Monday 28 January 2013

My best Christmas present this year...

was this...
I was really very pleased indeed. But it's not called a Drop Spindle for nothing, so I've needed a bit of help along the way. First, the lovely Rachel lent me her spindle to practise on (thank you!), and I managed a very, very small amount of spun yarn. It was slightly - okay, very - rustic, but spun nonetheless. Then the lovely Jo brought her own spindle along (thank you!) and sat and spun her own gorgeous laceweight while giving me some hints and tips, and lo, see what we have now:
Yay! Still very rustic, but if thick and thin's good enough for Noro, I'm pretty sure it's good enough for me.

Thursday 24 January 2013

Just a sock...

Years ago I worked in a library - in the record department a very alluring teenage colleague loaned tapes to lustful young men all day. On her day off they'd halt, disconsolate, at the door and mutter, 'It's not her' or a single sad, 'Oh!'. This was a little deflating for those of us who stood in for her occasionally.

Fast forward two decades and sometimes potential customers, probably looking for cupcakes, push open the door of Three Bags Full and mutter 'Oh, it's just wool in here!'. Just wool? Whatever do they mean? - an oxymoron if ever I heard one.

Anyway, this all sprang to mind last night when I showed my daughter my latest sock.  It's not a pair yet, but it's a whole sock and the wonder of being able to produce an actual sock- with shaping that goes round corners and everything - well, I don't think it'll ever leave me. Inevitably, as I held it up with a proud 'Look!!', she smiled kindly and said, 'Yes, but it's just a sock, Mum.' And I got that old deflated feeling. Just a sock indeed.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Almost spring?

Are you feeling a bit bleuch in the middle of this wintry weather? I seem to be in some kind of elongated post-Christmas slump! So, for the benefit of everyone in a similar state: a cheery picture of the brave little shop daffs!

(Yeah, there's a little flash bounce-back - I'm no David Bailey...)

And one benefit of the current January gloom is the excuse (as if we needed one) to sit and knit for a very long time. It's an ill wind and all that.

Friday 11 January 2013

Getting involved, parts 1 and 2

Part One: Knitted scenery - that's one step further along the path started by The Killing, I reckon. See this page for how to get involved with this innovative idea at Harrogate Theatre. (Knitted leaves seem to have been very popular, but for interest they're surpassed by the knitted fireworks and knitted body parts...)

Part Two: Age UK's Bobble Day 2013 will be on the 8th Feb, so make sure you pay your £2.00 and go along to work in something woolly that day. Hmm, I think I can manage that.

Friday 4 January 2013

Fish and chip babies update

Well, the Fish and Chip Babies post from a few months ago gets more interest than any other, easily outstripping even the Bad Taste Jumpers which for a long time drew a good audience. But now, disaster! Or sort of - a disaster caused by an improvement in the situation in Africa: the gentleman who was shipping these items to Africa from the UK is no longer accepting them. With improved healthcare, the AIDS babies they were designed for now enjoy a normal African lifespan. So that's good, but in the meantime, we have a big bag of jumpers which were dropped off recently, with a (very gratefully received) contribution to postage and I'm wondering what to do with them. Some of you maybe be in the same position. I don't really want to post direct to Africa myself...