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!

See, I'm not the only chauvinist

I ran across this mockumentary over at Pointy Sticks. It must be seen. The truth will out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZcUjYpjKZs

Triple Joy!

Okay. I'm ready to stop whining. Good things are happening. First to report: I finished the first sock of this pair this morning. I LOVE this sock. I'm really sorry that I mentally committed to giving it to a friend of mine. Still, it's a gift I can feel good about giving. I think the only solution is another skein in the same color and another pair. My friend and I will have Matching Socks!

Second, Michael really kicked it into gear yesterday and pulled up all the old floor tiles and laid almost all of the new floor tiles. Don't let them fool you -- it's not parquet -- but it does look a LOT nicer than concrete. Seeing how nice it looks makes me ALMOST want to go down there and finish the job and get everything organized.

Third, my new iPod arrived yesterday. I'm so tickled. It works perfectly and now I can get caught up on all my podcast pals and Astronomy lectures ... while I'm organizing the basement.

Warning: not for the faint-hearted

I ordered a new iPod from an eBay seller -- about $100 less than new. I can't wait for it to get here. I really enjoyed the old one.

Today, Michael, college student, is coming over to earn some money during Spring Break by helping me clean out the basement. This is not a job for the faint-hearted. In fact, we both were a little overwhelmed yesterday when we started on this Herculean task. The Aegean stables look tidy compared to my basement. Michael kept insisting yesterday that we needed to throw out a bunch of stuff and I kept resisting and putting things into piles. Maybe we'll make some progress today. Morituri te salutamus.

I WANT my ipod back!!!

I've suffered another techno-loss, but, unlike the camera, this time I don't think I'll get it back. Friday night, someone got into my unlocked car, which was sitting in my driveway, and took both my ipod and my purse.

The purse didn't have anything valuable in it. No money or credit cards. But it did have a lot of odds and ends that will be difficult to replace. The ipod, on the other hand, was very valuable and will be expensive to replace. I feel disconnected from the podcast world that I was enjoying so much. I want to hear from Dave Reidy at "Sticks and String" and Andrew at "Geek Farm Life" and Carrie Anne at "BritKnitCast" and Faith, "The Knitting Cook." I want to continue Astronomy classes at O.S.U. with Professor Pogge. I WANT my ipod back!

I spent the weekend on christian retreat at my church. It was a good weekend ... very tiring, somewhat emotional, but I feel refreshed. It's the sort of thing we all probably need to do from time to time. While I was there, I started this sock. I made it all the way to the heel flap and I'm ready to turn the heel. I love the colors in this yarn! They're so rich looking.

Dust to Dust ... er... Mud to Mud?

On Monday we did the last Adopt-a-School program: Mali Mud Cloth. Judy, who just returned from Africa, was an excellent presenter, telling the kids about the geography of Africa, the chemistry of dye and mordants, and the symbolism of the African art. She even let Barbara and me do our own Mali mud cloths!

Judy suggested to the students that they use symbols from their own lives -- so I made mine symbolic of my fiber hobbies. Of course, there is the central sheep (with an odd hump back -- it must be sickly) and rabbit. I would have drawn an alpaca, but I didn't think I could get it right. The corners are decorated with (crude) knitting needles and balls of yarn. The left and right sides show a spinning wheel flanked by two partially full bobbins. Above the sheep are four drop spindles and at the very top is the symbol for infinity to indicate the longevity of these crafts. The black dye is potting soil and the red is Georgia clay. It was an interesting craft and the kids seemed to enjoy painting with mud.

For the past two weeks I have been doing my penance to the knitting gods. Lo, they were very angry and smote me mightily for picking up a crochet hook. It took me ages and the patience of Job to pull out all that mohair crochet work -- but at last the gods are appeased and the evil crochet is no more. The mohair is happy. It apparently had no intention of becoming a shawl. It has gone into a plastic bag to think about it's waywardness and may one day emerge as a felted hat.

