Back to business

Now that the vacation to England is over and the Yarn Harlot has returned to Toronto, I guess life needs to settle down to normal.

I've made good progress on the Sample Stitch Kimono (SSK) and caught up with the rest of the group. You do one strip in a different pattern each month and I finished the April strip yesterday. Here are all four in all their glory (they haven't been blocked yet, so they're a little curly). I'm really enjoying this project because the strips are all narrow enough that it's easy to rip back if you make a mistake. The patterns are great and just about the time you're sick of one, it's over.

Return of the Yarn Harlot!

The Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, returned to Kentucky last weekend for the Bluegrass Festival of Books. My sister, Kathryn, drove up from Paducah (4 hours) and I drove down from Edgewood (1 1/2 hours) and we met in Lexington at Mom and Dad's house.

We arrived with our copies of her latest book for Stephanie to sign and waited our turns patiently. Through some trick of her obviously super-human brain, she actually remembered me from last year. I was flabbergasted. I took this picture of her with her green traveling sock. Needless to say, I was totally charmed.

Kathryn and I sat outside at a little cafe table for an hour or so, knitting and waiting for Stephanie's talk at 2:00. Then we made our way into the lecture hall to hear Stephanie. Inside the hall, we found Brooke -- who I met last year -- and Diane, from Friendship Spinners. Diane and I talked rabbits and spinning for a while. She was wearing a gorgeous Shetland shawl in the Fibertrends sheep pattern. She had handspun the lace weight Shetland and it was lovely!

Brooke displayed her new fashion trend, the sweater with only one arm and a wristlet. It was actually a beautiful Donegal tweed green wool and the pattern was a cabled hoodie sweater. It's going to look fabulous when it's finished.

Kathryn proudly displayed her Fair Isle Christmas sweater -- which may actually be finished in time for Christmas this year. The white things will be snowmen when she's done. I can't wait until she has to cut the steeks! If that doesn't make a Baptist drink, nothing will. She also sported a new, layered haircut that looked stunning!

Unbelievably, Stephanie talked for more than an hour and, as usual, was both charming and witty. We sat in the front row and ate it up with a spoon.

Afterwards, she signed a few more books and then came back to knit with all of us left in the lecture hall. She knits so FAST with that knitting needle stuck under her arm. I don't know how she does it. Note, Stephanie is wearing her recently knitted Bohus sweater that we've all seen from cast-on through bind off.

Magpie Yarns, which had sponsored her, held a Knit-In until 5 p.m. and gave away three door prizes. Brooke won one of them: a gift certificate for $50!

The Rest of the Trip

We arrived back home again yesterday afternoon, but I'm still going to chronicle our travels here -- mostly to keep it fresh in my own mind.

If we had a disaster day, it was Wednesday, although we really didn't get too upset over it. We got a late start (as usual) and took our laundry to be done over in Witney, where I knew there was both a launderette and a yarn store. I had planned to take the car, start the laundry and shop for yarn while it was washing. Jeff and the girls, in this scenario, would have taken the bus into Oxford for a few hours. But, no. Jeff and the girls had to go with me. Then Jeff started complaining about doing laundry at all and wasting our vacation time and why didn't we all just bring enough clothes like he did or why couldn't we just wear dirty clothes. I pointed out that no one had invited him to come on this expedition anyway. Added to this bickering was difficulty in finding the laundrette and going up and down a very narrow and crowded High Street looking for the yarn shop (which, I found later, had no sign at all). In the end, it took about 3 hours to get the laundry done and I did get a chance to visit the yarn shop.

Let me take a moment here to mention that although the Cotswolds are -- or at least were -- the center of English wool trade and that the grand fortunes of the region are built on wool, there are no respectable yarn shops in the area. A search of Oxfordshire yields less than a dozen and, of these, not all are truly yarn shops. The shop I visited in Witney was called the Witney Wool Shop. It was tiny, unmarked, and only carried three brands of yarn -- most of which was acrylic. Half the shop was devoted to sewing and quilting. When I asked the shop owners about roving for spinning they were mystified and told me I'd have to go to Wales for that sort of thing. I ended up buying two balls of English made mohair blended with acrylic and a set of Pony circular needles (which were confiscated at the airport).

