The Bath Crafting Cranny

UH-OHHHHHHHHH

I'm thwarted. Despite recent noises from me about healthy knitting - I've succumbed. Dammit. I've had nerve pains in my left arm since my spectacular bike fall but, last night, I started getting throbbing pains in my wrist...

It is, I fear, the beginnings of that old knitting chestnut - RSI. And it's making typing tricky. Pretty irritating that I'm left-handed too - if I can't write, then I'm scuppered at work...people usually like editors that can write!

I am gently lying down the WIPs and stepping away swiftly. I might pick up the projects that are on larger needles over the weekend - but only if I don't get any discomfort. (This will be difficult for an impatient person...)

Has anyone got any unusual tips on how to deal with this, other than the obvious?

Incidently, how can I avoid the lovely Knitting Callous?? My left index finger is starting to feel strangely disconnected from me as it toughens up...I brought these finger protectors from the Stitch Shop but they're shiny and the needle keeps slipping. Oh dear, why am I such a physical puzzle? 

Treely good ideas!

I know it's a bit Scroogy - but I've always found the idea of pulling up and killing a lovely tree in order to stick it inside in a tinselly pot for a fortnight a bit sad. Especially when I read that the average age of a Christmas tree is between 6-10 years old. Their production is resource and energy intensive, and they take ages to degrade in landfill.

Here are some tree-thoughts from the FOE:

- Buy a real tree with roots that you can re-plant for next year, ideally from a UK grower - see the British Christmas Tree Grower's Association for details;

- If you buy a cut one, check your local council can recycle it afterwards; and

- If you already have an artificial tree, get the most out of it, as it's best to avoid buying a new one.

I always beetle north for Christmas so I don't bother (and we never have a tree at home)...but if I did spend Christmas at mine I would have one of these (left) with some Christmas pot pourri for the festive bouquet...

Sigh.

I'm not in a good place with the ole string and sticks, to be honest (hence the lack of recent posts). Everywhere I look there are half-finished projects: pesky single, lonely socks, scarves without their edging, felted fabric pleading to be cut and sewn...you get the picture. And I go back up north to the Homeland in TEN days. I'm all a dither. And suffering from sock-fever...like Fiona (but she's just finished whereas I have a gazillion to go).

Yikes.

Anyway, I've managed to finish some things! My lovely friend Claire has left the fossil molluscs aside for now to have a little human and I knitted up a wee baby hat for her. The pattern was knitted flat and taken from the 'Vogue Knitting Beginner Basics' book (the BEST beginners' book I've found - taught myself to knit from it). With a cheery pom-pom added.

I'm currently battling with the beautifully tantalizing but infuriatingly incorrectly written Miss Potter/Beatrix mittens (Yarn Forward, Autumn 2007, left pic). Every blogger I've found who mentions this problem just says that they scratched their heads for a bit and then worked it out, rather than giving the solution, but I don't even have time to scratch my head!! AND the Yarn Forward errata links on their website don't work... :0(

Birdwoman from Ravelry (thanks Ravelry!!!) did help me out but she advises to knit even rows to the pattern but it didn't work when I did that. I don't even have time to think about why. Knit first, think later (?!).

I'll expand on this later - but for any hair-torn-out peeps in a similar emergency situation here's what you need to do...

Helen helped me work out the first confounding bit = for DD, slip the next two stitches knitwise TOGETHER, K1, pass these slipped stitches TOGETHER over the knit stitch. In my first attempt I slipped them individually (instructions are a bit ambiguous) and ended up with a messy line of stitches rather than the neat, tidy line you need...THANKS HELEN (aka, my helpful knitting elf)!!

For the rest:

Knit as pattern until thumb gusset.

R1 TG: K26, m1b, K2, m1b, K11

All even rows: K1, yo, k4, DD, K4, yo, K2, yo, K4, DD, k4, yo, K*, yo, K4, DD, K4, yo, K1 (where * is the remaining stitches, increasing by 2 every even row)

All odd rows: K26, m1b, K*, m1b, K13 (where * is the remaining stitches, increasing by 2 every odd row)

I think row 21 onwards is fine - but I'm not there yet...

And the worst bit - once I've done this mitten I'VE GOT TO DO THE OTHER ONE! Sob.

POSTSCRIPT: I've passed row 21 now - Round 1 of 'end of thumb gusset' should read:

K26, slip 1 stitch, transfer 19 onto waste yarn, slip stitch back and K2tog, K12. 

The pinny gets popular

I love the 'Listen Again' facility - surely one of the very best things about the internet..? A half hour squealing at 'I'm sorry I haven't a clue' and then I found myself listening to 'Woman's Hour' (it's a slippery slope).

Last week aired an interesting discussion about the revival of aprons (it's in the last 10 minutes of the programme if you want to fast-forward.) Here's the blurb:

'Gone are the days when the pinny was a symbol of domestic drudgery. This year’s Christmas gift buyers will find no end of pretty fabrics and patterns adorning the once humble kitchen apron. So are we ready to reappraise the pinny? Jenni talks to pinny collector and enthusiast Barbara Jones, and Good Housekeeping’s Judith Gubbay, to look at why this staple of 1950s kitchenwear is making a come-back.'

(There was one bit that had me sucking through my teeth - Judith seemed to pass scorn on those of us who use bread-machines rather than make their own...grumble...grumble...bread-machine owner and proud of it).

My lovely friend Mary got me Danielle Proud's book with a lovely apron pattern - I've got the fabric (top left) so, after the Xmas knitting deluge is completed, I will definitely be making my own...

By the way, troublesome clicky internet fingers also took me to this interesting programme about the Swede botanist Linnaeus - I've been reading about his classification system for years - to help me with those pesky fossils - but this programme brought the man to life. Highly recommended. Next week, John's off to the city made famous by Linnaeus for a conference - but this time he has instructions to find this yarn shop rather than bringing me back any taxonomic souvenirs...

Raining wool?