Old man winter blows

Here's a taste of the weather we've had around here for the past couple of weeks. Ice coated all the trees and bushes, in a lovely but deadly layer. When the sun finally came out, it was a fairyland. Each tiny branch was coated in silver.

The Curse of the Crochet Hook

O.K. I know when I'm licked. I've finally thrown in the crochet hook on the York mohair shawl. As you may remember, I ran out of blue mohair from York and had to buy some varigated coordinating mohair at my LYS. It actually looked pretty good, although it was a slightly finer yarn.

I finished one end of the shawl with the new yarn and started adding to the other end, when I realized that the second end was MUCH broader than the first end. When I counted the little squares, I found that one end was about 1/3 larger than the other. Somehow I had added crochet links as I went so that the whole thing spreads out like a funnel. It's not really triangular, just misshapen.

This, along with the fact that somewhere along the line a huge hole developed inexplicably, has led me to the conclusion that this project was not meant to be.

The knitting gods are jealous gods and they have cursed my crocheting efforts. In an effort to placate them, I'm now engaged in unraveling yards and yards of mohair. Mea culpa. Mea culpa.

Oh great knitting gods, please let this worthy mohair of distant origin find happiness in a felted hat or bag.

On a happier note, I'm pleased with the fingerless gloves I'm making out of my handspun merino/silk blend. I adapted the pattern from a free online pattern. My yarn was finer than the yarn in the pattern, so I had to cast on 56 instead of 48 stitches, so then I changed the cable to a 12-stitch right hand cable. I also did a 4 inch K2P2 rib at the cuff so it could be doubled over for extra warmth. So, I took the bare bones of the online pattern and changed everything. It's turning out nicely though.

I'm also pleased that I have nearly an entire bobbin full of angora singles. Andy is shedding like there's no tomorrow -- he looks really scruffy, partly bald and partly fluffy with long strings of clumped hair hanging off of him. I've been combing and plucking him and, after carding the fur on my drum carder, I filled a small cardboard box with it. I've been happily spinning away at it for a couple of weeks at odd moments.

A lady on one of my spinning lists was talking about plying angora singles with wool singles and inspired me to try that out. I've got some beautiful dark grey merino/silk blend roving that would look good plyed with Andy's fur. I've also got the blue merino/silk blend and some other nice rovings in my stash to try. Once I get the rest of this angora spun up, it's going to be a plying party!

Why use foresight when you can kick yourself with hindsight?

The crocheted beaded shawl saga continues. Maybe it's the whole concept of crochet that's unlucky. When Lynne saw that I was using a crochet hook she said I'd turned to the dark side -- maybe the Crochet Gods are trying to tell me something.

Anyway, I've run out of mohair and the "shawl" is only about four feet long. I guess I'll have to use something else to make it a wearable length. I simply REFUSE to frog it again.

One idea I had was to join the two ends and make it a straight-jacket, er, wrap. Then I could put the beaded fringe all along the bottom instead of at the ends of the shawl.

Any ideas?

Once more with feeling

Remember the beautiful mohair shawl that looked like a starlit sky? Well, I've spent the last two days frogging it. You don't know what patience is until you've frogged 22 rows of mohair!

When I wound the mohair on my ball winder, it made two huge balls and I figured it was easily enough for a shawl. I followed the directions in Lily Chin's book and used the crochet hook she prescribed. After I had crocheted about a foot of material, I could see that I was running out of yarn for the first ball. Moreover, the mohair seemed too dense and didn't feel very soft. Unless I wanted to make a glitzy and fairly rigid shawl for a five year old, something had to be done. So I did it ... I ripped it out and started over.

This time I'm using a huge crochet hook and the fabric has a better hand. I still may not have quite enough for the shawl, but I can add something else on the ends as long as the fabric is draping properly. Onward and upward.

