Hickory Pill

2007-02-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

by Monty Python
album: Monty Python Sings (1991)
(spoken)
The most interesting thing about King Charles the First
is that he was 5 foot 6 inches tall at the start of his reign,
but only 4 foot 8 inches tall at the end of it.
Because of...
(sung)
Oliver Cromwell
Lord Protector of England (Puritan)
Born in 1599, Died in 1658 (September)
Was at first (only)
MP for Huntington (but then)
He led the Ironside Calvary at Marston Moor in 1644 and won
Then he founded the new model army
And, praise be, beat the Cavaliers at Naisby
And the King fled up North, like a bat! Toward the Scots...
(spoken)
But under the terms of John Pimm's Solemn league and covenant,
the Scots handed King Charles the first over to...
(sung)
Oliver Cromwell
Lord Protector of England (and his warts)
Born in 1599, Died in 1658 (September)
But, alas! (Oy vey!)
Disagreement then broke out (between)
The Presbyterian Parliament and the military who meant
to have an independent bent and so,
the second Civil War broke out
And the Roundhead Ranks faced the Cavaliers at Preston Banks!
And the King lost again, silly thing (stupid git)
(spoken)
And Cromwell sent Colonel Pride to purge the House of Commons
of the Presbyterian Royalists, leaving behind only the rump Parliment.
Which appointed a High Court at Westminster Hall
To indict Charles the First for...
(sung)
TYRANNY!!! (Ooohhh!)
(spoken)
Charles was sentanced to death
Even though he refused to accept
That the court had...
(sung)
Jurisdiction.
Say goodbye to his head!
Poor King Charles, laid his head, on the block.
(spoken)
January 1649
Doooooown came the ax. (gasp)
And in the silence that followed, the only sound that could be heard
was a solitary giggle, from...
(sung)
Oliver Cromwell
Lord Protector of England (Ole!)
Born in 1599, Died in 1658 (September)
Then he smashed (Ireland)
Set up the commonweath (and more)
He crushed the Scots at Worcester
At beat the Dutch at sea in 1653, and then
He dissolved the Rump Parliament
And with Lambeth's consent, wrote the Instrument of Government,
Under which Oliver was Protector at last!
The End!

Writing in capitals only ..hum?

2007-02-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

Holly ( who loves to look up these things ) tells me Cromwell only wrote in capitals and she now thinks he'd have used green ink had it been available .This is all part of his mania , David Starkey is pretty sure he had manic-depression and or bi-polar syndrome. There is a wonderful scene in "To Kill A King" in which he storms down a long room and shouts at the King then slams the lid of his virginals down ..on 2x this looks like he has just Madge's fingers in the lid ( Madge being His Maj. ) We love to imagine what else he might have done ...thrown his 10 volume set of Romantic novels on the fire ..yes honestly he had them but more in the Romantic lit as in Knights and maidens stuffie .

I'm walking in the air"...

2007-02-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

I'm ...on the same stuff as Marianne's friend Gretchen at the dentists only I'll never have tooth-ache again or my stutter ...whoa go Henrietta !

Okay who knows this man ?

2007-02-16T03:33:00.000-08:00

Holly found this in today's "Independant" ..a quality paper not a tabloid gossip rag .

Pearl Guarantee

2007-02-16T03:29:00.000-08:00

We found a box of Pearls at the charity shop and then discovered this in the guarantee. It would be sad if it was'nt so funny.

E.Bay win..

2007-02-16T01:12:00.000-08:00

Sadly not much but I want to compare it to Rowan's "Damask" ..I got it for a snip anyhow.

Favourite Persian Poppies

2007-02-16T01:06:00.000-08:00

Test no 2

2007-02-16T01:04:00.000-08:00

Testing Blogger picture loading..

2007-02-16T01:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry about comments ..

2007-02-11T23:30:00.000-08:00

I can't tie up the comments to the right mail-box as Holly modernised this for me ..in fact I prefer to stay on my Wordpress blog at the moment ..http://hickory2.wordpress.com/

Up-date...

2006-12-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

which means that both blogs will be in action but mainly wordpress .

" My Song is Love Unknown".

My song is love unknown
My saviour's love to me ,
Love to the loveless shown ,
that they might lovely be.
O who am I ?
That for my sake
My Lord should take frail flesh and die.

Samuel Crossman.

After commenting on the lack of spirituality at Christmas on Wordpress I thought I'd post my favourite Hymn .

Testing

2006-10-29T11:44:00.000-08:00

Have left blogger for Wordpress...

2006-10-29T05:54:00.000-08:00

http://hickorypill2.wordpress.com/

We are only just learning .

Testing Firefox...

2006-10-29T02:58:00.000-08:00

AGAIN!!!!

2006-10-29T02:47:00.000-08:00

2006-10-29T02:37:00.000-08:00

Testing Firefox speed...

2006-10-29T02:33:00.000-08:00

Post rejected by java...brain-aches?

Testing Firefox speed.

2006-10-29T02:29:00.000-08:00

Testing...

Testing speed using Moxilla Firefox....

2006-10-29T02:25:00.000-08:00

Seems to be faster than Internet Explorer posting on Blogs...hooray!

And so to bed..

2006-10-29T01:10:00.000-08:00

Holly goes to bed happy in a kid mohair cardigan courtesy of T.K Maxx . Meanwhile Mum takes to bed her joyous bags of half-price "Tapestry" from her L.Y.S . I have no idea why they cut the price on a new yarn but I got a pack of Vintage and a blue mix . Heaven forbid I should follow a pattern these days so they will end up as part of shawls but I am happy. Holly wasn't interested in either in particular so they are all mine. They had "Roma" too but when I saw it was something like 88% viscose I wanted to laugh as these are promoted as the classsy end of Jaegar .Viscose goes hard and that is a fact .The only yarn that has a high percentage that stays soft is Colinette's Zanzibar or Shimmer 5.