Unlike Gerard from IKL, I'm afraid I'm just not a Alan Titchmarsh fan. But, why, you ask? Well, it's pretty much for the same reason that the fairly innocuous James Blunt manages to get up some people’s noses…

Actually, my pseudo-aversion comes from the fact that he seems to be the David Attenborough replacement and, as for his geology-based programmes...well, don't get me started. The fabulous Aubrey Manning would have been a far better choice (a hark back to my cheery Edinburgh days) or the masterly and merry Richard Fortey (but, then, I am biased). Luckily, BBC seems to have realised the error of their ways and are starting to recruit the wonderful Iain Stewart instead.

John watched his 'Nature of Britain' on Wednesday while I battled with a sock heel - and Alan did actually make me ears prick up. He tells us, such were the concentration of spiderlings hatching one year, that 'it rained wool round about the stronghold of Compsa (note 147: Pliny the Elder, Natural History: A Selection.' 77AD)'. Raining wool! Excellent! (This is the earliest known written reference to spider silk, by the way...)

As ole Alan has the irritating ability to pop up on every radio, TV, website and newspaper (often concurrently) and shows no sign of abating, I guess I will have to learn to love him. I promise I shall try.

Bath Christmas Market time again!!

Hurray! It's the time of year again! I've resolved to buy one of Donald Yule's beautiful clocks this year - after drooling over them for the last 2 years! He makes house signs too...

Hysterical knitting :0)

Julie Stewart is a knitting writer and is working on a sitcom based around a knitting group! As she would like it to be UK based, and aimed primarily at the UK market, she is now approaching almost 100 UK knitters for participation. I’ve pasted some information from her email below:

'I have been knitting for 40 years and I am also a writer. I am currently writing a sitcom based in/on a knitting group. I intend to write a light, hearted, fun, family show and to do for the images of knitting, knitters and knitting groups what "The Vicar of Dibley" did for female clergy. That is, I want to explode the stereotypes but also make us stand out as the unique types that we are!

I have created the main group of 6 characters, and I have planned a series of episodes. My next job is to layer the content, to enrich it and to decide on some story arcs for each character. At the moment I am working on the pilot and have set myself a deadline for end of January.

Initially, I would like to hear from any groups or individuals who would be interested in collaborating on this project by sharing anecdotes, special things individual knitters or groups have done/achieved, happy/sad knitting related stories, successes/failures - anything, even if it is just a short notion of 20 or 30 words or so. I have set up a private forum: http://purltwotogether.makeforum.org. Please sign up to this project and share it with other knitters who I may not have contacted.  Even if you cannot think of any ideas just now, you may do so later. If not, you will still have opportunities, via the community that I shall build, to contribute your opinions. I have added some content - and will be adding more about the proposed characters, plot synopses and ideas for episodes. Members of the forum will have access to the scripts. All, and any, ideas - however insignificant they may seem - will be welcome. So any ideas, catchy knitting-related phrases, stories and experiences, weird things people have knitted etc etc etc will be welcome. I shall also discuss directly with individuals the use of their contributions and let them read any scenes/episodes in which their contributions feature and discuss any points of interest or other issues with them. Anything that is used will be credited.’

I wonder if she might be interested by my near demise-by-knitting-needle??

THIS THURSDAY!

Get a discount from the Cath Kidston shop on Thursday! It's current store is on Bartlett Street.

I think it's opening a new store near 'Stone the Crows' shop and St. Christopher's Inn and it looks bigger than the current store.

I do love Cath K - and her background is interesting! But somehow I find myself wishing she'd not widened her niche. In her early days her items were selective but well-made and I was willing to pay the difference. When I went to her (enormous) store in Brighton I found myself disappointed with how eclectic the items are with her name on now...it's like she'd filled every possible branding opportunity and the items didn't seem very well-made at all...

On a related note, a couple of years ago I was going to buy some of her fabric to make a knitting needle-holder. And then her knitting collection came out...it is interesting to note that her needle-holder was going to cost a third of the price of the fabric alone and included a few pairs of needles too. That, surely, says something about the low cost of the labour for the making-up of her items...or the amazingly overinflated price of her fabrics? But I still can't resist her.

Some comic knitting ideas

Lovely Carol from work (who's taking me to Dick and Debbie Mather's 'Crafts at Home' tomorrow) lent me a wonderful book called 'Wild Knitting' by Angela Jeffs. It was published in 1979: does that help to give you some idea of what delights this post is going to dazzle you with?

So here are some of my favourites! The Armadillo Wrap (upper left); the knitted lipstick! (upper right); the sardine tie (left). There's some more pictures on Monster Crochet (check out the duck-feet socks)!

The farmers' jumper has a pipe-cleaner fence and pompom sheep. The bobble hat has a yellow bobble as the sun! (right). Just wonderful!

Tuesday's knitting merriment (even with a limp)

About time for a post with photos, I think!

Tuesday was a good knit-knatter - nice to meet Sarah and Nikki! I was a little fragile - post-knitting-needle-injury - and got soaked by a lorry whizzing through a lake on the Bathwick Street. Humph. But tea and knitting cheer awaited :0)

Peter's been working on his tubular knitting and, in particular, the problem of short rows. Here's his work on the wrong side (above, left) and right side (above, right). He's going to put all this tubular brain-work online in the new year...I'll give a link to it when it's all up and running..!

Helen's been battling with her pair of socks on one circular needle (left). (Beware: this way lies madness!) But they look excellent and this is one way to truly solve the deaded SSS (second sock syndrome). I think Helen's getting a bit bored of continually moving the work around the needles (one of the sides of the work is especially fiddly). I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end!

Jackie's in the midst of knitting Pudsey (and here's his nose; above, right)! When it's completed it's going to auctioned here for Children In Need, so keep a beady eye open...

Ravelry wonder

A month of bouncing up and down on my seat - and I'm in! Hurray!

And what a bag of wonders Ravelry is! I'd played in it this morning but had to sign out after half an hour: my eyes were nearly bleeding with overload.

Some porridge and a mug of tea later and it's all seeming a bit more manageable. The functionality is great. You can work in the following categories: projects (WIP, ordered by 'happiness'!! chortle!); stash (what you have/want/are selling); queue (Grand Ravelry Plans for the future, and you can save other website patterns in here too!); favourites; friends (to find people in your area, etc.); groups; needles and hooks (to make a list of what you own! Surprisingly useful); and books (Amazon wish list-esque for knitting).

