This week has been a bit of a mix and our dyeing day was cancelled by a very sudden and unexpected bereavement for Gwyneth, the lovely lady who's garden we were going to. So that puts life into perspective doesn't it before I start ?
It will be held again in the future but no date set as yet so I didn't have to rush with my spinning and will have more than enough for this next weeks dyeing . All being well I will go but it's not held at their usual meeting place but in the wilds of the Lleyn peninsular; I'm still not sure exactly where the cottage is ,and its a warren of little roads in that area and a good hour and a half's drive from me but I need to do something creative and I so want to learn as much as possible about natural dyeing. So I am keeping fingers crossed that I find the place :)
So spinning has been fine but I wanted to knit but who wants a strappy top when all we have had is rain, rain rain with just one odd day of sun, my heart is not in it .I am not sure I even like it & I think it was designed for a stick insect !! I only have a few inches on the back straps to do and I will finish it but I think it will leap straight back in the frog pond. Any one got any good patterns using 3 balls of Colinette Giotto? which would look good on Fiona from Shrek ? ;)
So in consolation I turned to Eva's cardigan and sat down with a log fire on a wet Friday to do some switch off medative knitting. BAH!! I was up until late, trying to figure what I am doing wrong ; it starts with casting on 408 st for the back as there is a ruffle before its a simple rib pattern and then shaping for a fitted waist after the decreases but I can't get the amount of stitches to add up right for the pattern !! Why is it that the simplest things are some times the hardest ? I have undone it at least four times thinking it's me and was so sick of counting ,I have even had DH count them. I have had poor Kath on her first night home from her holidays yesterday do the math with me and we both agree there is an error. So I now need to either get in touch with Eva or just do my own thing with the pattern; its just that it was meant to be simple
Well we did have a little good news , the camera shop phoned up and said that they had been able to recover some of our lost holiday photos so we scooted down there and saw the thump prints on their computer and thought great & paid up but when we viewed them at home, they are all jumbled up and their photo numbers don't correspond with the photo on screen and photos are cropped , pixilated etc but there are some stunning ones too which has to be good news.
Bad news is the camera is at fault not the card so I have mailed Canon to see what they can do ; we can still take photos with it but we may lose them again.The camera is about 4 yrs old and we spent nearly £500 on it then, technology has moved on since ; although this camera still has features not on the modern one that we bought the other week at a fraction of the price.Meanwhile Tony (the self confessed Luddite )is muttering that his old Ricoh camera still works fine & takes great photos, which it does .
I thought I would share a few more shots of our Scottish trip , mainly on Skye this time
This is above Fort William and were Scotland begins for me
Here are the girls in their tartan harness's outside Eilean Donan castle, and why is it that the tide is out yet again when we stop there?
The bridge over to the Isle of Skye
It so hard to try and pick a few photos to show ,as none truly capture the panoramic beauty but here are some of the shots of my spinning evenings at various spots on Skye. What makes you think I love mountains :)
The last is Kilt Rock waterfall again on Skye which is nearly a 300ft drop , amazing and I felt dizzy looking down at the sheer drop.
I have so many,many other photos;of a croft museum with a weaving room and old spinning wheels ,an old working weaving loom, colour filled shots of yummy yarns from Shlasdair, the Old Man of Storr pinnacles ,coastal shots,stunning sunsets , castles. I could go on but I do think I might bore you a bit put I am going to add them to my Flicker site at some point if any one wants to view them .
But I have to add this one in as a wee joke :)
Tony and I at home on our croft
Now for the draw ,each post was numerically listed ,and the winning number drawn by Tony from his own hat;which he later ate as he didn't win anything but I have kept a special chocie for him as well , duh what are men like !!
The winner is number 14 which is Mrs J and if you would leave me your e-mail addy below I will contact you to get your address & send goodies your way. You do like chocie too I hope & of course wooly stuff:)
PS : Apologies to ALL stick insects ; I have been one of them at one time too. One of these days I will dig out photos of me over the last few years and you will see how I have been all extreme sizes at one point, SCARY LOL
Oh and I have just been on the phone to Shilasdair and there is an error in the pattern
26 comments:
It sure does put things in perspective, doesn't it?
I can't wait to try natural dyeing too, the colours are so beautifully muted and I like the idea of using stuff from the garden too.
Fiona from Shrek? I don't think so! Don't forget I've seen you now and know that you're anything but! What is it about simple patterns? I ALWAYS struggle with them, but it must be so frustrating when its the pattern thats wrong, and you find out after many annoying attempts to get it right!
The Skye pics are beautiful, as is Skye, I love the place! Love the pic of you and Tony, just as I remember you! ;)
It looks a bit dark in your lounge there!!! Lovely pictures of Skye, and sorry your knitting isn't going smoothly at the moment.
lovely photos! but the dogs steal the show!!
