Freyalyn's Thoughts

Mark pottered off to Skipton yesterday afternoon (he's on nights this week), to pick up a few things. He was bubbling over when he came back, as he'd managed to get a place on the next walling course - he'd really missed his walling last year. The first day of the course is Saturday 25th April.

This is, of course, the weekend of Wonderwool Wales. Oops. He's going to be very busy that weekend. We'll all drive down on Friday morning, put the tent up, empty my stuff into the stall, then he'll leave me setting up and drive back home. On Saturday I shall be all on my own on my stall while he prances off to the Dales and walls. And on Sunday he'll drive back down to Wales, arrive in time to help me out a bit, then we'll pack up and go home. Oh well, it's not impossible.

At least I can manage on my own at Wonderwool, which I can't at Woolfest.

I've been asked to teach at Woolfest this year, and am running a short workshop on drumcarding on both days. I'm in very exalted company this year, as Nancy Bush is teaching Estonian lace in a whole day workshop and Donna Druchnas is coming too. June Hall (whose Woolfestian administrative obligations I envy not in the slightest) rang me last night to check my entry for the Woolfest webpage, and apparently has already asked Nancy Bush if she wouldn't mind if other tutors popped into her workshop to see what's up.

The green Cloisters cardigan was finished last night, but I'm not happy with it. The sleeves are fine, but I cast off the bottom and picked up all around the fronts and neck, leaving buttonhole gaps between the selvedge and picked-up edge. Um, not happy - the front band is, I think, too wide as I'm leaving it in just plain ss to roll. So I'll rip back the neck and front tonight and also unpick the bottom cast off edge, add another inch (I had a small ball of yarn left) then replace the edging, making it narrower in the band and wider at the neck. Then I'll block it properly and photograph - in daylight.

This photo was last Tuesday afternoon, on Ilkley Moor. The snow had gone lower down by then, but this was just by the Cow and Calf and it was still frozen up there. From the 'phone, so the resolution's not good.

... been poorly.  Mark actually came home from work early on Friday looking appalling, and spent the next 24 hours in bed with a bucket and a clear run to the loo.  It was an utterly horrendous gastric 'flu bug, complete with the feeling of being bruised and sandpapered all over.  I doctored him with hot water bottles, cinnamon brandy (our general cureall) and lots of sympathy.  He was a bit better by Saturday evening, and on his feet again (delicately) on Sunday morning.

I felt a bit queasy on Sunday morning, but thought will power could do it, so we had a nice morning out at Salts Mill and had lunch in the opera cafe.  By Sunday night I was moaning in misery, all lunch came back up, and I was in bed all day Monday.  Tuesday I drove into work, caught up with essentials, and took the pups to Ilkley Moor as I had to go to my optician's for a checkup.  I walked slowly across the icy snow, let the pups entertain themselves, and staggered back.  Yesterday I was back in bed.  I wasn't actually as ill as Mark in the main throes of it, but I seem to be taking longer to get back to normal.  Neither of us are eating properly yet.

The snow is taking it's time to go, at least on the moor tops.  In order to retain the clean-and-shininess of the pups, I'm driving them up to Baildon Moor for walks.  At least in snow they run themselves silly and don't require much participation from me.

Anyway, much knitting is being done (I was actually too ill to knit on Sunday!)  The green Cloisters cardigan from handspun is onto its second sleeve.  I need to do something about Mark's Orkney gansey.   And vast amounts of DVD watching too - for the last two evenings I've nearly managed to get to the end of Appendix 3 in The Two Towers e.e.  I'm sure I'm seeing things I don't remember watching before.

Right, off to deal with e-mails at work then I'm going home early.  It's coven night up at Magrat's later, and Mark's buying me cake in M&S - I just don't feel up to baking. 

We started off with this on Sunday afternoon up on the Chevin.  Very cold blustery wind with flurries of the white stuff.


This is what we had by about 6am on Monday morning, and still falling.  Sadly roads were largely clear and the trains were running, so I decided to go into work, only to be greeted by great amazement I'd made it in.  Buggrit!


This was yesterday afternoon on the moor above us - bitter wind and small blizzardlings driving across from the East. We all had a wonderful time up there.  The carpark on the moor top was full of 4x4s and very little else, as the road kept blowing over.  Lots of people were sledging up here.

Rest of pupz in snow photos here.

When we got in I spent a nice couple of hours slowly defrosting and knitting on Mark's Orkney gansey, which is now having its bottom ribbing added.

Not very easy to see, as naturally I took this in flash this mornign rather than daylight yesterday, but it's a 3x2 ribbing, fitting into the 'seam' stitch down the sides in purl.  Mark's out tonight quizzing, so I don't have to feed him more than the soup I already made on Sunday, so I plan an afternoon and evening knitting furiously, casting off at the bottom, and wondering what to do with the sleeves.


It's amazing how much more this photo shows up the colour variations that are hardly visible in normal light.  This is my travel knitting at the moment, and is growing nicely.  Lovely squishy feel to it, and I could really do with it ready to wear now.  Last night I was watching tv wearing *lots* of clothes - long sleeved t-shirt, cardigan, fleece top, wooly hat, long full skirt with a big shawl wrapped round my waist twice, wooly socks and sheepskin boots.  And this was inside with the fire* on!  I keep reminding myself it was much colder before Christmas.  But I'm really pleased with this yarn - I should have more than enough for a longline cardigan with generous sleeves.

(*Admittedly a pathetic one or two bar electric 'fire', with just one bar because it bolts electricity, and it's on it's last legs anyway).