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!! And now I really need to lie down. I can see the vortex of my life being sucked into Ravelry for every spare future minute of my life...but it will be fun!

Happy weekend fun

I’m off to this happy event on Sunday (see their Exhibitions page)! Yippee!

I was introduced to Debbie through a friend from work that lived near her. Debbie crochets lovely garments and accessories and Dick is involved in woodwork and woodturning. I bought the most wonderful cherry wood bowl from him last year: carved from a donated tree from Marshfield vicarage.

There’s an entrance fee of a couple of quid (which goes to charity) and this also entitles you to a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie! It promises to be a lovely weekend!

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Crafts at Home
Saturday & Sunday, 24th and 25th November, 2007
11am to 4pm
A selection of crafts for Christmas in our own home (see their Contact page).
Our work, plus the work of some invited friends.
Entrance fee to include mulled wine and mince pie. All profits from the event go to CLIC Sargent.

Yarn shops in Bath Spa and the West Country

We've been talking about where to shop locally for yarn - so here's a wee list of yarn stockists in Bath Spa and its surrounding area. It's undoubtedly not comprehensive; please email me with details of ones I've missed!

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Bath Spa and immediate area (central marked with *)

Edna's: 4 Brookside House, High Street, Weston BA1 4BY. 01225 423058

Sew 'n' Sew*: Stalls 11-18, Guildhall Market, BA2 4AW. 01225 482648

Janeen: 43 Upper Bloomfield Road, Bath. 01225 833240

Wright's Wools: 94 Mount Road, Southdown, Bath BA2 1LN

Wool: Old Orchard Street, Bath

Bristol and area

Get Knitted: 39 Brislington Hill, Bristol. 0117 300 5211 [HUGE store, with lots of choice, get the X39 bus from Bath].

The Crafty Stitcher: 83 Quaker's Road, Bristol. BS16 6NH. 0117 975 9004

The Ball of Wool: 47A High Street, Bristol BS37.

Wells

Wells Knitting Centre/Mandy Wools: 5 Mill Street, Wells, BA5 2AS. 01749 677548

Yeovil and area

Enid's: Church Street, Yeovil, BA20 1HE

Good Yarns: 38 High Street, Wincanton, BA9 9JF

PS., and more here...

Oil your needles: there's a competition!

Apologies for not giving you more notice! (Beverly Evans emailed the details of this to me back in September. Ooops.)

Good news: the deadline was on the 10th December but has now been (unofficially) extended to the end of January!! Debbie Bliss will be judging the entries in early February.

Details are here: Download competition_leaflet.pdf!!

Knitted phone (k)natter

For the person that has everything?

On a related note, a friend lent me a 1970s knitting book - so there's more odd knitting ideas coming up - watch this space..!

POSTSCRIPT: see here too for woolly weirdies...

The Big Knit 2007

'Innocent' (those yum little drinks) are at it again!! :0)

Here's their press release:

'The Big Knit has arrived. Over the last few months, people have been busily knitting little hats for our smoothie bottles. And these behatted bottles are now available in Sainsbury’s – for every one sold, innocent and Sainsbury’s will give 50p to Age Concern. If we hit our target of 400,000 hats, we’ll raise £200,000 to help keep older people warm this winter. Good eh?

So why are we bothering? Well it's simple. Almost 25,000 older people died of cold related illnesses last winter, and we wanted to do our bit. Age Concern will use the money raised to provide support to older people in winter, including hot meals, blankets and advice on how to keep their houses warm.'

It's absolutely freeeeeeezing out there now! Their news blog is here and get some inspiration here!

And there's a comical video..!

Beautiful voice...and buttons

I heard Ruth Notman on Mike Harding's Radio 2 show last night and was bowled over: her voice has a beautiful purity (not dissimilar to that of the wonderful Alison Krauss). And, with a album cover like this, (right) what's not to like?! You can read a review and hear her dulcet tones here.

Project paralysis

I'm at the end of my pink cotton socks and need to think about my next cast-on. But, the thing is: despite being completed over-excited (in a magpie-in-jewel-shop, kid-in-lolly-shop kind of way) about my vast stash, I now also feel strangely immobilized.

It’s as if I had sped up with projects as I neared the end (or, at least, end-ish) of my stash and now the huge number of awaiting projects has completely discombobulated me.

I wonder if I can find a circular needle long enough to cast on every single waiting project so I can knit them concurrently, like Helen's pair of socks??!

For impatient souls like me – knitting is a tricky pastime. I have to stick to my house rules:

• only 3 projects on the needles at any one time;
• write down any pattern-changes as I go rather than relying on the dubious idea that I'll remember them all;
• less haste, more speed;
• when I make an error, however small, I must rip-back rather than make-do; and
• stop trying to inhale patterns immediately, take the time to read them slowly and ponder them first.

What are other people's knit-rules?   

Someone sit Helen down and give her a cup of tea please!

Helen and I crawled home on the last train after some debachery in Leicester Square (we'll not talk of the bus not turning up at Swindon and the National Rail having to put us in a taxi to Bath - I can feel my jaw clenching already). So, we got home at around 2am on the Sunday morn and met up again some 12 hours later for the Sunday SnB meeting.

The only things I had done since I'd last seen Helen was: sleep, take a Berocca and clean my teeth. Helen, on the other hand, had nearly finished her second glove (above; note that her nails (deliberately) match her yarn! hehe!); wound up her Easy Knit's 'plums and custard' yarn; thought to bring me lots of exciting pattern books to borrow; and very kindly bought me a lovely sewing-box for my birthday! :0)

And there's more..! She's been battling the drop spindle (above) whilst repeating the adage of 'practice makes perfect', and plans to dye it golden with onion skins once it's spun! I've played with mine a little but am a bit too preoccupied with sniffing the practice wool (it smell so delighfully of baby, fluffy sheep).

And, if that wasn't enough for a Monday, Helen's started knitting up her 'plums and custard' yarn into a pair of socks. And I do mean just that: one pair of socks. On the same circular needle (left). The mind boggles...

I'm going to ask her if she'll put a wee tutorial up on here - this is far beyond any of my knitting capabilities...