Firstly 'Thank you'! I have sent you an e-mail!
Skye looks so much better in the sunshine! We have been there in heatwaves & storms. Hope you get your camera sorted out. The boys look wonderful in their tarten harnesses. I must see if I can get Moss a tarten collar for his hols!
Great to get to see some of those shots - small compensation for the loss of the rest of them, I know you were both upset by that. Surely you'll all be following a trail of wool to your spinning/ dyeing day?! Fingers crossed you'll have an acurate idea of what the pattern is meant to be soon enough! Hope you're calmer now and enjoying your spinning!
The Skye pictures are amazing - thank you for sharing them!
I find it so frustrating when I sit down with something meant to be simple, and then it doesn't work as it was meant to. At least now you know it wasn't you! :0)
Glad you got some photos back at least, and what beauties they are. Hope you get the cardi sorted soon.
I'm glad that you managed to get your photos back. They are beautiful. I love mountains too.
So glad you got some photos back, and have shared them. Skye looks beautiful. And as someone said to me - Real knitters tink and frog. But it is so annoying when there's a mistake in the pattern. I normally assume it's me!
Love your photos of Skye! They bring back wonderful memories of the Easter holidays I spent there with my friend in Scotland. Just when you think you've seen the most spectacular view another one comes along that is just as breathtaking.
Glad you recovered some photos, sorry to hear the camera is at fault, hope you get your knitting mojo back soon xxx
As usual, a fantastic post! Wish I could keep up with it, you crazy lady!
Incidentally, I also was a 'stick insect' in my earlier years, until my 30s, when I met a man who was a carnivore. Baahh.
Love the pic of Islay and Skye by the castle!
Hope you get the cardy problems sorted :)
Stunning pics!
It does seem as though certain projects are 'cursed', doesn't it! Hopefully the knitting will be going more smoothly very soon.
Thanks for the lovely photos...
I'm going to be near Welshpool next Wednesday 25th do you want to meet up for lunch ? Email me if you are free..
Hope you manage to get to your dyeing group. I've always wanted to have a garden that I could dye from. I suppose I could now if all I wanted were green and browns!
Lovely photos of Skye (I'd love to see your pics of the looms and mills) I haven't been up to Scotland for ages now. In fact the last time was when I read poetry at the Ayrshire Literature Festival just before Jasmine was born! I do love it up there, beautiful scenery.
What a shame about the camera, hope you manage to get something sorted. And the knitting too, what a pain!
ps Love that pic of you and Tony hee hee!
Great photos (again!)... aahh, the Cuillins!
How annoying about the knitting. At least in the end it wasn't your mistake, though very frustrating.
And I too am a former stick insect, so I commiserate... I'm not enormous, but my cropped tops/bikini days are well over!
Thank you so very much for sharing more of these amazingly beautiful photos - you've sure got my travel fever into new heights ;) What a beautiful landscape this is, it seems so quiet and peaceful - exactly what I'm in dire need of right now!
What a pain about the pattern - mistakes in patterns, bah! Your photos look spectacular and I love the last one of you and Tony! LOL Hope you get to do your natural dyeing soon and you find you way okay. I love the look of naturally dyed fibres but I was told that the colours fade in the sun - not sure if that's right or not!
what lovely photos, your two dogs are so cute :)
You always have such uplifting and kind things to say on my blog :) I haven't knit on my Kauni this week, because I'm working on a sweater for my 2 year old daughter for her birthday next month. I love kauni though, it's a fun project :) I'm sorry to hear that Eva's cardigan that was supposed to be simple, has proved to be so challenging due to an error. I've certainly had that happen to me before :( Beautiful pictures, at least your camera didn't mess all of them up :)
I hardly know where to begin you cover so much territory.
Is that a black croft you're in?
How in the world were you able to stand so close to a 300 ft high cliff without a wall or barrier! Shiver me timbers, I go weak in the knees just looking at that picture.
Beautiful country, Isle of Skye. Those peaks call the heart for a climb to the top, especially the conical one.
Some times we're just not meant to knit, or spin. Those are the times to reach for a book. :-)
Anne, I can't find your email addy, please contact me. I'd seriously like to pursue a "group" spin with Llanwenog fleece.
(Ed's a Luddite too.)
I'm glad you got some of your pics back, and I love the one of the dogs :) And I think the knitting demons are out at the moment as there seems to be an epidemic of frogging, me included :(
I'm sure your living room could do with some additional home comforts. Plus your other half looks a bit wooden!
I'm so pleased you managed to get some of your photos out.
Oh my, I am sorry for your dye day hostess...
and how frustrating is that knitting pattern !!! Grrrr !
All of your photographs are beautiful...such lovely country, sigh...
Hello - thanks for visiting my blog. Next time you venture North, you should try the East Coast where we live, smaller mountains but it's still lovely :)
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