the view from the hill

Endings

2009-07-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

I just finished my last day at my present school I will confess to shedding a tear over one delightful class who have been a delight all year. Others I could dance with joy at the thought of never seeing them again!
This is only a quickie as I have to leave the house in 20 minutes to go to my leaving do, and I am still wearing what I wore to school. I am however all organised for the last week of term. I'm taking our Year 12 pupils up to scotland for their Duke of Edinburgh Gold expedition, the packing has mostly consisted of me taking everything and the kitchen sink as I have no idea what I actually need, however most importantly the spindle that Natalie from the Yarn Yard posted for me has arrived so I can continue my effort for the Tour de Fleece.
I'm off to try and make myself look beautiful, see you in a week, check the twitter feed for updates on lost children!

Tour de France

2009-07-04T02:56:00.000-07:00

Yet again I'm celebrating the Tour de France by joining in with not just a knitalong, but a spinalong.
Le Tour starts today, in the knitalong I'm part of Team Rabbobank and hopefully aim to knit lots of small items, think earning points, think sprinter so Green Jersey contendor.
In the spinnalong I'm part of Team UK and Team Yarn Yard and as a newbie spinner am classified as a Rookie. The aim of the Tour is simply to spin a little every day. The plan is to document this using Daily Mugshot, I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get that working but am about to have a go.

Meantime, go Team Rabbobank!

Secret Pal 14 Questionnaire

2009-07-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love BFL, and most wool, I'm also a bit of an Alpaca fiend. I don't really dislike anything accept the nasty stuff (fun fur and crunchy acrylic I'm pointing at you).

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a Knit Picks options set that I have the zip up case for, all my rarely used and small collection of straights are hidden away in a pringles tube!

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I taught myself to knit using the internet and books last february, I'm probably an intermediate knitter but will give most things a go.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
My Etsy favourites are here and here I've also got some yarns in the favourites (stash) section of Ravelry that I'd love to get my hands on!
My Amazon wish list is here
5. What's your favorite scent?
I like fresh smells, I loathe cinnamon and vanilla.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Not so much a sweet tooth, I love most sweets, but chocolate unfortunately needs to be the expensive stuff to get me going. Doesn't have to be really dark, just good quality with unusual flavours, I developed a real addiction to this stuff a while ago.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I do spin, though I only started a few months ago, I have a sewing machine that I use ineptly and have painted, though not for ages.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
As a child of the 90's I am a true indie kid, though sometimes pop is good too. I'm really not a music buff and listen to just about anything, though I particularly love the spoken word and have almost as many hours of audio books as I do music.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I do love purple, but have lots of purple in my stash right now, I'm also a hot pink fan, but most of the time I love colour.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Just me myself and I, no pets allowed in my current flat :(

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Scarves yes, hats yes, mittens definitely, ponchos are a big miss!

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I love fair isle, socks and lace. I've just made 8 scarves in a row as presents so I'm off those for now!

13. What are you knitting right now?
I literally just cast off, I think I need to get a garment on the needles in an effort to reduce the amount of yarn in the stash beyond a single ball at a time!

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circulars, wood for larger sizes, metal for smaller. There was a snapping incident, it's still painful to talk about! All my needles are up on Ravelry though.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
The swift is handmade by my Dad and a little wobbly but functional. The ball winder was second hand and again works though I'm not sure for how much longer!

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Not that old, I started a sock yarn blanket a few months ago but I'm only knitting squares on it using yarn I've made something out of so I see that more as a slow growing project!

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?
I love all holidays, I'm a teacher so I get lots of them! I've had some wonderful Christmases and some pretty rubbish ones, but the same goes for all holiday trips I've been on (we usually go away at Christmas)

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Nope

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I've just pre-ordered Enchanted Sole by Janel Laidman, considering how many socks I knit I do have very few sock knitting books, apart from Eclectic Sole I don't own any.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
How to stop time to fit more knitting in!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I am a sock knitter, I'm a UK size 5 which is European size 38, standard sock patterns fit!

23. When is your birthday?
27th June

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
hilltopkatie

Everything in the garden was lovely...

2009-07-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

Good job too. I am stuck at home as a suspected swine flu case. Three days off sounds wonderful, but not if you're confined to the house with nothing to do. That's a slight lie, I've been busy knitting and spinning, and have even pulled the sewing machine out. I have done my year end Rainbow accounts and sorted out changing lots of addresses, however I am now ready to be allowed contact with other living beings again! I am still waiting for test results to come back, hopefully they will arrive today...

