Ice skating with the ducks

Much as we love having Isobel to stay overnight, it's always a bit of a lottery as to whether she actually goes to sleep without a lot of fuss!!! Friday night went well and for a change there was no last minute tearful request to go home. All was quiet until 5 am when she decided she'd had enough sleep!! There was a full moon and at that stage, too dark to see the hard frost!

Later in the day we visited Golden Acre Park to feed the ducks. The large lake was frozen and Isobel was thrilled to see the ducks trying to get a foothold on the ice and skidding all over the place. The Black headed gulls are really adept at catching the pieces of bread in the air and Isobel loves trying to throw her bread high enough for them to catch. But oh, it was so cold. We did not linger and set off for home as soon as the bread had gone!

So having taken Isobel home, and done our shopping, we came home and collapsed! A lovely heart warming meal of belly pork roasted with potatoes and pears and baked red cabbage perked us up no end!

The knitted hat has been handed over to the DD and she was pleased with it! So only the scarf and gloves to go now and she has the full set!!! I still have the pink swallowtail shawl on the needles but am leaving it alone for the time.

The next task is to spin the mohair tops I bought from Freyalyn. I am going to try to make a fine fluffy yarn by following Mable Ross's instructions, but my poor fingers are not finding it easy!! Still, practice is the answer and I will crack it!!!

There's a lot of chat on Ravelry and on various blogs about spinning fancy yarns, but very little mention of Mabel Ross. Mabel was a scientist herself, and so it is not really surprising that she took such a mathmatical approach to spinning! Even though this was a criticism I hear of her from time to time, she did have a great sense of humour and for all the precision of her instructions, in reality she had a very intuitive approach to the craft. Her books are out of print now, but Wingham Wools were hoping to republish them on line. I hope they do it, although the books may need to be revised to make them more acceptable to the modern audience!

No photos for the present as I am trying to concentrate to getting things done!