yet another bellycast and snow people

inspite of having weeks to go, this baby turned up a few days after her cast was done...mum and baby

doing fine.
Whilst I had the ModRoc out I had a go at covering bottles which looked like the making of Christmassy people, for the Nativity or carol singers or jolly snowmen (or women) Asda's fruit juices, washing up liquid bottles a HP sauce bottle and a Mars drink. All of them have ball pool heads. (cheaper than polystyrene or spun cotton/paper especially when working with large numbers of participants )

Rolled up bubble wrap make arms. Either just the ends to make them flexible for inserting into cosy jackets or full "snow" arms .

When they are dressed I'll pop back and put a picture on here.......now to clean up the mess !!

apple tree and bugs

When we moved to this house in the early 80s the children loved the big garden but it lacked the apple tree to climb in. They wanted us to plant one.We explained that it took years to grow big enough for them to climb in, and by that time they would be too big to want to climb it, but they still wanted us to plant an apple tree....We decided on a dwarf tree so that they could at least pick the apples easily. With all the peculiar weather over the last few years the disease spread quickly and I decided it had to come down. The garden look so much bigger without the tree.....it's amazing the difference. The birds, especially the tits and the robin loved the tree but since the disease spread even they lost interest in it.

It was 7/8 feet across and about 14 feet high. We did it in stages, burning the leaves, twigs and small branches as we went...

after this...the chainsaw...all that is left is a stump...big enough NOT to be a trip hazzard....and an irritating reminder to dig out the roots...lol

This red bug is not a regular ladybird shape, has no spots and descended on the these Lilly's as they were at the end of their flowering and they rapidly died off.....Having to keep a close eye on my Japanese Acers as some bug is loving the moist humid conditions and it leaves white fluffy powdery deposits. I tried some specialist bug stuff but now am using methylated spirits on a cotton bud to wipe it off...any ideas ?

Close Knit The Art of the Gansey

I was invited to the opening of Close Knit The Art of the Gansey at the Hull Maritime Museum. Close Knit is a collaboration between the touring Moray Firth Gansey Project and the Hull School of Art and Design.

Above is a free knitting pattern for a Gansey which comes with the book on the exhibition Fishing for Ganseys. (only £3.99) A flyer and the invitation postcard. A leaflet, Traditional Ganseys, from flamboroughmarine who offer a mail order service for authenic Gansey knitting kits.

 www.ganseys.co.uk   www.flamboroughmarine co.uk 

The moray firth project started out to record the patterns and stories of the local ganseys, the origins of the gansey. The link with the herring girls who followed the herring shoals. The meaning of the patterns and so on. There are a number of Scottish ganseys on display all clearly labelled.

I was very interested in the East Coast ganseys, I remember Bridlington, Scarborough, Flamborough fishermen wearing them. This white version of the Humber Gansey shows up much better than the navy blue. The Humber star is particular to this region, its origin lost in time but may have something to do with the Methodist Bethal. A number of eastcoast fishing communities traditional gansey patterns were on display and all the different patterns explained. Some of these were knitted by local volunteers who maybe didn't realise what they had agreed to take on ! So finely knitted, they are a real labour of love. It also gave a mention to the fact that rivermen who sailed the river Humber taking cargo inland also wore the Humber gansey or a version of it.

each gansey has a label with all the stitches used . Marriage lines, hearts,fishing net, God's eye, harbour steps,rope,anchors, tree of life, flags, lobster claw,hoof and so on. Folk lore has it that these ganseys developed local patterns so that drowned sailors could be more easily recognised. But apparently there is no hard historical evidence for this.

knitting sheaths or whiska 

Some work by Di Gilpin an internationally known knitwear designer and fan of the gansey was on show.

Alongside the Scottish ganseys and the eastcoast ganseys was the Hull School of Art and Design collaboration where the student took inspiration from the patterns within the ganseys and produced apparel and millinery which made a very interesting display. Spare Hands sang sea shanties lending a great atmosphere to the evening. 

It is certainly well worth a visit or two or three.

more squares

Used up the yarn I pulled out...bought 100g of white to go around the edge with...makes it easier to join them all together...the colours certainly "pop" but the white may subdue it a bit, will have to wait and see...
it looks so flower power...those were the days...walking barefoot...long skirts swirling in the wind...gypsy blouses....crochet shawl...very long red hair... and now...hobbling on painful feet, salt and pepper hair with white flashes...sometimes a shawl is a necessity not a fashion accessory...I'd trip over the long skirt and need tops that cover my skin to stop it getting burnt.....ah well......
 Popped back to add......The finished blanket....