A New Start

I finally decided on a project for the beautiful mohair yarn that Lynne brought me from York, England. I'm going to do another beaded shawl but this time going in a totally different color direction. The wool is swirling shades of navy, purple, and blue-grey -- so I ordered #6 glass seed beads from Fire Mountain in what they called a "Peacock" color. The beads came in last week and I started on the shawl last night. I'm really liking it so far. It reminds me of a night sky. Mentally, I've invested it with the name "Dark Star of York," but that sounds a little pretensious for a simple crocheted shawl. Unlike the lilac shawl with white beads, the peacock beads glitter darkly and wink with unexpected color as the fabric moves. More as the project progresses ...

My ipod and I are totally connected at the hip. In fact, I need to get some softer ear buds because my ears are sore. I've discovered that the professors for several colleges podcast their lectures. Amazing! I've been listening to Astromony 161 from O.S.U. professor Richard Pogge. Apparently, he started podcasting so that students could catch up on lectures they missed or review them before tests. However, lots of other people are listening in too. Did I mention how much I love the Internet!!!?

P.S. DISASTER! The Orkin man came by today for his routine spraying and when he came near my desk he knocked over my huge jade plant and spilled ALL THE SEED BEADS. What a MESS! Dirt and leaves from the plant and tiny, tiny beads all over the floor ... At least he helped to pick them up and I refrained from using any colorful language. Argh!

First FO of 2007

I just finished the socks I started for my Dad before Christmas. They're sort of boring man socks, navy blue, but he wouldn't wear them if they were wild looking. The beauty of these socks is in the feel -- they're made out of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino and they feel heavenly.

Recapping the year

Now that we're well into January, I thought I'd take a look back at the year 2006 -- from a knitting perspective. Strangely, I could only list about four finished items when I thought back. Looking at my blog archives, though, I came up with a total of 10.

Now, that's nothing for Wendy Johnson or Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, but, for me, ten finished items is an accomplishment. So, here they are:

Number 1. The Dachshund Lovers Sweater. This is the sweater I knitted for my Mom's birthday in honor of her little dachshund, Heidi. I've never actually seen her wear it, but at least she knows I love her.

Number 2. Felted Mittens (Red and Green). I count these as one because I did them at the same time. They were really fun and quick to knit and I love the magic of felting. I ran slightly short of yarn for the ribbed cuffs inside the felted mitten body and I was a little annoyed at Knitpicks for that. But they still turned out O.K. I thought they might be good Christmas presents when I made them, but having to substitute some white yarn in the cuffs made me too self-conscious about them to consider them gift material.

Number 3. Felted clogs. This is the Fibertrends pattern for felted clogs. People either love it or hate it. I love it, but it can be a little tricky. These are definite gift material and I hope the recipient -- who has not yet received them -- likes them.

Number 4. Green Knitpicks Self-Patterning Socks. I love these socks. They're comfortable and washable and they match a sweater I like to wear. The only problem with them is, again, there was slightly less yarn in the Knitpicks skein than I expected and I had to finish out the toe on the second pair with another sock yarn.

Number 5. Illusion Scarf "Seeing Red." This is the scarf that I made for the Guild's "Black, White and Red All Over" competition last summer. It's knit in black and white KnitPicks wool and has the word "red" worked into it several times in illusion knitting. This was a really cool and fun project and the Guild awarded me first prize for it. I was so proud!

Number 6. Socks That Rock Socks. These are lovely socks but I think the gauge knits up a little larger than I'm used to and they turned out sort of big. Sloppy me, I didn't swatch it. Still, they're quite wearable and very soft and squishy. Next time I buy expensive sock yarn like Socks That Rock, I'll have to be more careful. Another thing about these socks -- one is paler than the other. As is common with hand dyed yarns, one of the skeins was significantly lighter than the other and it really shows up in the socks.

