What to do?

It is almost the new year and I am in a quandary. What to knit for the hospice this year?
This will be my fourth year of knitting for them and I don't know what to knit.

I also have a confession, I don't seem to want to knit at the moment. I'm enjoying spinning too much. I just want to spin, not knit the finished yarn. I think it is just the fun of creating hanks of yarn. Far more fun than knitting. Some of this I suspect is because I don't know what I want to knit.
I love sitting at the wheel and turning clumps of coloured fibre into fine yarn. A lot of what I spin is fine and I live thicker yarn. I am going to practise navaho plying once I finish on the computer. This makes a 3ply yarn and keeps the colours intact in the same order as you spin.

Hospice knitting 2009, the total + solstice giveaway

I thought you might like to see the grand total of items going to the hospice this year. They will be going to St Catherine's hospice this time.


Do you want to know the totals?
There are 17 pairs of socks, 2 hats, 1 cowl, 2 scarves and 6 shawls or wraps. Enough to keep the patients and their families warm I think. This is the third year of knitting for the hospice and not the last.
Wonder what I should knit next year?
Many thanks again to all the very kind people who donated yarn for this project it has been much appreciated.

On to the Solstice giveaway, I thought you would like to see the prizes.
One very warm snuggly shawl and a pin to hold it closed.
1 skein of my very first hand spun, Falkland yarn and enough for a hat, gloves or cowl. Maybe even socks.
The winner will be announced on the Winter Solstice, Monday. I'll get Mr Mog to draw a name from the comments this month.

Selling shawls and hospice update

Firstly the hospice. You will have noticed I haven't done many photo updates. This is deliberate. The hospice knitting continues steadily but I've decided to keep the number of items secret until nearer Yule. I'm going to have a contest and let you guess how many items are going to the hospice, there will be prizes:) It seemed a fun thing to do.
Thank you for all the lovely comments on the shawls, yes I am selling them .The cost covers the materials I'm not profiting on them but the cash raised will give me money for more yarn to keep knitting = yes more shawls:)
So if you liked the look of one of them email me it could be yours.
Next post lots of pictures from the nature reserve, fabulous orchids and more

Poets Calendar for hospice knitting/dyeing inspiration

The post by Leanne at Somerset Seasons today was a reminder that I was going to post the poem by Henry Longfellow called Poet's Calendar. I thought it a great idea for inspiration on my hospice lunar year of socks and hats. Think I need an abbreviation for that don't you? How about YOSH?
Without further ado

The Poet's Calendar

JANUARY
Janus am I; oldest of potentates;
Forward I look, and backward, and below
I count, as god of avenues and gates,
The years that through my portals come and go.

I block the roads, and drift the fields with snow;
I chase the wild-fowl from the frozen fen;
My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow,
My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men.


FEBRUARY

I am lustration, and the sea is mine!
I wash the sands and headlands with my tide;
My brow is crowned with branches of the pine;
Before my chariot-wheels the fishes glide.
By me all things unclean are purified,
By me the souls of men washed white again;
E'en the unlovely tombs of those who died
Without a dirge, I cleanse from every stain.


MARCH

I Martius am! Once first, and now the third!
To lead the Year was my appointed place;
A mortal dispossessed me by a word,
And set there Janus with the double face.
Hence I make war on all the human race;
I shake the cities with my hurricanes;
I flood the rivers and their banks efface,
And drown the farms and hamlets with my rains.


APRIL

I open wide the portals of the Spring
To welcome the procession of the flowers,
With their gay banners, and the birds that sing
Their song of songs from their aerial towers.
I soften with my sunshine and my showers
The heart of earth; with thoughts of love I glide
Into the hearts of men; and with the Hours
Upon the Bull with wreathed horns I ride.


MAY

Hark! The sea-faring wild-fowl loud proclaim
My coming, and the swarming of the bees.
These are my heralds, and behold! my name
Is written in blossoms on the hawthorn-trees.
I tell the mariner when to sail the seas;
I waft o'er all the land from far away
The breath and bloom of the Hesperides,
My birthplace. I am Maia. I am May.


JUNE

Mine is the Month of Roses; yes, and mine
The Month of Marriages! All pleasant sights
And scents, the fragrance of the blossoming vine,
The foliage of the valleys and the heights.
Mine are the longest days, the loveliest nights;
The mower's scythe makes music to my ear;
I am the mother of all dear delights;
I am the fairest daughter of the year.


