Knitting and stitching show again

So off to Harrogate to the K&S show yesterday with my apple, my bottle of water and my creaky back. The main purpose of the trip was to see the exhibitions but somehow I ended up spending lots of money!

The exhibitions were very well laid out and were excellent. Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn's show was simply stunning and I spent most of my time browsing it. Jan spent some time with me explaining the techniques she used and it was so nice to see that someone so well known was prepared to take the trouble to share their expertise and look as if she enjoyed doing so. Diane Bates' show was also very good and Diane dressed for the part as usual, was in good form and very chatty. Ruth Isset's show was wonderful. Her use of colour and range of techniques is awe inspiring. Carole Naylor's machine embroideries were also very good.

All the exhibitors were very happy to talk about their work and answer questions. Quite a contrast with Sarah Lawrence of Crafty Notions who was evidently suffering from too much contact with "the public". Quite happy to demonstrate, but not happy to talk in depth or answer questions about the techniques. Why ask me, when you should be buying my book seems to be the attitude. A momentary glich on an otherwise good day.

So apart from the lack of chairs and a few blocked aisles, I thought it was a very good show. Lots or yarn and knitting suppliers, some new bead shops and some nice fabric plus all the usual equipment stalls. The graduate showcase was very good, if a little cramped. I wonder if they will all manage to earn a living in the current financial climate? It would be nice to think so.

So having stocked up on pelmet vilene, liquid sculpey and the like, it's back to the mixed media on line classes. I've realised that I haven't used enough Gesso, and my tyvek motifs looked "plonked" on rather than integrated. So I think I'll have a go at stitching them, but if that doesn't work I'll start again.

Every so often I remember that I can always do it tomorrow as I don't have to go to work! Yippeee"

at the sea side

This may or may not work, but if it does you will be able to see the sea!!!

Well it does seem to work. I wish I had set the scene more carefully and hadn't looked into the sun but at least it does give the flavour of a beautiful day by the sea!

So now it's back to playing with my new toys!

On the beach

So another trip to the far west with the sun in our eyes all the way, followed by three days of solid rain. But then on the fourth day came this . Hemmick beach at it's very best and we were the only people on it! The Ravens joined us for a while and we watched a buzzard circling overhead. Bliss! The blue sky and mild weather lasted all day and in the afternoon we went to see the birds come into roost at Spit Beach. Not one for the scenery really, but you can keep the view of the clay dries at bay by turning your back on them! Lots of Curlews and Oyster Catchers huddled on the harbour wall and probably some Turnstones, but too many to count and as the tide was in we could not get very close.

Back to school

So, first there was the watercolour painting class and all this week, an intensive class learning to draw. The watercolour class is great. A lovely group of people, a tutor who is very laid back and no pressure. But this week is half term, so our tutor has given up his holiday to teach us how to draw! Oh, I know he's getting paid, but all the same....

The course is based on the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. I have had this book for some time and have tried to read it and follow the exercises, but without success. Now, it's a chance to join in with a class and get going.

When I was at school, I loved art classes, but what with a job, family etc, I have spent most of my life to date avoiding doing it! Then, a few years ago, during my City & Guilds embroidery course, I started playing with paint, crayons etc and remembered how much I loved it. But of course, the passage of time had robbed me of any real talent so nothing I did was any good, or at least, I wasn't happy with it.

The trouble is, once the genie is out of the bottle, he won't go back in very easily. So once I didn't have to go to work, I was determined to get going and become Mme l'Artiste!


So this week, I have been trying to get in touch with my creative side and can now draw my hand. It is not easy to switch off the side of the brain that governs language, time etc, but today, I managed it and wow, did it feel good.

So on with the homework and back to school tomorrow! No pictures yet, but watch this space!

Long time no work

So it's October and I have been retired for ten months! I don't know how I ever found the time to go to work as I appear to have been busier than ever. The spinning continues and I have made progress with the fancy yarns following an excellent course with Ruth Gough of Whingham Wools which was held in the Lake District. As usual, a wet August bank holiday, but at least there was time for lots of spinning! It was a great group of people, lovely food too, but I realised that I have passed beyond the communal bathroom so that was a bit of a trial.