Meantime here's the garden-
Mum gave me a courgette she had potted up and it's positively thriving, as are the lettuces, radishes, rocket and cress. The nice man across the road also gave me a couple of spare tomato plants. They need potting up in bigger pots as they're very leggy but I need more compost, and need to be allowed out to get it!
At the bottom is a peg bag that I made yesterday, it's rough and ready but will do the job perfectly well.

Woolfest

2009-06-28T05:37:00.001-07:00

It was my birthday this weekend and as my birthday treat Mum and I went up to Cockermouth in the Lake District to go to Woolfest. I spent lots of my birthday money on some lovely wool and fibre.

There were also lots of sheep on display there, and as they proved popular last time here are a few more...View slideshow

This is a ram called Bruno... he thought he was human and liked to have his face scratched....

A garden

2009-06-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

I foresee a new trend with my posting. Because I have a new flat I can now have a garden. My chosen spot is accessible by climbing out of the bathroom window on to the flat roof over the bay window on the flat below.

Some bonuses are that it's a sun trap, there are no slugs, and the walls on 2 sides and felt on the floor means it's really warm. I planted all these lovelies on Sunday, most have already germinated, how awesome is that!
On the negative side you do get odd looks from the beer garden of the social club when you crawl out of the window!

We have radishes, cut and come again lettuce, land cress (supposedly like water cress), radishes and rocket.

Not a bad view

2009-06-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

My new flat, I just had to put a sofa opposite the window, I could spend hours looking at the ever chaging sky. I can't wait to watch the seasons go by and the trees change.

The weekend

2009-06-14T10:59:00.001-07:00

Has been busy, I've started moving house, been out and danced the night away and walked home as it got light again (I've not done that for years!), got a replacement iPhone and knitted in public.

Saturday was Worldwide Knit in Public Day, I went and sat in the Peace Gardens for a lovely sunny afternoon and gave myself a minor case of heat stroke! There was also a dance festival going on so lots of people about, and a really nice afternoon.

There are photos here they're not mine so I can't embed them here.

This I believe

2009-06-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Freely stolen from Karen Sugarpants, also I've had 3 pints, and it's past my bed time, these responses may not reflect the sober conscious thinking of the writer....

I'm the woman who

- will tell it like its is (yes this sometimes causes hurt feelings, I'm working on it)

-is fiercely loyal to friends and companies whose ethos I like.

-knows how to put together my own flat pack furniture.

-can tile and wallpaper and paint.

-loves singing as I'm driving, no matter what the passengers think

- has a healthy amount of love for her macbook

- will spend hours trying to help a child if I can see they are putting an equal amount of effort in.

-will freely give up my time to educate and do things for children that are not my own.

-can't believe it took her so long to discover real ale and everytime I drink something different am reminded why I love it so much

-has discovered something she is talented at and can't wait to find time to design more patterns in the future.

-needs to loose half a stone, curse those extra frees and large supplies of freely available cake!

- loves her life and wouldn't change it for the world.

What about you?

I think the weather gods don't like me

2009-06-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

Two weekends away camping this year and the weather has been identical for both. For those of you at the back not paying attention; I mean rain, and lots of it. Enough to flood a supposed wet weather shelter. Poor guides who I took camping for the first time didn't know what hit them. One bonus it stopped raining for long enough to dry the tentsand take them down. The rain started just in time for us to go home.

Click for bigger versions. The last time I experienced rain like it was when I was in Thailand at the end of the rainy season...

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blogging silence with the following news

2009-06-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Yes I know, I'm not posting much right now. School isn't so much busy but is turning in to a list of things to do rather than teaching. It's report season, and I seem to be spending hours sat at a computer. I'm also moving house in less than a month (even though I've packed all of 2 boxes, that somehow also seems to be a good excuse!)]

Anyway I finally did something with the pile of knitting that was waiting for a wash and a block (blocking is when you pin stuff out and stretch it, it evens out all the stitches if you're a non-knitter)

This dreadful photo is one row handspun scarf with some of my handspun. It's 3 ply merino, 2 ply's are white and one was a variety of colours.

This Travelling vines and lace scarf knitted up in the sea glass lochan that came in the solid club a few months ago.

and this is a solitary alpaca leg warmer. There is a second but I knit it first on smaller needles and realised it didn't go over my calves...

