The Knitting and Stitching Show, Olympia

I'm a bit late in writing about this but it's been a busy week.  Last week I was lucky enough to have been given a complementary ticket to the show by the lovely Dixie Nichols from whom I have purchased the most beautiful and original buttons.  Unfortunately she was only at the show on the Thursday and Friday and I couldn't get there until Saturday so I didn't get to drool over her lovely selection of buttons.  Probably just as well as my credit card went into shock as soon as we walked into the exhibition hall!

It was a dreary day, cold, wet and windy day as you can see from my photo of The Shard, taken from the train.  I had to take the tube to get to Olympia and although I know it's an efficient and cost-effective way of getting about London it really isn't something I enjoy.

The entrance

Having joined the long queue to get in I was set loose in a veritable Aladdin's Cave of crafting goodies!

Felted meerkats

Emily Peacock at work on one of her vibrant tapestries

Aren't they stunning?

The proud stallholder of Helkat Designs

Bespoke one-off textiles.  Simply beautiful!

A dress made from re-cycled carrier bags

A table of eager helpers cut up carrier bags - I love her headdress.

Fashion students displayed their designs

Ooooh, I'd wear this!

Many amazing quilts on display

A woodland Nymph with attitude!

Her Woodland Boudoir - a collaboration between 8 female artists

After much searching I finally found Jane Crowfoot.  Her crocheted Easter Eggs were really jolly and reminded me that somewhere at home I've still got some eggs that mum and I decorated when I was a child.

We had a brief chat and she told me that the Crochet Club is about to get even more exciting than the granny square type patterns we've done this month.  Excellent, now I can't wait for my next set of instructions!

When I first entered the halls the cafe areas were all empty.  By the time realised I was both hungry and thirsty they were absolutely heaving so I decided to head for home and grab something en-route.

Right by the exit I couldn't help but smile when I spotted these ladies who were having a snack before they headed inside.   Hope you enjoyed your visit ladies!

What did I buy?  I was very restrained as I could have spent an absolute fortune but I tried to be good as I have so much in my stash that I could go without buying anything for several years and not run out of projects!

A cat shape to decoupage with paper or maybe bits of embroidery

A bag full of small amounts of yummy Chinese bourette silk for teeny-weeny crocheting

Seeing Jane reminded me that I haven't shared the last bits of crochet from the January Crochet Club so here they are.  There's just a bit of surface crochet and embroidery and the beads were supposed to be sewn on but I preferred to crochet them in place because I think it's neater.  Now everything needs blocking to size.

Then there was snow (and a triangle)

What was I saying about the weather getting colder?  This is what we awoke to this morning - a dusting of snow.  How ridiculous for the sunny South East of England in March!

The white bits on the Blackthorn tree aren't snow, it's blossom.  Here's what it looked like at the end of March in 2011 - glorious snowy white blossom, smothered in bees.  Here's hoping the snow's gone long before then.

By mid-morning it was snowing steadily and has done so for the remainder of the day.

There was a bitterly cold wind coming in from the East and it's been whipping up the fluffy snow, rather like dust devils in arid lands.

The horses, both with their rugs back on now (it's too cold even for Esther) have spent most of the day eating hay in their field shelters.  After their last feed of the day they popped out for a touch of synchronized rolling.

Selecting just the right spot

One down

One to go

Have a good shake

Gallop in a circle then head back to the field shelter

I crocheted one of the triangles this morning whilst I was having a coffee break.  I need to hook another one yet.

Weather - or not!

Before I start waffling on about the weather we've had this week I thought I'd better show some more crochet pieces.

I love the colours and shapes but getting gauge seems to be causing one or two headaches amongst the group, me included.  The 4 small squares were spot-on.  The corner pieces were way too big using a 3mm hook so I had to downsize to a 2.5mm hook which worked fine.

I've got 5 more pieces to finish for the first batch but I need to take a short break to crochet some baby bootees as my friend Angela has become a granny again; to a little baby girl named Violet.  I found some pretty violet coloured baby yarn and bought some pale primrose and some white so I can play around with the colours as I thought they were very fresh and Spring-like.

Now, about the weather we've had this week.  It started so well on Monday and Tuesday with lovely sunshine and no wind and it was so warm that I ran in my shorts and tee shirt.

Sunny coppice

Bluebell leaves peeping through

Esther and Kizzy without their blankets on

The fields had just started to dry out a bit but the next day it rained and how it rained!  The water butts, which were nearly empty, were filled up overnight and the fields developed small ponds and waterfalls.  So it was back to wet-weather gear for me when I tended the horses.  Very glamourous!

It also went colder so it was back into long tights for my runs.

The ditches started to fill up again

Ramsons (aka wild garlic, a misnomer) peeping through

Misty telegraph poles stretching into infinity

Not content with trying to drown everyone, the weather then decided to get even colder again and whip up the wind.  I went out for my run at 6:30am this morning and it was reasonably mild with no wind.  One hour into my 15 mile run the bitter Easterly wind started up and the temperature dropped dramatically.

