Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

At last, things are starting to get a little bit easier and I can start getting on with the whole living thing. After the overly complex stitchery I started on one of the flowers for my embroidered dress at the beginning of the week, it felt like I would never get it either right or finished. My mood darkened, but I kept at it and then suddenly it was finished. The kitchen is no longer the sensory nightmare of the last couple of months, as long as I am the only one in there. I even managed to gather a harvest from the allotment and make a potato curry with my homegrown produce. I’ve also managed to not only go properly outside but took on my own autistic/ PTSD challenge. In true over the top ADHD style, I went on a day trip to The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, the perfect overwhelmingly stimulating environment to anxiously await the boy’s Kent Test results. If I can cope with needle-felted Sherlocks, then I can probably start to engage in some of those day to day act...

Once upon a time there were lots of kings who chased around the world robbing whatever land they fancied, locking people are in towers and hitting everyone with their swords/ sticks / spiky metaL balls on chains. It seems that at one point many kingdoms had a passion for claiming islands that were close enough to them in nature where sheep, climate and jumpers matched their homelands. Just because something is closest to me does it make it mine. Just because I run around shouting at everyone "Mine..mine..mine" does it actually mean that I have ownership? Unfortunately positioned in the middle of the Irish sea pretty close to Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and not too far from Scandinavian, it seems that Isle of Man was fair game for anyone with a boat. With boats there's not only the threat of invasion but smuggling is made a whole lot easier especially when you are surrounded by coast. However this is an Isle of character, resilience against the takers of the earth ...

  Things are going well with my Frankenadventsocks and the latest section is quite monsterous. I did attempt a bobble style stitch but was too tired to concentrate as well as being constantly interrupted. It's one of the stitches where you have to count and do everything right otherwise it ends up looking like a holey mess (see below). I've renamed it freestyle lace . It's very in the momen t and totally organic. It neither has direction nor is concerned with remaining within the confines of a regular pattern. It's impossible to make a mistake because there is no right or wrong way.   Not only have I freed myself from perfection and conformity in this section, I have also challenged my fear of scratchy yarns. I discovered that the softest of softs is not the only way and that everything is welcome in these socks even if I have absolutely no idea what the yarn is. I have changed my focus of what something is, to what it can be. This ball of charity shop treasure has n...

I really haven't been feeling well at all of late. I did try to get an appointment with the GP but they are not easy people to pin down, so I turned to the pharmacy for help.   The Old Pharmacy in Faversham is no ordinary place though; it is a luxury yarn dispensary. If you find yourself weighed down with the heavy burden of the more rubbish aspects of life with symptoms such as weepiness and loss of all believe in yourself, then this is the place to go. Filled with colour, texture and fluffiness in each of its old fashioned nooks and crannies, just the pure existence of all those rows of tiny drawers is enough to lift the grayest of souls. I couldn't help myself, I had to get my mitts on one of those exquisite glass knobs and have a little peep inside.   Although those apothecary jars are now filled with coloured water, it was exciting to imagine what delightful lotions and potions they once held. Gillian is the most wonderful person/ designer / yarn guru who accurately p...

It's official, both of my Frankenadventsocks have been started with a ribbed cuff in 100% Wensleydale wool.   So why is that important I hear you ask? Because Wensleydales are in the "at risk" category on the Rare breeds list and if we don't do more knitting with this fab British yarn, then the demand for Wensleydales will decrease and they will disappear. Above are the facts taken from a 1949 book by N. L. Tinley (Department of Agriculture) entitled Good Sheep Farming. I got the book out from the LRC at work. It seriously does have a book on everything I'd want to know ever. Just look at their mega fringe, curly whirly dreadlocked fleece and these guys are big. They even have blue faces. For long lustrous wool, I'm a fan so they're going in my Frankenadventsocks and my imaginary sheep farm.   Posted with Blogsy

I've been doing quite a bit of watercolour painting recently. It's relaxing, observing everyday aspects of life, studying the details and getting it all down on paper.     Ever since visiting the Mysteries, Magic and Midnight Feasts at Canterbury Beaney and discovering Enid's Blyton's passion for nature and its documentation in beautifully written diaries, I've been inspired. I've started my own journal and I am trying to paint the arrival of spring. The hardest thing about painting with watercolours is deciding whether I've done enough.   There's always the risk of doing too much.       Posted with Blogsy

Where do you stand on the nature or nurture debate? Speaking purely from my own experience; girls are little princesses who live in castles of pink and boys like cars and everything noisy or dirty. Although at age two both my children received a ride on car for their birthday, so perhaps the appeal is universal.   Here's the back of the quilt that I recently made for my nephew. It's been unwrapped now and is all the way on the other side of the world. If you live by the sea, as my little guy does, you're going to need the ocean on your quilt. Who doesn't like the park for a quick swing and slide?   You also need some where to live.   Happy birthday Manny! Wish I was still there to drive cars around your quilt.   Posted with Blogsy

  I realise I'm a little late but Happy New Year blogosphere anyhow. So far I've liked 2015, although I was rather fond of 2014. I know for a lot of friends and family, 2014 was challenging and they were glad to move on so to them especially I wish them all the best for the new year. Along the with usual resolutions (loose weight, get fit, be the best me ever...) my number one wish for this year is to finish projects. There are a whole stack of unfinished projects lurking in the cupboards and I'm starting with socks. I've already finished one pair (there was just a heel and a foot of the second sock left) and now I'm on to a more challenging pair that I started last April.     Posted with Blogsy

Once a year, I get to go back to London to my beloved Alexandra Palace for the Knitting and Stitching Show. It's the mecca for all stitchy ladies (very few boys I'm afraid), like a giant magnet pulling us in by the knitting needles, armed with shopping bags and packed lunches. There is so much to see, I feel like a child in a sweet shop, dizzy with excitement and slightly battered by the hardened elbows of veteran bargain hunters. Despite manners being slightly amiss amongst the crowded aisles of the great halls of the palace, I challenge even the shyest of people not to make a friend when they sit down for a drink and the stall holders and exhibitors are the loveliest people in the world. Habu Textiles  is an old favourite now and it's my first port of call. I love the colours, the texture of the yarn and the exquisitely delicate garments created using their products. Mostly I like the linen and the paper threads and this year discovered a new stall,  Namolio ,...