11.5 of Hadrian's Wall Walk

We didn't actually walk along the wall, hence the title 11.5. We intended to, however after we got off the bus and were greeting by this nice view


we noticed the air was a bit more brisk than we had previously remembered in past walks. Which makes sense, actually. Two weeks ago my flat and the office became suddenly cold, as if summer had just passed and spring just passed a torch, and there no turning back. Emotionally though, we're not ready for the cold to set in yet. So despite the chill in the air and our thin cardigans we set off for our first stop, a brief detour, and technically a back track since it was a half mile to the east of our bus stop.

This is Mare and Foal, two Bronze Age standing stones, believed to have once been part of a circle and thought to date from 2100 BC to 700BC.

Long before we got to this point though we noticed that not only had the air temperature changed since we were here last, but there was also dew on the ground.

Lots of it. So by this point our feet were wet, and we decided that instead of walking for 5 miles in wet feet, or heading back home, we would take the bus to the dry Roman Army Museum, which we were intending on visiting the next leg of the walk anyway. After a visit to the museum and hot chocolate, tea, and a scone we walked around Walltown Crags.


Is it really just a question mark?

Arg, it's talk like a pirate day

It seems like only yesterday that my sentences were occasionally punctuated by an Argg. But in actual fact, it was a full year ago. Today, once again, is talk like a pirate day.

Sadly, a quick google search leads me to believe that not only is there no international talk like parrot day tomorrow, the logical day for such an event, but there's no international parrot day at all! So if you find yourself tongue tied and unable to begin sentences tomorrow then feel free to join me in starting your sentances with a squawk or a brwaawk in an unofficial and secret talk-like-a-parrot day.

World's oldest textile

Scientists have found the world's oldest textiles, a few pieces of 30,000 year old flax fibers (and dyed too!). You can read the NPR story here.

One week into Kristi (the sock)

I actually started this last week, but it hasn't looked very exciting and blog-worthy until now. The pattern is Kristi from Sock Innovation.

The first 20 or so rows of the pattern (I'm on 30 something now) went rather slow, but I seem to have now picked up speed. Though the first two rows took me a very long time. It seemed like random knits and purls, not a regular ribbing, and I was very paranoid that I would get it wrong, so I counted and compared what I had knit at least three times. On a positive note J has tried it on and it fits, and despite the fact that I knit tighter when I do cables! Also, this is one of my blackbean dyed yarns, so this sock is extra exciting.

PB & J

It's Jessamy's birthday today, and I made peanut butter cookies. Plain, with golden syrup in the middle (fail), and with jam in middle (put two together, and not only do you get a pb&j sandwich, but you also feel sick).

Looks like a swatch, feels like a swatch

J has turned in her thesis!

Yay.

This actually happened on Thursday, but I think we're still recuperating from the day's event and stress, and everything that event means.

I've started a new project, or at least I've done the swatch. I looked on knitty for what I wanted to do, and couldn't see on listed, so I've decided to might as well design one and submit it. This unfortunately means I can't post pics, but here's the mini swatch.


I have three socks I'd like to make, so I think I'll also start one of them today or tomorrow. It's from Cookie A's new book, Sock Innovations. J picked out the pattern (the sock is for her) and it looks like it might be the most difficult one in the book.

So there might be some panicky and frustrated posts from me in the near very future...

Finally, photos

I've sneaked on the computer (Jessamy's thesis is due on Thursday, so I need to sneak my computer time) to post pics of the sock yarn I dyed last week. Not sure how well it shows up in this picture, but it's a semi solid blue.
I feel some sock knitting coming on.

These were earrings. I really can't remember what was my original intention with these, since I don't have ear piercings, but I recently saw an example of "needle wrapping" in a book and remember I had these sitting in the closet. It was only after I did the wrapping that I realized that they don't even work as earrings anymore since they need to stretch to be put on. Maybe I'll make them into a necklace?

Ukelele Orchestra

Hopefully you can hear this if you're in the US.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/events/Proms/b00m68x7/

It's the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain. I might just have to take up the Uke after hearing this.

In the middle of the show there was some audience participation with The Ode to Joy, Beethoven. Even though I was listening to the show in the comfort of my own home, my eyes started welling up with tears. On the news there's so many negative things, people banding together for war and hatred and angry and violent mobs that it's really uplifting to hear a crowd making music together and being happy together.

We are kind of amused

It's finished!
J has been wearing it since this "photo shoot," so I think she likes it.

The mods I made from the original pattern on knitty was the high collar, originally a mistake but she liked how it looked long. The mod for where the cables join is from a helpful note by jmfknits on ravelry. Also made the sleeves longer, but I did something wrong with the decreases and they are oddly bunchy, but I've decided to ignore that.

Someone on Twitter said she looks like Sandra Bullock in this photo. What do ya think?

