O is for

Orange!

I'm not really a fan of the fruit (ask my brother how I drive him crazy with picking the pith out of every single sqaure centimetre of a segment) but I do like the colour. Need proof?

Orange Montage.

Top (l-r): Clapotis 2, Jaywalker, Mystical Creations Yarn, an orange with a hat!
Bottom (l-r): Brigitte cardigan, A purchased fabric top, Probability Tank top, Orangeena jumper.

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Technorati tags: yarn; knitting; ABC Along

Whilst I was away

Not much happened really! I did manage some knitting, but not much. I finished the first "Dimple" sock back home.

Dimple sock 1 - worked toe-up.

It looks better on my foot, but wearing a thick woollen boot sock (even if for a few seconds) is not something I'm prepared to do. Even if it is all in the name of the blog! When I'm whinging about the cold and rain in the middle of February, I'll look back at this post and laugh.

Sewing.

I now remember why I stopped buying the British sewing magazine "Sewing World" - it makes me spend money!

New patterns:

This fabric (below) will be for the dress pattern on the left.

I may make some board or city shorts from this fabric, possibly using the trouser pattern (shortened) on the right. I was inspired by (and therefore hold wholly responsible) Silvia.

I got the fabric from Fabric.com - the first time I have ordered fabric from the States (wish me luck - the order is still pending). The top one is a stretch cotton poplin called "Fiji Spice" and the bottom one is a stretch cotton shirting called "Cocoa Cream".

I'm off to suck an ice cube and dream of the Antarctic.

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Technorati tags: yarn; knitting; socks; sewing; fabric

Preston Montford: a photo journal

Why was I there? See the end of the post.

All in chronological order (I think) with comments where necessary. These don't tell the whole story; mainly because this is a public blog and there are some things I'd love to say, but I know that the people I want to talk about are perfectly capable of googling me! {sheepish grin} Click on any of the pictures for a larger view (some have additional comments).

View from Lyth Hill

With steam train.

Larger Lyth Hill view:

Fenn's Moss Peat bog:

To the right: An OU tutor bravely collecting samples. The day after, another tutor went up to their knee in it! Poor Yoseph!

Carding Mill Valley:

The orange box contains a "Dumpy Level". Like a theodolite, but not quite. It was great fun doing the surveying.

The Long Mynd:

Like being at home! Carding Mill Valley is down and to the left in the picture.

My room with a view:

Having said that I can't blog about people, I should (just in case they pop by) say HI! to Pen, Jon, Tony and Alan who were my group of victims friends for the last two days. And Hi to Eamonn and Mark (assistants to the stars - i.e. me and Pen!)

A few more photos in this Flickr set (including ones of the project site if you've come looking for them). And Tony - your handwriting is still awful and you never said "Goodbye" on Thursday night!

I turned word verification back on, because no sooner had I turned it off I got spammed! Sorry. If you have trouble with the extra typing or you have other problems, email me here (remove the words and replace with symbols where necessary).

EDIT: For Wanda (and everyone else!) I was at the Field Studies Council centre at Preston Montford in West Shropshire. It was a week-long field studies programme in Environmental Sciences from the Open University. Distance learning is great for me because I can study from home and take my time. However, there is a distinct lack of practical skills acquired this way and so the OU organise residential schools at bricks-and-mortar universities and centres like Preston Montford. This was my third resi school in total and my second at PM. The course covered a very wide range of subjects and they are listed here. It was hot (very hot) and hard work (very, very hard work) but it was definitely worth it!

You can all relax now!

I'm back! It was very hot, very hard work but also a lot of fun. I'm going to start reading emails (haven't actually looked yet) and the 518 items in Bloglines.

Photos, tales and gossip will follow when I regain full use of my brain (probably about 6 months from now!)

Mwah - see ya's later.

Everybody's travelling

And that includes me! I'll be standing in a field/in a stream/on a mountain for the next seven days and I don't think I'll have internet access. I'll try and post if I can, but no promises!

In the meantime, learn all about Shropshire here!

A slight bit of information for those not familiar with the Open University's way of working. The normal academic year (in England, anyway) runs from September to about July. However, the OU is from February to October. This has meant that I've done most of my work for my degree during the long, hot days of summer. However, it has been an advantage for crafting coming up to Christmas/my brother's birthday/my birthday.

Whilst I'm gone, I'll turn word verification back on. Since I turned it off, I've not had any really bad spam attacks, but I'd rather have some kind of protection in place when I'm not here watching it like a hawk!

As a parting "gift" I present you with a little sock bag I made for myself:

Yes, I know the toggle doesn't really go with the camo fabric, but I think it's very ME!

