Ireland and Scotland, here we come

We booked two places to stay on the weekend, so we are now in Galway from Easter for a week, and then, after a day or two in Dublin, in Glengariff, Co. Cork, from the 11th to the 17th, or thereabouts. Another couple of days in Dublin, then back to Glasgow for a day or so before flying home.

Turns out renting a car is more expensive than accommodations. Perhaps we should just rent a camper and have done with it? It's almost time to start getting excited, thinking about what to pack (and in what?). Travel from and to Glasgow is by Ryanair, so no checking baggage means that we're limited. It's all OK, though, as our palatial self-catering includes laundry facilities as well as wi-fi. I'm prepared to throw out clothing if I need packing room for things acquired on the trip. I can leave heavier, Canada -type clothes in Glasgow and get them when we get back there. I'm actually wondering about voltage - I will need to recharge my iPod and, while I have a plug-in that will give me the correct charge, I'll need to be able to plug the thing into something in order to plug it in to the wall. Hmmm.

I hear that Euros are slightly less expensive at the moment, so I should go buy me some, real or in travellers' cheques form.

There's hardly time to knit, I'm spending so much time on the internet looking up stuff. Not strictly true - I should be able to finish the Olympic Multnomah in a day or so (no more patterned rows, just a couple of garter rows and then bind off! And the arrowhead is coming along too - I have 4 rows of pattern for the edge left (and four rows of purl).

I plan to take a break from shawls after that!

Winterish

We had another storm day on Wednesday - schools, uni, college closed, no mail, etc. Great day for staying home and knitting! I have two shawls on the needles. One is JUST for Olympics watching, so I keep it upstairs where the TV is. It is Multnomah and I'm making it in a hand-dyed yarn which I won a long time ago in a sock-a-month competition on Ravelry. The colours are, shall I say, not ME, being orangey-red, purply-pink and brown. However this pattern seems to look good in the wild variegated yarns so I'm giving it a go. It's garter-stitch with a feather-and-fan border, and the colours do look better together when you get to the border part.

Travel plans are coming along. It looks like we'll stay in Galway City for the first week (with J. and E. and maybe Steve!) and Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, is looking good for the second week. We've been emailing about a gorgeous 3-storey townhouse with 5 bedrooms!! The place in Galway is an apartment.

Two years after finishing a Luna Moth shawl in Pixie Floss from VV, I dyed it (it was a hateful pale yellow). I used butternut husks we gathered last October. The colour is a beige more than a brown. I do like it better than the yellow. It's blocking now, so I'll see how it looks unpinned. I just have SOO much beige yarn! Why do I do it?

All shawls, all the time

I wish work wouldn't steal so much of my knitting time. It's hard to complete all the shawls I want to make when I have to do work things! I would knit when I do my daily walk (all at the gym now because the outdoor walking is so treacherous) but it's hard to manage my music (actually I listen to podcasts, MUCH more interesting and amusing than music) and my lap counter. Don't think I could manage needles and yarn as well.

Today I was listening to Gardener's Question Time (GQT) and learned two valuable things: 1. honeysuckle is out NOW in Britain; and 2. Gertrude Jekyll's last name is pronounced GEE kl. Who bludy KNEW? Reminds me of the time I was talking with a friend about a Cotoneaster hedge (pronouncing it 'COT ton easter') and we had someone come over and say "actually it's 'cot O ne aster'. Gee, thanks. Well, really, thanks. It's a mistake I haven't made since.

Back to the shawls: I finished the Bitterroot (I love this name: it's ANOTHER word with three pairs of double letters, like bookkeeper) and posted it in the January thread of 10 Shawls in 2010. Now I'm working on "Little Arrowhead" with the Fleece Artist Italian Silk I got at the Northern Traditions yarn store in North Rustico last fall. I also got out my file of shawl patterns, and looked at my stash, and came up with a few pairings. I've zipped them into plastic bags, the pattern and the yarn, that is. I also changed my mind about a pattern: Multnomah. It's garter, plain, with a bit of a 'Faeroe' thing down the centre back - just a strip of five stitches, between paired increases. Then it finishes with a few rows of 'feather and fan'. Shooting fish in a barrel, I thought. Then, in my stash diving I came up with this stripey hand-dyed skein of "Perfect Day Yarns" sock yarn I'd won in a Sock Knitters Anonymous competition 'way back at the beginning of the sock obsession. It's orange, brown and purple...not exactly MY colours, but the Multnomahs people have been posting are made of wilder mixes than this, even, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I should keep it for Olympic knitting, but since I probably won't see any of the Olympics, there's not much point.

I do have an Olympics app on my iTouch, though, it's apparently to tell you what's going on where and how to get there, etc. I don't know if it will include results. I met Doug Gallant at a party Saturday night and he has an 8GB iTouch too; he's mad for apps so I tried some on his recommendation. The Penguin Catapult is fairly amusing, although I DO feel sorry for the poor penguins with ME at the helm of the catapult. And the sheep launcher has turned into a cupid for Valentine's, which is not nearly so much fun. I did download App Miner too, which is a great source for free and cheap apps to try out. Thanks Doug!

