LornaJay

Bailing out

2007-02-13T12:11:00.000Z

Blogger is forcing me to migrate to their new version. I don't want to - I've seen the hassles people have had with the move, and watched the server go down twice in as many weeks.

I'm moving, immediately, to Wordpress.

You can find me at:
lornajay.wordpress.com

Please update your bookmarks, bloglines and other feeds.

War on terror, is it?

2007-02-05T08:34:00.000Z

More like a war on decency.

In today's Herald (sorry Jean, it's a Glasgow paper) there is an article about how German prosecutors are attempting to arrest CIA agents for the illegal abduction of a German citizen.

This week, the unthinkable happened to the untouchables. German prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents in connection with the alleged abduction of a German citizen. Khaled al-Masri says he was kidnapped in Macedonia in 2003, taken to Afghanistan and accused of having ties to al Qaeda. After five months of interrogation, during which he claims to have been beaten, his captors realised they had lifted the wrong man and dumped him in Albania.

The German warrants are not the first. Italian prosecutors want to charge 25 CIA agents over the "extraordinary rendition", as the process of snatch and despatch to secret prisons is known, of a cleric from Milan. The German charges are more significant because of the country's strategic importance to the US, and the weight of evidence al-Masri, with the help of his lawyer and journalists, has been able to amass.

From being a lone voice telling a strange tale that few believed, al-Masri has the attention of the German public, media, parliament and prosecutors. Questions are being asked of ministers.

Not quite the image America would want to project, methinks.

Silent Poetry Reading

2007-02-03T23:43:00.000Z

In honour of St Brigid's Day. This isn't a poem, per se, but the lyrics of a song.

Nothing ever happens
Del Amitri (a Glasgow band)

Post office clerks put up signs saying "position closed"
And secretaries turn off typewriters and put on their coats
Janitors padlock the gates
For security guards to patrol
And bachelors phone up their friends for a drink
While the married ones turn on a chat show

And they'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow

Gentlemen time please, you know we can't serve anymore
Now the traffic lights change to stop, when there's nothing to go
And by five o'clock everything's dead
And every third car is a cab
And ignorant people sleep in their beds
Like the doped white mice in the college lab

Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before

And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow

Telephone exchanges click while there's nobody there
The martians could land in the carpark and no one would care
Close-circuit cameras in department stores shoot the same video every day
And the stars of these films neither die nor get killed
Just survive constant action replay

Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before

And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow

Bill hoardings advertise products that nobody needs
While angry from manchester writes to complain about
All the repeats on t.v.
And computer terminals report some gains
On the values of copper and tin
While american businessmen snap up van goghs
For the price of a hospital wing

Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
Theyll burn down the synagogues at six oclock
And well all go along like before

And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow.

Well finally!

2007-02-03T22:29:00.000Z

The new hotel website is complete. Please let me know if you spot anything amiss.

I'm pleased with the overall effect, and just have to complete the Polish version which was translated by Magda for me a few months ago. Then it's a gentle hint or three to the sister-in-law about a French version, and so it goes....

I'm not sure why the blogs don't show up on PCs running IE6: if you have any ideas, please shout.

Sewing

2007-02-03T20:08:00.000Z

My little Singer sewing machine is unwell. It's skipping stitches if I try to sew at anything approaching a reasonable speed. However I have the loan of a Janome (thanks Rei) and have been trying it out. I'm used to the Singer, so there are a few things that are irritating about the new machine, but all in all it seems a good basic machine.

As a result of this, I can report another summer blouse completed:

You can read all about it here on Pattern Review which is a wonderful site.

Tagged. Twice

2007-01-31T21:16:00.000Z

Obviously I've been a little distracted recently, as I've been tagged not once but twice.

The rules of this peculiar internet game of what I used to call 'catch' are as follows:
The rules:

someone tags you,
you post five things about yourself that you haven’t already mentioned on your blog,
you tag 5 people you’d like to know more about

I think I'm going to have trouble with '3', but here goes anyway.

Bearing in mind that this is a public forum, and linked to my business, there are definitely a few interesting things that I won't be sharing with you. Sorry.

My high school didn't have a music teacher, so I shared the duty of providing the music for assembly, prizegivings etc. with three other pianists.
I was a barrelina and danced until I left school at 17.
I am a very keen edible gardener. That's the produce that's edible, not me! I can't get nearly as enthusiastic about flowers, but show me a row of peas, or tatties, and I'm keen.
My first major sewing project was my sixth form (final year of school) ball dress. Red satin. It was easier then - I didn't know anything about fitting, but it fitted anyway.
DH and I met at a Sibelius concert at Glasgow City Halls. Not your typical pick-up joint.

And people I'd like to hear from are:

Jo
Jean
Dee (once she's recovered from the house move!)
Ash (or herself if she's up for it)
The Spinning Fishwife (once those windows are done)

Over to you!

Fibre-Crafts Retreat: 18 - 21 May 2007

2007-01-30T15:32:00.000Z

Yes, you read that correctly. We are going ahead with the Retreat one week later than originally advertised.

To recap, Janis Embleton of Flight Weaving and Lorna Noble of LornaJay Designs will be hosting the first Scottish Borders Fibre-Crafts Retreat at the Spread Eagle Hotel in Jedburgh from 18 – 21 May 2007.

The residential retreat will include:

a full day workshop in either backstrap weaving or patchwork knitting
a Borders Banquet and introduction to the textile history of the area
a trip to the excellent Woolly Ewe wool shop in Kelso
and plenty of socialising.

The Spread Eagle Hotel, on the High Street in Jedburgh, dates from around 1450 and has been licensed since 1604, making it Scotland's oldest continually-licensed hotel.

For information, or to book, please contact Lorna:
Tel: 01835 862 870
E: info@spreadeaglejedburgh.co.uk

A brochure can be downloaded from:
http://www.spreadeaglejedburgh.co.uk/fibre_crafts_retreat.pdf

NB. Non-residential and two-day places are available: please ask for details.

Sneak Preview:
Here's what I've been working on, and some of Janis' weaving....

Very pleased with this one!

Not quite so happy with the way I got the colours balanced here. Ah well, live and learn.

From Janis of Flight Weaving who will be leading the other workshop.

Thank you!

2007-01-08T15:39:00.000Z

for all your good wishes over the Christmas and New Year period. It's really lovely to hear from you all!

Escape
On Thursday I scuttled off to Glasgow to do some shopping. Ostensibly it was a trip to buy fabric for the corridor window curtains at the Cotton Print Warehouse in Govan, but I snuck in a meetup with the folks from Pattern Review and some shopping for me.

We met up at Miss Cranston's Tearooms on Gordon Street, and had a lovely few hours of chat and scoffing/guzzling.

Then AJ and I went off to Remnant Kings and I did some more shopping!

My real scoop, however, was at the Cotton Print Warehouse, where I found this lovely stuff for £15.99/m with 20% off. 2.5m is mine!

I will, eventually, make a jacket, I think.

Knitting
Is ongoing, but I'm working on the teaching stuff for the Fibre-Crafts Retreat in May, so you're not going to see it until the advertising is finished. This week, I hope....

