the wool sanctuary

An Accident and Popcorn

 
 
Is it wrong to spray your popcorn with water then sprinkle more sugar on it? I have been away for a week on a training course. I loved being away but just ate and ate and ate. I stayed in the officers mess, it was big cooked breakfasts, lunch and a three course meal in the evening. AS WELL AS a huge amount of breaks all day with biscuits and my secret stash of whispers, milky ways, crisps, bananas, and fruit pastilles, a sneaky McDonalds. It just went on and on and on.

 
I have had an accident. It rained last Sunday, it was terrential so I got my scooter out and went on my way to Blockbusters to return the DVD I had borrowed on Friday night. I got soaked, I loved it but when I was crossing the road, I picked up the scooter and it swung round and hit me in my right shin. At the same time my left leg connected with it pushing it into my leg even more. It flippin killed but I did not let the pain show.

 
A week on, I have a blue shin and a blue ankle. I will be doing a Mystery Knee Blanket next year, please let me know if this is something you might be interested in. Now what should I have for tea?????? Beans?

Kirstie's Homemade Home Letters - it's about time!

 
I have put the pattern for the knitted letters on Ravelry, you know the ones I designed for the title sequence for Kirstie's Homemade Home. It has only taken me two and a half years to write the pattern. The letters can be knitted in any weight yarn. The ones I did for the titles were in Rowan Wool Cotton and Rowan Cashsoft DK for the words and Rowan Big Wool for the individual letters. Not sure why I decided to write the pattern tonight but knitters have been asking for them for a long time now, so the wait is, at last, over. Here is the link the the pattern.

 
I am freezing, I ran a bath just as I started to write the pattern for the letters, just went to get in it and it is freezing cold, so have emptied the bath and have put my electric blanket on instead.

 
I have a plan, I am going to suggest that as a team building exercise  my colleagues renovate a bathroom- my bathroom. There will be a cooked meal in it and a knitting lesson for them all. I will suggest it tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

 
Did I tell you that when I went into Bristol on my scooter, the night of the riots, I wore my best underwear? I had heard on the news that people were having the clothes stollen off their back. If I was going to be on the national news stripped I wanted to look my best - matching underwear all the way!

 
It is Knit Club this Saturday, I have 20 ladies coming to knit, chat, drink tea/coffee and eat toast. I am pacing myself with the cleaning this week, I will start tomorrow thought, can't be bothered tonight.No mad rush at 6am this Saturday. Just going to put the onion away.

Wallander

 
 
Last night I dreamt I was Wallander. No knitting tonight, bath then bed, can't even last through New Tricks. x

Knit Club, Beryl Cook, My Toilet and Litter

 
My friend Richard came round for dinner on Thursday night, I had forgotten he was coming but managed to rustle up a spaghetti bolognase. He broke my toilet, some excessive flushing and the toilet was broke. I managed to fix it with some Rowan Handknit Cotton.

 
It was Knit Club this morning. Helen brought the most gorgeous lemon muffins and Jo made a gorgeous apple cake. We had toast and jam too. I had a cold bowl of porridge, so no change there. Managed to get through a whole knit club without microwaving my coffee, but only because I didn't get a chance to drink any. I sat down to watch 'You Only Live Twice' after everyone had left but must have fallen asleep almost immediately because the next think I knew was James Bond was in a dinghy that got lifted out of the water and the titles came up. I slept through the whole film. I do like falling asleep in the day though. Sometimes I wake up and I don't know who what I am.

 
I went to see a Beryl Cook exhibition in Bristol last weekend. I absolutely loved it. I love the colours and the style she painted in. She has inspired me to design something knitted in her style.

 
I was up at 7 this morning, getting the flat ready for Knit Club. I needed to get some fresh bread, milk and butter so decided to walk to Tescos. On my way there, I did what I normally do and picked up litter, putting it in the bins as I went. A man commented that it was not my job and that is what the council were there for. I expained to him that his attitude was not good and that if we all picked up some litter then the council wouldn't have to spend our coucil tax on paying someone to pick up litter. My workds were wasted, completely wasted on him. On the way back I did the same, only this time I passed an old man with an illuminous jacket on and a bin bag in his hand, he was across the road from me. I smiled at him and said 'Oh sorry am I doing your job', thinking he might laugh, but instead he shouted at me across the road 'What did you say? Come here and say that'. I told him that he was very rude and not to be so aggressive then went on my way.