And of course on the final day, the sun came out and gave us this!

Such wonderful light after a very dark and dismal few days.

Onto my next challenge water colour painting . The course started
at the end of September and I've had three lessons. No actual

pictures yet, but I am learning a lot about mixing colours and
different techniques.

A small tradegy on the bookshelf front meant we have had to

decorate my work room. It is now a lovely cream colour and I

am gradually moving all my stuff back in. We have decided not

to keep the wash basin, but have bought a second hand Belfast

sink from Ebay so I am waiting for the plumber to come and

install it. Then onto the dyeing!

Is there no end to this activity!

It's so nice to be home!

We seem to have been away for ever and a day even though it's only two weeks, but it's so good to come back home! I always take some knitting and embroidery with me, and my sketch books and pencils, but somehow there's so little time to do very much of it! So, a bit of a failure on the art and craft front, but great success on the cliff walking, birdwatching, visiting and eating out ones. As Easter was so early and there were not too many people around, we didn't meet much traffic and actually had a choice of car park spaces in St Ives! Shame we weren't able to walk along the beach due to the high winds blowing sand into our faces, but we did manage an excellent crab sandwich in the Lugger! All the camelias and magnolias are out in force and so garden visits were a must.

Our trip was not totally without artistic merit as we did go to see the exhibition of paintings by Tony Foster http://www.tony-foster.co.uk/ at the Royal Cornwall Museum. Wonderful paintings of the Grand Canyon and views of Everest painted on site. Sadly completely out of our range, but we did buy the catalogue!

My cough is now subsiding, but sadly, DH now has it. We hope we have not passed it on to the aged relatives.

So back to some semblance of normality and working hard getting used to the retirement!

The cough continues

Well, I have had this cough for several weeks and it's getting me down as I don't seem to be able to shift it. So in need of sea air we are off to Porthleven tomorrow for a much needed break. Sadly we will not have room for the spinning wheel, so I'm taking some knitting and embroidery work instead.

I hope to be visiting Amanda Hannaford to discuss the certificate of excellence and I do have some very nice yarn to show her. Will it be good enough though!

Don't forget the cough sweets!

And so at last we finally got our trip to London. We had to cancel the last one because of the colds kindly passed on by the dgd and even though I am still coughing, I decided that we just had to go. So an uneventful train journey, a nice walk to the hotel. Pizza for lunch and then to the V&A for some culture. We couldn't get over how many people there were around. Standing room only on the tube, crowds milling around the galleries and the cafe and everywhere is far too hot. We didn't manage to find where Sue Lawty's stuff was located, http://www.suelawty.com/but we did see some wonderful exhibits. I am having a rethink about my IKAT scarf having seen the wonderful IKAT items and DH is beginning to want to start chipping away a stones. So with sore feet, back to the hotel to get changed and off to Leicester Square. We found a really nice Greek restaurant in St Martin's Lane and had a leisurely meal before setting off for the Duke of York 's theatre and the Magic Flute, African style! Check out the website, although the sound quality does not convey the excitement of the live performance. http://www.magicflutethemusical.com. Everyone stood up and clapped at the end of the show and we didn't want it to end. But then back to the hotel in time for match of the day! Deep joy. Sunday dawned sunny and warm, so after breakfast a bus ride to Waterloo, a wander along the river and a nice lunch before heading back to King's Cross and the train home. We had sore feet, but were so glad we went. I even managed to save my coughing for the loud bits!

We must be more adventurous and do it again! History boys here we come!!

Warp weave beetle & mount!

Fantastic name for a workshop, but what on earth does it mean! Making little woven items using linen thread and using them to make cards, bookmarks etc. The possibilities are endless. I usually avoid these workshops as they can be a distraction from the job in hand, but this was a really fun day and my mind is already buzzing with ideas. Not all guild members felt as enthusiastic, but those that took part had a really good day. Dot Seddon was a most entertaining tutor and inspired us with her enthusiasm and ideas. See photos below.

