 extra if it was all in one box!) Sadly the rhubarb and ginger jam and pumpkin pickle I made for her didn't make it in one piece - the jars broke on the journey. I may send her replacements. She was very pleased with the rest of the stuff, and as she has now got it I can, at last, post pictures here of the things I've been busy with since Christmas for the swap.
The rules were quite prescriptive regarding the main contents of the kit: sock yarn and a handmade bag in the partner's house colours, stitchmarkers, sock needles, and a sock pattern. Other extras were, of course, permitted.
Putting it all together has been quite a journey of creativity for me. It started with the bag, for which I had chosen a pattern (free from a link in Ravelry) even before I knew what house my partner belonged to. I also ordered fabric for lining the bag before partners were announced, as I thought it would work for all houses. After the e-mail arrived with my partner's details (a Slytherin) I hotffooted over to Texere and bought green cotton yarn, and some silver, glittery yarn for the bag. Using my newly acquired i-cord skills, a witches hat button from an e-bay purchase, and my new harmony circulars (:D), I created this:
I had to adapt the pattern somewhat for a different yarn weight to that specified + I used a full cable technique at the corners instead of the narrower crossed-stitch element in the original pattern. The metal eyelets were also my idea - I thought they would balance the silver elements in my version of the bag.
In the same trip to Texere that procured the bag yarns, I also purchased some undyed silk yarn, because the e-mail with my partner's details communicated the then devastating news that she is allergic to wool. Devastating because I had already bookmarked wool sock yarns in all the house colours at my favourite online supply shops. The best-laid plans of mice and men... and all that! So I had me a little adventure in dying yarn. The green I got with little trouble, handpainting the skein with a mixture of greens I created using the acid dye kit I bought at the Harrogate show last autumn. I named it 'Salazar' as that is the first name of the fictional founder of the house of Slytherin at Hogwarts. 'Silver' proved much more difficult though - none of my greys seemed to work with the green I'd created. I remembered reading about angelina in Spin-off and did a little research about it before buying some and carding it with silk to spin some yarn which I then dyed a greeny black and named 'Darke Sylver'. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you'll see the sparkle:
The stitchmarkers were lots of fun - an enquiry on Ravelry gleaned several links to tutorials for making them, which I did using beads from texere and other bits and pieces from ebay. I presented them on a card decorated with the Slytherin crest, and packaged them in a little green organza bag. For the pattern I printed a copy of Durmstrang socks and presented it in a folder I embossed with my partner's name and decorated with the Slytherin crest. Needles I got from Get knitted - Knitpicks Harmony of course (I am in love with them after all!!), and made a case to present them in, again embossed with my partner's name and decorated with the Slytherin crest. I also included a book of sock patterns I got at a reasonable price from Amazon. It has some cute patterns for childrens' socks I think will prove useful as my partner has a 3-year-old little boy.
And that just leaves goodies. What does someone in the UK, a desert when it comes to proprietary Potter sweets, do for goodies in a Potter-themed swap? Make it up! I exploited the fact that the books were written in the UK by a British writer and include lots of references to British goodies to create my own brands! Spotted Dick appears in the books, so I relabelled a Heinz tin of itand added some custard to serve it with. They purportedly come from the 'Hogwarts Kitchens'! I very cheaply bought sherbet lemons, mint humbugs and treacle toffee (all mentioned in the books) from local supermarkets, and repackaged them also as 'Muggle Sweets'!!
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