Terminado empiezo

I finished El Hobbit! Actually, for the past month I had been reading El Hobbit and The Hobbit simultaneously because after the first short page of El Hobbit it became apparent that my Spanish was only good enough to understand everyday simple words. And I did not consider agujero (hole), the third word in the book, to be an everyday word. I'm still not sure why I didn't just put El Hobbit down and just read the English version, since I really did just want to reread the book before the movie comes out. It was probably just stubbornness. Whatever the reason, I've finally finished them both!

It's also looking like this will be a week of finishing projects. Jessamy's sweater is almost done, I had gotten a little crazy with the collar, knitted a few inches too much, so all I think I have to do is rip out an inch or too, bind off, and weave in ends. I'm trying not to think about what I'd do if she tries it on and something looks off.

The last of my sock yarns has been dyed, it's drying off as I type. Sadly I won't be buying anymore yarn until more money comes my way, so that's the end of that for a few weeks.

Of course this means this is also a week of new things - I've already started on The Diary of John Evelyn, as I've decided, after I read Pepys' diary a few months ago, to try and fill in my knowledge of British History (not that I really know much in the first place) from 1660 to the present through historical diaries.

And, I have a fiber project all lined up. Yay new projects!

Black bean singing in the dead of night

My latest dyeing experiment is dry!

It's made with ..... black bean juice!

Meteor Shower

Turned off the lights, opened the window.
I looked out.
Nothing but the glow of a city reflected in the sky.
A single ray of light shone through on the right.
Perhaps it was a star, or maybe a plane.
Its metal bulk spewing exhaust into the night air, but its travelers asleep
On the way to see family.
Or awake
Staring above the light of the city
Or at the meteor shower I can only wonder about.
Drunken revelers below don't notice my disappointment.
Continue to revel, should you need my blessing.
Continue to be happy on the ground, not in the sky.

Fish n Chips

We heard tell that there was the best fish n chips place just a few blocks from our flat. So today we finally checked it out.


We were really hungry and actually started eating it before I could take a picture. But it is the best we've had so far! Could have done with more salt and vinegar though.

I was tempted to also order their deep fried Mars bar (what is quickly becoming a staple of fish n chip shops here). But I think they would have looked at me weird because I wasn't drunk.

LA County Fair needs spinning demonstrators

Found this on a yahoo group:
Demonstrators are needed for the entire run of the Fair. Please contact Roadie @ the Sheets Gallery for the full scoop. 909-865-4562.

Day 11 of Hadrian's Wall Walk

Yesterday was Day 11 of our Hadrian's Wall Walk.

This was actually the first time in over a month that we hadn't had previous engagements on a sunny day! Our walk started at Housesteads Roman Fort and ended at Milecastle Inn. The path along the wall stretched for 5 Roman miles. Each Roman mile is .95 of today's miles, so we actually walked 4.75 miles, not including the walk from the parking lot to where we left off last month, and the walk from the wall to Milecastle Inn.

Here is the view of Whin Sill, where we walked last month.


This is some of what we walked yesterday.


The first milecastle (there's one each Roman mile) on this leg of the trip.


One of the first of many, many hills we climbed during the course of the day.

We aren't actually sure if the rocks are the actual wall, or if they've been placed there for walkers.


A sign for Pennine Way, a popular mountainous walk. I'm pointing up, where our path leads.


Highshield Crags

Yes, we did climb to the top of that too.

And here we are looking down at Crag Lough.


J waving under Sycamore Gap.

It's also known as Robin Hood's Tree because it was in the Prince of Thieves movie.









Milecastle 42, the last of the milecastles on this leg of the trip, and unusual for a milecastle since it's at an awkward slant.


Cawfields Quarry.


Surprisingly we arrived at Milecastle Inn, where the bus would pick us up to bring us back home, at 3:30, and hour before we had to leave. So we ordered a half pint, ate a cadbury egg, and then went home.

Moved on to socks

Finally dyed that sock yarn I got last week.

It's using logwood. Not sure if you can tell from this pic but there's very subtle color variations. Sadly I don't have a ball winder, so it took forever to wind this purple guy. I'm not sure what I'll make with it, socks no doubt. Sadly I don't have Cookie A's sock book, and I probably can't wait until Christmas (I'm assuming someone will buy me the book) to make something out of it, but that does mean I get to have fun browsing patterns on ravelry.

Ready for its close-up

My first plant-dyed multicolored skein is dry, and ready for its close-up.



It came out pretty good I think. I tried something different this time, and it came out not quite as felted as my other skeins, but a bit thicker and not as soft as its pre-dyed self. The yarn is a single ply, which I think is why it fulls so easily (but sadly it's the only undyed yarn I've seen in my town). Sooo, as a birthday present for myself (b-day was yesterday, and the package came yesterday!) I bought undyed sock yarn.