Thankfully I'd dressed accordingly and I was very glad I'd worn gloves as I was bitterly cold when I got home 2 hours 45 minutes later.  That cup of coffee was most welcome!

I had a good run with only a couple of minor niggles in my right leg and my breathing was OKish so I was pleased.  I amused myself by spotting shapes in tree roots and stumps:

The trees have ears!

A stag's head and antlers (well I can see it anyway!)

Back home I had to put Kizzy's rug back on as she is not as hardy as Esther - she has a thick coat and so is OK without her rug.

Esther's mane glows in the dull light 

This little fellow has been scrapping with other drakes (it's that time of year when they choose a duck with whom to mate) which is why his chest has white bits where he's been pecked.

They keep picking on me!

There's knitting, crochet, an operation, running, a video clip and a zebra!

The Knitting

I finished the 2 colour brioche scarf last week and I think it looks rather effective.  Because it had lots of increases and decreases it was very lumpy so needed to be wet blocked which flattened it out nicely.

Showing the light side and the dark side

After blocking (squeaker mouse seems to have sneaked into the photo frame!)

The only thing I'm going to work on a bit more is the ends as I don't like that they look so different.  I'm thinking of perhaps some dangly bits to echo the brioche stripes, or maybe a bit of crochet.  It needs more thought but I know the solution will come to me eventually.

The cast-on end - rounded

The cast-off end - more pointy

The Crochet

I'm really enjoying working on the Crochet Club projects for this month.  This is part of a wavy square and I love the jewel-bright colours.

The bits of paper with yarn attached are my way of keeping a check on my colours.  It stems from years of embroidery kits where you get a card with holes punched in it with little samples of thread attached next to their reference number.

What I do with any knitting or crochet project is to keep a sample of yarn attached to part of the ball band.  That way you have not just the colour and reference number but you also have the dye lot or batch number in case you run out of yarn.  In this instance I've added the colour name too as the written instructions refer to that rather than the reference number.

The Operation

Our poor little chap, Tinker, has had to have another operation to remove fibrosarcomas.  His first one was in  September 2008 and as it was a very aggressive form of cancer we'd been checking him regularly.  Sadly, last year we found another lump and we were very worried as he was 16.5 and when the vet operated he found there were several smaller ones which he couldn't get out.  So when we felt the size of the lumps a few weeks ago we knew that he needed to see the vet again as they'd grown so quickly.

We were very anxious as at 17 it was a huge risk to have another operation.  The vet was lovely and told us there wasn't a right or wrong decision as he is a fit and active cat.  He also said that if he had to make the decision he would probably go for the operation (as it's so aggressive it wouldn't be long before he was feeling ill and we've have to put him to sleep).  Mike was convinced that he would pull through OK and we agreed to go ahead with the op., but I was so anxious I hardly slept for a week and kept crying at the slightest thing.

So on the 1st March we took our brave little fellow off to the vets again and waited anxiously for the phone call.  It was good news!  The operation had been successful and vet was much happier this time as he'd got all the bad tissue out.  The only thing he wasn't sure about was whether his walking would be OK as he'd had to cut a large chunk of muscle tissue away.  When we collected him later that day he was completely spaced out having been given an injection of ketamin, a strong pain-killer.

Here he is, with a massive cut down his side, telling the hearth bunnies all about his ordeal.  The next day he was absolutely fine, eating and drinking well and moving freely without any obvious discomfort although he seems to have stiffened up a bit now and is sleeping quite a lot.  What an amazing little fellow he is and he mustn't have been ready to leave us just yet.  I hope we have many more years together.

Tinker tells his story to the hearth bunnies!

The running part (with added video!)

I'm well into the high mileage weeks leading up to my first marathon of the year.  The last 4 weeks long runs have been 15, 17, 18, 18 so it was time for a 20 miler.  This usually heralds rain and strong winds but on Sunday I was blessed - frosty and misty to start followed by sunshine.  Fantastic!

Misty sheep (look at the sheep-shaped patches where they've been asleep on the  grass!)

I hope this works as when the sun was peeping out behind the trees I heard a woodpecker so I tried capture the sound on video - you can hear the birdsong first and then the woodpecker joins in a bit later:

Mist clearing from the valley

A ploughed field which reminded me of rows of knitting

I saw this sad notice for a lost dog on several posts.  Although he went missing back in September 2012, there must have been recent sightings as I haven't seen these posters in the area before.  I know lots of local people pop on here to read my blog so please keep a an eye out for Misty.

Missing Misty

Inevitably my route involved lots of hilly bits (15 miles to be exact with just 5 miles of flat bits!) so my photos often show valleys.  My home is over the hills and far away at this point!

Bodiam Castle from behind

I always find plenty of things to keep my mind occupied and I love the thinking time my long runs give me.  One day I'll write a selection of some of the things that flash into my mind.  Often I find that the solution to a problem that I wasn't thinking about will just pop into my head.