What not to call your child.

2006-10-27T02:46:00.000-07:00

In my husband's Govt. job he gets to meet some of life's less fortunate and often lacking educational opportunities. He comes home with sad stories mostly but yesterday he asked me this "If your surname was Pipe what is the worst name you could give your child?"I couldn't think of an actual name .It turned out to be Duane which has to be one of the daftest moves you can make .Kids get bullied and laughed at for the smallest reasons ,what were they thinking?

Henriette gets a new outfit.

2006-10-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

She wants a Russian hat now.

Mark Steele on "Marie Antoinette"....

2006-10-26T03:17:00.000-07:00

If any of you have yesterday's "Independant" do NOT miss Mark's article on the film about Mrs Let Them Eat Cake ..or rather the dreadful film about her. Many a historical film seems utterly ridiculous to me.They are often bonkathons and the T.V series about Charles IInd was hideous.
I have to say that the series we just watched "Divided by the Sword" was un-pretentious not trying to overdo it's remit.The scenery was rather good , in fact better than that in "Cromwell " in which it is obvious Whitehall is cardboard .I just don't know a funnier comedian and historian .He isn't being critical for the sake of it I know he is really insulted by this rubbish and it's patronising of an audience.Maybe us "girlies" really just want lots of attractive men and pretty dresses ...excuse me but I want the facts as Cromwell would say "Warts and all".

A few of the silks..

2006-10-25T23:56:00.000-07:00

spread out they give a better idea of the subtle colours.

Answer for Amber..

2006-10-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry Amber didn't notice your question "What shawl?" I am just knitting a rectangular version of Kaffe's "Persian Poppies" .A bit like the one Holly is sitting on in some of my photos which is "Jewelled stripes it's going to have a huge amount of colours. I'll never stop with his patterns I am sure.I want to do a "Stars" next but I hate three strands a row .

June Munro's shop url....

2006-10-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/only-Roses-Vintage-Textiles

Two exquisite little parcels..

2006-10-25T03:05:00.000-07:00

From June Munro of E:Bay ( used to be Colourspun yarns) . I will find her new name and post it .The screen doesn't do them justice as a lot are silk and really shine .June's colours just blow me away and I always have trouble thinking what to do with them .This time they are perfect for the shawl I am working on .

Mum says "Well spread it out" ...

2006-10-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

all I can think off is the precariously balanced baskets .Would she have saved me or the stash ? I am modelling this for her I'd rather not go out in shawls yet . As she has white hair I can always say "Come along now Granny the home is expecting you back" .

Sea-cape no 2 .

2006-10-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Not too bad Mum.

Mum's who need help work in this mess and knit rather a lot of these

2006-10-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

Shawls? But you can still love them because you can make an even bigger mess with paints.

Adorable Mums buy you a Betty Jackson coat and let you have it two months before ...

2006-10-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

your birthday.

Very evil mums ..

2006-10-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

knit this six years ago and still think you'd wear it ..

Slightly evil mums ..

2006-10-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

make you model their Donegal Tweed shawl and pretend you'd go out in it.

Very Good Mums ..a fairy story..

2006-10-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Buy lacework from T.K.Maxx because they are no good at it.

Terrible cover ,happy memories..

2006-10-21T01:37:00.000-07:00

Great republican that I am I adored this book at 13.I read it over and over. I had a bet with Holly that I could remember the first page and it arrived this morning ( E:Bay) and I could .It is about Charles IInd's youngest sister , who he adored.The first part is her life with her exiled mother and the poverty and political struggles . Then The Restoration .Sadly she died at 26 some think poisoned by her husband The Duke of Orleans.It has good reviews by the T.L.S and H.E Bates amongst others ,I could not remember if the writing was good ,the research certainly was excellent. A little like I think The Queen should apologise to Ireland for the Potato Famine etc I think we the British people should remember Minette's mother with a memorial and apology for the treatment she received here. A park would be lovely .She was a human being and an extremely brave one . Bygones can be helped to be so by these gestures. I wonder how many other women ill-treated in history could be honoured . All poor women were ill-treated by not having equal rights etc .I think given a different education Henrietta herself would have been a champion of women's rights .She was lucky to be treated far better than most Queen consorts as she was loved and adored .

A little treat..

2006-10-21T01:31:00.000-07:00

Sent for the new Colinette book .It has four patterns for the new D.K .Blogger is slow to post or I'd put up another.

Polish Bloggers in England...

2006-10-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

If you look at the wooden furniture Holly is playing with please lock up your husbands , partners in a shed and send in wood and tools. When they have made sufficient to sell on your own E:Bay site let them out.I love this stuff , not nasty old plastics , beautiful wood .I no longer see my Polish friend and have not a lot of idea if such lovelies are still made but I also adored these little shoes with brass buckles she had . When I talk about the poor quality of shops in our town that includes toy shops and we do have a large Polish community.Holly is no longer this age but we have kept the furniture.

Friday is going to town day..

