To Woolfest, To Woolfest!

Thank you, thank you all for your kind words of solace and comfort. We are feeling a little better. Sitting up and taking nourishment. We will be brave, we will grow from this experience. And yes, we will try again. We will not give up. Another bag will be made (maybe not quite so huge this time, perhaps a tiny purse, and I don't mean purse in the American sense as in 'huge holdall' but the kind of ickle pritty thing you use to keep small coins in), and we might even try a spot of hand-felting in a bowl of very hot water, just to get a feel for the skill.


And the bag that was created is a beautiful bag. That has been decided. Those of you who called it a work of art, a superb example of shibori, a sculptured piece, you have my sincere thanks. Without your generosity, that bag might have gone out wretchedly into the night, thinking it was not fit to live. Instead it will be loved and cherished. And it will at some point be decorated with Celtic interlacements to make it even lovelier.

It's not white by the way, though it does look like that in the pictures. It's a very pale green, exactly the colour of glacier melt water. And it's a roving so soft that it separates if you glance sideways at it. (Boy, have I had some practice in fusing two broken ends together...)

Oh I solved the problem of unwinding it from the big ball, by the way. Apparently it is triple-plied. Darn, if I'd known that at the beginning, I could have made the bag much faster, with all three plies and a much bigger circular. Do they usually wind these rovings in triplicate?

Now, to progress. The self-designed smock-thingy is progressing finely. Finished the front this morning.




Even sewed the pocket flaps into place immediately, because that's one of those jobs you hate doing, isn't it? Thought I'd better get it out of the way pronto. Now galloping up Sleeve 1, so as not to run out of steam before the project is done. 3/4 length for the sleeves, with big moss stitch cuffs.


It's kind of fun making something exactly the way you want. Rather like building your own house, only I don't think I could ever decide where I really wanted each room, each corner, each door or window to be. I'd always be thinking afterwards that I could have done it differently. But with this sweater it should be OK. I worked out what was needed, and then put it into practice.

The next of these practical projects will concern a much-loved jacket bought decades ago and worn so much that it is now starting to fall apart. I'm simply going to copy it, dolman sleeves, amazing colour work and all. (Listen to her, confident isn't she? Oh she's riding for a fall....)

But no more of that for now. Tomorrow we dash over to merrie England so as to be at Woolfest in Cumbria when the doors open at 10 am on Friday. Hoping to meet Ambermoggie there, and maybe Anne as well. Richard is coming too, and we're going to take in Hadrian's Wall on the way, and on the way back, a haunted inn in a haunted village (those of you who live on the Durham/Northumberland border will know exactly where I'm talking about). Full report on ghosts seen or not seen when we get back on Saturday.


No, no, of course I'm not going to buy anything! I'm just going to look, OK? Just look. I can hold back, I can restrain myself. And anyway, we're travelling light with only cabin baggage, so I couldn't possibly...

Now - remember that time I asked DH to photograph a teeny tiny inscription on my lovely circular needle from Ed Jenkins? And he said it was no different to photographing ants? Well, since so many of you pleaded for this one, here, for your eyes only, is a rare glimpse of some French ants,busily engaged in milking aphids for their daily pinta.






There now. Doesn't that make your evening?

Later.

Quite forgot to say - as I was trying to watch Wimbledon today (rained off again, it must be late June), I thought to myself that this was a very good way to get some knitting done. And then I realised that that was the very thought with which I had commenced blogging! So it's almost my blogversary! Started on July 9 last year (the rain had extended Wimbledon into a third week then, will probably do so again this time round), so PRESENTS are going to be in order for some readers. Will think about it over the weekend and post some tempting details before the great day.

A year. Well, well well. What an amazing difference it has made. The friends found, the laughter shared, the information garnered. And twelve months ago we didn't know each other!

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did till we blogged?