Lots of presents

Decided it was time to post some pictures of the spinning/crochet/knitting type gifts i got, especialy some from my trip to wingham. First up we have the stool that goes with the spining wheel. I know bad picture but it is such a dull day that that was with all light that was available.



we also got some merino tops in various colors, these are going to be mainly made into blankets. The bright pink is for sophie stuff.



Bamboo to play with, and a silk and merino mix that is in greens, blues and greys. A sister has already decided this is to make a scarf for her to wear.

















Niddy Noddy and recycled sari silk. on the right we have knitting/crochet presents from Si's familly, The bag was just the right size to hold all needles and hooks, plus things like scisors tape mesures etc so they are all now happily living together.












Last two photos, soph having been caught with the chocholates befor breakfast, and trees on christmass eve.
well that was all the wool type things.











I was also good enough to get a nice collection of candles and smellys and all in flavours that I like so my room has been smelling of lavander, cineman, and sanctry spa stuff all week.

happy Christmass

I would like to wish anyone who reads this a happy christmass

Night Away

on Thursday I was taken away for the night for a bit of pampering. (It only took fouryears and splitting up).we went to a lovley hotel that was set in its own grounds so we even got some walking done. this was one of the trees in the grounds, it looked great at night, light by the stars but this was taken the next morning.




This is a scarf I have finished useing the giant hook from Harrogate

mittens

ta da
my first spun, dyed, and made item. they do need a couple more rows at the bottom but they are warm and soft.
and also the wool in a nice ball from befor i started work on the mittens.

I will post pictures of the lovley things I got at wingham after christmas as with them being presents not want to post them befor, silly isnt it as i went and chose the colours etc and they are now sat next to the wheel but it dont seem right.
I also need to stop eating as much the last two days seem to have been full of food with various partys etc. but this has also ment spending time with great people.

Thursdays post

On Thuesday I woke up to a proper frosty winters morning which did look very pritty
Although then finding my car was a block of ice, did start me on thinking the morning wasn't quiet as nice if you had to go out.




Thursday evening afterwork I decided to play with some kool aid. I didnt get the colour I was going for (hoping for a dark pink almost red) but got this pink/peach colour. It is now drip drying befor it becomes probably a hat or a scarf

my wool

well I am catching up with things from last week so here are pictures of my first atempt at 2ply.

This is my sis who after patiently sitting with hands out,pretending to be a Niddy Noddie for me (mine real one is in santas sack) decided it made a good scarf, well till she decided it still smelt a bit to much of sheep.


This is a close up, I know it still aint perfect but I'm still learning, however any tips will be most welcome.

Holly and the Ivy

well I have had lots to post about this week just no time. So in brief this week their has been broken cars and the fun of getting towed, flooded bridges, that havent flooded for years, the joy of plying, (well trying to). Nights out and peoples birthdays but instead I give you a christmass themed picture of Holly and Ivy

Turkish baths, lots of meals and sophs birthday.

Well this is a very bad picture of soph blowing out her candles on Sunday, its a bit weird how quickly she is growing up, although I think we are all now hoping baby annabells batterys are going to run out soon.
I had another busy weekend but in some ways also very relaxing, after the turkish baths I was proberly a bit to relaxed though even by the time i went out in the evening I was stress free and chilled despite neerly three year olds helping me get ready and throughing frizbys around my room.
Sunday involved going out for a sophs birthday the joys of baby annabell and her pram etc. I also went to watch The Holtzman effect practice, which i haven't done for a while, this was good as i like seeing/hearing them practice, but forgot about the volume level of the band in a small room it hinders talking a lot did give me time to work on the baby jacket a bit more though.

Dawn

well despite my hectic work and often having late nights. I still have a tendncy to wake up around dawn. not all the time just go through periods of doing so, which aint to bad at this time of year, bit nasty in the summer.
However one of the advantages of living in the country is that even in the cold winter when this happens, you get to listen to proper dawn chorus, not just a couple of birds. You can also annoy owls while out in the garden at night by mimicing calls and making them think they have a new friend/enemy.