2006-10-20T01:16:00.000-07:00

I try to avoid it in the week and especially Saturday.We did go to T.K Maxx last Sunday and found Holly's birthday coat. There is very little of interest in town now except bookshops. I remember with great affection a now boring st. that is very historical that I haunted at Holly's age because it had a large independant bookshop and two art-shops. We have to go to Hobbycraft for art-supplies now which I find boring and revolting.We had a new chocolate shop open last week .You could not have asked for a more boring ,tasteless design.It looks like a warehouse to me.I would hope for something out of "Chocolat" I suppose but this is a stainless steel horror. No individual chocolates picked up with tongs.To make it worse several spotty , gormless looking staff in no uniform .Why not a nice gingham cotton with a lace apron and best of all a hat . They are only out-done by the repulsive staff at the Mac cosmetics counter who wear hardly anything play rap and giggle like morons. What I wouldn't give to see Elizabeth the Elizabeth Arden girl on the counter at Boots when I was a teen .She wore a French pleat a uniform and perfect make-up. I wore Biba and looked like a Vampire more than a vamp but she looked so wonderful. The Yardley lady also had class .I tried to ask some poor dip-stick about Guerlain last week .The poor lass knew nothing .I love some of the names I think they now have one called "Insolence" doesn't that say it all. So much for "Jicky" , "L'heure Blue" or "Mitsouko" .I wonder when "Tart" ,"Trollope" or Whore" will become perfume names ..won't be long.

School work abandoned

2006-10-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

Holly had enough of books today and decided to knit Minette a cardigan and leg-warmers.

Plaid is nearly finished..

2006-10-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

only the collar to go then I have an alpaca/silk shawl half made.After that I'm free for a bit and might try socks as there is a pattern in "Vintage Knits" or "Yorkshire Fables" that takes normal needles .

Treated myself..

2006-10-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

To this book yesterday .You might be thinking "the mad fool can hardly knit lace" .I know but the one on the front looks easy and the long version Holly has decided she wants as a Wedding coat as she wants a winter wedding.
We also spotted a boxed set of an old B.B.C series called "By the Sword Divided" about The English civil war .It must have been made in the 1970's so looked like "Upstairs ,Downstairs" meets "Blackadder" . It wasn't too bad so we watched five solid hours .At least they tried hard to deal with families who were divided by being on opposite sides to each other ..not something so likely in The American civil war I suppose ? We could only recognised one actor who also has played Sherlock Holmes .The actor playing Rupert kept letting his German accent slip ,the King had lost his Scots one .The best performance had to be the really mean Roundhead who was all New Model Army and no messing. A real meanie ...the poor Queen got the usual "Papist Whore" treatment throughout without anyone toning it down .I really hope that the entire country except The King didn't insist on calling her that . The atmosphere of the times seems to indicate that even royalists felt free to throw the expletives no matter the Queen was a Catholic . I want to get in the ring on her side and ask "how happy would you be called that you bullies". It seems worse after reading my book the poor woman ( married at 15) was terrified that a mob would break into her chapel and murder her at prayer.A feeling she felt more strongly because her father had been stabbed for being too nice to Hugenots ...sigh .Not a "win,win" situation exactly and no wonder a lot of royals come across as bonkers.Even now we have the law whereby a Monarch can't marry a Catholic ...how mad is that?
I shall finish the series today as I knit the dread "Plaid" then hunt down some "Luxury Tweed" I have to knit this "Bed-Jacket" ..cardigan to us.

I'm still knitting..

2006-10-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

but it's a "Plaid" jacket for Holly that I find very dull. I cast on a "Silk Mountain" capelet today just to break the monotony . I am able to dive into my stash to add other deep violets such as some wildly vivid "Hanna Silk" . I just gaze at piles of wild colours and want to do things to them . I read a wonderful quiz on Jane Thornley's site ...link on Gill's ( Woolly Workshop) site.I could ogle Jane's site for hours. I have a skein of "Fandango" that is so fabulous ..like a rose bush but I think it is raspberry colourway.Anyhow It's inspiring something because it is so gorgeous and soft.

Being a woman in the 17th century..

2006-10-11T02:20:00.000-07:00

Cherry has made me think of the things I find most horrifying after reading about Charles Ist's Queen. The most horrifying was her first birth which was so bad it was a case of save her or the baby and the shock of the Doctor and courtiers that the King begged them to save her. That he expressed no desire to have a son first was pretty amazing too. But no member of Parliament was a woman so when they decided she should be deprived of the right to see The Prince of Wales men had decided that . When she was declared a traitor , men had decided that too. Her love of the King could not be understood by such people or her love of her children.She was not just a breeding machine. She seems lucky to have had a husband who allowed her to act because woman who did were labelled as whores. In fact when she needed help the Catholic Church dominated by men abandoned her , her sons don't seem the greatest help either.That is the life of the most " important"woman in England so we are now looking for a book about the life of the average woman...dying in childbirth seems quite a good option except for the child's sake.

Cherry has tagged me so...

2006-10-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

Five things feminism has done for me...
1) Voting
2) Property rights
3) Like Cherry the right to work if I wanted to and I don't.
4) Again like Cherry ...trousers ,what a liberating joy .I manage to find high waist still because low-rise look ugly and so uncomfortable.
5)Being able to stand for election even though again I have no real desire to .

Thanks Cherry that was thought provoking and to be honest I hated leaving out my very equal partnership ..Jeff irons and does housework far better than me but I think the rights I listed are important even if I choose not to use any.

Rosemary keeps the devil out...

2006-10-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

So Holly tells me so my Christmas wreath might be an unusual combination of rosemary, garlic and silver bullets. I half stripped the rosemary bush today to hang a bunch in my workroom as I love the smell. Sadly my lavender is pathetic as I love that most of all. I'd really love some misletoe and was told if I cut a slash in my apple tree and shoved in a berry it might take ? Now I only need to grow a Boswellia ( if that the spelling of the tree with Frankincense) and I'll be a very happy bunny. If global warming carries on I might just get my dream but I'll pass away just as it gets a foot high.

You never expect the Spanish Inquisition..