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T01:06:00.000Z

The tradition in Scotland is to start the year as you would wish it to continue:
we were in the pub with a lovely group of people, drinks in hand, and money in the till.

That'll do!

I hope you have a happy, healthy and wealthy 2007.

Sewing again

2006-12-28T19:36:00.000Z

I decided that after the madness of Christmas Eve and Boxing Day in the pub, I needed a little time for me. After the blue blouse woes, I decided to try something a little simpler. I need summer tops, as I don't think T-shirts look particularly professional unless they're under a jacket or similar.

I found this New Look pattern (now out of print) sitting amongst the dust and stour in what was supposed to be my craft room before the renovations got out of hand, so I set to....

I'm quite pleased with the result, for a first attempt:

The back view isn't as good, partly due to the static, but partly also because it just doesn't fit right. I can't quite figure out why, but suspect it may have something to do with a bum that sticks out, and a waist that goes in....

And yes, I am that lopsided - it's not just the way I'm standing.

Thinks

2006-12-26T21:23:00.000Z

There's a very thoughtful article by Brian Taylor, political editor to BBC Scotland published today.

We're coming up to the anniversary of the abolition of the Scottish Parliament, which is causing all manner of rantings and ravings from assorted politicians. In summary: do we keep the Union or not?

I'd like to hear the debate that Mr Taylor asks for, but suspect that we're only going to get a question-and-blame session from both sides before the Scottish elections next May.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T14:16:00.000Z

Whatever you celebrate, have a wonderful day....

Rant

2006-12-19T19:19:00.000Z

Apologies in advance.

I've just received the new Avon brochure (cosmetics by mail order) and was happily browsing when I came across this:

Here's a larger version of the offending bit:

Excuse me? What on earth is going on here? Botox for your 21st birthday, anyone?

I'm afraid I'm not particularly coherent about this, but quite frankly if we're to start worrying about getting old-and-wrinkly as soon as we leave our teens, then I think we've got our priorities just a little bit skewiffy.

More simply: I don't want to look like Cher when I'm 60!

Temptation

2006-12-18T23:39:00.000Z

Well, DH and I have chosen the fabric which he's going to order for my Christmas present.

The blue is much less visible to the naked eye than the camera makes it appear. I think it will make a lovely classic jacket, once I dare take scissors to it!

Second choice was this textured black:

Two more that we liked, but didn't think were appropriate at this stage:

Along those lines, I bumped into some georgeous linen, designed on a hand loom and woven in Europe as I was mooching around looking for shirting fabric.

The Linen Shop is definitely worth a look if you're into quality fabric and/or furnishings.

Hotel stuff
Still no progress on the flood cleanup. We can't start without a quote, and our tradesmen are taking their time.

Mutter, Grump!

Other than that, I'm waiting up for a guest.
His first question on booking was "Do you have 24 hour reception?"
Well, not exactly. When there's only two of you, you need to sleep at some stage. Still, if I know when someone will be arriving, I don't mind waiting up - Mahler 1 on Radio 3 is good company for my sock knitting.

Money Matters

2006-12-13T12:36:00.000Z

You may recall that I was having a little local difficulty with my credit card provider some time ago., and that I sent them a rather lovely letter.

In case you missed the whole sorry saga: I'd received a refund for some online purchases, and Cahoot chose to regard this as my payment for the month, and didn't take the direct debit payment I had set up. No credit card payment = interest due....

Unfortunately, Cahoot didn't see it that way, and informed me, in summary, that this was perfectly normal behaviour from a credit card provider. I didn't have to pay interest because I had spotted the problem and paid it pdq, but the gist of their communication was that I could expect a similar occurrance every time I received a refund for goods paid for with their Visa card.

Hmmm.

So, I went looking for a better deal.

Please note: I am not a financial adviser, and I don't play one on TV! This is my experience of looking for terms that suited me.

The decision-making process went something like this:
Q: What do I use my card for?
A: Buying online, holiday spending sometimes, general shopping.
Q: Do I need a low interest rate or balance transfer rate?
A: No. I pay my card in full every month, and have no outstanding balance.
Q: What features do I therefore need?
A: Commonly accepted type (not Amex), low commission on currency conversions, low commission on cash withdrawals overseas.
Q: What features would be nice?
A: Ability to pay the balance in full by direct debit to avoid forgetting. Some sort of reward scheme, as I'm not going to benefit from a low interest rate if I pay it off each month. Internet banking.

Result:
The Yorkshire Building Society offers a Visa card with a reasonable interest rate, amongst the lowest I could find for foreign currency conversion, and cashback!

I used the Money Supermarket to compare cards, but then went directly to the Yorkshire Building Society's website to apply as Money Supermarket suggested that you couldn't apply directly online.

The card is actually provided by the Co-Operative Bank, and I'm not altogether happy with their internet or telephone banking security procedures, so I'll try to log on as seldom as possible.

Light relief

2006-12-12T08:59:00.000Z

Courtesy of The Spinning Fishwife.

I've never tried to embed an object in a blog posting before, and since blogger doesn't like Firefox on Linux, I'm having to do this manually.

I hope it works!

Knitting for Geeks

2006-12-09T21:10:00.000Z

You may have noticed that I very seldom mention knitting for J. This is not because he doesn't appreciate knitting, but because the kind of knits he wears are far better bought than made. A single-colour crew neck in burgundy 3-ply for example....

However, today was different. The new Knitty is up, and one pattern in particular has received an extremely favourable response.

I had already considered the Linux Scarf, as well as Pasha - both of which show the Linux penguin Tux.

The Binary Scarf however, got an unequivocal "Yes!" along with helpless laughter, so that's on the list once I've finished the latest pair of socks, and made a bit more progress on the patchwork knitting for the Retreat in May.

I'm not sure if he's going to insist on an actual message, rather than random code....

Wee Dish

2006-12-09T00:22:00.000Z

Is done!

Close-up

I've uploaded the files to The Knitting Vault and am waiting for Fredda to OK it for sale. I really love the design of this little double-breasted cardigan / light jacket. It's old-fashioned enough to look classic, but modern enough to be comfortable and easy-care, I hope.

Edited:
Right, it's up and you can find it here.

Stuck

2006-12-08T22:27:00.000Z

I've been glaring at level 19 of Weffriddles for some time now.

Aargh.

Still, 19 levels in 2 hours seems to be decent progress.

More pretties
From Linton Tweeds in Carlisle

I'll try and get a better picture of all of them, but they are one-off high end tweed samples (£30 per metre!) and they are beautiful.

I think I might ask for 3m for a jacket as a Christmas present from DH - to be made some time in the next five years when I dare!

More socks

2006-12-07T19:41:00.000Z

I've found my sewing-up-needles, so the socks are done.

Socka for the most part (a gift years ago), with the toes in St Ives 4-ply. I've misplaced the ball band, but vaguely remember around 50% cotton, 15% nylon and the rest wool for the Socka

I used my now-favourite pattern, but the Socka sock is much less snug than the Regia pairs. If I were to use it again, I'd work the sock on several stitches fewer, and work a shorter foot. I do love the colours, but probably won't use that yarn for socks again. It feels 'thin', and certainly less warm, which would make sense if you consider the cotton content.