Things that are making me smile today

2009-05-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

Top left- I love this pattern, I love the alpaca, I knitted the first one and couldn't squeeze my calf in to it, went up a needle size for the second and it now fits (admittedly I have to reknit the first one, but c'est la vie!)

Top right- Aloe Vera was created to soothe the many scratches I have over my arms after chopping down a blackthorn tree yesterday!

Middle Left- I found Fight Club on sale in the supermarket for £2.99, Brad Pitt for only £2.99, bargain!

Middle Right- Someone decided to send me a skein of Croft yarn from The Yarn Yard. I'd expressed my longing for some over on the Ravelry forums but what with needing to pay deposit and rent on my new flat and pay for a trip to Switzerland I knew it as going to have to wait. I think I know who sent it, but whoever you are thank you so so much,

Bottom left- Banana bread in the oven. I cam back from a visit at my parents to find some spotty bananas that needed using. It's a pity that the oven burnt them, but that's another reason to be cheerful, in 1 month I will no longer have to try and cook in an oven that has burnt everything I have ever cooked in it!

Bottom right- The sun is out, and after all, the world is always a better place in the sunshine!

Also, I go back to work tomorrow, strangely I'm looking forward to it.

An achievement

2009-05-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering about the radio silence I'm on half term holiday and enjoying it immensely. an old fiend from uni who moved down south has been up for the week visiting and we've been off doing things most days. It's nice to have someone to spend the holiday with as everyone else is currently revising like crazy for university exams.

In other news my first ever knitting pattern has now been published! Go me! Hopefully it will be the first of many but I'm not promising!
It's a free pattern but the idea is that in return for knitting it you make a donation of however much you can afford to p/hop. p/hop is the brain child of Natalie over at The Yarn Yard and stands for pennies per hour of pleasure. There are so many wonderful free patterns out there, and the idea is that you donate some money to Medecins sans Frontier in exchange for knitting them. If you want to download the pattern then the direct link is here.

I'm staying

2009-05-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

In my current location that is. After 4 job interviews I was finally successful, next year is going to be a challenge but I'm looking forward to it. It also means I get to stay in the same place as all my friends, and close to my family. Now I just need to find somewhere to live, ideally close to a tram sop as I can actually catch the tram to work! Oh yeah!
Only 2 days until the holidays and as we are currently going through a silly season I'm very grateful. I would rather not stand out in the rain during another prank fire alarm again.

Let's Play

2009-05-18T09:17:00.003-07:00

From Meridian Ariel

1. What is your last name? I'm only saying it begins with W!
2. A 4 Letter Word? Wild
3. A Boy’s Name? William
4. A Girl’s name? Wilhemenia (anyone know any more?)
5. An Occupation? Welder
6. A Color? White
7. Something you wear? Waterproofs
8. A Beverage? Wine (ah wine, how I love you!)
9. A Food? White chocolate (lame, I know)
10. Something found in the bathroom? Water
11. A place? Winchester
12. A Reason for being late? World War Three
13. Things you shout? W*@*$er (it popped in to my head, I have no idea why!)

Play along if you like, copy and paste, change your answers and leave me a comment!

Things like this do bad things to a single girl

2009-05-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

After all they are just so dinky.... I think I could make this pattern over and over again and it uses up leftover sock yarn. More with what to do with leftover sock yarn coming up in a couple of days......
The link to the pattern is over to he left, in the finished objects slideshow

Sports Award

2009-05-15T07:00:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday I wnet to the Sports Award dinner at the university, last year we won team of the year for winning the national university championships. This year we did the same thing and didn't even get a nomination. However we won't go in to that, we had a lovely evening and I may have danced the night away on a school night!

The start of the evening, don't we all look civilized...

The end of the evening.... why yes that is our chairman, and yes him, and most of the other males in the club decided being shirtless was a good idea!

Edit....grrrrr it's chopped half of me off. Why does my blog do this?

PS. If you're not a twitter follower, I had an interview today and didn't get it, let's move on please, it was obviously not meant to be...

2009-05-12T14:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you can feel justifiably proud in your achievements. I'd like to think this is one of those occasions.
A month and a half after casting on I have this-

I'm wearing it to a posh do tomorrow so will report back with action photos.