But I am assured that: (1) it is possible; (2) it involves a lots of needle manipulation (3) it looks impossible; (4) it is fun; and (5) she's not sure if it will ever flow..!

Helen wants to email Jon of Easy Knits (above right, with Easy Knit Roy and me) a 'progress report' so the pressure's on - don't forget to sleep, Helen!!

IKL Big Day Out

The knitting group/shop 'I Knit London' (IKL) hosted the UK's first official Stitch 'n' Bitch Day last Saturday and Helen and I were happy partakers. Meeting at the train station at 7am was a rather auspicious start to the day – but it rapidly improved. We managed to pour over the street-map for a good few minutes trying to work out where the hotel was – before realizing that we were standing next to a massive sign for it… I’d like to blame it on the early start to the day but, frankly, it’s just because I’m rubbish at directions.

We popped next door for a quick coffee and sugary victuals to give us some shopping energy…and then, suddenly, it was 11.30 and we’d managed to miss Jane Waller’s ‘A Stitch in Time’ and Debbie Stoller’s workshops. Damn. So now I have no sense of direction and no timekeeping ability. I did have a browse through their books though – and they’re both definitely on my Wish List. Furthermore, all the woolly gems in the market pulled us in and meant we also missed the crochet flower workshop by Jane Brocket (AKA Yarnstorm).

Anyway, less of what we managed to miss and more about what we did do! Erm…shop. And fiercely! And lots of: “ahs”, strokes, squeezes, rummaging, planning, envisaging and “ooohs”. 

There were lots of stands selling wares. In a mere 60 minutes, Helen and I managed to notch up the following...

Skeins of: Manos Del Uruguay silk (very top left, I recommend clicking on the photo to see its full glory); Natural Dye Studio's Mirage (very top right) and teapot cosy kit (right); Fyberspates' wool in a gorgeous bluey-teal and their reversible 'Wave' pattern (can you tell what my favourite colour is yet..?; upper left); Easy knits' Liquorice yarn (upper right) and the spectacular Plums and Custard (left); drop spindles and lovely wool tops from the lovely lady at Fibrelust; and lots of goodies from Garthenor Organic pure wool (bottom left and right).

More about Easy Knit and Fibrelust later but just a wee word about Garthenor Organic wools. All their yarns are unbleached and undyed from traditional and rare breeds of British sheep. They sell oiled and washed versions of their yarns so you can experiment...My biscuity-coloured wool (the 50g balls in the photo) is a blend of a brown and white spotty breed (I love this thought - I'll giggle whilst I knit with it!).

Chris King was really helpful and informative and his son helped me find the right wool (I asked him if he'd got roped into helping, to a little nod...I said that I hoped he was getting a treat after, to which he whispered 'pizza!' Tee hee!)

All my rules about buying yarn only for planned projects went completely out of the window. I did consider hiding my wool in a cupboard and producing it in small batches so John wouldn’t notice the sheer volume… But, anyway, I am convinced that this splurge will get me through the throes of ferocious winter-knitting and out clearly the other side...

And, thankfully, we did keep an eye on the clock in time to see Betsan’s wonderful presentation about the therapeutic effects of knitting. You can read more about her work here. There was so much in her talk to fascinate - and I'm going to share it soon - but, for now, enough woolly-waffling. I'm off to wind my Liquorice sock yarn and drink wine. The best way to spend a Monday evening...

Knitting before breakfast..?

I'm an oats-&-yoghurt kind of girl but when my brother came to visit we had to get something a bit more sugary...(this is the lad who eats sugar cubes by the handful...). We brought Shreddies for him (and got a glower for not choosing the more sugary Frosties...humph...)

But, I'm now a convert...the little side-labels of ours says that they are knitted by Dotty! :0) And look at the back of the box -------->

(JohnBoy is a one of those lovely people who actually listens to what people say and stashs it away in a brain-folder somewhere: but I was slightly shocked to see how much he listens to my whitterings. 'Isn't the granny's tension a bit tight if she knits something so small from such big needles??'. Er, yes, Dear. (Blimey!))

Gloves to keep those knitting hands toasty

Helen's lovely, lovely gloves ('cuse the flanking beers) are made from Louisa Harding's Kimono Angora (shade #8). I absolutely love this yarn and ordered some today from Cucumberpatch *little bounce*

The pattern was inspired by Iris G's Malabrigo Gloves, but with a 3+1 rib cuff and the fingers are left open-ended. 

I reckon the second glove will be finished on the train by the time we get to this Big Day Out! (providing we don't fall asleep - we're getting the 07.15 train on a Saturday - bleugh).

Stash increase!

Stash, a lovely yarn shop near my parent's house, are having a massive Autumn yarn sale: hurray!

I'm looking forward to popping in there over Christmas...if anyone wants anything picking up, drop me a line!

I'm told patience is a virtue

Ravelry is - I've heard - a wonderful forum for all thing knitty. Will I get to #1 on the waiting-list quicker if I stop checking how many people are ahead of me all the time??

• You signed up on November 1, 2007
• You are #51643 on the list.
• 9177 people are ahead of you in line.
• 2726 people are behind you in line.
• 77% of the list has been invited so far

Happy knit-natter...

Last night was lots of fun... Elizabeth has been beetling over her Griffin embroidery and it's well on target for a Christmas finish! And, Helen's fingerless gloves are amazing! (How does she make it look so easy?!) Look at that yarn...mmmmmm.

It's just a wee shame I have to leave a little early on the first Tuesdays of the month - I nip over to The Raven for a natter with fellow publishers. If there are any other logophiles out there we meet at 20.30 on the first Tuesday of the month upstairs to talk about all things wordy and drink beer. There's a lovely mixture of writers, graphic designers, editorial/production folk, artists and even a Bard!

Three of my favourite things in one night: wool, words and wine. Yippee!

Oh, what clever knitty inventors!

This is going straight on my Christmas list! The knitzi enables you to keep all your sock needles safe and tidy. I've already ruined one pretty fabric bag when they stabbed through it, removed countless eyes when I've peered in my handbag and spent hours untangling the yarn horror from the other things in my bag...this should solve all that. Knitzi = absolute genius!