I'll be brewing the first one tomorrow. Fingers crossed it doesn't felt.

As part of my birthday celebration J and I made Chocolate Lava Cake.

Really it's more like Gooey Chocolaty cupcakes, but it was really good.

Half Amused

Nearly done with the body of Jessamy's sweater. It fits much, much better now that I've tinked and reknit nearly all of it. I have half an inch of stockinette stitch left, then it's a bit of ribbing, sleeves, and collar. Yay.

It is green!

My green yarn is very nearly dry.
Turns out yellow and purple do make a green!


It's an unusual color, but I'm quite happy it didn't turn out to be a color only a mother would love.

And here is purple again. I don't think I showed off the purple enough in the last post.

Only thing is, they are all slightly felted to far. Still knittable, just that the skeins are a little thicker, and well, felted. Going to see if I can find some undyed superwash ...

And that's supposed to be green?

The day started off with some yummy strawberry muffins.


And ended with this:

It was supposed to be green. Or at least that's what the natural dye book told me would happen when I mixed Tumeric and Logwood. And I guess it is technically green, just totally not my idea of an ideal green.

For some reason I thought I would dye the yarn half yellow/half green, though now that I think about it there's not very many half and half skeins out there. The half "green" yarn wasn't looking very good, especially in contrast to the very nice yellow. So in a hasty decision I threw (or rather very gently placed) the whole skein in the pot, and you've already seen the outcome of that.


Here is the original yellow (using tumeric).
And this is the logwood I dyed last night. Perty, isn't it.
We shall see what the green yarn looks like after I rinse it, maybe some magic will happen.

Are you following me?

Look, a new widget! In a great show of confidence I've added Blogger's Following widget, so now I can find out who reads my blog confirm that I really am just blogging for my own amusement.

Pot of gold

Last week I finally decided to stop being such a miser and fork over some money for something fun - equipment so I can start dyeing yarn again! Even though I'm going to only be working with "natural" (an odd phrase) substances I still needed new pots colanders, etc, since you're not supposed to use equipment that will also be used for cooking since natural doesn't always mean safe or nontoxic.

I had done some dyeing a few years ago, in the good old yarn store days, but hadn't done any fun experiments since moving to England.

Here the tumeric is brewin'.
And one of the finished outcomes.

This is English Ivy, not at all what I expected. It's a very subtle color. I'm not even sure how to describe the color. Butter? Tan? I think I'll just stick to calling it "pretty".


Tomorrow I'll be trying out logwood (had to purchase that dye), which in theory will result in a blue, and then with the exhaust dye I'll be overdyeing two of the tumeric skeins and, possibly(?), make a green! I can't wait!

Not the wall, but still pretty

I seemed to have hurt my left big toe on last week's walk, so there's been no long walks for us lately. Plus the scattered showers would have made them pretty miserable. So today we decided to take a short walk in Jesmond Dene, a park about a 20 minute bus ride from us.

This is St Mary's Chapel, built in the 17th century.
Supposedly there was a well very nearby where it's said that Jesus performed a miracle in the 1200s, and was later a pilgrimage site. But we couldn't find it! So we went off to the main park.


A old water mill, used for grinding corn in the 1700s.



At the foot of the park was "Pet's Corner". A bizarre mix of zoo zoo and petting zoo. It's free, so the animals consisted of ducks, sheep, goats, very smelly pigs, birds (like Budgies), a peacock, and lots and lots of chickens.
My toe didn't bother me at all during the walk, so we'll be walking in Hadrian's Wall county during the next (assuming there will be one) full day of sun.

Happy 4th!

I kept forgetting today was 4th of July! Usually at home the illegal fireworks would have started last week, and culminating in a very loud day today. Mostly though my only reminders that it was the 4th was the "happy 4th!" messages on twitter.

Although did have a culinary treat today for dinner.
Jessamy had actually made the dough last night, and had let it rise in the fridge overnight (a user comment on the recipe said it was better that way).

We also watched Serena vs Venus today. I have no idea how tennis is scored, but just thinking about how messed up the situation was kept me entertained. The announcers mentioned that this was the third time that they have had two US finalists play on the 4th of July.
I'm still reading El Hobbit. Actually, I'm reading El Hobbit and The Hobbit at the same time. I don't know if my understanding of conjugation is getting better (actually I do know, it isn't getting better), but I am learning some new nouns, like capuchon (hood). Of course this also means it's going to take me twice as long to read the book than if I just read one or the other. I'm just hoping I can keep renewing it from the library...

I'm more than halfway done with Jessamy's sweater. Only there's a slight problem. It's still too big! So really it just makes her look, well, large. Not good... So tomorrow I'll be ripping most of it out (to a few inches above the armpit) and reknitting. I'd rather reknit it so she can wear it at least once than have it never be worn at all.