Harrogate, knitting and stitching

Well although the Knitting/yarn stalls where hidden amongst the stitching i still managed to find some nice yarns and some new toys. there was this nice hemp flower set, I like having something little that I can work on at work - well when I get a free minuet. The big cone was more of a I could do something intresting with that type buy.



This baby pink lace weight kid mohair is for my soph she wants gloves like her mum, and will also get a scarf as she only has didy hands.







This is kid mohair and think it was marino 2 ply, along with a little hook this is going to make a nice something, it hasnt quiet decided yet so is just sitting on the table looking lovely, and making me think of rivers.





And this lace weight silk is to be come a shawl,










Finaly, well last picture, a big hook for big wool scarfs for the winter :-), For reference the green and white hook is a 15mm.

Now I just have to finish everything on my todo/christmass project lists and then I can get out my small hooks and play with thin yarns.

pictures

this is an extremly bad photo of some wrist warmer type thing that a sister is now proudly wearing, no wear near as nice as fetching but a lot quicker and easyer.

and this is a lovely autumanl picture with lovely reds.

8 day week.

I need an extra day to the week,
preferbly a weekend day, maby a bit like sundays where with not a lot open. this way I may find the time to finish WIP, walk the dog, go watch the kite's (bird veriaty), find a flat of my own, do the hundred and one things on my to do list. This would also be the day for me to say no to people and opt for me time. Whats brought on this, a lack of free time. I know my working week is hecktick that comes with the line of work, but at the moment i carnt find a completly free day in my diary, or half day for that matter. this is also why blogging is so hit and miss, that and at present sharing a computer with a 14 year old who thinks the world will end if she is seperated from msn for more then five minuets.
ok rant is over,

Rocky Horror show

First of all sorry their are no pictures yet, they do exist but on a sisters camera.
It was a great night though, Si had not quiet realised how much the audiance joind in at times, and although he ended up as rifff raff did say he would go for a frank n furter costume next time :-). It was also a great cast, and having been a few years since I last went it was also a different set wich made a nice change.

fire

fire
Originally uploaded by snaterkat.

well I had another busy weekend, which unfortunatly ment no walks in the woods. We did have a big bonfire on sat night, and some nice fireworks, unfortunatly also a lot of 14 year olds who where noisy all night. I also watched a lot more fireworks driving to newcastle on Sunday for a gig. I love fireworks I always have, although these days its only the displays that have any of the big nice ones not the ones for home.

Pumpkins and flowers

I know it was yesterday but thought we would start with a nice pumpkin, on the theme of delayed postings. I had a good weekend full of lovely things. Like walks by the river in Durham, which is very pretty at the moment with all the leaves changing colour. A continetal market with lots of lovely food and smells. Going out for Hanahs birthday, and of course riding. One day I will start Blogging when things happen not just briefly 3 days later.
also thought I would share these lovely flowers with everyone.
On a more crochet note, the black gloves for sister are in the to sew pile, there are several half done scarfs and the dpns are still where they where a week ago.

House Pictures

as promised here are some pictures of the gingerbread house.



the decoration was a joint effort between myself sisters and our niece.
this may help explain things like the thing that is ment to be a lion on the side of the house, cats and flowers on the chimny.
The house also tasted very nice. Soph perticaly loved being alowed sweets befor bed. although her mum was again cursing me.

Ginger Bread House

Well I have built the lovely house that Knit nurse sent me, which was fun bar the slight incident of hot melted suger meeting the finger. Me ada and soph then had lots of fun decorating it. There are lots of pictures but at the moment I can not find the cable. but they are on the way.

twinkle twinkle

Little star. one thing that i love about being back at my mums is how clearly you can see the stars. Well when it is not cloudy.
As a girl I could name a fair few of the consterlations and although this knowlage is now a bit hazy it is great being able to see some of my favourets. It is also well up on my list of reasons not to get a house in a light polluted city. sorry no pictures of stars as my phone camera isnt up to that.

sp's and dpn's

well the mini sp thatKnit nurse got me involved in. Strangely my parcel was from knit nurse here are the lovely things it contained
I just hope the person that I sent a package to likes what she got as much as I liked mine.