Mittens for mantids

I've already been terrified by the mini-knits some people make. Here's a lady who knits mini-things...that are small enough to clothe bugs. You can read the full article here.

N.B., Another microscopic artist's work can be seen here: absolutely breathtaking!

At least these help those winter sniffles...

Look what I've found! I got them in Vintage to Vogue: if you haven't found this wonderous shop already, I urge you to snoop it out. Probably my happiest non-knitting retail pottering has been in here.

Each one was about a pound (price is dependent on age and lacework) but they save me a fortune in Kleenex and (my daily FOE email tip tells me) help save the planet.

Brighton & crafting fun

John and I went to Brighton last weekend and I tried to get some good Brighton sea air to help my bronchitic teabag-sized lungs (it didn't work).

It was fabulous! We went to Brighton Pavilion to feel suitable tourists, played in the arcade (the games are impossible as an adult - how are you supposed to win if you're six years old and your fingers are all gummed up with candy floss?) and then a long lunch in the Mock Turtle cafe with its doilies, sticky buns, homemade jams and pretty plates (John was given a knife and fork to eat his jam doughnut, it was so big).

We got lost in Kensington Gardens and we bought a beautiful John Dilnot print from Appendage.

And then we found the wonderful Snooper's Paradise. I nearly didn't get out - there are so many corridors of delights that the Exit is easy to lose. I got a squillion old knitting needle pairs for a couple of quid, lots of bags of buttons and some vintage knitting patterns (left). I love the patterns! But mostly for their comical value... (I'll bring them to the next knitting group so we can have a good giggle!)

In the loop

Wendy drew my attention to this. It's too late to submit abstracts for posters/presentations but the meeting should be really interesting and I'm sure there'll be tea and biscuits.

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CALL FOR PAPERS

In The Loop: Knitting Past, Present and Future
A Three-day Interdisciplinary International Conference
Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, 15th-17th July, 2008

Keynote Speakers:
Barbara Burman
Sabrina Gschwandtner
Sandy Black
Liz Collins

In response to the resurgence of public interest knitting has enjoyed in recent years, this interdisciplinary conference proposes an exploration of knitting from a broad range of theoretical and practical perspectives. Proposed abstracts that cross geographical or chronological boundaries in the following areas are of particular interest:

      - knitting narratives including film, literature and the internet
      - knitting, fashion & the industry
      - knitting culture including subversion, gender, tradition and stereotype
      - knitting, technology and the future

We welcome abstracts from practitioners, knitters, historians, conservators, theorists, educators, curators, technologists and the industry. Abstracts will be considered for formal 20 minute papers or poster presentations.

Selected papers or visual essays will be considered for publication in the 2008 edition of the Textile Society’s Annual Journal Text.

Deadline for abstracts: Monday October 1, 2007.
Notification of decision: Monday November 5, 2007.

300 word limit to abstracts for presentations of 20 minutes or poster presentations.

Enquiries and abstracts to the Conference Administrator: [email protected]

Organising Committee: Linda Newington, Maria Hayward & Jessica Hemmings.

Who says you can never get something for nothing?

This is my fourth week of The Lurgy of 2007 and the novelty of being poorly is, frankly, wearing thin. Sigh. But when I got home tonight there was a big box of cheery, FREE wool waiting! :0)

This is our reward for being Simply Knitting's Club of the Month back in late summer. There's 5 x 50g balls of 5 different types of Bergere de France yarn. Lucky us!

Clockwise from top:

Toison (pink-red): 77% acrylic, 20% worsted wool, 3% polyamide; 50g/70m; 5-6mm needles

Caline (baby blue): 60% acrylic, 20% worsted wool, 20% polyamide nylon; 50g/180m; 2.5-3mm needles

Tweedine (grey-green): 30% worsted wool, 70% acrylic; 50g/150m; 3-3.5mm needles

Sport (sky blue): 51% worsted wool, 49% acrylic; 50g/90m; 3.5-4mm needles

Cotton nature (ecru): 100% mercerized organic cotton; 50g/115m; 2.5-3mm needles

I'm not sure exactly how it should be divided up: any suggestions? Everyone needs more than 100g to knit anything socky, hat-like or little person-ish and we can't have 2.5 balls each...so I think we should have five 3x50g bundles and five 2x50g bundles of each wool type (so, enough for 10 people). I'm going to suggest a good ole Democratic division: if you've been to the Bath SnB meetings and would like some free yarn please email me by the end of November...and then I will draw 10 names from a hat. How does that sound?

Sad, sad news...

Dina Rabinovitch - the Guardian columnist and candid voice of breast cancer died on Tuesday 30th October. After the Guardian changed their format, her weekly column shifted to a blog (linked on the bottom, left-hand side of this one and it's wonderful). I started reading her column back in 2004 and was hooked. She still published the occasional piece in the Guardian and her last and most moving article was published there last Monday. She gave a wonderfully human voice to the horrors of cancer, often with a black-humoured approach.

Ironically, October - the month of her death - was also Breast Cancer Awareness month. Her death will undoubtedly raise awareness of breast cancer and raise sponsorship too: a fitting tribute.

Two things I will do today: buy Dina's book, which has been on my Wish List for months, and plan my next Keyring Knit for Wendy Else. If you could find time to do likewise, I'm sure it would be very much appreciated...

Cherry Wood Project

If you are looking for a piece of furniture why not make your own, near Bath? Tim Gatfield was a hardwood cabinet-maker for many years before switching to the art of green woodworking. Green woodworking uses freshly-cut wood and thereby allows the worker to stay very much connected to the tree's environment. Tim's course are the ideal way to learn about this wonderful technique.

I was introduced to Tim last year by a colleague and booked John on his Basic Green Woodwork course for his birthday. John had dabbled with hardwood before [he made me a little table a couple of years ago that had recesses for fossils and buttons and a glass top :0) ] but greenwood was very new to him and the Basic course assumes no experience.

In the two-day course John made a wee seat (left, with my knitting for scale): the legs were made in ash by a pole-lathe, the supports in-between were made with a shave-horse and it had a weaved elm-bark seat. Tim trained John in all the techniques, was on hand for help and helped with the tricky bits...

