Sometimes

Sometimes I wonder where the time goes. The days speed by and I see the moon go from new to full and back to new in what seems an instant.
We are still here as you can see. I think we are filling the days while we can. Not from a pessimistic point of view  oh no indeed we try to never be pessimistic but always looking forward with optimism. Trying and mostly managing:)but winter is a coming and the days will be colder darker and more condusive to inside pursuits.

 We had a week in Cumbria a short while ago and it coincided with the heat wave. Who knew that October would have nights too hot to sleep? 26 degrees at 5pm is a change after the wet and cold we experienced before our holiday.

 There were stunning views from the living room windows

 Every day bar one was very hot and sunny

 We enjoyed just pootling around Cumbria, visiting good friends and meandering around the various passes

 It was so different to the last time we were up there just a few months previously

 shorter days, earlier sunsets

 Lots of dragon's breath to be seen most days

 We saw this Herdwick the day it finally rained and we went over Honister Pass. Mr Mog stopped the car and I snapped 2 very quick pictures. I was really pleased when we put them on the computer and I saw how this one turned out.

 Lots of Green Men faces to be seen amidst the leaves

 The many pictures of the lone tree are for our friends Sue and Neil who also stayed on this site back in June

 The lake you see is Bassenthwaite

 I took lots of pictures on our travels, this is a very small selection:)

 Mr Mog is doing well, his next oncology appointment is tomorrow morning so fingers crossed for that please.
Sorry I've not blogged much. I do have a post in the making from our visit to Farfield Mill the other day

Cumbrian floods and knitting shop(s)

We had occasion to visit the aged parent in Cumbria today
We decided to go via Cockermouth as we wondered how one of our favourite cafes was getting on with recovery now the floods have subsided.
Sadly the shop was deserted and empty and at the moment no signs of work being done on it. I think that many places maybe didn't have full insurance after previous floods so that could be one reason? Cockermouth was a hive of activity, builders wagons everywhere and skips all down the main street. Lots of work being done to repair the damage but I'd suspect it will be many months before the main street is back to some kind of normality.
Looking at these pictures over the main bridge in the town it is hard to believe the vast amounts of water that poured down the streets.

It all looks so innocent doesn't it?
Lots of shops have opened temporary premises in the old job centre, most of the banks have portacabins in the supermarket car parks. One of the most poignant sights for me as a yarn artist during the media coverage was the sight of balls of wool and knitted garments floating down the street. This wool shop is only a few yards away from the bridge and is still boarded up. There was a sign on the door with a phone number for enquiries. I don't think the lady has a web site as many people on Ravelry wanted to order online to help support the business.


It was very moving to see pictures the local schools had done pinned to all the devastated buildings.
I didn't take any more pictures , these were enough to remind me of the power of Nature, not always pretty and kind.
As Solstice approaches fast I am heartened by the positive energy that the people in Cumbria are showing despite being so badly affected by this tragedy.
If you were thinking of visiting and shopping there please do, they need all the support we can give, especially financially by spending in the shops, hotels and other businesses.
The Wool Clip in Priests Mill is a cooperative of Cumbrian people, they use Cumbrian sheep fleeces to create yarn, wearable items and more. Despite the floods they are still open for business.
Don't stay away.

Floods and other stuff

Dreadful flooding in Cumbria and in Dumfries and Galloway, both places we have lived and Cumbria is where many of our family and friends still live. My heart goes out to all affected by these latest events. To see places you love surrounded by water is dreadful and more so for all the people who have lost homes and possessions. One of the most poignant things to see from a woolly persons point of view was the devastated wool shop in Cockermouth and all the yarn and display stuff floating down the street leaving only a jumper hung up. Many of the people flooded had no insurance as the insurance companies would not insure them after the last floods. They will need all the help they can get to resume their lives.
Back in the 1970s I lived in Fleetwood and we had major floods there. The rescue and relief organisations were hampered by all the ghoulish onlookers who drove from many miles away to watch the tragedy. After speaking to my sister in law yesterday it would appear that this still happens. Why do people have this desire to see other folks misfortunes? If they are going to go there could it not perhaps be for something positive like helping to clear up? It is the same on motorways when there is an accident, traffic on the opposite side to an event is just as bogged down due to the self same thing.
It makes me ashamed to be human:(

On a brighter note;-

We were supposed to be up in Cumbria yesterday at our spinning guild. After seeing the warnings not to travel we decided to be sensible and not do so. We still had a spin in, Laal Bear and Mr LB invited us over for the day. 3 spinning wheels whirred along while Mr Laal Bear made us all a fabulous roast lamb lunch, followed by a blackberry crumble and custard that Laal Bear created. Yummy food and great company. I got to see the painted wheel that Mr LB had done, very very pretty wheel. He is a super artist. He also has a touch of whimsy in his writings if you check out his blog. You will find out things about the fairy folk you never knew:)

I have been knitting as well as spinning. I've finished my first Baktus scarf, a quick easy knit

I'm also currently making a shawl in a mix of mohair from the Woolclip and a furry eyelash yarn. This is the most silky furry shawl I've made in a long while. Very tactile and warm.
Here is a picture of some of the finished spinning. It is waiting for a dry day to set the yarn. The red one I had difficulty spinning for some reason so I did a single slub style and plied it with rayon embroidery thread. Will be great for femme's hair me thinks.
As you can see the upright swift is getting plenty of use as is the windmill one Mr mog made me.

Mr Mog and I decided we could do with a bedding box or chest each to keep our fibre stash in. I'll leave him to show you pictures of the one he has, suffice it to say he now has enough fibre and fleece to fill a chest:) Thanks must go to Laal Bear and Artis Anne for sending him spiralling down the stash route.