Travel Planning

We've purchased tickets for Glasgow and Ireland in April. Still have many details to work out, but fixed points on the itinerary are spending a week or so with Emily and Jeremy, first in Glasgow and then travelling to Ireland for Easter Week. (They are actually in Ireland now, having travelled over by train and ferry and are staying with Jeremy's school friend in Dublin.)
So, we may not spend much time in Dublin when we are with them, but somewhere south of Dublin - Waterford, Kilkenny, or Cork for my preference. Looking for a cottage (self-catering, they call it) in those areas. I'm looking for free broadband. Fred wants free heat and electricity. Priorities!
Then, on the 16th and 17th there's a dance workshop weekend with Pat Murphy in Ballinasloe - by all reports a bit of a hole - so we want to get a cottage for a week somewhere not TOO far away but more interesting, music- and dance-wise. Friends are joining us there for the week, and attending the dance workshop too.
On the knitting front, I've joined the "10 shawls in 2010" group on Ravelry - and am already bogged down, as I am knitting "Bitterroot" from the Winter 09 edition of Knitty - the large size - in Knit Picks Gloss Lace. It's lovely, and the pattern is easy (which, for me, means that I end up at the middle or the end of the row with the correct number of stitches, so I haven't messed up anywhere on the row.) It's a bit dull, though, as the pattern alternates between segments of "ssk k1 k2tog" and "yo k1 yo" all over (although the lace edge is more interesting). I'm going to start adding beads soon, so that should perk up the interest level quite a bit.
Ironically, just before I joined this group I started a "Traveling Woman" shawl, but as it was begun before January 1st, it couldn't count as one of the 10. So, 11 shawls finished in 2010. Two of the shawls have to be big ones (500 m. or more) and the rest should be 250 m. or more. This lets out any one-skein Kidsilk ones for sure, and many of the mini or shawlette patterns I've collected. I have also decided to knit all 10 from stash, and I have a chart with 17 patterns and 17+ yarns - haven't made any definite matches yet (besides Bitterroot).
I am also considering junking my "Meandering Vines" shawl, because I just discovered (almost at the end of the second half) that I have been doing eight repeats...but I did nine on the first half, AND I HAVE TO GRAFT THEM TOGETHER. Even a poor mathematician could see that this is not going to work. The alternative to total junking is to work the second half again. This would not count as one of my 10 shawls in 2010 either. Curses.

As Christmassy as it can be.

The snow has come! We've had a couple of snowfalls by now, and the last one has stuck - literally. We're so sheltered here that it has stayed on the tiniest twigs, as well as the largest trees. We tried to move this seat indoors yesterday but it was firmly attached to the earth. Ah well, we'll have a thaw sometime, and in the interim it can serve the cats. I saw paw prints.

The tree on the far left in this picture (below) is now - partially - resting on the porch. We're waiting for the thaw to bring it in, but I think it has to be done today. Time's getting short.


Have I mentioned how much I HATE Blogger?? It won't let me place pictures where I want, it won't let me load more than two, and when I try to insist, it hides the cursor so I don't know where the next line will show up. This is NOT very Christmassy, you guys.

Much to do, so I'll leave this frustration behind and go put up a tree, and maybe bake bread. That'll fix ME.

Merry Christmas!

November is more like September, this year.

I do feel badly for my family in Vancouver, enduring rain and gales day after day, and those in the British Isles and Ireland, too. We have been very, very fortunate and I am thankful. We had our almost traditional Guy Fawkes bonfire last weekend, you can see the balloons marking the way to the site of the fire, beyond the vegetable garden. The balloons had electric tea lights inside, so after dark they were illuminated and showed the way back to the house. Only one burn from a sparkler, and the gingerbread Guys were mostly eaten rather than being tossed on the fire. I found some glow lanterns at the $$ store and they were pretty terrific after dark as well.
Must remember to pick up more as I see them throughout the year. Wonderful music and some dancing afterward at the house. We put up the folding table for the buffet, and afterward just folded it and put it away in the garage, so there was room for music and dance.

I planted bags of pink daffodils yesterday - yes, I know, sucked in again! I believe the pretty pictures on the box, and then in spring have glorious displays of King Alfred yellow ones everywhere. And haul them out in frustration, and move them down to the roadside where their bright yellows will look cheerful and won't clash horribly with my bordeaux-coloured house. Perhaps this year will be different!! Maybe they really will be pink and white, and I'll be able to leave them in the flower beds. Yes, and pigs make wonderful birds, too.

A fall-ish kind of day

It's one of those glorious fall days - clear sky everywhere and bright leaves reflecting the light. It's going to get warmer later, and I plan to get out for a stroll at lunchtime. They're giving the H1N1 shots here in my building, and the cries of bored children in the queue are making my head ache - as well as making me feel false flu symptoms. Heavens, they aren't even sick!
There's been heavy frost the last few days, so nothing much going on garden-wise. I'm glad I got the carrots in earlier - and now I'm wondering if I'll lose them in the garage. We really need a root cellar. There are a few leeks left in the ground, and I started a bed for garlic last week - I understand that it's important to put them in late enough that they don't sprout, but early enough that they get roots established before freeze-up. I know that I've planted bulbs after Hallowe'en before now, so I think I still have time. I picked off all the tiny bulbs from the sides of the cloves I harvested just a week ago or so, and have them drying in the porch for the exactly right planting day.
In knitting, I'm almost finished the middle brown skein of that onion-dyed Kroy sock yarn. It came out in three shades, so I'm making Clark's "Shetland Triangle" shawl with the three colours - first and lightest colour the beginning, which I knit solid, them the second lace chart in medium, and the edge in the darkest colour. I'm pretty pleased so far - the lace is really easy and the colours go well. There's quite a demarcation between the light and the medium, so I knit one row of lace with the light, so the change will come within the lace part. I may do the same with the darkest - do one repeat of the main lace then go on to the edge. I am trying to use up all of the yarn, of course, and get the biggest possible shawl.
I wanted to mention that, around the time of the new moon this month, we had some unusually high tides - I'm sure I've never seen anything higher even when storm-assisted. Naturally it's in the middle of the day so it's more noticeable, but these were huge. I wish I could move pictures about in this program, because it will probably go where it wishes, not beside this part of the post. Anyway, this is the same view of the brook in a wintertime post, but this time with the water well up in the field. Evidence for global warming? time to look for land higher up?