You could stay in a B&B but John pitched his tent in the woodland for a couple of quid (I joined in the evening and we fell asleep to the owls!). There's a compost loo (look out for the cheeky door-handle), beautiful showers (with an ingeniuous water-heating system), an earth-oven (which will cook your dinner), Tim's amazingly crafted yurts, a small group of like-minded people and lots of fossils to find. In the morning, a few deer wandered by grazing merrily. It was a wonderful experience and worth every penny. Tim and Cherry Wood are a great inspiration and we are extremely lucky to have them so nearby.

There are lots of other courses, from spoon-making to making an earth-oven to family woodland courses but, if you'd rather not commit to a course yet, there's always Volunteer Thursday: help Tim maintain the woodland or help make roof tiles in time for Winter...is there a better way to spend a Thursday?

Wool and tea!

Surely, one of the best combinations? These beauties are designed and made by Jennie the Potter. You can read her blog here too. I've got a blue big yarnball bowl, some little pink sauce bowls and some red mugs winging their way over to this side of the pond shortly :0)

Jennie took the trouble to explore shipping options and has found one that will ship my order for ~$40. Adds a bit to the price but well worth the cost...and I got to choose my colours! (This decision did take me most of yesterday though - they're all lovely.)

And they're all microwave- and dishwasher-safe. What's not to like?? (And John can't complain as these are officially 'functional'...hehe.)

Alan Bennett: a national treasure

What a magnificent evening last night. Poor Alan had a cold but he soldiered on. It would take more that a cold to damage the beauty of his voice though (once the Forum had sorted out their microphone problems).

I found it all extremely moving. What wonderful, insightful and understated work. I'm off to Brighton this weekend and am going to finish my copy of 'The Uncommon Reader' before I arrive: this invariably means that I will be giggling and weeping with equal measure in the corner of the Quiet Carriage tonight.

Does anyone know where I can find his marvellous story about his Grandma's palour?

Appetite whetted?

Mari and I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Birmingham and we had the joy of seeing Lucy Reed at work there. Breathtakingly beautiful work.

She's been really busy with Ally Pally but next on her To Do List is getting a website: I'll keep you posted. She was recently awarded a certificate from the Royal School of Needlework for her outstanding work in gold and silver wire. Unless you caught her at the Shows, you'll have to wait for her website to see why...but, in the meantime, she's kindly given me this picture of my favourite piece of hers. Her work is available for purchase and you can contact her here.

Acute Amazonitis

Generally I do try to use local bookshops - but Amazon the book-title gobbler does suck us all in occasionally. Bath's great for independent bookshops though; what a shame horrible Waterstones is slap-bang on the main shopping road for the tourists, when there are so many lovelier ones tucked away to serve us better. Sadly, we lost Secession Books last year. You can read about it here in the Guardian.

But some are, happily, surviving the world of chains and corporate takeovers. To name just a few (which ones have I missed?):

• Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights - his blog and a Guardian article about it
• Good Buy books
• The Speaking Tree bookshop
• and, my favourite, Topping & Company

The lovely, lovely man at Topping & Company offered my a cup of tea while I was browsing - that's enough to make me go back there every time I want a book. And it sells the 'Vogue Knitting' books (for it's usual tenner not the wonderous £100 that Amazon sellers wanted).

N.B., there's some wonderful events coming up with Topping and Company and there's still tickets! I'm going to see the fabulous Yorkshireman Alan Bennett tomorrow and Ranulph Fiennes next Monday...If you call Topping & Co., I hope you also get the cheery Robert. He made my day. Alan's event is virtually free as you get his new book, a glass of wine and the event for only £15. I am so excited! I'll ask him to sign the book 'to me mam' for Christmas - in celebration of another equally extraordinary Northerner!

A book made from crisp bank notes?

All I want is the 'Vogue Knitting: Socks' book. I've got 'Socks Two' but I'm not really ready to knit penguin slipper socks yet: I just want to simplest of simple socks (until I can knit them to equal length I really shouldn't try anything fancy!).

You would not believe how tricky it is to get this title. Librarys West got me a bit excited as they seemed to have a few of the 'Vogue Knitting' titles but went through all the hoops for the 'Baby Knits' title and was told there was 'no copies in all branches'. You think they might remove it from the catalogue list then?

And then good ole trusty Amazon gave me this page (right). £99.44 for a copy that has 'wear and markings'?? Grrrr. And, I can't get over that they say that it looks like an 'interesting title'. Well, yes, I'm sure it is. Now if they could just make it less like the price of a mini-break somewhere hot, that'd be just lovely...

Reduce, recycle, reuse

A lovely colleague took me to a ‘Clothes Carousel’ last Friday in the New Oriel Hall, Bath. It was, essentially, a jumble-sale of clothes/shoes/bags. What can not be good about this! (But even better: the £1 entry fee included a glass of wine!)

Without getting too socio-economical or too political, I suspect some cities are better to do this kind of thing in that others. And, if the charity shops here are anything to go by, Bath has got to fall into the better category! I’ve never seen so much lovely stuff in charity shops than in Bath...people throw away such gems!

(I guess it’s all a question of affordability and financial capabilities. When John started his PhD in Liverpool he was living in an area abutting the rather infamous Toxteth and the charity shops there were interestingly different: they either sell total tatt (with no hidden gems) or fabulous donated second-hand furniture and reclaimed ovens, fridges and washing-machines. We found a wonderful dining pedestal table and chairs in Oxfam for the bargain of £100, which we since came across online for five times that, and some absolutely amazing second-hand books. Charity shops seem to more popular places up north for everyday things and they utilize this market*.)

Anyway, I’m getting side-tracked. I wanted to show you these from the Carousel! A silk-cashmere Boden cardigan for £3 (right) and a fab 1950s style cotton dress for a tenner (with a lovely watering-can print; detail left).

There was a massive range of clothes and lots to cater for all sizes and shapes. Most of it was great quality and in good nick - if I'd been cunning I would have brought lots of jumpers to felt and garments to cut up for their fabrics and buttons...

