Tuesday 17 June 2008

'Tagged'

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

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:




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...