 
The next Knit Club is on Saturday 17th September 10-1pm. I only sent the e-mail out for the next one this evening, and already it is filling up. I am secretly looking forward to the winter for a number of reasons, more knitting, winter clothes and snuggling up. Not long now until Dean Friedman in Bath in October (my duet) and not long until the Knit Club holiday to Meadowgate, it is looking more and more likely that there will be another trip to Meadowgate early next year, it has been overly subscribed- again.

Fibrefest, a very nice lady and Baxter

 
I bought a felted prawn at Fibrefest. Jamie Lewis had the stall next to Annie and I. He felts the most amazing things including bags, hats, creatures and stones. Annie wanted to take him home and feed him, she said he looked like he needed it. I loved being at Fibrefest, catching up with friends, meeting customers I normally only have internet contact with.

 
Our stand was in a marquee outside the main house. On the Saturday the heavens opened and it rained for, what seems like, hours. I loved it. I queued for two pancakes for about an hour- it wasn't worth it. We brought sandwiches on the second day. On the second day I watched an alpacca being sheared/shorn, they tie them down flat, put a weighted bag around their neck then shear them. My heart was beating really fast  when they tied him down, but the shearer was talking to him all the time and he hardly moved, he was so good. We were warned that he might spit, wee (sorry) or even cry.

 
I went shopping last night, got to the checkout and began to load the conveyor belt. The lady in front said, 'Excuse me do you mind me asking how much those cans of diet coke are?' I told her the price and she said that they were selling twice as much for less near the entrance. How nice was that, but that is not all. She then said 'You go and get them and I will load all your shopping onto the conveyor belt'. She was so lovely. I reckon if I had asked her to come home unpack it and cook my dinner she would have.

 
Here's another very nice lady- Buzby. She is my helper at the craft fairs I attend. She is my very good friend, who considering the life she has had, has no reason to be a nice person, but she is- the nicest kindest you could ever wish to meet. Hope she doesn't read this, don't want her getting too big for her Buzby boots. Ok, it's that time again, music time. Baxter Dury - 'Clare' you all have to go and listen to it then let me know what you think.

 
The book, the book, the book. Ok, here is the news on the book. 18 designs down and only 2 to go. Well only 2 to think of but 15 to finish off, write the pattern and the text for. I have 5 weeks left to finish everything. Oh my god, oh my god, I have visitors coming tomorrow night so will have to go to clean, decorate, tidy, hide stuff away. Keep writing to me, I love hearing from you. Goodnight xxx

Preparation, preparation, preparation and the Egg

 
I am getting ready to go to Fibrefest tomorrow. This involves packing all the yarn I need along with making up knitting kits. It also involves packing the ribbon, buttons, table, tablecloth, calculator etc. etc. I have been doing these fairs for over 3 years now but still I spend up to 6 hours the night before preparing. The mini has to go, it simply isn't big enough, oh and I have fallen in love with a Land Rover Defender, matt black. I simply can't carry on cramming everything into Olive (my mini is called Olive) she just isn't up for the job.

 
I must have printed off over 100 patterns this evening. I daren't wash my hair. I had it cut yesterday and I love it, but I know as soon as I wash it, that the big fringe I have had cut will be gone forever. I am going to try not to wash it for as long as possible. I did a similar thing when I was on 'The Weakest Link'. I had my make up done for TV by a professional make up artist and it looked so nice I kept it on for 3 days, even then I only washed it off because I got an eye infection. And no, I didn't win before you ask, I was the fifth person to be voted off- when I wasn't the weakest link. I'll tell you more about that another time.

 
Okay, there is only one way to say this and that is to just come right out with it. I cooked an egg in the microwave today and when I took it out of the microwave it spoke to me. It made this groaning noise like it was saying 'ohhhhwww'. I am sure there is a rational explanation to do with trapped air and change in pressure.