From such refined activity on Saturday, we move onto Sunday and the delivery of a ton of manure to the allotment. Bright blue sky and a steaming heap of the proverbial. We set to, and woth a little help from another plot holder it onlt took us an hour to move it! Forgot to take the camera so I can't show the delights of the steaming heap in February sunshine.

Then on Sunday afternoon, off to comet to look at DVD recorders. We bought one and then spent the rest of the day trying to work out how to work it and set it up with all the other equipment!! Where are all the foru year old children when you need them!

But we have had some truly fantastic weather. Hard frosts, wonderful blue skies, deep red sunsets and a full moon! Shame about the cough, but I have been able to carry on spinning the cotton and am planning the IKAT warp!

That Eureka moment!

First, the cotton! Now most of it is plied and here it is in all it's glory! Full of knots and bits that stick out at funny angles, but not over twisted and it will come in useful for embroidery. I think the technical term is "textured yarn"! The bits that remain on the bobbins are so badly spun that they are impossible to ply, so will be used with the embellisher. So I am congratulating myself on actually achieving a finished yarn on a totally unsuitable wheel.

And then there's the new wheel! as yet unused, but very pretty and now I have taken all the yarn off the Lendrum, I can start something new. More cotton? Bring it on!

A new adventure begins!

More new toys!

So after the new sewing machine came the new car and now the new spinning wheel. Where will it end!

A couple of years ago, I invested in a Lendrum wheel because it looks nice and is easier to transport than the Ashford. It also has a double treadle, a good thing for those of us expecting the hips to give out at some stage. But, (there's always a but!) I find the flyer doesn't fit all that well into the maiden and is quite floppy, and being a scotch tension set up, it is difficult to loosen the tension for cotton or silk spinning. It has also been difficult to get the tension cord set so that it is not knocked off the bobbin by the back end of the flyer. It does spin well when it's set up, and I like the tensioned lazy kate, but, I do not feel it is the wheel for me. So, as a new Timbertops wheel is out of the question, I have invested in a Kromski Symphony.

Easy(ish) to assemble, and I was spinning within a couple of hours of buying it. It has a heavier feel than the Lendrum, but the double drive band makes it much easier to get the sort of tension I prefer. It is not transportable, but you can't have everything!

So I decided to finish the silk and cotton started on the Lendrum before launching into the Kromski. It is set up differently with the orifice well on the left so I may need to revise my technique a bit. Practice as usual is needed. No photo of the new wheel just yet, but here is my silk. A little uneven, but shiny and just waiting for the dyes to make it really special. I am still plying the cotton, and given the number of times it has broken, it will not be a thing of beauty, but it may come in useful for something oneday!

The next decision is do I sign up for the certificate in hand spinning? Hmmm!

Where am I going?

On Sunday I decided that it was high time I made an effort to get on and do stuff! So Monday dawned and lo it rained all day! It was dark and miserable and I found myself thinking that staying in and reading a book was not that bad. So I did!

Then on Tuesday I visited the Bankfield museum in Halifax to see Jeanette Appleton's Sew Sow exhibition. The pieces are made from needlefelt made on the machine at Huddersfield University and then embellished with bits and pieces and stitching. Some were very large, some very small, but all had an impact. Visit her website for details www.jeanetteappleton.com. There is also a very interesting video in which she describes the processes she used for making the pieces and demonstrates them. So with embellishment all the rage, I came home with good intentions to set up my machine and get started creating a masterpiece, but decided to finish off my sister's little bag first.

This is my problem. I am interested in so many things and keen to practice all sorts of different techniques that I never finish anything! No longer though! My key tasks for the next few weeks are to get all the half completed stuff finished before I start anything new and to get more exercise!

So with that in mind, I put my wheel in the car and went off to Armley Mills Museum for a spinining day with the Spinners of Aire. This group has existed for a long time but I have never managed to go along until now. I'm so glad I did. There were some old friends there, but also people I had not met before. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also got a lot of silk spun and it has encouraged me to do more at home.

So today's jobs are a bit of housework, a bit of TLC for the DH who has gone to the dentist, a bit of sewing, visit the grandchild and more spinning while we catch up on the African football! Think that I am getting the hang of this retirement lark at last!