2006-10-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

So M.I.L leaves the country in March and I relax and feel a prison sentance is over.Just as I am happily looking forward to Christmas she phones to tell us she is coming over in November. Please pray that all planes from Bridgetown suddenly develop technical faults that last until at least January .Nothing that is not noticed before some poor soul gets on of course. Any wealthy Americans can fly to Venezuela and then land in Bridgetown but maybe have to get a boat back ..so no-one is too put out right? Those Americans can have a nice chat with Chavez maybe ,explain about my problems and if he is supplying fuel to Barbados just mention it for me huh?

Help support the Amish victims...

2006-10-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

A lovely blogger has come up with the idea of knitting remembrance shawls for the families of the Amish victims of that terrible shooting. There are quite strict dress codes as I am sure you all know but the details are on her blog.The alternative is to give money to help with posting them .I think I will do that as I know I would find it un-bearable to knit at the moment.These people live in peace with no weapons.They hurt no-one yet this monstrous crime was visited upon them.In their generosity the group will include the shooter's wife as I am sure the community would want. So if you want to help in any way http://asheepinwoolsclothing.typepad.com/

I did wake up ..

2006-10-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

and start the book later in the evening.My knitting kept calling but the book won out.It is the most balanced so far on the subject .Still not quite the in depth book on the Queen I want. Amazon have one listed that is still being written but can be pre-ordered that sounds perfect. I won't order from them as this one was something like £3.00s cheaper in "Waterstones" . Talking to Holly I admitted that I wished I'd bought the biography of Henrietta Maria I had seen in Oxfam some time ago.I found it difficult , at the time , to admit to a near life-long fascination with a royal as I am a republican and it appears Quakers were part of what seems a near conspiracy called Fifth Monarchists . They believed Jesus was the only King and I agree butthe vengeful ,over sober puritanism is repellant. History is a strange thing that repeats itself yet we don't seem to learn much from it . I'd like to think the personal suffering of the King and Queen had bought about a more democratic England and one that learned utter fanaticism like The rule of The Commonwealth was not something we would ever want. Even royals are people so it was nice to see the late Tsar's mother get her wish to return to St. Petersburg . I really think Monarchy is well out of date but our history should be cherished. There are many aspects of the first Caroline court I admire , not least the couple's faithfull marriage. How they managed to give birth to a serial adulterer like Charles 2nd is a mystery.

Slows down knitting..

2006-10-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Treated myself to this today as there are no books on Henrietta Maria in print at the moment. Holly bought herself a cracking book on the history of handbags which I might borrow and post a few pics later. I have been hoping our John Lewis will get in Bebbie Bliss's Cashmere but not yet ..I want to feel something that expensive before I buy. I'd love to say I did lots of interesting other stuff today but I fell asleep on the sofa after starting my book.

I ask you is this evil?

2006-10-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

Having read a blogger suggesting that "Plume" is evil ( don't get me wrong I disagree but am very fond of her).I ask you all to tell me is this "Boa" evil ,ugly and horrible ? I always feel so bad about knitting eyelash yarns that I knit them alongside another yarn.They feel cold and I have seen too many grinning ,preening little child models adopting stupid poses in patterns. But of late I am quite taken with Silky-chic and Firecracker drives me into ecstasies of ooohhhhing. I can't imagine ever suggesting wool ,alpaca, silk, etc are evil .Maybe it's the environmental thing and although I agree it's impossible not to go for shiny .At least I don't drive an S.U.V or I'd be in therapy. I got a huge parcel of half-price Plaid today ......can I find my Plaid pattern book ? I found every other pattern book .I must finish the Frizzante capelet which I have the most vivid purple Hana silk to make the neck band .I think George Bush is evil ,Osama Bin Laden is evil but Plume is just a bit wicked maybe ?

Brother Sun and Sister Moon....

2006-10-04T03:38:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Francis's Day to all ,especially Robert F. Kennedy jr whose hero he is.Who also does his best to care about the air we breathe ,the water we drink and the lives of the animals on the earth.

My muse is having a break...

2006-09-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

Just cast off another chunky lace shawl and have two easy capelets to finish for Holly then I'm lost.I just can't knit some plain cardigan I could buy in town but I have ten balls of a beautiful aran . Any ideas out there? I had all my Rowan books out but I've never really bought Debbie Bliss ones .Rowan have never really done aran except Magpie and Yorkshire Tweed types which are rough and not at all like the wool/silk mix I have .Does anyone know of a free pattern on say Knitty for one of those shrugs that is arms and a bit of back?

Dr Who ?

2006-09-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

Not being a fan I can't say I know the actor who plays him .That said I just watched his episode of "Who do you Think You Are ".It was very moving and thought provoking.I had enjoyed Robert Linsay's greatly with only the usual sick feelings about the generations used as cannon-fodder or working in awful conditions. Today ( and I missed the start) his Scots ancestors were forcibly moved in clearances , bad enough. Then it turns out his Irish/Scots family were staunch Protestants and in fact one an orangeman.The only light was a Catholic relative who had struggled in the Civil Rights movement against sectarianism .I could feel his pain ,finding out I had a bigot of any faith in my family would hurt .But in that dreadful situation it was so very sad. I thank God for a childhood in which my best friend was a catholic another a muslim and another a Jew. Apart from Nazma's dad carrying his prayer mat sometimes, Basia's parents trying to persuade me I'd go to purgatory I never had to think about any of it.Mum would have let me bring a Martian home .We have had some rather nasty racist incidents as a young couple but none lately .Now I hear words like "crusade" on the radio this week and despair when I hear a young man say he wishes to have Sharia law in Britain .I know I want the freedom to be a Christian and I want him to have it to be a Muslim.If Muslims become the majority I still hope we will live under secular law that applies to all citizens.

New shade in Frizzante..

2006-09-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

In fact my perfect colour combination of teals and plums. I bought six which will make a capelet for Holly .I find Silky-chic patterns are useful for it.I will combine it with another yarn or it's a bit wimpy .

Fiber Trends Squirrels.

