keeping warm

I wanted to knit a gilet type garment - my desk at work is by a north facing window, which is leaky (water splashed on my desk when the window cleaner came, even though it was 'closed').

So I get cold, but I am at an age when my thermostat is unstable, so I need clothing that comes on and off easily.

I couldn't find something I liked so I had to make it up as a go along. Modular knitting is ideal for this - add a bit, hold it up and see whether it needs another chunk.

So I have knitted this.

The image is a little dark - my house has only a northern aspect, with the light not really getting into the house or garden, so tricky to take daylight photographs.

But there has been some lovely morning light this week, our local church looked great this week in the low sunlight.

On the road again

Before I came to York I was teaching, before that I worked as a freelancer in Science curriculum development.
At that stage I spent quite a lot of time travelling and Cambridge was a commone destination.
I was back there this weekend. They put me in a hotel across the town from the meeting.
That meant a walk across Jesus Green, Midusmmer Common and Parker's Piece in the morning. What's not to like about that?





























I watched James May on the Moon this evening. It reminded me of this photo I took last week on the way to work. Morning Moon

reflections - a year of p/hop

Hmm the link doesn't seem to work. Click here instead.

Hanging on

This oak tree has been hanging on to its leaves despite the wind and rain of the past week.

The people of Cockermouth and Workington have not fared so well.

They have had a terrible time - many of them will have lost almost everythign as the water levels rose to 2.5 metres in places.

Sadly a policeman died as he warned people not to cross a dangerous bridge.
Last weekend I suggested to MrBeanz that we go to Woolfest next summer - now it seems even more important to go and support the businesses in this stricken community.

Feed the birds ...

We bought a bird feeder for the York garden this weekend. There are so many hedges close by, I thought we'd be sure to attract some birds.

The starlings found it first and were queuing up to eat the fat balls.

Their noise attracted the great tit in to the nuts and then I began to see other birds hovering in the hedge the other side of the wall - including blackbirds, a bullfinch and a wren.


My camera will now sit by the window waiting for more pics - I need a longer lens.

Why do I knit?

The Craft Council wants to promote crafts in the UK.

I'd have thought that was their raison d'etre?

So they have a campaign going at the moment and you can register your support.

Here’s the text from their website:
If craft is important to you, we want you to let us know. The Crafts Council believes that Craft Matters and we want to show that it matters to thousands of people across the UK as much as it does to us. The government’s own data tells us that “17% of the population took part in a craft activity in 2008/09” – we want to show what that statistic looks like in real support so that everyone can see that craft is highly valued. So, sign up today and pass this email on to friends and colleagues. Together, we will show how much Craft Matters.

Why do I knit?

Knitting gives me an opportunity to be creative in a busy day; provides moments of calm for thought or meditation; allows me to make beautiful things for my family and friends; has given me the opportunity to make new friends.

Making connections

A couple of weeks ago I picked these up and they have been sitting on my desk, gradually drying out and losing their glorious gloss.















Today I made the connection with this, which is also sitting on my desk, maybe sold as an 'executive toy', but also called Newton's cradle. You may be familiar with it, if not watch what it does. It was always a fascination to someone in a physics class.



But what about this - a newer physics toy and don't blink when you press play or you will miss it.
Superficially it is similar to the above both have ball bearings, and you might expect it to behave in a similar way, but in fact it behaves very differently.



Come back tomorrow for more on this.