As people know I mainly crochet but occasionally do pick up two needles and knit. This tends to lead to a lot of cursing - one needle is a lot easier to control. But with everyone knitting Fetching and with how lovely and nice a fit the ones that arrived in my package where I decided to give it a go. I have come to the conclusion DPN's are evil in the highest needle like form, I will however persevere although it may be a round at a time with more pleasant spinning/crochet like activities happening in between, so may have them done next year. ;-)

Catch up

Well its been ages since I put up a proper post. Partly as I have been avoiding electronic communication - I have had several of those pressing send with out thinking moments. I have also been busy with work and life, I need to learn how to say no that or invent a new day of the week.

For those asking for pictures here are my fleece's
this is the Jacob he is called Ben don't know why just seems right, sorry he is all rolled up but, you get the idea.

This is the Hebridian, these are really cute sheep all didy and black, look a bit like they have dread locks.
I am now waiting for a time when everyone is out, or more likely to happen first I'm back in a place of my own, to wash them. This is growing in urgency as I get more addicted to my wheel, it also Leads to a growth in the size of my stash with out much of it getting used.

well on to other things, I'm only getting out with Chloe on a weekend, as it tends to be dark by the time I'm back from work. But it was lovely to go out today and see all the leaves changing colour, and watch some of them dance to the grown. I carnt wait till the paths are covered in a layer of leaves to crunch through.

A good day at work

Is coming home with two fleeces, complete with straw.
sorry another short post, but I'm a busy girl :-).

wind the bobbin, wind the bobin

well I finaly have my first bobbin of wool ;-)
I admit it aint brilliant but its a start and sorry no photos yet.
i think it is thinking of geting made in to some thing felted maby a bag, but that will have to wait as i have caught this sitting spinning bug badly- very theraputic after a long day at work, isnt helping me get a decent nights sleep though.

super snaterkat

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Rain rain go away

well after a lovely walk at the cost yesterday, starting at Tynemouth, and eventually ending at Ring A Rosie.Hannah explains more, and yes I did buy more yarn but it is all (well mostly) for things that are on my to do list for other people.
Today the nice walk with the dog ended up in a torrential downpour, in which we both got very wet, did find some very unusual mushrooms though.

Although it was good that it has rained as it put out the fire that me and Dennis started under the Gorse bush, we decided it was the easiest way to kill it, especially as neither of us likes the idea of chopping it back, its a bit to spiky.

Cuddly cows

these are in the field across from the house. Aren't they so cute, and cuddly. Juniper - pony in the next field has fallen in love with the two babes (not got a photo of them yet). She stands at the edge of the field looking for them

We all know frogs go la-dee-da-dee-da, They don't go mmmm, mmmm, ahh!

Sorry bits of that song mixed with five little speckled frogs have been going round my head all week. Looking for the proper words so I could at least go round with the right words, I found five more verses, worms and bears and all sorts.
Keeping on the frog theme whilst working last night I came across a frog (little frog) trying to climb/jump up the curb - it knew it should be on the pavement not the road. It was funny to watch but in the end I helped him/her up the curb. It then started hopping along although now it didn't need to jump high it was jumping quiet high but not traveling very far, poor thing it had obviously had the same kind of day as I had, sorry no pictures of the little frog was to busy laughing, and having coworkers look on in horror as I picked it up and put it on the pavement.

Pine cones

How do they know, how can they in their little pine cone state know when to be open and when to be closed. I know they don't all get it right but the woods the last couple of days I have seen barely any that where open but the ones I have collected for the fire that are indoors are all open - how?
Well on to other things here are some pictures of the wood's in the rain.

isn't it pretty with all the little rain drops just sitting there, almost as good as in the winter when the snow sits on the branches.

and I know its rain not dew but I love spiders webs when they are like this or frosted on the cold autumn mornings.

Happy, busy weekend.