2006-09-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

"Get Knitted" have the cutest little pattern for squirrels. Gill at "Woolly Workshop" has some gorgeous new Crystal Palce wool for felting ( if you want) with a really cute bag pattern .

Stange but true..

2006-09-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

Yes folks I just found a site that wishes to "Reclaim the nipple". I never knew it had gone away and if it was a site to promote breast-feeding in public I'd understand ..but out on their own in British weather no thanks. There are certain private parts that none of us want to see plonked on the cheese counter as we buy and that sure is one of them. In some societies it's okay to go topless but I'd rather not here thanks.I've often thought clothes are such a mercy , all those attractive yarns , fabrics etc . To let the little poppets out alone we'd have holes in our clothes I guess and they'd get chaffed , sun-burnt etc.Serves me right for reading a blog on crafts with some rather odd links.

Pattern books to go with the new Sirdar range...

2006-09-24T04:53:00.000-07:00

"Get Knitted" have them listed as arriving next week and I must say the baby ones looks adorable. I never thought to ask in my L.Y.S 'cos I tend to go my own way . I keep feeling the raspberry one because it is so soft.I think the whole difference is being all natural .I just wish they had plum and teal. I do like the new Louisa Harding silk/wool too . I ordered two skeins of Noro's new Kochoran no 47 and it was even prettier than it looks in the booklet. I also bought two Silk-Mountains to make a scarf .The jacket I like would cost about £120.00s so I will forget it .I think Kochoran is a good price because of the yardage.

"Sublime" a division of Sirdar..

2006-09-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

I found this yarn in "Jacksons" ( no 2 L.Y.S) today . I was rather pleased as the Rose one is 75% merino , 20%silk and 5% cashmere .No microfibre here which is probably viscose which goes hard .I think it was a good price too much cheaper than Rowan.Too many pastel colours but the rose is to make a shrug for Holly. The yardage on the Kid Mohair is about 125 mtres but it is only £4.25 . It's nice to see competion for Rowan who I think charge a fortune for yarns with very little quality in them R.Y.C range in particular.

Poor little Benjy.

2006-09-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Very sad news about our Benjy who simply could not get a grasp on his bowels so will have to be put to sleep. I don't even want to think of trying again ..but then I said that when I mis-carried and Holly arrived a year later. Benjy was a kitten b.t.w and his breeder made the decision .

The moths celebrate..

2006-09-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

I bought another bag of Mill-ends from Colinette and had at least six new bits for my shawl in sea and sand colours .I got an "Enigma" that is possibly "Mardi-Gras"which Holly adored.The trouble is it is very difficult to knit unless you knit it alongside another yarn .I have learned to love "Silky-Chic" but as pretty as "Lasso" is can't because it catches on skin .So I shall investigate scarf patterns later and have to say it's a fabulous colour .I rather like the "Point-Five" in it as P/F takes the colour well .It's a little heavy but makes fab collars. I supose next weight down is "Skye" .One of the major E:Bay sellers of Colinette has gone and another only takes Pay-pal which I won't have so it's a little annoying.I must go to Whitby next year so I can browse in "Bobbins" .If I could choose a new colour-scheme for Colinette it would involve a petrol blue.I see Rown has pure wool D.K back but it look really boring after "Colinette" although I started my knitting life with the old version .It's expensive compared to the same by "Wendy" ,why pay £1.00 a ball more unless you must have a certain colour?

Blogger drives another soul to Bedlam...

2006-09-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

well nearly , luckily I was so busy reading Mark Steele's article in todays "Indie" that I only swore once and tore my clothes twice. It's all about the sort of parents who would change religion to get little Aubergine into the right school and are startled when forced to meet parents who have never been to Provence. Holly found three books by him so it's a trip to Waterstones again. For the non-English I really don't know if you realise the class system is still up and running and in fact is possibly getting worse.
The paramedic with a blog on Libby Purve's radio show this morning was brilliant too ,very funny.Sitting next to Rupert Everett who is as mad as a Yorkshire tea-cake I felt for him but Rupie was very sweet to him ...from a way other World though. One of Libby's best features is a mix of guests from all walks of life ...not exactly Melvyn Bragg who has caused severe brain damage on several occasions or bored me near to tears with some academic who loves their subject but is only one of two people who understand it the other being currently posting on their blog how terrible all us Clapotis knitters are being so "sheep-like" ..what a compliment !!!

"Spam ,spam,spam,spam"

2006-09-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

Altogether now Python fans...I am soooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of Chinese spam .I think I get 20 a day all trying to sell me sick things .I sent one back with some choice words probably only make it worse .I block them all but back they come.I remember Colin wishing he could innundate their mail boxes maybe with sock patterns or adverts for pyschologists.

6 scanned sections of shawl...

2006-09-17T06:21:00.000-07:00

put together by Holly..about 3/4s of the total.

"But my dear it's the very latest"

2006-09-17T01:34:00.000-07:00

I finished my lacey shawl last night rather as expected it's about 30 stitches less at one end ( don't ask!). I think the asymmetrical look is the thing don't you? I was so chuffed with the fact that the colours and yarn were different every two rows I didn't care.I'm not a planner more a spontaneous nutter . I will post pictures soon ...honestly it is only P.G not X-rated.

Section of no2..

2006-09-16T04:22:00.000-07:00

Thank-you T.K !! I'd be in an asylum if I had to knit this .

Section of Holly's new cardigan..

2006-09-16T04:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to T.K Maxx

Very small section of "autumn"

2006-09-16T04:10:00.000-07:00

I finished this a week ago ..it's a huge rectangle with many more autumn colours.

Section of Shawl...

2006-09-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

I bought in T.K Maxx for £16.99 .It's not cashmere but is 100% wool.I love the colours.