Mine is quite a Gothic storage chest , it came flat pack and despite having a very painful back Mr Mog put it together for me.
I managed to find enough fibre to fill it as you can see.

Mind you I think the amount I'm spinning lately is helping to use some of it.

Spring colours

I thought I'd change the colours on the blog to reflect Spring and also the change in direction for Project Spectrum from North to East. Flowers seem to be on my mind at the moment and I have added a few that Mr Mog took this morning in the local park. Under my direction of course, I'm very good at saying "take that one, no that one"
I find that colour lifts my spirits, all colour does it to a certain extent but some more than others. Hence the desire for bright dyed clothes and yarns. Especially my need for random dyeing/tie dying. Sometimes I need all colours not just one. They help to counter the pain.
These 2 are blooming on the same tree, hard to believe isn't it?

Bluebells , there is something about bluebells either singly, in small groups or in large swathes in abandoned woodlands. A blue silk cloth tied around the affected part is supposed to help with healing. It certainly helped me when I broke a bone between my thumb and finger. I had a spate of randomly cracking various bones without doing anything to cause it. Not very nice:( This particular one went and was extremely painful especially with crutches. The doctors xrayed and offered painkillers until it knit. They couldn't strap or plaster it really. I remembered the old way of using a silk cloth of blue and kept it round my hand. Within a few days it had knit. Doctors had to check xrays as they didn't believe it could happen so quickly.
This rowan was in full bloom. Rowan is a tree that is mentioned in many a magical book. It is supposed to keep witches away if planted by your gate;) I believe it is a great protective tree. If you take 2 equal sized pieces of twig and bind them with red thread or yarn it is a good way to protect your boundaries.
This picture reminds me of Japanese gardens for some reason, possibly the mix of greens.
There were other creatures in the park besides us. Here a robin takes breadcrumbs that the pigeon has left. The duck watches over them.
The blue on this ones back is so vivid against the green pond.
These three have grown so fast, it seemed only a couple of days ago that they were following their mum and were a fraction of this size.
The fir cones are all over this tree.
Colour, for me is a sacred thing. It is a great mood enhancer. Colour is something that has been acknowledged through the years. What about green with envy, a blue mood, red for danger to name a few?
Purple is a colour that I have a close affinity with, I look on it as a sacred colour, representing spirit when I make my femmes. A rich colour that when you look at it , it draws you in to a meditative state.

As I said yesterday we went to Cumbria to visit friends and came back over the old A6 Shap pass.
The following are some of the pictures I took.
Looking down the valley there is barely a house to be seen, it seems one of the last wild places.
You could almost slide down the wires to the bottom of the valley.
Vast swathes of woodland inhabit the slopes.
When you see Shap at this time of year it is hard to visualise the winters pre motorway when news headlines told you of the pass being closed and the numbers of vehicles stuck there.
It was very pleasant to meander our gentle way over the pass, nary another vehicle to be seen, just lots of brave cyclists making their slow way to the top.

Oh what a wonderful time we had

What a wonderful day we had in Cumbria. Very tiring but fun none the less. We were up at the crack of dawn to enable us to visit Mr Mog's mum before she went out. Yes she enjoys going out just as much as us even though she is in her 90th year. We almost have to make an appointment to visit to ensure she will be home. As it is a 2 hour journey to her home and we wanted to be there by 9am an early start was required. The journey up was a little misty but great. Mr Mog will have those pictures on his blog when he posts them. I just clicked as we drove, like you do.
After seeing Mum we drove along the coast through Siloth,Abbeytown and to Anthorn where our friends have just moved after several years in France. The coast was a delight and the views over to Scotland misty and mysterious. We viewed the new home which overlooks the sea and then headed inland and upwards to visit Cae at Johnby. We had first met at Woolfest which Cae organised and got on very well. She had mentioned visiting her when next we went Cumbria Way and Mr Mog and I do not need asking twice:) We eventually found her after getting lost and travelling tiny country lanes in search of the house. What a lovely place it is and the room Cae works in is light and inspiring and has goats walking by the windows as you sit there. After a slice of Grahams apple cake(recipe is on the blog) and cups of coffee we exchanged gifts. Just look what I came home with:)


some undyed BFL to try and some curls from Cae's goat. Just look how curly and shiny these locks are. I'm going to add them to some other dyed locks to make a seaweed scarf.



Hand dyed for me in my colours for sure.

dyed curls for the seaweed shawl/scarf
These are for my sock blanket, bet you can't guess what colours Cae likes and coincidentally was the colour of the elemental I made her???
Then we come on to my other reason for visiting , Cae had offered to try winding the mohair i dyed using her tall swift. It took a long while, after all there are 200 grams and we did talk more or less none stop throughout.

I am so thrilled with the finished result, the colours blended so beautifully. 200 grams of kid mohair is a lot of yardage and it will make a fabulous shawl I think, watch this space..

We arrived home thoroughly tired but we had such a grand day out it didn't matter. I think its the tired days when you have done nothing and been nowhere that are worse don't you?
Then I came home to this in the mail.



I wanted to join the solid sock challenge on Ravelry. I never seem to knit in solid or semi solid colours so I decided to take the challenge. As I wasn't sure if I would get yarn dyed for this month I purchased this skein. The colour is Irn Bru after the Scottish drink.
I am going to try and dye the rest of the colours of the month myself, that for me will be part of the challenge. Not just to knit in solid or semi solid colours but to do so with my own hand dyed yarn.

Today it hasn't stopped raining all day. I've been knitting on my rainbow socks and hope to have pictures of Mr Mogs finished pair tomorrow and hopefully a finished sock for me. Both my own dyed yarn of course:))