First things first
Happy Birthday Helen - Hope you have a lovely day.
It was really nice to go out with some of the knitters sociably for Helen's birthday
well aswell as Helens birthday iv also had a very busy weekend - well mainly Saturday. It was full of fun things but carn't say to much on here.
I also had an interesting drive home with my niece last night, she was very scared with it being so dark and foggy this with her being overtired meant having to keep stopping to carm her down it was the longest it has ever taken me to get to Durham from Darlington.
I did however manage to round the weekend off by falling of conan (a horse) this morning while doing some cross country. It was completely my fault having gone into the first jump wrong let alone the second of the double, and I have no idea how I stayed on over the second but all credit to conan he jumped them both with me half way off, before we stopped and I gracefully hit the deck.

and here's the lovely conan that was honest enough to still jump the jumps.
The main lesson is not to go riding when you haven't had much sleep.

finnished

After cursing lot's and a promise of never letting my nice pick wool for herself. The jumper is finale finished and in one piece.
this is also the first crochet I have put up here, which is bad as that was one of the reasons I started this blog.
well here it is being modeled by my lovely nice.




Now it's finished Im using the left over yarn to make her a scarf. I decided to do a tunisian one as I haven't done this for a while, and its so much easier then crochet with this stuff.

Mushrooms

This must be a good year for mushrooms I carnt rember seeing this many for ages, or it could be living back in the country. I'm one of these people who would love to be able to pick mushrooms knowing they where safe. Nothing tastes quiet as good as fresh wild mushrooms. I also dont want to kill people though, I will however shair some pictures of the veraity of mushrooms their are about at the moment. or maby just one - everythings being slow

The Allotment

I got to go to see the allotment tonight , with some members of one of the groups I work with.
The Allotment is a production that is touring at the moment and was on at one of Gatesheads community center's, I'd heard about it earlier in the week but thought I wouldn't be able to go. So was glad that I could.
The production was about a group that had been brought together to work on an allotment as part of someone's research project into therapy's, the group where all people who had fled their own countries due to war's and where now living in the UK, some still trying to get permission to be here. It was extremely interesting and really well done, and although some serious issues where covered it still had funny side to it, not like some that get to bogged down in the heavy things, even the two girls I was with enjoyed it. Although learning that wars I can remember happening, are now taught in history lessons did make me feel old.

On a not work related note my spinning is getting beter I now seem to have everything at the right tension and am not over or under spining. Well not as badly

My minstrel

Well after being away with work and internet being down here at last is the picture of my wheel.

I know it is a lousey picture but its a picture. I will post a better one when I take a better one, this may however not be till i have rearranged the room.

I had a lovely day going to get her, it was pritty countryside and nice friendly people.
I know it is not the wheel I set out intending to buy, but after having a play on lots of different wheels this one just felt right, and its brown. Photos of the building process are on flickr, I carnt be bothered trying to upload them all.

Now all that is left is to start useing it, as with being away, and oiling the leather this weekend is my first chance.

tired

well its been a long few days, I got my spinning wheel on sunday(pictures to follow). I got back to durham at 9 and proceded to put it all together.
The last three days i have been away with a project team that i'm just starting to work with, and though it has been a lot of information, it has been great fun and i loved it, i'm looking forwards to my fridays.
I have also recently been going through a brown thing, this though seems to be a good thing as brown aparently is a grounded rooted colour. This fit's in with me being back home and also with me being me again and rembering who I am.All good.
and also after coming back in tonight after work, and not me three days away no,that finished at 3pm the normal work sessions i have. I was greated by this my sisters new man I think she has made a good choice. well maby tommorow you will see but she has a talking Jack sparow

Spinning wheel day

Yes today is the day I go and get my spinning wheel, its very exciting. As this is the last bit of my birthday I thought I would show some of the other lovely presents I have got.

this is the lovely Lip Barm from one of my sisters, it smells so chocolately, although did have a very lucky escape from my brother who thought it was real.

This was some lovely soft wool to add to my stash, not shore what it will be just yet, other then I want to knit with it not crochet, and glittr and her mum must be slightly psychic, as I have just started on a brown phase.

I also got some lovely wooly stuff and some Kool aid from Han, there are no pictures though as the kool aid is in hiding from my brother, he actually drinks the stuff, one of my sisters is also planning on seeing what happens when you use it on hair.

One last picture of the reason not much crocheting has been going on.