Friday in town..

2006-09-15T23:18:00.000-07:00

I have to go into town at least once a week to do my M&S food shop which is then delivered. Anyhow that was a bit of a chore as the whole dept. has moved around so I forgot a co
uple of essentials.
I had a look at John Lewis's yarn dept but no sign yet of the Debbie Bliss Cashmere I wanted to feel. In fact it is SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO boring. What did surprise me is that I wanted both "Knitting" and "Simply Knitting" this month.One had a Colinette pattern I have wanted but is in "Lasso" .I will knit it in another D.K multi. In fact they were both interesting even from an ads. point of view. I bought Holly "Interiors" for drawing inspiration. She had parted to go to "Waterstones" . Jeff was with me so we looked around a few places we don't usually go .H.M.V had "Cromwell" but hadn't phoned me . Then on the way home we passed T.K.Maxx where I bought Holly two cardigans ,very fine and lacey and at £16.99 great value.If I could knit them I'd be proud as punch.
The deli. was next for some smelly goat's chees and matzos and Anton Berg's chocolate!
We love a film so popped "Cromwell" on ...oh dear ,oh dear ...what can I say it was full of mistakes/lies/stretched the truth . The shouting like a maniac was true .The Queen was a devious little horror who looked very unlike the dance loving , play loving woman she was. Dorothy Tutin was small enough but looked so like Geraldine McEwan that I kept expecting her to say "au resevoir" ( Mapp and Lucia fans will know that one). They seemed to lose a couple of years and if Sir Alec hadn't played the King fairly well it would have been truly awful . Some-one please make a decent film about this period. We also watched Simon Sharma on The Stuarts this week , not a love affair but he comes across as patronising , smug and pompous. As historians go give me Michael Woods and even Terry Jones.

Mum's health..

2006-09-14T05:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the mails of concern.It turns out that she has Shingles ( always loved the sea-side).Anyhow she'll need lots of care and attention but it is a relief ,as nasty as it is that it is not something fatal. Thanks for caring.

Thoughts and prayers with Canadian bloggers.

2006-09-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

This is all the more shocking being Canada .We seen even here to have at least two shootings a week .This casual ability to take away the life of another human being seems that it will never be solved until we smelt all weapons and learn that they were a vile invention by a very backward human race.

Knitting at a constant pace..

2006-09-11T23:46:00.000-07:00

I get about 6inches done of my shawl ..so it should be a couple of weeks then I can start one in my all time favs teal and plum. Then I must knit something , anything, in Colinette's "Morrocco" .Point-Five is too heavy so I guess it will have to be one-zero. I love the jacket on the front of the "Lasso" book but it is impossible to knit and worse I'd melt in the stuff.So here's hoping that rumour of a new D.K is true and soon.If not then maybe "Prism " but it must be that colourway .I hope I might adapt one of the new Noro jackets that is in "Iro" as it's about the same as "Prism".

Firecracker..

2006-09-10T06:05:00.000-07:00

Not a good view but take my word it has square 1940's shoulders and Holly loves it ..hooray ! It is in Venezia F/C and black "Freedom" .Just cast on 52 stitches and cast of four to shape it for the back and two split sides as she won't wear ponchos et voila a bit of velvet ribbon and a capelett is born .

A truly evil mother....cackle.

2006-09-10T03:26:00.000-07:00

Having finished the Jean Plaidy on Henrietta Maria I came to the conclusion I usually do with the not so good but not so awful novels.You just need a certain amount of facts about a character which you then string together with a few words. Ms Plaidy's generation's morality seems to pervade the book , i.e woman gritted their teeth lay back and thought of France .A few bad births and we might all have I guess but I'm betting the nuptials were as enjoyable to the rich as they are now. The whole thing smells of Hollywood with those few couples who are life-long partners and the rest ..well put it about . Anyhow Holly could write this stuff so I have duct-taped her to the word-processor .Anyone think historical novels still sell? Having heard Antonia Fraser's on radio 4 I don't really think she is a much better writer. Note for Henrietta ..honey if you ever did think it was all your fault forget it ...The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre was on your parent's wedding day and those Puritans were looking for a fight .Hope you are dancing your "sin-filled" shoes off in Heaven.

Sirdar's "Organza"

2006-09-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

Couldn't help buying two balls of this yesterday even though I havn't a clue what I am going to do with it.Like "Sari-Ribbon" it wouldn't be soft to wear so I'll use it as a trim .We looked in "East yesterday and they had scarves for £35.00s that were a bit of sheer material with patterns that were just something" like Point-Five"machine sewn on in either stripes or flowers. Then we looked at the knitwear in "Per Una" ..the quality is terrible even the cheapest Turkish yarns would have more body. As mass production knits the yarn must be stretched to it's maximum..one wash and it's probably a limp rag fit to clean with.In reality this yarn is a bit more teal .
Anything stripey reminds me of the French Revolution ( no cheeky I wasn't there) so I have to look at H.B's costume books for a Madame La Farge type item.

Has to be squashed into the scanner now so ..

2006-09-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

looks like I will finish it ! The next thing you know is I'll be going for laceweights and one of Gill's fabulous patterns. A book is on it's way from E:Bay so that will interrupt for a while . I found some Trendsetter yarns on a U.K site yesterday and was about to order a couple when I noticed they cost more than Noro's finest .In fact "Tonalita" is the same mix as Wendy's "Fusion" but twice the price . Kendra's "Matilda Jane" so inspired Holly I ordered the pattern thanks to Ysolda ( the designer) agreeing to a cheque. I particularly love Kendra's colour choices.

Thalia is the bottom ribbon....

2006-09-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

Just using up half balls etc.I am soooooo bad at lace that even this simple one has me gritting my teeth . As long as it's passable I'll be happy.