From Witney, we drove on to Stratford-on-Avon to see the scottish play, oh, hell, Macbeth. It couldn't have gotten much worse. We drove around and around the crowded streets trying to find parking for the Swan Theatre and ended up walking a vast distance and passing much closer available parking that was not mentioned on the tourist map. We had a bite to eat at the Swan cafe and went in to see the play.

We should have been warned when the director came out on stage before the play and told us that, due to some misfortunes in preparing for the play, they had been unable to have a dress rehearsal and that, as this was opening night, the actors had never actually performed the play together before. In the course of this explanation, Jeff tells me, the director said the word "Macbeth" aloud on stage three times. It was doomed from the start.

Unlike the play as written by Shakespeare, this play opened with the killing of three terrified women and their children. Macbeth stands centerstage, holding a bawling infant tenderly in his arms and then presses it to his chest -- both suffocating it and breaking its neck. The spirits of the dead mothers arise and become the three witches. Okay. We can deal with this. It gives the witches motivation. But the gore just kept on coming.

When MacDuff goes to England to seek Malcolm's aid against MacBeth, he leaves his pregnant wife and two children alone. MacBeth's henchmen not only kill the young boy and the toddler, but attack the pregnant wife and kill her by slicing her womb open -- on stage -- and laying the dead and bloody fetus on her chest. This is not found anywhere in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Later, when MacBeth questions the witches about whether Banquo's heirs will be kings, the seven future kings were portrayed by bloody babies (dolls) with crowns who descended from the ceiling on chains.

The performance was also full of staging problems, as promised by the director. People kept coming in the wrong door, looking confused, and going out again only to come in another door. The best part, though, was when MacDuff was conferring with Malcolm in England and a messenger was supposed to come and tell him his family was dead. MacDuff broke off his conversation with Malcolm, saying "Look, who comes here," and then nobody came. MacDuff peered offstage in the direction the messenger was supposed to come and said, "He's coming from a long way off." The audience tittered and still no messenger arrived. Then MacDuff muttered, "... from Scotland ..." and the whole audience broke out laughing. After a few more minutes of waiting, a stage manager came out and said they had misplaced an actor and the play would have to pause for a few minutes. I've never seen anything like it before.

Last, and not least, the man playing MacBeth was absolutely the worst Shakespearian actor I have ever seen. I think he was trying to play MacBeth as a man driven mad by his ambition -- but it was just stupid looking. He shouted all his lines and kept waving his arms about. Keanu Reeves could have done better, and that's saying something. On the other hand, MacDuff was brilliant and several of the actors playing smaller parts were obviously well trained Shakespearian actors. Still, this performance was not what I expected from the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was, however, certainly memorable.

Thursday, we all took the bus to downtown Oxford. Kate and I went shopping while Jeff and Ally took a long walk, retracing a walk they had taken together several years ago, along the Isis river up to the Trout Inn in Wolvercote. Kate and I looked into Debenhams and Kate was delighted with a store called "Lush" that carries luxury soaps and lotions, etc. We went to the covered market and she bought a new wallet and some souvenirs. I got her a hoody that said "Oxford." After our shopping, we drove over to the Trout and met Ally and Jeff for dinner there. They had had a nice walk and had to elbow by some bulls in one of the pastures, but it was mostly uneventful and pleasant.

Friday, we had to pack up and leave our hotel in Oxford. We were sort of at loose ends about what to do and where to go. Our next hotel was at the Gatwick airport in anticipation of our flight the next morning, so we had a day to drive around. I suggested we go to Bath, so we set off, but when we got there the whole town was so congested it was impossible to find a place to park and we never did find out where the Roman baths were, so we decided to bag it and go on.

My next suggestion was Glastonbury, which we reached just an hour before closing. It was just as beautiful as I remembered though, and well worth seeing. We took a lot of pictures.

Heading back towards London, we passed by Cadbury and I suggested we stop off and see the hill fort that some people believe is Camelot. We stopped there years ago when Jeff and I brought his mother, but we didn't try to climb the hill because we'd have to leave her in the car alone. This time, the girls and I were game to hike up the hill and, eventually, we were able to convince Jeff too. It was a steep climb and we met a couple and their dog who were coming down and talked to them for a few minutes. They were very friendly and nice. Huffing and puffing, we eventually got to the top and saw a huge meadow opened out in front of us with steep-sided edges all around the rim. The sign in the parking lot below said that the hill had been inhabited since 3000 B.C., and it was clear to see that it had been a substantial fortress at some point. The girls loved walking the edge of the wall all the way around the hilltop. The wind was fresh and cool and we were all alone up there looking out over the valleys and the tiny baaing sheep in the distance. Kate said it was her favorite part of the trip.