EDIT: The pieces I used were an 8 cm radius circle and a rectangle of 44 cm by 24 cm. I used a 1 cm seam allowance throughout. I also used some metal eyelets and nylon cord for the closure.


The black bits are two pieces of elastic I used to keep the double pointed needles together.
For bigger pictures, you know the drill (click, click!).
There are two more photos of the bag here.

And progress on the sock?


Take care of yourselves, and don't do anything I wouldn't do (send all inappropriate jokes to ...)

N is for ...

Northumberland!

As usual, first, the location:

OK, so the first one is a bit cheeky ...

I stayed at a place called Featherstone Castle as part of a school trip. It was one of those "We'll tell the authorities that it's educational, but it's really fun" trips. They don't really do that any more, I don't think. Anyway, these days my old school goes on ski trips!

EARTHQUAKE!!!! Or shoddy camera work. Featherstone Castle done a great injustice by my lack of stillness!

My favourite part of the trip was going to Seahouses and then to the Farne Islands to see grey seals, puffins, and arctic turns. Go to this website here - their photo gallery is amazing!

Montage of pictures (clockwise from top left).
1: cormorants (sp)
2: Seals (trust me)
3: Birds on a Rock
4: Puffin Nests.

Left: Hadrian's Wall and Right: The Tree from Robin Hood: Prince of Theives.

Everyone was incredibly friendly and, as an 11 year old girl, I felt very safe - we were even allowed to go off on our own (in groups of at least three) - something they would never do such a short time after!
As always, click on any of the pictures for a larger view, or go here to view the original photos.

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Technorati tags: Hadrian's Wall; northumberland;

Thank CENSORED for that!

Finished! Finito! Fin! Beendet!

I may have got a little excited with the online translator.

Cup-o-tea

The 2.5 m of yarn I had left over!
Click on any of the pictures for a larger view (if you dare!)

Pattern: Clapotis from knitty.com
Yarn: Louisa Harding Sari Ribbon (90% Nylon, 10% Metallic) in colour 5.
Yardage/meterage: 4 balls of above yarn (66 yds/60 m per ball) less 2.5 m!
Finished size: Approx. 1.25 m by 0.45 m/50" by 18"
Modifications: Yarn substitution and smaller size made
Comments: Still love this pattern! The yarn isn't necessarily something I would have chosen for myself, but I did enjoy working with it. It is scratchy (because of the metallic threads) but boy does it look pretty! For many, many more pictures (including the one my camera took when the tripod fell over!) go here.

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Technorati tags: yarn; knitting;

Proof - if it were needed

That I've been working my little handknit socks off:

Abstract: 241 words
Introduction: 510 words
Literature Review: just under 2000
My sanity? Worthless!

I wouldn't mind, but if I weren't going away on Friday, I'd have a full extra week to have this done. As it is, I've been working twice as long per day as I normally do. After my final check-through on Monday I may very well just stay in bed until Thursday (I do still have to pack!).

If anyone's vaguely interested in my subject area, just drop me a comment and I'll bore everyone to tears - hurrah! Cindy regrets asking, don't you Cindy (mad look in Amy's eye makes everyone back off).

Hum? What's what? What's that purple thing in the picture above? Erm ... no idea what you're talking about! You mean the sock-shaped thing? No, that's not a sock! It certainly isn't a Dimple Sock. Noooooo. No new knitting here. No. I'm all about the science right now. Yup.

And this isn't a better picture of a purple DK-weight sock either. No.

EDIT: The sock-I'm-not-knitting isn't designed as toe-up, but I'm aiming to not-knit it until I get bored/run out of yarn - which ever is the sooner.

The original of the pile o' paper picture is a mega 2080 pixels by 1544 pixels - and you can see the text. So if you're sad bored curious, check it out!

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Technorati tags: yarn; knitting;

Worrying about worrying!

I'm neurotic. If I don't have anything to worry about, I worry that I've got nothing to worry about! I think I was Woody Allen in a previous life! Anyway, ever since the road-trip-that-wasn't I've been worrying about my mum. She has managed (just) another car journey since, but it's all just blegh.

Anyway, I have 2000 words to produce by early next week (plus a 300 word abstract, plus a 500 word introduction) and then get ready for my field trip.

Oh, and it's toooooooo hooooooooot. I never normally say that. My family have always accused me of being a cross between a cat and a reptile. Oi Vey!

EDIT: very little knitting. Too Hot! I'm aiming to finish cup-o-tea (thanks Cindy!) before I go away - it's nylon yarn so it's not too bad to knit with. Oh, and I realised that my finished lace sock is about one inch too short. So the toe's coming out and I'll add a few extra rounds of st. st. I think that's it. Did I mention it's 10 'o' clock in the morning and it's hoooooot. I did? Good!