A voyage of discovery

More and more time spent lately on the Bernina sewing out embroidery designs. Yesterday was my free tuition day with Sheila at MKC Ltd who sold me the machine. A lot to cram in to a day, but very enjoyable and no broken needles! I had been a bit worried about the fact that this machine "does it all for you", but actually, there is enormous scope to develop your own artistic style. I have to say that simply sewing commercially prepared embroidery designs can be a bit boring, but, I hope to be able to design my own, and there is a lot to learn. Understanding how the designs are contstructed will take some time, but it will be great to be able to digitise my own and create some truly original pieces.

So for now, I am content to practice and learn so that when I am ready to move on, I will be able to do so. Next job is to sew out all the decorative stitches on the machine to make a record of what they acutally look like. This will make it easier to combine them and make the results look as professional as possible.

The new camera is proving to be easy to use as a point and shoot. Will I ever bother to find out how to use the manual settings? Difficult to say, but I think I will use the macro setting as this will take really close up photos and will be very useful for design ideas. I have passed the Olympus onto the DH who is reading the 140 page manual from cover to cover before he starts! Oh to be so disciplined! This is one of my latest showing two of my favourite people!

The weather is still wet and dismal, but we have just booked our Easter holiday cottage, so that has cheered us up a bit. It's Porthleven again. I know it's a bit sad to keep going back to the same place, but we are drawn to it. Could it be the pasty shop!

But for now it's back to the Bernina which needs a drop of oil to keep it sweet! Then I am going to put my new skills to the test and manipulate one of the designs to decorate a little bag to send to my DS with the latest photos!

I could get used to this retirement lark, but I keep thinking that someone from work is going to ring me to say, "where are you?" It will gradually sink in!

Time marches on

Oh dear! The days are passing and I am busy, but fast losing track of the days of the week and the date! It was only when I went to get my bus pass yesterday that I realised the date was the 9th of January! My dear sister's birthday! Shock horror, I had forgotten to post her card!


So I posted it and phoned to apologise. She was quite amused and was surprised that I was surprised it had happened! Note to self, cross off the days on the calendar and write everything down!!!


Then a visit to the DG and DGG in the afternoon. The latter covered in paint (washable Crayola paint sticks, marvellous!) and running around semi naked to ease the potty training! She has started pre school and is loving it. Her conversationional ability is expanding all the time, but still quaint. I keep forgetting to take my camera, so we are getting a bit behind with the photos. My new camera should be arriving later today or tomorrow, so there is likely to be a photofest this weekend!


Then there is the car! Sir has decided on the model, but we are finding it difficult to find one we can afford. Still it keeps him busy!


What joy! My camera has arrived a day early. It is very smart, but looks very complicated. You can just point and shoot, so I did and this is what I got!



More work on the Bernina. I have now successfully completed a T shirt with embroiderd motif for the DGG, a flower design on some Organza and am about to try my first motif on fleece. One thing has become apparent, and that is that the stabilisers you can buy don't always behave as described or how you want them to. My fusible wet and gone, didn't fuse and hasn't gone!

Motif now completed and looks good. The lettering has been swallowed up a bit by the fleece, but all in all I am pleased. Photo to come when completed, camera willing.

Someone coming to view the house this evening, so it's hoovering time!

Out with the old and in with the new!

So that was 2007! All in all a good year for me with the joy of retiring from work at the end! A super holiday in Cornwall over Christmas, marred only by the car breaking down on the way home so we arrived hours late in an RAC recovery truck, but no harm done.

Our holiday was spent partly in a cottage and partly with family. We had a cousins get together in the pub, had several very cold and/or muddy cliff walks, saw a wonderful sunset at Cape Cornwall on the 21st and strolled on various beaches. We saw seals, gannets, lots of waders and one fitness fanatic swimming! His dog had more sense and stayed on the beach!

So now my real work begins. I am beginning to get to grips with the new Bernina, but it is going to be a long process. I have still not decided whether to sign up for the spinning ceritifcate of achievement, and the silk remains where it was before the holiday.

But for now it's lunchtime and the afternoon trip to Tesco beckons!