(The link to the pattern and full details are available in the side bar to the left)

Good for the soul

2009-05-10T06:21:00.001-07:00

The last day has been one of those days that every now and again I need. There is just something so heart warming about watching a group of small children having fun. Fun they wouldn't be having if I wasn't there.
Last night I took 13 5 year old girls away for an overnight stay. We made our own pizza from scratch, made fairy cakes, sang laughed, slept (a little!), and also had fun doing farm jobs. I am now exhausted, I have no idea how people have the energy to become parents, but I had a lovely time.

(Please note I do have permission from parents to take photos, and use them for publicity purposes, I think this counts!)

A proper British pass time

2009-05-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

Barbequing in the rain I mean, yes I am off to a barbeque tonight. I'm not quite sure how many clothes to wear. And no I don't mean shorts or trousers, I mean shall I put long johns on under my jeans.... it's not as if anyone would see them....
While I decide I'm deadline knitting on the lace shawl you can see to the left, I have 12 rows left and want to wear it on Wednesday, there may be late nights ahead.

Biblical torrents

2009-05-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Of rain mostly, though maybe also beer after the hangover I had on Sunday!

This is what the campsite looked like on Monday as we decided to pack up and go home.
In contrast this was the sunshine on Saturday.

I have yet to work out how to dry my tent, it's the big green one in the top photo, I'm praying the forecast for Thursday isn't lying so I can hang it on the line while I'm at work.

I promise to try and blog a bit more, but last week was a bit manic. I had 2 job interviews and then of course was off to the Lake District on Friday night. Can you forgive me!

Wonderwool

2009-04-27T09:00:00.001-07:00

Oh how the time flies when you're having fun. Sorry for the lack of posts but last week just sped right on by before I knew it!
I was away this weekend at Wonderwool wales. My Mum and I aren't going on a riding holiday this year, but instead we are treating ourselves to a couple of wool festivals over the summer. We drove to Wales on Friday night, and on Saturday went and spent lots of hard earned pennies. On Sunday we went for what was meant to be a short walk. We had a map but the walk took us off the edge of it, however we did have the walk book so presumed we would be fine, well we did make it back to the camper van after using the GPS and adding 2 miles on the walk and going up a much bigger hill than we needed to. Lesson learned- a map is not an optional extra.

www.flickr.com

From top to bottom, an oak lazy kate for spinning, a niddy noddy again for spinning, pop sox BFL fibre from Artist's Palette yarns, teesdale fibre and sock fibre from Freyalyn's Hand dyed fibre, Hebridean sheep, angora bunnies, and a very old church from the walk on Sunday, a tree covered in fungus from our walk, and some Wensleydale sheep.

Finally how could I resist showing you a face like this!

Payment

2009-04-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

Remember the awesome time I had this weekend?
Well on one climb I really banged my knee, loud enough that my Mum standing 3 metres away heard it! This would be the result, ouch!

Summer feels like it's here

2009-04-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

I spent sunday climbing with my family and it was a wonderful end to the holidays. I've gone back to work today feeling ready to carry on and looking forward to the day. The sun shone all day and has left me with my first sun burn of the year (not to self, time for the sun cream to back in the rucsac!). I think I climbed as well as I've done in a very long time and just generally relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine. It was one of those days where the photos don't really do it justice, and quite rightly Mum kept her hands on the ropes and didn't take pictures while I was doing my hardest lead (Technical Slab at The Roaches HS 4b if you know your climbing).
However here you go-

This is not me or any of my family, just an impressive looking climb (The Sloth HVS) an one of the most famous in this country. The route I did goes to the right up the blanker looking slab bit...

(Yes this is me!)
There would have been more of this one but Mum managed to take video instead mostly featuring trees....

Lazy Day

2009-04-16T04:24:00.000-07:00

I'm having a lazy day today. Yesterday I rushed around like a loon, doctors, hairdressers, tried to give blood but Haemoglobin was too low by a lousy 0.1 (apparently being 12.4 instead of 12.5 matters.....) buying an iPhone, buying some new summer teaching clothes, new bras, checking my Duke of Edinburgh group was alive and safe and going to the pub.

After all that I feel justified in looking out of the window at a grey patch of sky and deciding to get some job applications done. Good job as well, 2 were due in tomorrow. Luckily one is close enough to be hand delivered and the other one is very much not (are you intrigued) but could be done on line. I have an interview when we get back and over all I'm not concerned about the job situation, I feel I'm filling enough applications while still being picky about where I apply to.

Time for some relaxation for the afternoon, I'll sort out what we're doing with Rainbows on Tuesday and for the rest of teh term tomorrow!