tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238114312009-07-13T04:37:02.915-07:00'Seize the day'. Or the yarn. Or the fibre! Thoughts and questions about the things that interest me, in hope that you'll be interested too, or be able to answer the questions...sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-31220813136077965212009-07-08T01:58:00.000-07:002009-07-08T04:09:07.501-07:00

or, as I prefer to think of it: bad timing, but a good time.As you read this, bear in mind that I am very, very bad at hot weather. I was born and raised in a cold country and I just can't cope with heat. Unfortunately, our second try for this coincided with an unprecedented heat wave across the UK, with temperatures exceeding 30C in southern England: even Scotland was in the high 20s (unheard of

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-22005913544603775322009-06-13T03:02:00.000-07:002009-06-13T03:39:51.233-07:00

It's usually considered best to start at the beginning and proceed to the end. There's no end in sight, though. A couple of weeks ago I watched with interest as a friend blended her colours for the Rampton Project 2009 on her Louet drum carder. I eventually asked if I could borrow it, and recently I tried it for myself. I don't think I've put the Romney fleece on record (can you sense my

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-893386859258350972009-05-31T02:01:00.000-07:002009-05-31T02:54:48.202-07:00

It's a British expression, usually used by a footballer when asked what it feels like to be on the losing side. I'd never thought much about what it meant, but now I know: it's feeling emptied, as though something integral to your being has been ripped bodily away. In short, we bailed the trip on the second day. It started well...In fact it started with hilarity. That's the tourist information

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-19559164368591924982009-05-18T00:14:00.000-07:002009-05-18T02:58:39.216-07:00

Saturday was a good day. We try to alternate hard and easy weekend walks and, as our date with the Sutherland Trail approaches, we're reluctant to push really hard: if we overstrain our knees now, we'll regret it. Reason for a London walk :-) The unforgiving pavement makes even an 8 mile/13km walk seem hard, but the low mileage leaves our knees happy – and we get to eat good food and see strange

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-42594071927733688232009-05-12T02:28:00.000-07:002009-05-12T02:44:28.227-07:00

Two. Three...It occurred to me that if I had a blog app for the iPhone and if I had a signal and if I had dry weather I might be able (if not asleep) to post during our walk. 'signal' is extraordinarily unlikely, but I'm testing Blogpress just in case.It seems to do words. There's a button for photos, I feel compelled to press it...The world did not end (well, it wasn't a RED button) and it seems

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-50181558939834280732009-05-10T09:12:00.000-07:002009-05-10T10:00:01.473-07:00

Silly things to do on a walk: No. 1Imagine walking across this vast field on a lovely sunny afternoon. Be invisible (it's your imagination, you can do it) so as not to disturb two people having an intense discussion, one waving something in its hand in the air. Drift closer and discover it's us, me and him, trying to work out what/where that distinctive 'lump' on the horizon might be. Could it be

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-2300558119093232292009-05-03T06:23:00.000-07:002009-05-03T08:35:15.413-07:00

RIP, Aeolian ShawlPhysical and mental. Let's get the mental over first. In short, my cunning plan proved to be a turnip: yes, a hammer trumps a bead every time (ok, might take two or three careful blows) but, where my trial beads turned into glittering dust, those on the shawl shattered into shards. Sharp ones. After cheerfully demolishing about 20 beads I realised the fragments had cut the yarn

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-61817583822306376762009-04-26T06:31:00.001-07:002009-04-27T01:04:05.053-07:00

That's what this is. Remember that post about colour blending with handcards in which I mentioned the 2009 Rampton Project? I said I was going to make a bag for my head? I've made some decisions since then. (Well of course I have, that was weeks, er, months ago. Bother. Where has the time gone?)I'm going to make something based on Susette's p-chullo pattern, a simply beautiful hat available free

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-72949288811237367302009-03-28T02:38:00.000-07:002009-03-28T03:59:18.302-07:00

Here's a recipe for cinnamon-pecan-raisin sticky buns. With the dough rising at cool room temperature this batch took about 8 hours from start to finish; I made the dough at about 0900 and took the end result out of the oven at about 1700. I froze half, and we're eating the rest for weekend breakfast reheated sticky-side-up in a 100°C oven for about 8–10 minutes. I used a pan 13"x8"x1.5"; if you

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-58288506106511971972009-03-24T05:25:00.000-07:002009-03-24T07:20:04.478-07:00

We haz it. Life feels a bit like an avalanche might at the moment, just at the start when everything is slowly but inevitably obeying the force of gravity, with me balancing in the middle juggling rocks. The goal? end? is our walk in Sutherland. The rocks are training for it, checking and acquiring gear, work, cutting the lawn, doing the ironing, knitting and spinning and just... everything.

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-54518030767604818062009-03-16T08:45:00.000-07:002009-03-16T09:55:44.793-07:00

or Why we get up at 5am to drive 3 hours to the Peak District :-)There's a New Toy at the end, so persevere!We are in training for the spring backpacking trip. Seventy miles across Sutherland (northern Scotland was Sutherland (southern land) to the Vikings) from Lochinver to Tongue. The plan is to allow 5 days for walking plus a day for playing on Foinaven, finishing with a couple of luxurious

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-8241217387185875632009-02-28T03:46:00.000-08:002009-02-28T06:01:49.244-08:00

Well, actually they're made of singles and win. Simultaneously. Isn't that clever? They are clever. I learned of them from Abby Franquemont and, just after Christmas 2008, when I decided I could not spin another millimetre on my Victoria, I wound the singles I'd created so far for a 2-ply project off the Louet bobbins into plying balls with the intention of trying the technique.That's Treenways

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-7747682644786789902009-02-24T02:11:00.000-08:002009-02-26T02:26:34.858-08:00