This Carousel took me a bit by surprise but there’s another one in April - I’ll let you know when I‘ve got more details! In the meantime, check out its permanent unofficial sister ‘Roundabout’ in Widcombe (2 Prior Park Road, Widcombe, Bath; Tel: (01225) 316696) - beautiful, good quality clothes for a snip of their new prices.

*By the by, I’ve never noticed how much shops cater for their demographic more clearly than when I was bobbing between Bath and Liverpool. There are more open street markets up North (how I miss them, sob) but the supermarkets are markedly different. Tesco set up home in John’s area, predictably put all the local shops out of business and then tailored their shelves for demand. Contrast: Bath (couscous, quinoea, buckwheat) and Liverpool (the oddity that is the tinned potato [much loved by North Mancunian Grandpa Pollitt], little fresh fruit & vegetables and lots of pre-prepared foods). When I visited Liverpool just before John moved down here, some 6mths ago, it did seem a lot better and I hope Tesco is making more of an effort to help people to eat more healthily...

Sock postscript...gargh.

My first socks are officially finished..!

*little dance*

Is it completely ridiculous to be more proud of the fact that I turned a heel, and knitted with more needles than I have limbs, than of my PhD?? ;0)

Oh, and there is unanimous agreement that it is always better to knit a pair of socks to the same length. (Honestly, can you believe it?! So eager was I to get to the heel and practise my new technique that I must have miscounted the rows in the tube...and the second one's a clear inch shorter. John always-the-solution-provider suggests cutting off some toes from that foot to make my socks look equal.)

Yum yarns

I love going back to my hometown of Manchester for so many reasons (not least this, this and this) but one of them is to browse in the Sew-In shop in Didsbury. It's wonderful, friendly and cheap! There's a great yarn sale bucket and the non-sale yarns don't seem to be at all as pricey as those down here (sigh). And I found these!

Aren't they gorgeous? Twilleys of Stamford Freedom Spirit yarn (#513, left, and 508, right): all shades are available from GetKnitted. Apart from being absolutely beautiful colours and 100% wool, a 50g ball is under £3. But if you go to Manchester it's only £2.50/50g - if you get a SuperSaver train ticket from Bristol and you buy enough yarn, you might save money! :0)

The Knitter's Song

Clickety clack, clackerty clack,
The knitters at work - knit and purl back.
In two-ply or three-, mohair or double,
the knitting keeps growing, without any trouble.

Sometimes machine, often on pins,
the knitter is busy and has no sins!
The garments are splendid admired by all,
"Knit one for me" is everyone's call.

The colours are gorgeous, in all sorts of hues,
they cheer all those who suffer the blues.
"So keep on knitting", is everyone's cry,
"For we love knitting!" is our reply.

Marjorie Carrier, 1990, for The Button Lady

Healthy, happy knitting

The research of Bath's Betsan Corkhill, of Stitchlinks, is helping people manage chronic pain at the RUH and the group meets fortnightly.

KNITTING HELPS TO RELIEVE CHRONIC PAIN
18 October 2007

Needles have been helping to reduce pain at Bath's main hospital in more ways than one. Patients being treated at the Royal United Hospital's pain management unit are being encouraged to take up knitting to aid their recovery. It is believed the hobby, along with crochet, can help take people's minds off their pain.

The therapeutic effects of knitting are being embraced by a new group at the hospital, called Stitch, Links and Chatter. The group, which meets twice a month, was set up in the summer by nurse practitioner Carol Davidson. It currently has eight members but there are a further 30 people interested in getting involved.

Mrs Davidson said: "There is substantial anecdotal evidence that the repetitive nature of knitting and the distraction it provides, allows people to be less aware of their pain. It's also a valuable social interaction for our patients, many of whom are isolated because of the chronic nature of their conditions." Some group members are knitting for their friends and family while others are making clothes for babies in the neo-natal intensive care unit.

Sue Pike, who suffers from chronic back pain, attends the sessions and knits for the NICU. She said: "It gives me great pleasure to know that what I knit will help a family with a premature baby. The knitting itself I find very relaxing and, living with severe pain, anything that helps you relax is a bonus."

Betsan Corkhill, a physiotherapist who helped get the group off the ground, has also been gathering evidence on the positive effects of knitting and cross-stitching on her website stitchlink.com. Researchers at Cardiff University are also looking at whether the rhythm involved in knitting can help eliminate negative thought cycles and rumination.

RUH pain unit psychologist Mike Osborn said: "The knitting group is a superb example of an activity that works for loads of different reasons. It's physical, productive, social, almost meditative and helps people to engage in meaningful activity. Chronic pain can take the meaning out of your life and if you can retrieve some of it through knitting or anything like it, that's a great idea." (The Bath Chronicle)

There's an interesting article in the latest issue of Yarn Forward, by Jennifer Hilton, discussing the optimal knitting position! I had a nasty pedal bike fall last winter (I was pushed off the road by a car speeding down Upper Hedgemead Rd, but that's another story - I think people just don't expect to find cyclists in hilly Bath). Afterwards I had loss of sensation in my left hand and a tightening of the tendons in my palm, which made my hand turn inwards and holding things was painful and tricky...when you're a left-handed editor and an avid knitter this is bad news indeed. Anyhoo, it took this knock for me to learn to listen to my body and take care of it in the fine way it deserves. Some Pilates, with the wonderful Mary, daily exercises from a nice physiotherapist and the passing of time seems to have helped and thankfully I'm nearly back to 'normal'. But overzealous knitting and scribbling brings on again and I get 'claw-hand'...so I'm always careful to listen to my noodle arms.

So, I would heed Jennifer Hilton's advice: do you have a preference for one style of knitting? How tightly to you hold your needles? How do you normally sit? (Avoid crossing legs!) Is there enough light to avoid eye-strain? How's your breathing, are you all scrunched? If you're suffering from any discomfort then try doing something related to knitting rather than the click-clackety itself (pattern-planning, ball up your wool or sort out your yarn stash). Listen to your body.

Pulling my socks up!

My biggest knitting achievement of 2007 must be: my first socks. Helen coaxed me into overcoming my sockophobia. No chance of a relapse - I've now got the opposite problem...

