It's not about the actual Saints Day , its about our day at a local school , St Patricks
Three of us , Eileen Innes and myself visited St Patricks School as part of the Clyde Coast Guild of Weavers , Spinners and Dyers , to showcase some carding , spinning and knitting .
As part of their class project the pupils had learned to knit and made some smashing wee teddies and a blanket which was then donated to the Baby Unit at the Maternity Hospital .
They were all quite subdued when we arrived , but got very excited when asked to try some carding , Innes was on hand to ensure Health and Safety so there were no nasty scratches.
Eileen enthused them further with her spindle , and she passed around various fibres for them to guess the origins. Lots wanted to try out the spindling , and most were better than me!
Innes and I got some to try some spinning on the wheel , that took some effort to get co-ordination , but when we got round to showing yarn winding on the Niddy-Noddy every one wanted a go !
Innes did a talk on natural and acid dyes and passed round her samples , not many wanted to hold the sample wool dyed with mushrooms grown on horse manure! However they were fascinated by the various natural dyes , but when asked what they could find in their kitchen to dye with , one wee boy said Kitchen Towels!
One of the funnier moments was when we gave them a silk hanky to stretch out as far as they could , there was lengths of silk flying everywhere , and the teacher felt the need to calm everyone down!
One wee girl did ask where you would get a spindle , I think Innes mentioned something about making one with a pencil, some plasticine and a CD .
Overall , I think it was a very successful afternoon all round , the kids were fantastic and seemed to enjoy our wee demonstration .
We might even be invited back next year!
I think there must be elves in my house , I turn my back and the laptop disappears as well as the camera. And now the batteries have run dead in the camera , very strange .
Also, little video shorts of lego mini-figures appear on my desktop , don't know where they came from .
I recently got a new phone , an all singing dancing acess to internet and a million other things I don't understand as well as my 7 year old!
Oh , and it has a camera , which is great when I "lose" my other one . Except it doesn't seem to be able to find bluetooth on my laptop and vice versa , sigh!
I have it sitting On my laptop and it still can't 'scan' it .
So you won't be able to see the progress on my lovely pink Louisa Harding Cardi , knitted in Debblie Bliss Amalfi , a linen, cotton and silk mix yarn .
Or the 'awesome' cookies I managed to make after the'disastrous' ones - recipe out the Dinner Lady Cook Book , and they really are good, there are only 6 left out of 18 after 2 hours!
I'm quite busy on the craft front this week .
Tomorrow , three of us from the Clyde Coast Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers are visiting a local primary school to showcase some spinning , carding fleece , and knitting . The class had learned to knit as part of their Project and are very keen to try out related activities , I'm sure we will make it fun for them .
On Saturday , I take a Sock knitting workshop at Once A Sheep , where I teach folk how to knit a sock from the cuff down , then how to knit one from the toe up . It should be fun , and i get to do my favourite type of knitting - socks.
Also , as part of a KAL (Knit Along) , I have got my pattern and yarn (just awaiting beads) to start a Shawl , pattern called Aeolian . This was a mad idea hatched up by one of my fellow knitting buddies! The pattern is complex and the casting off of the edging takes almost Three (3) hours !
Still ,keeps me out of mischief .
Phone still hasn't sent those photos' - see its those elves again .
This month we have had a birthday , or rather my youngest son had his 7th Birthday!
Now when you are 7 , you have a celebration on your actual birthday , and then a party to celebrate with your pals . DS2 was a bit unhappy at not getting the day of his birthday off school , but a party at the local Laser Matrix more than made up for it . How can you be unhappy when you get to run around with florescent vests , shoot at your pals , then finish up with slushy drinks and pizza (or hotdog) ?
And there is chocolate cake with Rowntrees Random sweets and a candle that says 7!
It was a very good birthday , and the lucky boy also got to spend his birthday money on some Star Wars toys and Lego the next day . Mummy got to put the empty boxes in the recycling bin and tidy up the house putting away the various toys , Such fun!
And the next "B" was actually "Bees Knees" , or the local Bees Knees awards hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce .
The owner of our Lys and good friend got through to the final of the Bees Knees Awards , one of three in that specific category . Hurray ! Sadly , although We obviously DO think she is the Bees Knees , someone else won that category . Sigh!
Karen very kindly invited me to join her at the Awards Dinner along with her family and some other friends, it was such a super night despite the disappointment . I knitted an emergency Damson (shawl pattern by ysolda) in Rico cotton , to go with my dress I would be wearing. Although I didn't have time to block it , I was pleased with the result . The dress and shawl will accompany me on my holiday later this month .
And here I am with the two boys doing their best to mucky me up before I go out , lol .
Some more lovely knitwear on show - the girls scrub up well don't they ! Only kidding! Rosie and Kimmie looked beautiful , Roy was very handsome himself .
Here is Karen with her lovely DH , wearing a gorgeous dress and HER emergency Damson . She adjusted the pattern so much its almost NOT a Damson , the yarn is OMA merino in Lon Dubh with black Kidsilk Haze - just beautiful .
And now back to the Holiday knitting , plus a wee something other . My good pal Sandy had the most dreadful misfortune , her house burned down and took with it her spinning wheels and stash . Thankfully the insurance will rebuild the house and replace the material things , but its the gifts that were made (and lost) that can't be replaced as such . Well actually they can! The friends at Once a Sheep got together to give her a wee care parcel of goodies , and so did lots of other knitty pals from all over . Hurray for knitty friends!
I have one wee extra thing , its coming soon Sandy I promise!