As we continued towards London, we passed by Stonehenge and turned off the road to look at it. Strangely, it isn't lit at night. We were on a quiet country road, so we slowed down and strained our eyes into the darkness. Against the dark and the mist, we could just barely make out the huge dark rocks standing eerily on the plain. It was kind of cool in a way that blaring spotlights wouldn't have been.

We arrived at the Gatwick Holiday Inn around midnight and got settled in for a brief sleep. We had to get up around 6:30 am to return the rental car and be at the airport by 8 for a 10:00 flight home. The flight home was long and, fortunately, uneventful.

This must be the longest post in the history of blogs, but it helps me to record my trip with both pictures and description. I apologise for my long-windedness to anyone who takes the time to read it.

Oxford Revisited

Yesterday we took a day off from sight-seeing and lazed around most of the day. Late in the afternoon we took a drive down the A40 to see what we could see. On the way back Ally and I pressured Jeff into stopping at a little pub called the Boot Inn that had been recommended for dinner. He wanted to go to "Little Chef," the British equivalent of "Bob Evans," but Ally and I stuck to our guns. It was very "pub-ish" looking inside and the food was excellent. I had monkfish with a lemon ginger sauce and they served a huge platter of vegetables for us to share. The Boot's claim to fame (other than the food) is that it collects shoes from famous people and mounts them on the walls. Unfortunately, most of these famous people are soccer players, so I didn't know many of them -- but they did have the shoes of the BeeGees!
Today, we took the bus into Oxford and had lunch at the Eagle & Child (known to the cognoscenti as the Bird and Baby), the pub where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and the other Inklings met each week for twenty or more years. Ally was a little disappointed I think because, as an aspiring writer, she hoped that just walking in the door she would be struck with inspiration. Instead, it just looked like a quaint pub. However, the food was good. I had bangers and mash and I think everyone agreed mine was the best dish we ordered. I was tacky and took a picture of the table where the Inklings met right next to the fire.
Next, we walked down to Christ Church College. Kate was excited about this because they filmed parts of the Harry Potter movies there. She's watched those movies so many times that she felt quite at home at Christ Church. She kept recognizing things from the movies.
In Christ Church Cathedral, a very sweet guide took an interest in us and led us out a side door and told us the story of Alice Liddel, who was the real Alice in Wonderland. He showed us the garden where she played and the tree that her cat, Dinah, used to climb. In the cathedral there's a stained glass window of St. Catherine where the face of St. Catherine was based on Alice's sister, Edith.
After we left Christ Church we walked down High Street to University College, where I attended a summer program way back in 1978. The sign said the college was closed to visitors, but Ally and I stepped in anyway and I introduced myself to the porter and he let us take a few pictures. Ally couldn't resist his dog, Maggie, and, as the porter said, Maggie was an attention whore. She just lay down and loved being petted and fussed over.
Kate started to feel sick soon after we left Christ Church and we stopped at The Queen's Lane Coffee Shop to get her a drink of water. All the pastries and things looked so tempting that we had to sit down and have something to eat. I ordered cream tea (well, actually, coffee) and shared it with Ally and Kate. Jeff ordered apple pie and custard but when he wasn't looking Ally and Kate stole bites of it from him and he ended up only getting one bite!
After that, Jeff took Kate home where she fell asleep immediately and seemed to feel better afterward. Ally and I stayed to look around Blackwells but, as it was closing in ten minutes, we didn't look around much. The knitting section was particularly disappointing ... only five books. I thought this was freaking Blackwell's -- one of the best bookstores in the world?! I was hoping to find Alice Starmore and an out of print book called Knitted Lace. No such luck.
We're having a great time. Tomorrow I'm planning to do wash during the day and look for yarn shops, then, in the evening we have tickets for the Scottish play at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The picture shows Kate, Jeff and Ally after a long walk in Oxford.

Back in time at Warwick Castle

For the past two days we've been enjoying the special Easter weekend at Warwick Castle. There are dozens of historic recreators there recreating the War of the Roses. The Earl of Warwick was killed in a battle on Easter Day, so I guess that's why they do it Easter weekend.