 
I am thinking of doing a 'Mystery' something next year, like a knee blanket, or a group of objects. What do you think? Is this something you might be interested in? For those who don't know what this means it is when I design something and each month you would receive a pattern and the yarn and not know what it is that you are making until you have made it. Just have a think and let me know.

 

Last month it was Kings of Leon, this month it is....... Edith Piaf. I am going to learn the words to 'Je ne regrette rien'. I am listening to it now on YouTube. Let me sort the link out for you, hang on. un moment. Hope that works. Thought you might like to look at the disected Draught Excluder that I designed for Kirstie Allsopp.

 
There you go, there's the whole thing. I am taking it to Fibrefest, if I wear it round my neck people recognise me off the tele- might boost sales. Can't wait for tomorrow, Buzby is coming with me, she is great on the stall, she is like Mrs Bucket, she puts on her posh voice. Ok, back to it, can't put it off any longer. 

Daydreaming and the Italian Doctor

 
They say that daydreaming is good for you. I love daydreaming. When I was about 10 my daydreams were about John Travolta falling in love with me and about James Garner saving us all and marrying my mum, he would turn up in his Pontiac Firebird (didn't know that was the car, just googled it) and would fall in love with mum and take us all to live in Riverside California (also googled). In my teens I gave up on finding love as I was a tomboy and a bit chubby so would dream of becoming a bounty hunter. I would have this huge gun and two bodyguards and travel across America catching criminals who skipped bail. At the time of these daydreams I was at a private school that was very academic, so you can imagine how my choice of career went down at my careers interviews. Needless to say they were not able to find me any work experience. I would also daydream that I found that little boy, Ben Needham, that went missing in Greece. I would return him to his parents, sadly that never happened either.

 
In my 20s I was more career oriented and although I had discovered the wonders of the opposite sex, I would day dream about a high power job in the city, I would wear a red suit and make some very important decisions. I would have my hair cut short like Lady Diana and own a warehouse appartment. Hmm. In my 30s my daydreams turned to Russel Crowe, because he knitted. I would dream he saw me knitting in a cafe on Bondi Beach in Australia and want to talk to me about knitting as he did it to. He would confide in me about his bad temper and how no one understood him then we would become best friends, I would return to England and he would follow me because he couldn't bear to be parted from me. I would also dream of George Clooney (I was so fickle), whom I had fallen for big time when he played the boss of the factory in Roseanne. In my daydream he would find me under an umberella on a beach in Italy and confide in me about his failed relationships, in fact we would swap stories, we would become best friends then he would fall in love with me and then shun the glare of public life and we would go and live on a small farm in Scotland.

 
Today my daydreams are about my bathroom being decorated, Julia Roberts turning up to Knit Club and Bob Dylan playing guitar in my kitchen at the Knit Club xmas party, whilst the knitters are talking over him. I would call my friend Ian, the biggest Bob Dylan fan in the world and tell him to get round to my house immediately. He would turn up and would not believe his eyes. 

 
I can't sleep and I have lost my voice. It has been like this for nearly a week. I woke up coughing last night, I had the tickliest cough ever, it was awful, I think I was thrashing around in the bed thinking someone was tickliing me for real but it was in my throat- how weird. So to avoid the same problem I am planning on staying up all night tonight. I went to the doctors today about it, and tagged onto the appointment a list of ailments that I thought might as well get swept up in the same consultation. Well, all I can say is if I hadn't seen him write a prescription I could have sworn he wasn't a doctor. Doctor, patient confidentiality prevents me from divulging anymore.

 

Teacosy, Old People and Richard Dreyfuss

 
I am so, so, so tired. So many late nights recently, having lots of fun so definitely not complaining but it all takes its toll. I have a sore throat today, feels like a cold coming on- or worst case tonsilitus. I really don't want to get any worse as I have so much to do both at work and at home. My day job is brilliant at the moment, I am loving my work and the people I am working with. 