The grass verges along our country lanes are always of interest.    This pretty little daffodil, a true 'wild' daffodil that William Wordsworth wrote about read here by Jeremy Irons.

Unfortunately it isn't just pretty things that are found on the verges.  Innumerable beer cans, drinks bottles, take-away wrappers and general litter flung irresponsibly from passing cars by people too lazy to take their litter home.

Now Mike did roll his eyes at my next photo - a red telephone box, the K2, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1924.  

Now why did I take a photo of it?  It caught my eye, that's why!  

Many of them were replaced with an ugly modern version many years ago.  What drew me to this one was it's broken windows and the ivy growing inside - as if nature is reclaiming this little bit of roadside from man.  There was still a telephone set inside and I wish I'd lifted the receiver to see if it still worked.

Nature taking over

When I'm out running, I often notice things I don't see if I'm driving and this ornate archway was one such thing.  It marks the entrance to what must have been a very grand house once upon a time but is now in a state of disrepair.  I spent some time trying to imagine what it must have looked like in its heyday.

The Zebra

Have I been visiting a zoo?  No, just a country lane.  Each time I run along this particular lane I smile as I pass this garden as over the top of the hedge I can just see the head of a zebra.  No, I haven't been at the loony juice!

It's been intriguing me for ages and on my way home I saw a man coming out of the back of the house and I decided to ask if I could take a photo of it to show Mike.  The man was lovely and offered to let me sit on the zebra to have my photo taken but I went all shy and just took a couple of photos myself.

Apparently he belongs to some friends who don't have room for him at the moment so they are zebra-sitting for them.  He's made of concrete so he's be quite happy outside.  If he's still there next winter then I shall knit him a scarf.

How was my run after all that?  Really good actually and I was very pleased that I managed to speed up in the last 4 miles.  So, 20 mostly hilly miles in 3:51.   That'll do nicely thank you very much!

Crochet club begins!

The first email from Jane Crowfoot arrived on Monday morning and I printed off the instructions for February with great excitement.  It's rather fun creating something bit and bit and not knowing exactly what it will look like eventually!

Here's a slightly better photo of some of the glorious coloured yarn we'll be using along with the beads. The yarn has names such as Nightshade, Persimmon and Blood Orange.  They are well named as when I was checking off my package I just looked at the colours  to identify them rather than their reference numbers.

Beautiful colours

The first thing to do was tension squares using double crochet and treble crochet.  My gauge was spot-on for both stitches so I'll be starting my project this evening.

Tension squares

A propos nothing in particular, here's a photo of some massive molehills which appeared in one of our fields the other day.  This was exciting because we've never had them in that field, which is on claggy clay, as they usually stay in the end field which is on softer, sandstoney soil.  The mole population has  been in decline for many years so it's good to see that they're still around (I might not be quite so pleased if they come across the next field into our garden though!!!).

Molehill mounds

Marathon Training & Pottery

Asthma & running update

I'm writing this update because I've noticed a lot of people searching my posts about asthma and running.

It's been a challenging few weeks with some days where I've just had to accept that I won't be able to do the level of training I would like.  This, of course, has resulted in feelings of inadequacy and frustration. especially as I'm entering the really high mileage weeks of my schedule.

At first I thought that it was largely the cold weather that was the problem but this last week has proved otherwise.  There have been some very cold days and yet I have run really well and felt very satisfied with my training sessions.  For example, on Wednesday I intended to run 10 miles at marathon pace.  However, in reality although I managed the 10 miles I just couldn't find enough breath to maintain my chosen pace and spent most of the run coughing and wheezing.  The next day I did an intervals session and it was the best session I've had in months - how does that work then?!

Today I ran 18.5 hilly miles comfortably in sub-zero temperatures and with a biting wind.  The only hint of asthma was in the last mile, a long uphill climb, when my chest felt a bit gunky and my breathing was laboured.

So what's going on?

I have a theory - food.  I am already a vegetarian and have been for nearly 20 years but for Lent each year I go vegan which means I eliminate dairy products and eggs.  Now dairy products are notorious for producing mucus within the body and I'm wondering if this could be one of the reasons I've had some good runs in the last few days.  

It's just a theory at the moment but watch this space.

Pottery update

I finally collected my pottery pieces following their glaze firing and I was very pleased with how the owl and the leaf turned out. 

Owl slab pot front

Owl slab pot back

Fatsia Japonica Leaf dish

French Knitting

I forgot to include these photos from West Dean.  Suzanne produced this little machine from her bag of tricks and proceeded to turn the handle vigourously.

This is what she produced - French Knitting!  

Last time I did any French knitting was when I was a child and my mum gave me a cotton reel with 4 nails in the top and I had to use a crochet hook to create the cord!  What a nifty little gadget.  I found something similar made by Prym here on eBay.