It was like attending a medieval festival with all authentic docents who could tell you all about living at that time. Their round tents and cooking fires surrounded the castle. It was wonderful. I met a nice lady who was weaving. She told me she had tried spinning but hadn't had much luck with a drop spindle. She was using scottish blackface and wensleydale and I told her that blue-faced leister and corriedale are a lot easier to learn on. They were also doing kumihimo, but acknowledged that it was actually a Japanese thing, so they had a lucet as an authentic back-up (kumihimo is a LOT easier). I'm not really a weaver, so this may be more common than I think, but the heddle on her simple loom was interesting. It consisted of alternating slots and circles which, when threaded, would make the shed for the weft. I thought it was an elegant design. We saw a bird show called Winged Warriors where a handler flew eagles and buzzards around the crowd. And we also saw a great demonstration of long bow shooting.

There was a Siege in the afternoon. The Yorkists attacked the castle and the Lancastrians defended. The bowmen shot their arrows and then there was hand-to-hand combat. The Lancastrians won (unlike the historical battle) and several Yorkist dead were left on the field and stripped of their valuables. One soldier was even stripped of his pants! Ally and I hung around to see what he would do when he finally had to get up! He was surrounded by three camp followers. A passing priest, who was doing last rites over the dead soldiers, accused them of ravishing him. Finally he did get up and someone gave him his pants back so he and his lady friends could depart from the field.

One of my favorite places, and Jeff's, is the peacock garden. When we brought Jeff's Mother here -- before the children were born -- I remember sitting for a long time on the wooden benches soaking up the beautiful scenery. With her wheelchair, she wasn't able to see much of the castle interior but I know she enjoyed this garden. Jeff is always impressed with the landscape designed by the brilliant landscape architect Capability Brown. I enjoy watching the flock of lovely peacocks strutting around.

We also saw the wax figures meant to show a Victorian house party when Daisy, the Countess of Warwick ruled supreme and allegedly had an affair with Edward, the Prince of Wales. The wax figures were made by Mme. Tussauds (which currently owns and operates the castle) and were stunningly lifelike. The butler startled both Ally and me and we watched him for a long time to be sure he wasn't breathing.

We toured the Ghost Tower where they had a creepy reenactment of the murder of one of the Earls of Warwick by his manservant. Apparently, the Earl didn't adequately compensate the servant in his will and the servant found out about it. The Earl's ghost is supposed to haunt the tower. The chamber had lots of swirling mist and creepy guys jumping out at you unexpectedly. It was fun but no pictures allowed.

The oldest part of the castle is this mound which was originally built in the days of Ethelfreida and was fortified on orders of William the Conquerer.

Today, Monday, we're resting and don't plan to do much. Last night, Easter Sunday, we attended mass at Tolkien's church in Headington and then had a late dinner at The Trout, one of our favorite restaurants in Oxford. We really plan to take it easy on this trip and not just wear ourselves out running all over the place sight-seeing. Jeff really needs the rest and all of us are enjoying just Being in England.

This is a beautiful stained glass window in Warwick castle. I think it was in the Great Hall. It depicts the old law and the new law (at least that's what I think it is).

One problem we've been having is the exchange rate. Everything here costs twice what you would expect. Here in the Holiday Inn, you can order Ben & Jerry's ice cream for $10 a serving. Similarly, a Whopper at the nearby Burger King is $10. Any kind of a sit down meal is running at least $160 for our family of four. So, we're largely living on the surprisingly delicious and fresh sandwiches we can pick up at the local Shell station ... and, of course, cookies (biscuits) and cadbury chocolate. I'll write more later, I need to dive into my biscuit stash.

For more pictures, you can go to my Flickr account at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phiberphanatic

Oh! I almost forgot. We also saw a huge trebuchet demonstrated at Warwick. It was so big that it took four men walking in the round wheels (like gerbil wheels) to lift the weight and load the trebuchet. Then they flung a massive iron ball that had been loaded with gasoline and set on fire through the air. It was pretty impressive.

Wandering around in England

We've arrived in Oxford! I'm hoping to post some pictures later on. We were pretty exhausted last night, but we'll be having a look around today. Jeff is still asleep -- but the girls and I are up and dressed and anxious for some sustenance.

I've been working on my Sample Stitch Kimono (SSK). I got the first panel done during our flight over and now I'm starting on the lace panel. Pictures soon.

Got to find something to EAT!