So... we marched on through the damp, me feeling terribly guilty that the wet tent made his pack even heavier than before (this trip had been my idea, after all. I'd said I'd do it with or without him). Near Kirkton Farm the path runs past an open cowshed full of straw. It was about 0745 when I said rather wistfully that it would have been a good place to spend a dry night and then, as two

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-58188520223433708002009-02-23T08:25:00.000-08:002009-02-23T14:34:25.382-08:00

This time last year we'd been enjoying (if that's the right word) long day walks at least once a months for about 6 months as we prepared to walk the West Highland Way, 95 miles from Glasgow to Fort William, camping and carrying all our food. We've had a difficult time the last two months, with him bruising/cracking a rib, then he was busy, then we both had 'orrible colds, then it snowed. And so

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-63628735126645736622009-02-14T03:06:00.000-08:002009-02-14T06:15:20.558-08:00

I wish I could think of a better title, something that describes the fun and wonder. You'll just have to try it for yourselves!I'm starting to consider the details of the Rampton Spinners 2009 project, which is to blend and spin the coloured merino in the bag at bottom leftinto yarn and knit that yarn into a multi-coloured bag. The rest of the bags are there because I'm feeling... inventive.

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-55068647324535794092009-02-06T02:06:00.001-08:002009-02-06T03:35:23.969-08:00

That was the view from my office/spare room window yesterday, and it's the same today. Some of that melted, but more fell this morning; in fact, it's falling now. Normally I do the shopping on Fridays, but after 30 minutes at 20mph I'd done 1/4 of the journey. Not worth the time. It's difficult for people with 'proper' winters to understand why 2–4" of snow is disastrous here, but... we don't

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-38536122351721363802009-01-31T02:57:00.000-08:002009-01-31T03:53:59.085-08:00

If you've ever wondered where that cold went, the one you had when you were a child, the one that moved from your throat to your lungs to your head and gave you nights that lasted an aeon because you couldn't breathe and your throat hurt, and then you had to cough and you realised that your throat really hadn't been hurting at all, because the cough made it hurt so much more... I've got it. I'm

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-76264413853380491802009-01-26T05:37:00.000-08:002009-01-26T07:32:31.663-08:00

You must be cold. Let's get moving. Ahead of us is the secondhand book fair under Waterloo Bridge. Unfortunately I've found that, like some cakes, it looks better than it is. Only worth the delay if it's raining, which it isn't. Up the steps onto the bridge, remembering the impact of Anthony Gormley's Event Horizon in 2007 (unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me that day). I love the

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-8125414996547791652009-01-23T03:47:00.000-08:002009-01-23T05:05:13.919-08:00

I'd show you, but why would you want to see a picture of rain? Just shut your eyes, hold a melting icecube over your head, and imagine you're in England. I suggest we go for a walk. Just a minute while I get my gloves...Probably my fastest knit ever, started Jan 19, finished Jan 22 and that includes unpicking a join at the wrist of one glove, picking up the stitches on the palm and knitting back

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-2520488119399714322009-01-19T03:31:00.000-08:002009-01-19T04:32:48.715-08:00

Truly, I do.As a knitter I honestly never thought about the number of plies/strands in whatever I was knitting, except perhaps as a measure of thickness. Laceweight had two plies because two plies are thinner than three plies of a given thickness. Obvious, innit? Other yarns? I am slightly embarrassed to realise I never thought about it. Colour, fibre, softness, weight, gauge, price? Of course.

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-68871860167666496082009-01-12T07:52:00.001-08:002009-01-12T08:51:15.441-08:00

It's very nearly 12 months since I last posted. A year in which I've done a lot, learned a lot, and (best of all) learned something of how much more there is for me to learn. I feel as though I've been gathering pretty pebbles as I walk along the edge of the sea. Now I have a double handful of beautiful stones and it's time to start setting them into patterns to see what they mean to me, and

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-28225348295431379162008-01-29T03:15:00.000-08:002008-01-29T04:32:05.901-08:00

I've had email asking how I am, and Sue (go and look at the sideways truck! You have to be Well Hard to live on a hill :-) awarded me this when what I really needed was a swift kick to remind me that there's a world out there. Oris that 'in here'? No excuses, just apologies and a brief explanation: this is the start of mybusiest time of year. Starting in mid-December, a goodly proportion of the

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-57222604757761883112007-12-26T04:03:00.000-08:002007-12-26T05:07:30.891-08:00

Not merry, because that would require too much energy :-) Anyway I'm better at spinning, knitting and reading than merrymaking, and I'd back him at sitting and reading or watching TV against anyone else in the world. So I splurged and ordered a roast from my favourite butcher (in Ludlow, halfway across Britain. My environmentalist halo is sadly askew), bought several bottles of good wine during

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-82517751157732653442007-11-21T02:08:00.000-08:002007-11-21T03:19:19.433-08:00

My husband would say so. But what I mean is that I should post more often. All across knitting blogland people are saying the same thing, so it's contagious or seasonal. Knitting gifts takes time. And bits of that cold are still, STILL lingering. I've had a mild sore throat for three weeks now, and at the gym or Pilates all my energy runs away, like water down a drain, about 45 minutes into the

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23811431.post-87710143432523223992007-11-12T01:20:00.000-08:002007-11-12T04:13:58.437-08:00

So there I was at the beginning of last week, ensconced in my corner of the couch, virtually surrounded by yarn and knitting books, almost enjoying my cold. I had the projects I was knitting, alternating hard and easy, I had the radio, books to read, with hot chocolate or a quick hit from New Style of Heirloom Knitting when I needed a bit of excitement. I'd been looking for a copy of that ever

sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291326380557787987noreply@blogger.com8