JULY

My emblem is the Lion, and I breathe
The breath of Libyan deserts o'er the land;
My sickle as a sabre I unsheathe,
And bent before me the pale harvests stand.
The lakes and rivers shrink at my command,
And there is thirst and fever in the air;
The sky is changed to brass, the earth to sand;
I am the Emperor whose name I bear.


AUGUST

The Emperor Octavian, called the August,
I being his favorite, bestowed his name
Upon me, and I hold it still in trust,
In memory of him and of his fame.
I am the Virgin, and my vestal flame
Burns less intensely than the Lion's rage;
Sheaves are my only garlands, and I claim
The golden Harvests as my heritage.


SEPTEMBER

I bear the Scales, where hang in equipoise
The night and day; and when unto my lips
I put my trumpet, with its stress and noise
Fly the white clouds like tattered sails of ships;
The tree-tops lash the air with sounding whips;
Southward the clamorous sea-fowl wing their flight;
The hedges are all red with haws and hips,
The Hunter's Moon reigns empress of the night.


OCTOBER

My ornaments are fruits; my garments leaves,
Woven like cloth of gold, and crimson dyed;
I do not boast the harvesting of sheaves,
O'er orchards and o'er vineyards I preside.
Though on the frigid Scorpion I ride,
The dreamy air is full, and overflows
With tender memories of the summer-tide,
And mingled voices of the doves and crows.

NOVEMBER

The Centaur, Sagittarius, am I,
Born of Ixion's and the cloud's embrace;
With sounding hoofs across the earth I fly,
A steed Thessalian with a human face.
Sharp winds the arrows are with which I chase
The leaves, half dead already with affright;
I shroud myself in gloom; and to the race
Of mortals bring nor comfort nor delight.


DECEMBER

Riding upon the Goat, with snow-white hair,
I come, the last of all. This crown of mine
Is of the holly; in my hand I bear
The thyrsus, tipped with fragrant cones of pine.
I celebrate the birth of the Divine,
And the return of the Saturnian reign;--
My songs are carols sung at every shrine.
Proclaiming "Peace on earth, good will to men."

A wintery wonderland with knitting

Friday we went up to Cumbria to see Mr Mog's aged parent and to stay over with friends for the night. It was very icy,snow everywhere and extremely cold. Most of the pictures I took came to nothing as there was a blizzard to travel in. I do have some pictures to show though.


This gives you some idea of the kind of weather we came home in. It became much foggier than this the nearer we got to home.
The trees are stunning in their naked beauty.
This is a path you can see from the road over Whinlatter,near Keswick.
The view of Bassenthwaite Lake from the top of Whinlatter.
Another view towards the top of Whinlatter .
Just an idea of the snow going over Dunmail Raise towards Keswick from Ambleside
Yet we also had some sunshine

This morning's view from the promenade looking over towards the Lake District Hills.

I received the above letter of thanks for the Hospice socks from St Johns. What it should have said was a big thank you to everyone who helped and encouraged this project.

I have been knitting for Yule gifts. A moebius cowl with a mixture of sock yarn, rayon glitter yarn and mohair hand dyed.

This cowl is for me and is made from some wonderful hand spun/hand dyed yarn that Artis Anne made me. Isn't it lovely? It feels so warm to wear.

These socks are made with blue faced Leicester yarn that I dyed, these are for a gift.
Then this morning we woke to magpies on the roof opposite. Just 2 here but there were 5 at one stage. I love magpies.

Labels for hospice socks

Thought you might like to see how the hospice sock labels look before they all go on their merry way to the hospice tomorrow:) A small sample of course as there were 37 other pairs to label:)

Final total of socks knit for hospice.Oh and a winner or two:)

Here you see in all their glory the results of a years knitting for the hospice. Go ahead and count them. Yes there are 39 pairs of socks ready to go to St Johns Hospice next week:))

Another shot of the 39 pairs just because Mr Mog took several pictures:)
I can't thank you all enough for the yarn donations and the encouragement throughout the year. I never dreamed there would be so many pairs back in January when I started. To think I hoped for 13 pairs back then:)
If I think of all the other knitting I've done, socks, shawls, hats etc for family and gifts I am so pleased that I could knit so many. They kept me going through Mr Mog's daily radiotherapy, they came on journeys to Wales and across England. Where would I have been without a pair of socks in progress?
These 39 pairs will bring much comfort and warmth I am sure. Each will have a card attached with washing instructions and a note saying that they were knit with the help and kindness of many people across the world
Thank you my friends.

