My Great Grandmother and Grandmother were both beautiful and expert crocheters . My sister also inherited the gene ,and although she says she can't really crochet , she can do beautiful things with a crochet hook .
I , on the other hand , did not inherit that gene , the first time I tried to teach myself crochet I ended up with a four dimensional object .
However , my good friend Rosie recommended the Beginners Crochet workshop , that Karen holds in Once A Sheep yarn store , taken by the very talented Janet Renouf-Miller .
And after much practice , this is what I made ( the other two squares are not quite right , but were good practice ) .
Excuse the grainy macbook photo - DS1 has hidden camera again , no doubt with several thousand snaps of lego for his stop-mo shorts for Youtube!
Anyhoo , think Granny would be proud of me now , with this Granny Square . Can't wait for the intermediate course!
(My new Kitchen clock - looks like a pizza board!)
a few more repeats of the Yucca Chart in the Aeolian Shawl .
Now I have got my rhythm with the knitting and bead attaching , finally enjoying this knit .
The beads are not quite uniform , but given they were a job lot for a few pounds , I think they look great . And there will be 2250 beads attached by the time I am finished , phew!
Have my good pal Seona to thank for this Knit - A - Long (madness) , and of course in a moment of weakness , I joined in .
AND agreed to knit the large size shawl , which is done in lace - weight yarn and on 3mm needles - I have completely lost leave of my senses!
If that's not enough , I am itching to cast on for Karise - Karies' new shawl pattern knitted in OMA yarn - and I have the yarn too -- oooooo.
I could blame this all on housework avoidance , but its just another case of severe startitis .
I am also about to add another "craft" to my skills (fingers crossed), I have a Crochet class on Saturday at Once a Sheep yarn store . This is a craft I have never quite gelled with , but would love to learn it properly . My Grandmother and Great Grandmother were beautiful crocheters , a gene I did not inherit. Hopefully Saturdays' class will remedy that .
There is a (not so) small boy bothering me for his laptop and camera , and he won't go away .
Could've sworn these belonged to me at one time.
It has been a while since I blogged - too long , perhaps . Time to make time for it again - Thanks Linn for the nudge ;)
Spent a wonderful week in Majorca , our family Summer Holiday , with the children and their Grandparents . Weather was wonderful , very warm with occasional cloud cover and gentle sea breezes , which took the intensity out of the heat . There was a wonderful pool at our aparthotel which also helped us cool down when the Sun was high . Having not seen too much sun before we left , I was worried about burning , but we all managed to avoid it (just) , thanks to boots Soltan sun lotions and being sensible .
There was a definite change to the resort this year , we've not been for a couple of years , but it was obvious . A lack of people , a quietness , everywhere . I didn't mind it at all , I love it when a resort is not too busy , but for the business's and Restaurants this can't be good .
This year though , I managed to climb the Calvari Steps in Pollensa , even though I chose the hottest time of day . There are 365 steps in all , the children were skipping up , putting me and my vertigo to shame!
Looks a gentle incline , doesn't it , Hah! don't let that fool you !
Here is the view from the top , just along from the Chapel . Hat is on as hair is sticking to head in the heat , and the cardi is on to protect pale skin from the 30+ degC heat . Cardi is my summer knit , pattern is a Louisa Harding pattern called Percy and I used a Debbie Bliss yarn called Amalfi, a silk, linen, cotton mix . It can be a bit splitty like a lot of cotton yarn , but it has a beautiful drape to it and feels gorgeous .
The views from this vantage point are marvellous , you can see for miles. However the heat saw me taking sanctuary in the coolness of the Calvari Chapel , and viewing the beautiful altar piece and wonderful paintings . One of the paintings is of Fray Junipero Serra , the Majorcan Franciscan Monk who founded the chain of Missions in California .
The cats , however , were just happy to take shade in the shadow of the building , as cats do !
Deo Gratias! indeed.
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!