Translations on the net.

2006-09-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I found a really excellent biography of Henrietta Maria on a German site that allows you to read nearly a whole book for free ! Anyhow I translated it and then spent an hour having Holly in fits . I would have thought German easy to translate but no...every time the word mother was used it was pre-fixed by "nut" .Henny was always "it" never her and King Charles was her "man" not her husband.The names were Jakob , Karl ,Henrich but she was still Henrietta . The best bit had to be when her nut/mother came to stay and they had trouble shifting her back off to France. I learnt more than I wanted to know about the difficult births she had ..a sideways baby in those days ....I got pains just thinking of it .It all got to sound like a blues number when she lost "her man" .
I also found out why Charles 1st is in the same tomb as Henry V111 and Jane Seymour.My sister had visited St. George's chapel last year and was disgusted presuming they had started bunking them up for space .It turns out his burial party put him there because Parliament had a hole dug in the floor for him .It went into more detail than I wanted when a Victorian had opened the coffin to check it was him....he'd been embalmed it appears so was fairly intact . I don't think any bio. will ever be as much fun again.

Sari-ribbons.

2006-09-05T02:48:00.000-07:00

Just got a little parcel ..the orange/magenta one was half price and the navy/purples is new. I love this stuff but it would be too harsh for a whole garment.

For Ruth ..

2006-09-05T01:28:00.000-07:00

also from "Finery"

Finery..

2006-09-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

In more ways than one.This is from a book called that I bought in 1980. Full of dresses made of antique lace , silks and snippets of Liberty's Tana Lawn. I would still wear this stuff .Sadly it gets harder to get old bits of lace etc in charity shops but I have a stack of Liberty print snippets as I made most of Holly's dresses.

So fabulous !

2006-09-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

This is a 19th cen. Russian capelet .It is made by encasing the finest down in little nets ..just exquisite .I am seriously wondering if I could replicate such a thing .

Kaffe's Classics..

2006-09-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Had to make an emergency trip to town as our milkman didn't come yesterday and we have goat's milk. I found a new secondhand bookshop and got "Kaffe's Classics" for £2.00s .There are an awful lot of patterns I have but really big clear charts.Then to our horror we dicovered that half our Waterstones had been sold to a clothes shop so it's boarded up and what is there is such a squeeze.Holly got a fabulous book on 19th century costume and a Susan Hill she's wanted for ages. It used to be a lovely open airy space to browse now it's a "scuse me" cram.

Still waiting for Cromwell to arrive so..

2006-09-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

As it is so long since I saw it I decided to look up reviews on the I.M.D.B .I was amazed at the intelligence as a lot of semi-nuts post on there.I guess it's a serious subject so attracted a different crowd. Some ( most in fact) were very humourous especially about Richard Harris's performance. Gob-smacked amazement that an Irishman would play the guy was common and shared by me .But it's the amount of shouting that got the most comments.All was going well a history teacher wondering why Prince Rupert was like Liberace for example when the nut turned up. This weirdo's whole comment was that the King often looked sleepy and quiet and a bit out of it was because the Queen was a nymphomaniac ( of course he didn't know the word so went into detail we could never know). Is therea porn version going around? Not with Sir Alec rolling around with Dorothy Tutin please .

To be fair..

2006-09-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

this is me circa 1962 ..would I have worn this as a teen ager ...NO !

Last three posts were inspired by the many bloggers whose children no longer want to wear their knits..

2006-09-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

creating a small feeling of useless redundancy and a tear or two...not to mention an outbreak of frogging.

Peace breaks out..

2006-09-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

and a hug as the new Zanzibar capelet is half finished.

Two out of 40..

2006-09-02T05:53:00.000-07:00

Yes she is still willing to wear this silk-garden waistcoat even though it sent her into a coma..things are going well.All capelets are acceptable still so that's another six items.

Peace treaty signed and sealed..

2006-09-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

Yes Holly will still wear this one ....more negotiations to come .

Odd Balls..

2006-09-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

Nothing quite like an odd ball bin at the L.Y.S. I often find better things than in the sales. Yesterday I got four All Seasons balls in a mottled cream and purple ,one in purple and a purple lone Kid Classic . All at half price but when you realise what the full price was it seems a bit steep.
A really lovely knitter and blogger has been so kind to me I wanted to send her something special .I asked what she is short of and she said magenta so I dived into my stash last night . I was also searching for inspiration as I'd like to make a starry night shawl .
Then I notice some of the new Louisa Harding yarns are starting to come in and have to say there is a new Sari-ribbon that is just right .Also Thalia looks lovely .It is a shame the new boucle is such poor quality but it really is weak and tears so easily. I don't think it would be possible to wear a whole garment made from Sari-ribbon unless you enjoy suffering but it is the perfect trim .

More on badly made films and T.V ..

2006-09-01T02:02:00.000-07:00

Holly and I just have the bit in our mouth and are off on this one. The most awful film we own for strange anachronisms is "Jackie ,Ethel and Joan" . After that period dramas like the original "Forsythe Saga" seem to be very bad at leaving out the era in which they are made i.e very sixties hair-styles. This was common but they seem to have a lot more research now. We are waiting for a copy of "Cromwell" to arrive ( which I have seen and hate Richard Harris's performance ) .It will be interesting to see how they deal with costumes .The only help they have are portraits which might be falsified in many ways. Then period furniture etc. If I remember Cromwell is too swashbuckling for my liking and if Prince Rupert was portrayed as he is in history books audiences would have been rolling in the aisles. Hopefully at least the decor will look authentic unlike that at Hickory Hill in J,E and J .There is obvious 1980's stencilling and rag-rolling everywhere. They seem to have Joan wearing late 1960s dresses in the early part of the decade.We are not experts but some things are so obvious. "Cromwell" being a high cost production will try harder I hope but it is ages since I have seen it. There was a series on Charles 11nd here recently which I avoided as it was nothing more than a sex crazed romp with an attractive actor . I hope there was more to the man and such nonsense is just plain boring. There was a pretty good series about Queen Victoria and her many links to other royals in my teenage years that was very good.