I knew I would run out despite having relatively small feet, as last year I knitted a hat from the same 100g ball. I'd decided I needed a hat which was small enough to scrunch into the pocket that wasn't holding my gloves, and this did the trick. I'm really pleased with the pattern: maybe someday I'll even write it up.

Work
Off to Selkirk today for a Food Hygiene course and exam. I came back after 7 hours feeling like I'd been hit in the back of the head with a board. I won't know if I've passed for several weeks, so I'm doing my best to forget it.

Retreat
Still no word from the council's "Event Fieldworker" who is supposed to be assisting. If I don't hear by Monday, I think I'll just have to run with the plan on my own.

Pretties!

2006-12-06T17:30:00.000Z

Last Wednesday I escaped to Kelso, and popped into Woolly Ewe which is in Abbey Court.

It's a bit out of the way, but look at what I found:

Patons, RYC, Rowan, Jaeger

Noro, Louisa Harding, Opal

Colinette

They also have a very shy member of staff who scampered around sorting things out for the photos, but didn't want to be seen!

I forgot to get a picture of the outside, but if you know Kelso, head out of town on Bridge Street past the Cloister Bar and take the first right.

Contact details are:
Woolly Ewe, 7, Abbey Court, Kelso, Roxburghshire TD5 7JA
Tel: 01573 225889
Open: Tues - Sat
Knit & Natter: last Weds each month (I think!)

The Flood
Thank you all for your sympathy. The fitting which failed was an old one, and appears to have been faulty. The plumber thinks about 15 years old, which was when push-fit was just becoming available, and it was a lot easier to get things wrong.

We're absolutely gutted, and waiting for the insurers to come and have a look before we can get anything done. Monday morning....

Umm, could I rephrase that...?

2006-12-04T11:11:00.000Z

When I said we were unlikely to be flooded, I meant we were unlikely to be flooded from outside.

Last night 22mm (3/4") push-fit connector decided that it didn't want to hold the hot water pipes in room 4's bathroom together anymore.

It was really quite freaky, as there was water pouring through the ceiling of the function room (J has worked out about 50 litres a minute), and yet no sign of anything wrong in any of the bedrooms.

What a mess!

The plumber arrived within 10 minutes of our phoning, thank goodness, but we're going to have to repaper and redecorate the function room....

Sigh.

Sometimes you wish you'd kept your virtual mouth shut.

Blech!

2006-12-03T14:16:00.000Z

The weather today is horrid. Gale for winds, driving rain, and cooooooooooooooooooold. Not nearly as bad as the winter storms in the US though, for which I am grateful. We're also very unlikely to be flooded here, unlike the poor folk in Hawick 10 miles away where they have been building on the old floodplain with predictable consequences. Those folk are now pretty much trapped, as they won't be able to sell (no-one will give a buyer a mortgage in a known high flood risk area), they can't get flood insurance, and there's a good chance they will be under water most winters. Dumfries, on the other side of the country, seems to be suffering badly as well. The perils of living on a small, densely-populated island when no-one wants to live in high-rise developments....

Politics
Yesterday, I signed up on the UK Government's experimental 'e-petitions' site. There's a petition requesting that ballot papers be modified to include None of the above as a valid option. I think that would probably increase voter turnout quite a bit. Spoiling a ballot paper just means your opinion isn't registered: this might be a better option and might even increase the pressure for proportional representation at Westminster.

Comments
Thank you all for your congratulations on the new-look hotel. We're still dealing with painters in the corridors and a bit of joinery in the new dining room, but overall we're very happy indeed. I'm horribly jealous of the new guest bathrooms....

Knitting
More socks! I've mislaid my sewing-up needles, so the next pair will remain technically unfinished until I find them.

I'm also experimenting with log cabin knitting, after being inspired by this.

Fibre Craft Retreat
Sigh. It's taking me far far longer to get this finalised that I had feared. So far I have two workshops confirmed: backstrap weaving and patchwork knitting, with possibly feltmaking as well (depending on whether the teacher is available).

It will definitely be going ahead on the weekend of 11 - 14 May 2007, here at the hotel, and will include a Borders Banquet, the opportunity to visit a working knitting mill/factory (from Sheep to Sweater), a guided walk around the Royal Burgh of Jedburgh, and of course, plenty of time to sit and be sociable.

I'm also hoping that we can work on a charity blanket, which will be offered to the Roxburgh Volunteer Service to help them raise funds for their work with the elderly in the area. I suspect this will take more than one Fibre Craft Retreat to complete....

Just as soon as I've had confirmation from everyone involved (this includes the Council, as they are supposed to be helping with advertising) I will contact everyone who has expressed an interest. If you want to add your name to the list, please email me using the link at the top right of this page.

Knitting Again!

2006-11-28T19:28:00.000Z

Yes, I've finally got my brain into a state where counting to six seems possible.

Autumn Gold Cravat

The unpattern is available here on the blog, but I'll try and tidy it up later.

Also completed are another pair of Regia Socks for Me. I used the same modifications as for the first pair and I'm very happy with the fit. I didn't try to match up the striping, as it really doesn't bother me that much.

The pattern is Shapely secrets by Dawn Adcock, from the Autumn 2003 issue of Heels & Toes Gazette which used to be published by Dawn Brocco. I used 2mm needles to get a snugger fit on 64 stitches.

Made it!

2006-11-25T13:44:00.000Z

As Rudyard Kipling wrote in How the rhinoceros got his skin

"and he smiled one smile that ran all round his face two times"....

I'm exhausted, bruised, aching, and very very happy.

Pictures here.

Dear god, take cover!

2006-11-23T10:16:00.000Z

My little desktop barometer has been dropping like the proverbial stone. It's now sitting at around 962 (28.5" in old money) and has dropped 10 points since late last night.

Strangely, the BBCs weather centre doesn't seem to have noticed: "light showers, 10C, 23mph winds" doesn't sound quite right to me.

Renovation
Today is the last big push to get everything completed: furniture is arriving, carpets are being fitted, light fittings are going up (I hope!), locks are going on bedroom doors.

Unfortunately, this means that when the furniture arrives, it won't be able to go where it's meant to, and we're going to be playing musical beds with it until it can.

If I don't post tomorrow, I'm moving furniture!

Quiet day in the pub

2006-11-20T21:26:00.000Z

Yup, that's over half a sock knitted yesterday. I got as far as the heel turning last night, and started the decreases today. There's nothing quite like cold feet to speed up your knitting! Cold fingers, sadly, seem to slow it down....

Nip nip nip

2006-11-19T14:51:00.000Z

Definitely cold out today. I scampered off for a walk down to the other end of town and over the old bridge.

Look who I spotted!

All in all, a 45 min walk, including the pause to try and get a decent picture and about 1.5 miles on the ground.