Number 7. The Shrek II Pillow. I got the idea for this pillow when I ordered some raw Shrek II wool from Elizabeth Ashford. Shrek was part of a group of merino sheep that were lost for about six years in the wilds of New Zealand. When the group was located by helicopter and rounded up, they were sporting six years of unshorn fleece. I ordered a little of the fleece, washed it, combed it, spun it and knitted into this pillow. The Shrek wool is the white. Then I sent a picture of it to Elizabeth Ashford to enter in a competition for making something out of the Shrek II wool. I WON! It was so cool. My pillow is featured in "The Wheel" magazine along with some of my comments about making the pillow. Elizabeth also sent me a pound of her new alpaca blend wool top.

Number 8. White School Socks. I made these for Kate in response to her request for some school socks. I had a really hard time finding any solid bright white sock yarn, either wool or cotton. Finally, I ended up with some KnitPicks sport weight white yarn, knitted them up and she took them with her on her school trip to Washington, D.C. For a long time we thought she only returned with one sock, but the second one finally turned up. Unfortunately, just wearing the socks apparently felted them pretty thoroughly. They look sort of strange now and Kate has never worn them again. When I went by the LYS today, I found two balls of bright white Cascade Fixation and I think I may try again in cotton.

Number 9. KnitPicks Fair Isle Socks. These socks were so fun to knit! They look incredibly difficult but actually you only use two yarns, one solid and one varigated. My sister, Kathryn, made the same socks out of black and jewel tones. Since I usually wear brown shoes, I altered the wool to brown and natural tones. I was afraid as I was knitting them that they wouldn't fit: the fair isle doesn't make a very stretchy sock. However, I was pleasantly surprised and I can wear them.

Number 10. Lily Chin's Beaded Shawl. I made this shawl for the Friendship Spinner's Christmas exchange at the Shakertown Retreat. It's made of lilac Suri Dream yarn, which is Suri alpaca spun around a core of nylon to make a yarn that looks like mohair, but is much softer. The shawl is crocheted and it has over a thousand #6 seed beads worked into it. It was really pretty easy to make, but a little tedious to work all the beads into it. Nancy Reid received the shawl and she really seemed to like it.

So, that's my year in knitting.

Right now my UFOs are:

a. Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino socks for my Dad

b. My Qiviut moebius lace scarf

c. My red oak leaf lace alpaca scarf (which has been languishing for years ....)

d. The second sock out of the handspun wool won in the Shrek competition

e. My "winging it" rare wools handspun vest needs a back.

And today I bought yarn for two more pairs of socks ....

Roc, paper, scissors?

We had a very happy Roc day at the Guild house last Saturday. Traditionally, Roc day or St. Distaff's Day is the day after Epiphany and we celebrate it by having a get together on the Saturday nearest to Epiphany with mini-classes and lunch.

I took two great classes. In the morning I learned a little about kumihimo braiding. The picture doesn't show it very well, but we learned how to make a very complex round braid perfect for purse handles and other things where an I-cord might be used.

Then, in the afternoon, I made needle felted flowers. These can be used for all kinds of embellishments. The first thing that springs to mind, though, is a flower on a felted hat.

In addition to trying out my new crafts, I've been playing with my new Christmas toy. My DH got me an ipod and, although I'm still not a pro at using it, I'm quickly becoming addicted. I've learned how many knitting and spinning podcasts there are and I'm downloading them and listening a LOT. I'm trying to find out which ones I really like and which ones I can pass over. So far, I've found at least three or four that I really want to stay current on. It's sort of like keeping up with the Yarn Harlot. People usually do a podcast once a week or so. Anyway, I've got a new best friend -- my little ipod.

I've been up to my elbows in clay for the past two days trying to help my friend Siena put together a class project for Ally's class at school. It's going to be very interesting and artistic -- at least I hope it will. We're making clay tiles for each of the 58 students in the sophomore class and we're going to ask the students to personalize them with paint. After firing them in the kiln, we're going to hang them on an iron trellis with copper wire and beads. It should be a beautiful (and unique) piece of art when we're done. We've got our fingers crossed anyway that it will sell at the school auction in February.