Now I did mention a contest didn't I?
There are 39 pairs and 2 people guessed correctly
Emma and Perran.
We had a draw from those 2 as it was going to be 1 prize and Emma won. congratulations Emma please contact me with your address:)
It seemed a little unfair that Perran didn't get something so I will be sending a prize winging her way also. Congratulations Perran.
Commiserations to the rest of you. There is always next year:)

I spy femmes and hospice knitting

A teaser post:) The femmes are almost ready as you can see. Well you can nearly see as I did one blurry for fun.
I think you can see they are nearly ready to leave for their new homes.



These ones apparently have a story to tell and it will accompany them on their journey. As I sat meditating on trimmings and beads a story came into my head about the femmes and I hope you will like it. We are a little further on than you see and hopefully they will be ready for first proper viewing tomorrow evening. First we have a lunch appointment with some Ursine friends of ours.
Don't forget if one of them calls to you message me as they are most probably the last for this year and I don't like to (can't) repeat them
Hospice socks, thanks to ALL of you who helped me through this year of hospice sock knitting I'm almost finished for this year. I'll be finishing the last sock for 1st December and then they are off to the hospice. Pictures will follow of the completed group. I'm donating early so they have time to decide if they want to sell them for funds or donate to the patients for Yule. I'll let you know more later. When I started back in January I hoped to make 1 pair for each lunar month,making 13 in all. As I'm sure you are aware, after reading my blog this year, there are way more than that. Many more. You still have time to make a guess on actually how many pairs will be going to the hospice. I'll close entries next weekend. Prize is a femme and a skein of hand dyed yarn.
What about next year? Well I'm going for my hat trick of 3 years knitting for the hospice. What to make after shawls then socks? I'm going with the suggestions on here and making hats plus fingerless gloves. What do you think?

Laal Bear socks finished and a question on noon.

Finished the lovely citrus/fresh socks using the yarn that Ursula at the Laal Bear kindly donated. Don't they zing? With, you will note, eye of partridge heel. What next for the moggie? Could it be lacy socks or patterns? Yeah right:) I think small steps don't you? This is second pair for July for the hospice. The yarn was very soft and easy on the hands. Ursula does some gorgeous colours, email her for more details.
I've started a pair of socks for Mr Mog in the yarn that Maylin dyed specially for him, a dark rainbow that he loves , thank you Maylin you cheered him up, the colours are very him.
The twitch is getting worse and making Mr Mog quite upset. Can't wait til next week when we can hopefully find out what it is and how to fix it.

Now a question for you
Noon - is it 12am or 12pm? I know, a simple question but after doing a little survey around pubs/restaurant opening hours around here you'd be amazed how it differs from place to place.

Finally a little more colour for you in one of the tubs, calendula and nasturtiums

Latest socks and Mr Mog update

Latest socks finished for the hospice. This one is Laal Bears Blue faced Leicester sock yarn, shade pansy. I purchased this at Woolfest from Ursula and it is wonderful. So soft and easy to knit. I recommend it:)

please notice my new heel. I have branched out, what do you think?
This is the 100% merino 4ply yarn from Martasyarns.com.au. Doesn't it look stunning? This was my normal heel.

Mr Mog didn't get any positive news at the Oncologist, didn't get negative either though which is good. She said it was early days when I asked if the op and radiotherapy were a success. She said go and enjoy our life and not worry. He has now been prescribed hormones in tablet form instead of the monthly injections. The only down side is that the twitch in Mr Mog's face hasn't gone . It is there all the time and when he is tired it is much much worse. It is getting him down so I'm making another appointment with doctor for next week.
Not much else going on, I am still very sore from Woolfest.

June Hospice socks finished:) and SP12 question

The June hospice socks are completed:) Don't they brighten up the day?
Details:-
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Fun colour 138
needles purple pins 2.5mm
size made large.
Our SP hostess has asked another question:)
As a kid, what did you look forward to most about summer vacation/break/holiday?
I looked forward to spending days on my own in the woods/field behind the house. Sitting in a tree reading or riding the horses that were there bareback. I hated home so spent as much time outside as I could. I even loved being in the trees in the rain:)
And to my SP:) anything you send will be fabulous if its chosen for me so thank you:)

Beltaine greetings, with socks

Happy Beltaine. may your fire be nourished and energy be strong.
We spent today visiting scarecrows, wonderful scarecrows with a green man giant, the princess from Shrek and much more. Where were we?
Finished my final April pair of hospice socks using the Australian Polwarth yarn. Heaven in a thread:) So so soft. I've also started my first May socks. Does it remind you of the spearmint chews we used to eat? or candy stripes?