And for warmth
J made a wonderful curry last night. Fortunately, the recipe will do for today as well: Chicken Korma from Indian cooking without fat which we use almost exclusively for this kind of food. We've actually stopped getting carryout as the home-made stuff is nicer! Our version of the book isn't the most recent, but I doubt there will have been many changes.

Yes, I am still knitting

2006-11-18T15:50:00.000Z

In a similar manner to Jean I have been working on a simple scarf. Frankly, all the renovation and website-redesign is frazzling me to the extent that counting to 6 is becoming a challenge.

It's in a lovely microfibre - Schachenmayr nomotta MicroColor - and a colour which reminds me of early autumn. I've had it for years, and it's nice to finally find a use for it. The pattern, if you can call it that, is as follows:

Two balls of DK yarn at ~145m per ball

Using 4mm needles, cast on 72 stitches

Work in 'feather and fan' pattern:

1. knit 1 row
2. purl 1 row
3. 3 x (k2tog); * 6 x (yo, k1); 6 x (k2tog); rep from * to last 6 stitches; 3 x (k2tog)
4. knit 1 row

After working 4 repeats, change to 5 mm needles and continue in pattern.

Using the start of the second ball as reference, work until you have enough for 5 repeats.

Change back to 4mm needles and work 4 repeats

Knit 1 row

Cast off in Knit on the wrong side.

NOTE: I've not test knit this, so let me know if I've messed up too badly, please.

A little distraction

2006-11-14T10:54:00.000Z

I got this from Kate at A Strikke.

1. Flip to page 18, paragraph 4 in the book closest to you right now, what does it say?

"On safety, the transglutaminase issue suggests that we need a more searching regulatory process and a considerably more precautionary approach."
It's from Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley who runs the Village Bakery at Melmerby, where we stopped on our way home on Friday.

2. If you stretch out your left arm - as far as possible, what are you touching?

A laser/ultrasonic measure last used to check that the under-counter freezer units we want in the new kitchen will still allow us to walk around them.

3. What’s the last program you watched on tv?

Does the News count? Otherwise, it was probably the last bit of football on the pub telly (we don't have TV in our quarters, and have no plans to get one)

4. Without looking, guess what time it is.

Noon. Nope, it's only 10.30am. DH has gone to our storage unit to hand over various bits of gardening equipment to friends, and check how much of the stuff we'll be able to fit in the new rooms here. Me, I'm supposed to be working on the hotel website.... DH has decided he wants something more 'luxurious' looking, and I'm trying to work out what he means by that! Then there's the Polish translation to add, and negotiations for a German version and a French one from assorted friends and family.

5. Except the computer, what can you hear right now?

Can't hear the computer: it's a very old desktop model (PIII) with an enormous heatsink and no fan. Perfect for running Linux. Other than that, well, assorted bangs, crashes, thumps etc as electricians, joiners, painters and plasterers get going.

6. When was the last time you were outside and what did you do?

Short-term: this morning, going out the back fire escape door to remind the roofers that walking around the edge might be a better idea.... Other than that, I went for a walk down to the High Park to look at the autumn colours on Sunday.

7. What are you wearing?

Black 'fat lady' trousers (someone sneaked in and took all my clothes in by an inch while we were away), teal long-sleeve T-shirt, beige cardigan, shoes & socks, specs. This office is not warm.

8. Did you dream last night? If you did, what about?

I think so. I tend not to remember much in the way of detail, but have an idea that renovations featured.

9. When was the last time you laughed?

Last night. I was being tickled.

10. What's on the walls, in the room you're in right now?

Seeing as I'm in the office, loads: Cream-painted textured wallpaper hidden by bookcases, files, a whiteboard, a painting of Mull we got for a wedding pressie, and a wonderful poster for Hobgoblin from the Wychwood Brewery.

11. Have you seen anything strange lately?

Driving to our holiday cottage, we saw a very large mill chimney on the left hand side of the road, and all the mill buildings on the right. The flue must have gone under the road at one time!

12. What do you think about this meme?
Not bad - a good way to get to know someone and bit less twee than many.

13. What's the last film you saw?

Sad to say, it was years ago and at the Glasgow Film Theater: The Third Man had been restored and DH and I went to see it. It's a half hour drive to the nearest movie house from here, and frankly I don't have the time.

14. If you became a multimillionaire, what would you do with the money?

Get a decent pension plan sorted. Get myself a proper bespoke suit. Put some aside for family. Buy a place with potential for a garden (that I really miss). Take overseas holidays: I'd love to see New Zealand, maybe northern Italy again, and Canada. I'd wait until the US gets a bit less paranoid before I thought about visiting there though.

15. Tell us something about yourself that most people don't know.

I have a PhD in Chemistry/Biochemistry.

16. If you could change ONE THING in this world, without regarding politics or bad guilt - what would it be?

”Bad guilt”? WTF. I've no idea what this question means, so I'll skip that part. Aside from that, convincing people that we're all just 'people' without the assorted labels that get thrown around would probably be a good start. Did I mention that prejudice is one of my all-time pet hates?

19. What do you want your children's names to be, girl/boy?

If we ever have kids (not likely running this place I have to say) then Tom is a good boy's name (on both sides of the family) and some derivation of Jean might be a good start for a girl. Nothing set in stone, though!

17. Do you like dancing?

Depends on the dancing, really. I love structured (but not formal) dancing as in a Ceilidh, but am left completely cold by the 'stand in your own little square and wriggle' club-style dancing.

18. George Bush?

Fortunately not the leader of my country. I'm still not quite sure what he stands for, but I don't like the results of his leadership. It would be nice to think that our nation gained from cosying up to the US administration, but other than photocalls for the politicians, I don't see it. Diving into a war without a plan for what you were going to do once you'd won, and assuming that 'the good guys always win' didn't seem like the best of ideas to me either.

20. Would you ever consider living abroad?

I do. I grew up in South Africa, and took an oath of allegiance to the Queen and became a British Citizen fairly recently. I love Scotland, and am very settle here.

21. What do you want God to tell you, when you come to heaven?

Nope. Not going there! Politics and religion are two topics very dangerous for pub discussion....

22. Who should do this meme?

Anyone who's had the patience to read all the way through.

The Giant Hamster Cage

2006-11-14T09:58:00.000Z

is, thankfully, no more. We've had 15 strippers (wallpaper that is, rather than clothing) working in the hotel and have probably gained an inch on each wall as they took layers and layers and layers of paper off. It really did look like the inside of a giant rodent cage, and would have given the Fire Service nightmares if it hadn't been completely soaked from the steamers.

We managed to slope off for a much-needed break in the middle of all of this. Upper Gate Farm is just outside Hepworth, near Holmfirth in the Peak District. We had the cottage shown in the third picture on the page linked above, which comes with a private hot tub in the garden. What wasn't mentioned was the fact that the tub was at the bottom of the garden, necessitating a mad dash in the rain to get there and/or back.

Wonderful, and just what we needed, to spend a few days doing very little at all in peaceful surroundings.

Then we came back to the building site which is this place to discover:
1. We couldn't get into our quarters due to several large sacks of cement and two sawhorses piled up outside the door.
2. We couldn't work out how to get to our bathroom, which is almost directly above our quarters (yup, only guests get ensuite here!)