 
I have finally finished the teacosy I have been knitting for Becca. I have a tight schedule I need to stick to for the book and it is hard to break away from that if I am going to hit my deadline at the beginning of October. I am looking for someone to line some of my designs if you feel competent  and would like to help out and are local to Weston Super Mare, then please let e-mail me at susiejohnson1@btinternet.com

 
This Teacosy knitting kit or just the pattern is available on my website, www.thewoolsanctuary.com. You can tell me which colours you would like and what text you would like on your banner (no more than 6 letters long please).

 
Don't forget to look at Becca's website, she is the photographer I keep telling you about. She is amazing and, fingers crossed, she will be doing the photography for my book.

 
Please keep knitting your innocent smoothie hats. We are on track for 400 before the end of August, but I am expecting us to do more.

 
Ok, I am not going to mince my words, someon is letting his/her dog poo outside my house, so I am looking for volunteers to do a stakeout. I am guessing 12 people to do a 24 hour stakeout. You will be expected to do a 2 hour shift, I will provide the binoculars, camera, water pistol - should it be needed and subsistence - of course. I am just not having this blatant disregard for my property and the road I live on. 

 

Marmite

 
 
Did I ever tell you the marmite story? I don't think so. I was working in Cambridgeshire and was catching a train from Huntingdon. I had half an hour to wait for my train and so decided to go and get a cup of tea and something to eat at the train cafe. I ordered two pieces of marmite on toast and a cup of tea. I asked the man who served me if he wouldn't mind waiting for my toast to go cold before buttering and putting the marmite on it. He said he would and when it arrived, you have never seen anything like it, you could barely see the toast he had put that much marmite on it.  My shock was made known when I let out a cry of shock. I asked him if he had served this dish before, I don't remember the answer. I asked him for a knife and spent a good few minutes scraping off as much marmite as I could, there were spoonfulls of the stuff on the side of the plate. My hands smelt of marmite for two days.

 
Egg, Egg, Egg and Egg. I am so tired I can't think of anything else to write. Off to bed now. 

 

 

Very bad behaviour

 
I have bought a scooter. I have wanted one for a while so I went to UFO in Weston on Thursday evening after work. The man in the shop was so helpful that it would have been rude to have left empty handed. I have bought a JD Bug, it is brilliant. Today (Saturday) was the first chance I had to ride it and I found myself putting off taking out for its first run. I was confident I could ride it, as I had gone from the top of the stairs near the toilet into the lounge and round the coffee table on a number of occassions bu I kept thinking of the time, recently, when I had been out with my nephew on his in Heald Green and a number of people shouted things at me for being on a scooter. At about 12pm I finally got the courage to take it out. When I say I finally got the courage, I did something that I have never done before and don't intend to do again, in fact, yes, I have done it before, I did it before I went to get a tattoo done- that sounds rough. I took two swigs of vodka, I don't know what I was thinking, I don't even drink and I hadn't had any lunch so found myself gagging over the sink after I had done it and the more water I drank to get rid of the taste the worse I felt.

 
Anyway with sunglasses on and a carefully chosen outfit to match the scooter, I headed out. I was delighted when I turned onto Swiss Road and someone wolf whistled at me, I was well chuffed- well at least I think it was at me, I did have a good look round and there was no one else on the road on a scooter other than me, so it must have been for me. All was going well, I scooted into town, collapsed it down and had it over my shoulder whilst I did my shopping ( a little drunk I have to say), then phoned Buzby and uncollapsed it and scooted off down the Boulevard, to have a cup of coffee with her. Unfortunately I hit a paving stone, I tried to regain my balance and what followed was a number of movements that could only be described as incredibly embarassing before I finally corrected myself and scooted off down the Boulevard as fast as I could in case anyone had seen me. I have to put that behind me now or I won't go out on it again.

 
I am working on a design tonight for the book, I got up early this morning to start it, but it has taken me most of the day (on and off) including my drunk spell, to get the pattern as I want it and to chose the yarn and colours I want to knit it in.

 
I have 66 Innocent hats from the Knit Club ladies. we have a target of 400 but I think we can beat that. 25p of each hat goes to Age UK, I know I mentioned this in my last post but I am going to keep mentioning it until all the old people are alright.