I. Just. Can't. Stop. 

It's been a steep learning curve and there are things I need to tweak - good job there's a second sock to practise on!

First of all, I had a circular-knitting-crisis - like Mari did with her hat - and ended up pushing the work through to the wrong side of the needles and then knitting in the wrong direction. (It's not so hard to do when you're on a packed Friday train up North and there's two kids sitting next to you playing a game of 'Name the thing out of the window'. It went thus: 'tree'...'cow'...'fence'...for THREE hours! Sigh.)

Another head-scratching moment was the grafting of the toe at the end...or the so-called Kitchener Stitch. Actually, I didn't realise when I grafted the first sock that the stitch I was doing was the same as the Kitchener one - otherwise I would have followed the wisdom of Knitty. As it was, I tackled it through the rather wordy pattern explanation and messed it right up. In situations like this, a picture really is worth a thousand words.

There's some fabulous ladders in my sock down the sides (left)...and an odd little hole that has snuck in at the heel seam (below). Fiona suggested dividing the stitches between four needles rather than three, thus creating less strain at the corners and lessening the ladder effect. This definitely seemed to help and also made the first few rows easier to work...tiny yarn on only three 2.5mm-needles is fiddly work indeed. 

Helen's tip of knitting a couple of stitches around from one needle to the next (without using the fifth needle) seemed to help too - but then I started getting a spiral effect! I think I was pulling the yarn too tightly at the corners and making a crease. But this has blocked out easily...unlike any ladders that appeared before I ditched the extra needle at the corners so I've been remembering to knit those stitches every few rounds for the second sock...  

The peculiar little hole is, I think, some stretch from where the stitches were divided on the needles and where I started shaping the gusset...I've avoided this in the second sock by picking up one more stitch than suggested down the side of heel flap and K2tog the first two stitches to give the right number for the pattern. Bit of a fudge but, hey, who cares? It has a heel, a gusset, a toe, stripes and it'll keep my foot warm...it'll do! Let's just hope they still look like a pair by the time I've corrected the quibbles when knitting the second sock!

Time for a hat..?

I think today was the first perfect autumn day in Bath this year (unless I missed some when I was convalescing?): all earlier days have either been too warm or wet...but today was blue skies and crispy leaves aplenty. Skiing days - as my oldest and best schoolfriend, Sarah, and I call them...

My mittens have made it onto the needles - which means they'll be done in time for the summer (sigh, I've been meaning to start these for months too...pah).

Mari's been resolutely knitting this wonderful hat for quite a while, with various set-backs: circular knitting slip-ups...more of them later...and a summer of weddings...

The yarn is Noro Kureyon #92; the pattern is designed by Saartje de Bruijn and is available here.

Let's hope the hat doesn't get lost once finished - isn't this hat #3, Mari? Taxis, precious accessories and lots of wine...we all know how this story ends..! Given how many hungover mornings I have spent on the phone to Lost Property, I am considering putting loops into all my knits so that they can be attached to my person on a night out...

Geeky knitting: the best kind

Quietly frightened - remember I was going to try and knit a trilobite? Well, turns out, I'm not the first. No, siree.

In fact, there seems to be a whole swarm of the beggars out there. And not just knitted ones. (Let's not limit ourselves to just one type of fossil manufacture?!)

And...the best bit: trilobite socks. This is where my head implodes with delight!

New mag...

A new knitting magazine, Let's Knit, was available from 12th October...here's their blurb:

LET'S KNIT

Get the needles at the ready because we're launching our exciting new knitting magazine, Let's Knit, on 12th October. If you're a modern knitter wanting patterns and creations that are not just fun to make but fashionable too, this is the magazine for you. Bursting with fabulous creations from some of the best contemporary designers, it's packed full of projects for both stitching novices and experienced knitters.

Giving a fresh perspective on this addictive craft, Lets Knit offers an accessible format with clear, easy-to-follow instructions. The practical guide is a must-have for all those tricky bits, and there are plenty of patterns that have been exclusively designed for the magazine to look forward to. One of the great things about this new title is the colour variations and freestyling tips that are suggested throughout, so you can really put a personal stamp on each piece.

Added to that, there will be an exciting free gift every month, starting with a fantastic knitting DVD with issue one. The handy resource includes:

> Let's Knit editor, Sarah Neal, showing her 19 must-have kit bits for the month in the product review
> Detailed tutorials on both basic and intermediate stitches
> Our very own knitting community where we share our top tips, knitting gossip, latest projects and invite you to get involved

With 60 minutes of footage in total, it's an ideal way to see the hottest products, learn a new stitch or meet some of the faces behind the magazine. Watch this space for more information and the chance to win a 12 month subscription to Let's Knit, worth £59.88!

I've subscribed for their introductory offer (the first 3 issues for just 100p!) - so I'll let you know how I find it when it arrives..!

If you're eating your lunch...best look away now...

Elizabeth and David introduced me to these wonderful knitted organs. Another fab sciency-woolly blend!

Shame we can't knit them aplenty and help save more people needing new organs...but, until the day with wool and endocrinology are perfectly in tune, the least we can do is sign up here.

To be able to give the gift of life to someone else when in death: is there anything more gracious?

People are welcome to any bits of me they want when the time comes - not all of it does what it says on the tin but, with a re-fit, who knows..? ;0) 

Continuing the October felting theme...

Mari and I have been talking about doing some Nuno felt for months now...Mari made a lovely one (left) during her years in Dundee.

Here's some wonderful instructions by Southampton felt artist Rachel Reynold (take some time to slobber over her Gallery!) and a good and extremely Texan demonstration by Gika Rector on YouTube.

Does anyone want to join us? We'll decide on a venue when we know numbers - but it will be in central Bath...We're going to put an order in for some felt, silk and other Nuno bits'n'bobs soon, so please email me if you want to join us...

Yarn (is moving swiftly) Forward

Yarn Forward magazine is quickly moving onwards and upwards: it's now in its third issue and seems to have overcome its initial teething production problems...hurray! If the cover information's anything to go by, the lastest issue is going to be fab!

I should get my subscription through the letter box (as soon as Royal Mail staff pick up their rattles) so I'll bring my copies to the next knitting meeting if people would like to browse before they buy...