That's the view starting at the foot of the stairs outside our room, and moving up until you're looking across the scaffolding boards to the doorway to the bathroom.

This is where I have to do the 'get out of the swimming pool' climb off a spiral staircase onto scaffolding, after limbo-dancing underneath it to get to this stage.

You may not be completely astonished to hear that unless I need a shower, I'm using the public loo on the ground floor!

However, progress is being made. It had better be: we have guests on Friday week!

Political digression

2006-11-01T20:13:00.000Z

I knew that Scottish Borders Council had a reputation for spending money on strange things. The news today that three quarters of primary schools don't have smoke detectors just makes me sick.

The councillors can't even guarantee that all the schools will get detectors, as they don't have the budget!

That's odd....

2006-10-24T16:08:00.000Z

Well, the camera is supposed to give you a better idea of the way you look, so DH and I had a bit of a fashion show last night.

I'm still having trouble with a few glaringly obvious discoveries.
1. Ankle-length skirts look good on me. Not practical, of course, but good.
2. I look better in sleeveless than in short or 3/4 length sleeves, and better again in wrist length sleeves.

As proof:

I thought that the collar and v-neck would suit better than the U of the pinafore (I think you call it a jumper on the other side of the pond), but I was wrong again.

The great escape

2006-10-23T20:52:00.000Z

Well, that's what it felt like to me.

I went out for a walk today, with my camera as virtual company.

Here's the best of the piccies: you wouldn't think it was nearly November would you?

Open Access

2006-10-20T13:48:00.000Z

Charles Darwin's notebooks are being put online for anyone to read. The original of the notebook he used while on the Galapagos has been stolen, but a microfilm copy has been used to make the information available.

Distraction:
I've been neglecting my knitting due to a few other interesting discoveries online.

1. The Fashion Incubator is a blog written by someone in the industry, and she gives wonderfully detailed tutorials on the way manufacturers construct garments. There's a discussion forum as well, but it's very focussed on small business owners.

2. Pattern Review is a message board, discussion forum and reference area for sewing of all kinds. You can get a free trial membership, but I've found it useful enough to pay up for this year at least.

3. The English Cut is the blog of a Saville Row tailor.

What not to wear.... (II)

2006-10-18T15:32:00.000Z

A big 'look' this autumn is the shrug. It's supposed to look good on most figures, and provide a feminine touch....

Not on me it doesn't!

Muffin top in one easy step - and I don't normally have one.

Long cardigans, designed to "smooth over figure flaws" are no better. I feel (and look) like I'm wearing a tent.

My problem now is to find a way to look stylish without looking old. I'm looking for clothes that I can wear, rather than the clothes wearing me. A new haircut has been procured, and a new wardrobe is next.

For comparison

2006-10-11T18:45:00.000Z

Here is the best fitting (note, not the most flattering) bought blouse I have in my cupboard.

Makes me feel a bit better about my own attempts!

Done!

2006-10-08T10:56:00.000Z

Not perfect. Not even nearly perfect. Still, far better than anything I've got in my cupboard at the moment in terms of both comfort and fit.

I give you:
That Blouse

Here's what it looked like before I messed around with armholes, darts, and waist shaping:

Comments
I have no idea who that cake was made for - the link is to a professional sugarcrafter's site. I just thought it was amazing.

We didn't know about the wool-based insulation when we got ours done. I suspect if we ever have to do our own again we might use it, if only because laying fibreglass based insulation is the nastiest itchiest job I've ever had the pleasure of avoiding.

I'm still not convinced about a gored skirt - the one I tried on was an eight-gore tweed skirt, and I think I looked fairly awful in it. MOre trying on may be called for, but I think I'll stick to trousers or dresses for now.

Terry Pratchett

2006-10-05T08:51:00.000Z

wrote the discworld series.

Someone has made the most amazing wedding cake!

Hill Farmers

2006-10-05T08:03:00.000Z

have a raw deal generally. The sheep that thrive on the hills don't produce wool which is usable for anything but carpets, and for quite some time the cost of shearing has been around double the price a fleece would raise at auction, never mind the transport & packing costs. In part, this is because all wool has to go through the state monopoly, the Wool Marketing Board.

Two farmers have been working to find alternatives to burning their wool clip....

The BBC has details.

What not to wear....

2006-10-04T19:17:00.000Z

Current fashion dictates knee-length tweed skirts 'town and country' looks etc.

Not for me!

These pictures, as in Trinny and Suzanna, show just why I won't be wearing tweed skirts.

The dress, sadly, was polyester, and was sent back too. The trouser/blouse is my usual work uniform. Below is the only kind of skirt that looks good on me at the moment. Not in the pub, though. There are more than enough drunks who will cop a feel for me to want trousers on if I'm collecting glasses.

Knitting
Not recent, but the last completed item.

A Baby Surprise sweater (Elizabeth Zimmerman) for my baby cousin in two colours of Sirdar Denim Tweed.

Howler

2006-10-01T10:44:00.000Z

As in Harry Potter....

Feeling a bit better now!

I'll feel a lot better once they've sorted it all out, though.

Seethe

2006-10-01T09:34:00.000Z

I am looking for a new Credit Card company.

I've been with Cahoot for a while now, as they offer a good internet-accessible account, with a decent interest rate on cash withdrawals (which I use when I go on holiday overseas).

Last month, I ordered some clothes and paid for them with my card. When I sent back the unsuitable items, a refund was made to my card, as is normal. I now find out that although I've set up a direct debit to pay my account, this refund was classed as a repayment and they've not taken the direct debit. And I'm liable for interest!

Not happy. The call center operative stated that if I make any repayment, that will automatically preclude the direct debit being taken.

I didn't make the payment.

By my reading of the T&C the direct debit payment should have gone ahead as normal, and I shouldn't be liable.

Cahoot appears unable to see this.

Disaster averted

2006-09-27T08:00:00.000Z

Today is beer line cleaning day, and while I was waiting for the guests to come down for breakfast, I decided to disconnect the various beer lines from their respective kegs, and couple them to the cleaning line.

There are an awful lot of different connectors, depending on which beer you're talking about, and each requires a slightly different technique when coupling/uncoupling the keg. Some are 'lift-and-slide' (Guinness), some are 'lift-and-twist' with a three-point connection (Tennents), and quite a few are 'lift-and-twist' with a modified bayonet connection like this.

There are a few things which can go wrong with these.

The simplest is what's called a stuck spear. That's when the valve on the pipe which goes down into the beer inside the keg fails to close when you remove the connector. The result is a beer shampoo, or at worst, bath, as the entire pressurised keg empties itself all over you, the ceiling, and the rest of the cellar. In our experience, Guinness kegs are worst for this.

Slightly more dangerous is when one of the bayonet-style connectors gets stuck, and instead of the connector coming off, the spear starts to unscrew. If you don't notice, there is the possibility of a beer shampoo. Far worse, however, is if the spear actually comes uncoupled and flies out of the keg under pressure. That can do you serious mischief.