The worst film ever made...

2006-08-31T02:29:00.000-07:00

"919 Fith Avenue"...as I had dinner cooking at 3.30pm I was ready for some entertainment as I knitted.I prefer something light if possible. You can't get much lighter than most Channel Five films so we gave it a try. It started off oddly, we couldn't put our fingers on it .We have "Missles of October" which is a filmed play ( at one point the editing forgets to cut out the applause) . That was it , the whole thing was very obviously on set and the script manipulated to make sure there was only one outdoor scene . To make matters worse it was the 1980s so everyone had huge hair , huge shoulder pads and kept trying to adopt Princess Di poses ( except the men!) .Any American with the good taste not to think that our Royals are fascinating , good etc by mere virtue of being born so forgive me. I think it was aimed at Diana fans who loved James Hewitt ...oh dear !.I have slight sympathy for the poor woman but my gut feeling is that she was very ,very lights out .
Even more oddly all the "downstairs" folks were Irish and I don't mean Irish-American ( the actors might have been ). Anyhow the father says "It doesn't do to mix with them upstairs" ..no he didn't tug his forelock .So with all of the working folks of New York why would you have Irish servants ? To make matters worse the poor souls were twee as all outdoors as in Irish villages in "Murder She Wrote" . Them upstairs could have been out of Dynasty they were that awful .They had the required drug addict son ...after what the right-wing nut said about what Kennedy kids do with their money you simply must have one in society. There was some poor actor who when William Devane was busy always got the white-haired Patriarch role . Now that rich ,old men die their hair these guys will be un-employed !

Phyllis Diller on being old...

2006-08-31T02:28:00.000-07:00

"You know you are old when they discontinue your blood type" ..isn't that wonderful!

I just posted on my old blog..rats ! It is easy ...

2006-08-31T02:27:00.000-07:00

as they have the same sign-in.

If you don't have a dream.

2006-08-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Holly doing her forced to pose for Mum smile.Never mind that what she is holding is a bag in Kaffe's "Roman Glass" . There is a tank-top thingy in "Kaffe at the V&A" which I adore.He said it would be easy ..huh! It was agony so it only ever got to be bag-size. But I still dream that one day I shall sit and try again .

Hoping to finish autumn shawl today.

2006-08-30T23:32:00.000-07:00

Then I must think about Christmas gifts I can knit and start my beach shawl. I am hoping to incorporate some pebble sized bobbles and have to think about texture. If you are reading this Jo , I have "Celtic Knits" and the sweater you were talking about is truly exquisite. I prefer to do her fair-isles because cables are almost impossible for me ..very cack-handed .

Time to wash all those knits.

2006-08-30T04:02:00.000-07:00

It's a bright ,windy day here so I have hand-washed about six sweaters so far to hang out ready for chillier days. The capelets are fine at the moment for Holly and I wear Pashminas .It won't be long before I can wear my mostly chunky jackets. I really can't do fine knitting now. Holly is reading a Robert Graves book I found in my workroom when she should be typing an essay but I love it when she reads things I had stuck away for decades .

Sensory overload.

2006-08-29T01:10:00.000-07:00

So many yarns and only one pair of hands.So many beautiful patterns and still only one pair of hands. Gill@ Woolly Workshop has some "Fiddlesticks" shawl pattens that are gaspingly lovely. I am thinking that if I close myself off in the workroom I could do it .I need to concentrate and yet prefer to sit with Holly whilst she is drawing so we talk . The new Noro is not madly exciting except for Cash Iroha being re-introduced. All I have to do is decide what to make before it's next season !

Distance lends enchantment.

2006-08-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

A lovely bank-holiday weekend made all the more lovely by a divide of milage between me amd M.I.L .We used to have to do the rounds , my Mum , Jeff's Mum and have little time for ourselves . I visited mine in the week so it was three days of knitting and chilling .

High up knobs and low ones too...

2006-08-28T00:57:00.000-07:00

A phrase used by working class folk here is "High up knobs" to describe the upper classes. Anyhow it's going slowly at the knob's Palaces to say the least.I think archaeologist's must need the patience of a saint. I'd want a little more than a lot of old foundations.I did manage some rather more exciting knobs and bobbles on my freeform shawl to represent berries .I also did a patch of fair-isle acorns .In fact it is about half-way and that is good because I am itching to start another in a colour combo. I hardly use but Colinette's mixed mill bags almost chose for me ,browns and navy . I am not sure about a theme but a few large bobbles as pebbles maybe?
I found a historical novel on E:Bay about Henny as she is now called at home .It might be rubbish but then again I remember reading every historical novel set during The Civil War as a teenager and some had a lot of research . I remember a favourite being called "Minette" and being about H.M and C1st's last daughter .I shall have to surf some secondhand bookshops. I also had a rather good bio. of Cromwell which stays in my memory as it was in my bag when I was mugged. I well remember the Policeman asking me the contents of my bag .I never carry a small one so it goes like this ,a biography of Cromwell ,a bottle of "Jicky" , a rapidograph ( drawing pen) , a skirt , a purse, a pencil case and some embroidery threads .He was hoping for a make-up bag and a purse no doubt ! Anyhow apart from shock ,injury and an inability to bear being in the dark alone I have got the rest back but it was in 1973 .I can't find the bio. I have never given away a single Kennedy book ,thank-goodness because I'd hate to have to start that collection off again .