Today, the Belhaven Best connector got stuck. It's happened before, and generally all you need to do is tighten the connector again, give it an extra hard twist to lock the spear in place, and take the connector off.

Not this morning. Ominous hissing noises ensued, and after three goes, I phoned the Technical Services people at Belhaven. This is not something I wish to have to deal with.

So, today the beer line cleaning will be one line short. Not great, as the only way to keep your beer in top condition is to sterilise the lines weekly - and doing that twice over will not be fun.

When you're tired

2006-09-26T21:37:00.000Z

past tired, in fact, the sight of a cleaner (especially mine, who does a very good job) coming through the door is a wonderful thing!

It's basically been a good morning. I had four guests in last night (a family), and after they'd had breakfast they asked if they could stay another night. Yippee! My head doesn't hurt (yes, this is an unusual state of affairs), and I've managed to get out and do the grocery shopping for the next day or so.

Today I'm on my own in the pub for 11 hours, with a big football match to round it off (Celtic v. FC Copenhagen if anyone cares) when I'll be offering pints at £2. I've put posters up, but frankly doubt that anyone will notice....

Blog reading.

I don't read Rabbitch very often, but this morning I wandered past and spotted her post on a few differences she's noticed between the way men & women think/act. Why don't they teach these things in 'lifeskills' at school? Actually, why don't they teach lifeskills at all?

Sample curriculum:

# how to make (and stick to) a realistic budget
# healthy eating on a budget (most advice assumes that you've ready access to all manner of fresh fruit & veg which, frankly, small supermarkets simply do not carry, or if they do, charge way over the odds for nasty old stuff)
# how to read a bank statement (and what to do if something's wrong)
# how to write a letter of complaint that might just get results
# basic food (and other) hygiene
# the care and feeding of basic power tools
# translation from boy-speak to girl-speak
# how to work out what your priorities are ('cos time management isn't much use if you can't decide what to start with)
# how to take notes in a lecture/meeting
# an honest discussion of the risks/pleasures of intoxicants (legal and illegal)
# graphic discussion of STIs (trust me, the pictures are quite enough to make you think twice)
# an honest discussion of relationships, childrearing etc (difficult I know)
# basic tenets of major religions, morality & the avoidance of chauvinism in any form
# your country's political system, how to vote, and a discussion of the techniques used by politicians and their ilk

any other ideas?

PS
Celtic beat FC Copenhagen tonight. More happiness!

I'll leave the discussion of the Ryder Cup victory to Jean.

Late Opening

2006-09-25T11:35:00.000Z

Sadly, today the pub will not be opening on time at 12 noon. I have fed 6 hungry guests, started the dishes, cleared & cleaned the breakfast room, cleaned the pub & loos, stripped six beds and remade them completely (including two clean duvets and four clean pillows), started the laundry, ....

And now I'm sitting down before I start cleaning the four bathrooms.

Whoof.

J is away to Arran and Ardrossan on a business trip, so I'm on my own until 6pm tonight.

Edited to add:
I managed to open at 14.45, after a quick bite of lunch, then just sat for a while! I really ought to be a lot fitter than I am with all this climbing stairs and scrubbing bathrooms....

Total takings today £35. Not unusual for a Monday.

Oh, and before anyone jumps to conclusions: J does more than his fair share on the cleaning front on a normal day! The trip is all about providing 'added value' in your food service, and as he's the expert on that, he's away to find out what he can.

120

2006-09-23T13:25:00.000Z

hours plus that I've worked this week. I'm knackered!

Apologies to those of you who've been emailing me to find out where I'd got to. I'm here, but email hasn't been anywhere near the top of my list of things-to-do.

Staffing
Two interviews today. Both turned up!

A poster in the pub window has already had more of a response than advertising in the newspaper. Lesson learned. Next step - advertising on the notice board at the local FE College.

Knitting
You must be joking.

Other stuff
I've been doing my own version of "What not to wear" over the past month or so with catalogue shopping and a digital camera. Once I get over the horror of some of the photos, I may share.... In the meantime, it's back to the old staples of black trous and a white/light blouse.

Answering the wrong questions

2006-09-09T16:50:00.000Z

So, I emailed the Commission for Racial Equality here in the UK to ask for advice over and above the standard 'ask them to stop, then ask them to leave' response to racist behaviour.

Here is the response I received:

Thank you for your email to the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE).

In addition to informing customers that you find their comments offensive you may find it helpful to draw up a race equality policy statement and communicate this to staff, customers and suppliers. You may also decide to ask customers to leave your establishment if they are causing offence to others as you have obligations under the race relations act. I would refer you to the Racial Equality and the Smaller Business Guide for guidance on the law and for details on what to include in a race equality statement.

http://www.cre.gov.uk/downloads/smeguide.rtf

You may find it useful to view the CRE website http://www.cre.gov.uk/ as it contains further information on the law and other material that may be of interest to you.

This was followed by 18 lines of disclaimers, security and privacy statements etc.

My reply was, I admit, fairly short, not to say pointed:

Unfortunately, providing customers in the pub with a written policy
statement will simply result in an increase in the number of paper
darts in the pub.

I don't think you've quite understood the nature of the licensed trade!

I will continue as I have been.

Strangely, no-one from the CRE has responded to that email yet....

Knitting
As I suspected, I ran out of yarn about 6cm above the hem of the jacket I was designing, and my supplier appears to have gone out of business. Drat.

I have remade the jacket using some white acrylic I happened to have, and am now working on the matching hat. Then comes the fun of writing up the pattern, submitting it to The Knitting Vault and waiting to see if anyone likes it as much as I do.

Pictures will follow once it's done.

Century

2006-09-03T08:30:00.000Z

I failed to notice that the last posting was my 100th - rather surprising really.

Comments
Dez & Carlarey: thanks for your encouragement. I was thanked privately by one of my regulars who had witnessed the rant for standing up to the man. Sadly they didn't feel able to back me up in public, but it's a start. The local code for an area without cultural diversity is 'a nice place to bring up children'.... I'm composing a letter to the local paper in response to someone who wrote in to complain that we'd fought two world wars to keep immigrants out, and there wasn't a single country where multicultural, multi-religious society worked. I'd be interested to know of any where a monotheistic monoculture has been part of anything other than a completely repressive regime (China, US under McCarthy, Burma...?).

TK: Thanks for your thoughts on that blouse. I've not had time to do anything to it since my strop last month, but I think that taking in the seams at the top of the sleeves is most definitely worth a try.

Dad: Yes of course I'm being over-critical. I want a blouse that's as close to perfect as I can get it. What do you mean you're not surprised?

Knitting
I'm working on a design for a matinee jacket. I've a very bad feeling about the amount of yarn left at this stage (King Cole 'soft as silk' appears to be discontinued) but we shall see. I'm working from stash at the moment, and as I made the decision to Freecycle all the basic acrylic yarn I hadn't used in years, I'm having a bit of trouble finding enough in baby-friendly yarns.

The baby surprise is finished, but not yet photographed. I'm reasonably pleased, although the buttons aren't quite perfect.

The lace stole is stalled. I seem to have misplaced a YO somewhere in the last few rows, and I'm going to have to wait until I can a)focus and b)sit down and concentrate before I can carry on. Perhaps while listening to this.

Renovations
I went on a walkabout and took notes on all the things which still need to be fixed or finished in the bedrooms and on the main staircase. Areas which the workmen appear to think are done. The list comes to six pages....

Other stuff
It seems our Prime Minister is about to do a Maggie Thatcher. He's said he won't stand for election again, and won't serve a full term, but he refuses to set a date for his leaving. The constant debate about when/if he will go is getting very tired indeed.

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the crash of Smart 1 onto the lunar surface. As I didn't get to bed until about 2am, and it was raining, I didn't get up early to try and see the flash myself.... It seems that the experimental ion drive, and a few other clever bits of miniaturised kit, have worked well enough to be incorporated into standard design.

Light relief
I've been enjoying Dilbert a great deal recently. If you want to know why I haven't provided a pictorial link, click here.

I grew up a long way from here

2006-08-27T16:06:00.000Z

both physically and culturally. Durban, South Africa, is a very different place to Jedburgh, Scotland.

Warning: grumpy posting follows!

That has been brought home to me rather forcibly over the past few weeks, as the number and nature of racist rants in the pub has increased. I won't stand for it - neither racist nor sexist behaviour has any place in a civilised country - but short of barring someone from the pub there doesn't seem to be much I can do.

The language used by our government appears to be making racists far more confident about spreading their filth. Suddenly, it seems, it's acceptable to call all Muslims terrorists, or claim that foreigners are taking over the country, or whatever other piece of nonsense you like. You're far more likely to receive agreement from your fellow (white male) drinkers than any argument.

Then, or course, there are the people who've come into the UK from the rest of Europe: Poland and Lithuania are the most recent countries to send us their young people to work in jobs that the Brits don't want. The locals, of course, don't quite see it that way, as they're quite sure that if it wasn't for all these nasty foreigners then we'd all have much better jobs, houses, schools, hospitals etc.

When I attempt to pull the ranter up, by reminding them that if they want to get rid of all the foreigners, they'd need to start with me, I'm informed that of course I don't count, as I'm white.

Filth is the right word. I'm starting to feel stained by association.

Hello people: the whole of the UK is made up of immigrants who arrived over the past 2000 years. Picts, Romans, Angles, ....

On a slightly more rediculous note
I've discovered that I'm unlikely to be served a pint in one of the places John and I go out for dinner. Apparently it's not ladylike - I'd have to settle for a half pint. Just as well that they don't sell any beer that I'd drink....

Trouble generally comes in threes

2006-08-24T13:29:00.000Z

So I'm waiting....

John has cut his finger while attempting to redesign his Cunning Cellar Cooler (TM).

One of the painters has sliced his knuckle open, I suspect while attempting to remove ancient papier mache using a razor scaper.

Who's next?

Staffing woes
Anyone who runs a business and tells you that they have no problems with finding and/or retaining staff is either lying, deluded, or employing only members of their own family.

This time around, we tried advertising in the Southern Reporter, a newspaper which reaches most of the Borders. By the closing date, I'd received a grand total of three application forms. Five days later, I'd received another two.

Of these five:

One has already found a job
Two have chosen not to provide a telephone number, so I can't invite them for interview even if I wanted to
One has provided her parents' number in Edinburgh, as her mobile has stopped working. Her parents have no way to contact her....
One is coming for interview on Tuesday.

And people wonder why so much of the hospitality industry is staffed by workers from outwith the UK. Just as soon as I have living space for them, I'll be looking for a pair of friendly immigrants too!

Knitting
Three days of empty pub + Minimal staffing = One baby surprise which needs buttons and sewing up.

So at least I've achieved something this week.

You've got to laugh

2006-08-23T09:23:00.000Z

So we've got plasterers in the building at the moment. Finally. Only about 2 months after we were expecting to be finished.

Now, the more observant of you may have noticed that this is a hotel. A working hotel, which means that we have guests. Breakfast is from 08.30 until 09.30, so at about 09.00 I'm generally under a fair bit of pressure to get everything ready and right and on time.

At 09.10 this morning, a plasterer, in work clothes, came into the kitchen and attempted to ask me a question. My response was to send him to find John (the other half) as he wasn't currently dealing with breakfast. The conversation went something like this.

Workman: Excuse me.
Lorna: I'm busy cooking breakfast, you're going to need to talk to John.
Workman: Excuse me.
Lorna: I'm busy cooking breakfast, you're going to need to talk to John.
Workman: Where is he?
Lorna: Well, you might try the office.

At this point, John came out of the office to deal with a full blown strop on the part of the plasterer - and came to find out what I'd said.

Just a wee bit precious, are our tradesmen here in the Borders. Coming into a kitchen in work clothes is bad enough. Doing so in the middle of breakfast is really daft.

One of them does it most mornings....

More cheery stuff
My pressie from Dez has arrived! Two balls of a wool blend called Dublin, all the way from the States, and some of her own patterns too.

Thanks Dez!

Ryanair has been responding to the heightened security at UK airports in the approved Irish manner - by making a joke about it. The Register has the best version I've seen.

Knitting
Yesterday was dead in the pub. So much so that I managed to get half of a baby surprise jacket knitted. The lace has stalled - I simply can't work on it with the kind of distractions you get while serving - but I'm about 1/4 through the main body of the piece so there's hope of finishing some time this year.

And so to work
My barmaid/cleaner has phoned in to say that her son's been bitten by their dog which means a trip to the doctor for tetanus jags etc., so I'm off to deal with cleaning, laundry and other assorted bits of busy-ness.

This and that.

2006-08-18T17:57:00.000Z

That dratted blouse is winning the battle at the moment. I have (so far) neither screamed nor sworn, but blood sweat and tears have definitely been involved.

Here it is in all its glory:

As you can see, the shoulders are still too wide, the bust darts too shallow, and the armholes (I think) too tight. There's something odd going on around the hips, and something else weird around the shoulder blades. Apart from that, my dears, it's just perfect....

Otherwise, things are much quieter outside the hotel, as the brood of house martins has finally fledged. They are noisy little things.

Bah!

2006-08-17T17:16:00.000Z

Humbug!

Today was supposed to be the grand unveiling of the perfectly fitting blouse that I've been working on for some time. Instead, it is going to be the day of the grand unpicking.

I have measured, and modified, and pinned, and modified some more, and the blasted thing still isn't right. Despite increasing the bust darts to what appears to me to be rediculous proportions (I'm only a C-cup for goodness' sake), and mucking about with everything from shoulder slope to waist curve, I'm still not happy.

So, the sleeves are coming out again, and the armholes are to be enlarged. That will hopefully solve both the slight puffed sleeve effect of a too-large sleeve cap, and the draglines from under the arms.

Then I get to try and figure out what's making it get hung up on my rear (there's plenty of ease, so it can't be that it's too small) and possibly make those bust darts even bigger to stop it drooping in front.

And it's raining. Again.

John has suggested Jacaranda Rose and Doritos along with some music. I think I might just take him up on it.

Snap, Crackle, Pop

2006-08-07T11:21:00.000Z

No, not these cheery chaps, but what appears to have been a wheelie-bin on fire. I was woken by what sounded very like distant fireworks, some time around 2am on Sunday. Not good, as we'd only made it to bed about an hour earlier.... Then I noticed the clouds of black smoke, and the lovely orange glow, emanating from the close across the street.

A quick 999 call later, and a brief discussion of the difference between Crailing (where the fire wasn't) and Crown Lane (where it was), and the fire engine turned up. Our plumber is a relief fireman, and he was on duty, so I hope he wasn't too peeved at being dragged out.

Comments
Apologies to anyone who's left me a comment recently. I have read them all, and do eventually hope to respond. Summer holiday time is (for obvious reasons) not really a good time for extended correspondence!

Fibre Crafts Retreat
See recent post for basic idea....

However, we're starting to think about perhaps pushing it back to late May/early June to allow for folk to save up after SkipNorth and the Creative Crafts Show in Glasgow in March....

Payday tomorrow

2006-08-03T20:54:00.000Z

No, not for me - for the staff. My last payday was in January 2005!

That means that today has been taken up with the inevitable laundry along with doing the payroll and sorting out the staff rota for the next four weeks.

In between times, I had a moment or two for these:

The book is on loan from the local library, who had no idea of just how valuable it was. The yarn is cashmere, for a lace project which I am not going to blog about as I suspect the recipient reads this....

I know we need the rain

2006-07-31T12:15:00.000Z

but could it not have arrived in a controlled manner over several days,
rather than dumping a week's worth in two hours....?

I miss

2006-07-30T09:02:00.000Z

lots of things. But yesterday, I was reminded of how much fun it was to help run a cub scout pack.

We had a family of three, plus granny, plus friend, staying over the past two nights. The two boys were getting distinctly twitchy sitting in the breakfast room waiting for the adults to finish with tea, toast and papers, and I suggested that they pop out into the beer garden. They asked to be given something to do, and spent a happy half hour sweeping the flagstones. Dad was happy too, as he got to sit out in the sun with his paper and cigarette keeping an eye on them while the ladies went off and did shopping-y things.

The boys were keen to do more today. Fortunately, when they asked me if they could go outside, I deferred to Mum.... They were told in no uncertain terms that packing was a more appropriate use of their time.

Cue Prince Herbert in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".

One of these years, when I actually have spare time (what a wonderful concept) I'll see about getting involved with cubs again.

Clunk

2006-07-25T10:33:00.000Z

(that was the penny dropping....)

I've been in private correspondence with a few cyber-friends about a blouse which I'm attempting to make.

I've modified just about everything about the pattern (a first for me) including bust darts, back size, sleeve cap, waist shaping, hip size, etc. etc. etc. As a result of all that, I've been snarling at the partially-completed garment for several months now.

It fits through the shoulders better than anything I've either made or bought (Yippee!).
It fits over my bust (amazing!) without being baggy under the arms.

However, below the waist it was a complete horlicks. It would not hang straight. So, last night I undid the side seams to the waist, repinned the front darts, and the back darts, and sewed them up again. I wasn't happy with the solution I'd come up with, but I was so fed up of that bundle of fabric sitting there smirking at me, that I decided to just finish it and try and fix the pattern next time.

This morning, as I was doing a spot of painting, the penny dropped.

The bust darts are too small (too shallow?). Anyway, the grain is off by rather a lot at the lower edge, with the result that the unpinned side seams droop and curve severely towards the centre of the blouse. That might just explain why I had to pin the front darts so that they didn't come to a point at the bottom in order not to have huge folds of fabric from waist to lower edge.

Sigh. That means unpicking six darts, and the side seams, and faffing about with pins in an attempt to get a smooth line. This is one time when recruiting hubby to help with the fitting may not be a good idea: he's liable to get distracted, I suspect.

Still, this feels like a much better solution (as in, more likely to work) than my messing about with the darts below the waist. No pictures till it's done, though - that would be far to embarrassing!

If you're visiting a small hotel....

2006-07-24T20:25:00.000Z

and you want your host(ess) to be able to honestly say "it was lovely to have you here, please do come back" rather than through gritted teeth, here are a few pointers.

Do

Wash all the makeup off your face before drying it with the fluffy white towels (it's very hard to get foundation and lipstick, not to mention mascara, stains out of towelling)
order what you really would like to eat at breakfast (it gets depressing when untouched food is returned to the kitchen)
Ask, if there's something that would make your stay more pleasant (generally we're delighted to be able to help, even if it means moving you to another room if one's available)

Don't

sit and seethe about something and only mention it in passing as you leave when it's far to late for me to fix it
make a hot chocolate and feed it to the pillow, or the carpet
smoke in the bedrooms (it's illegal, could result in a hefty fine to both you and the landlord, and extremely inconsiderate of anyone staying after you)
stomp about at 3am, waking up everyone else in the building
demand a drink in the wee small hours because it's your "right" to have one as you're resident, and you're drunk enough not to realise that you've already had enough (no-one has a right to be served alcohol, and it's illegal for me to serve someone who's drunk!)
take your dog to bed with you (those are stains I've never managed to remove, along with what I suspect may have been hair styling oil)

And finally
Please remember that most small businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Walking off with just two bath towels will mean that I have made no money at all on your one-night stay. Clearing the tray of breakfast cereal portions will mean I have lost quite a bit. Toiletries, bottled water, and tea/coffee etc are there to be used, though!

More about the brainstorm

2006-07-22T10:13:00.000Z

As I mentioned yesterday, I've started wondering about the feasability of hosting a knitting retreat/get-together here in the Scottish Borders some time around the end of April/beginning of May 2007.

Please note: This is still just at the idea-generation stage. I have not finalised dates, or a schedule, or anything!

Anyway, I've posted on a few of the mailing lists I belong to, and there seems to be a little interest, but not yet enough to get me excited. Sadly, KnitU appears to have a ban on what they refer to as advertising, and my posting about this fell foul of that. Funny how they don't have a problem with their staff posting about their new books on any other lists they happen to belong to....

So, here's a brief (I hope) summary of the facts so far.

When?
Some time in late spring 2007, probably end April/early May as the tourist season hasn't quite kicked off here and we'll be able to arrange for B&B without too much difficulty.

Where?
Jedburgh is a small town (population circa 4000) on the A68 which runs between Edinburgh and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. It is very much a tourist town, but still quiet enough that you are unlikely to have trouble parking your car, and rural enough that we have lichen growing on the stones in the middle of town.

Our hotel dates from around 1515 to around 1940 - lots of different building periods - and currently has 5 bedrooms. There are two other hotels in town, and loads of B&Bs. Because the town is so small, everything is within walking distance.

The furthest you're likely to have to walk is the mile to the campsite by the river, but taxis are cheap and friendly!

For more on Jedburgh, you can look at the hotel website: Spread Eagle Hotel or the town's website: Jedburgh Online.

One important point to make is that with the town being so old, truly disabled-accessible venues are few and far between. Our bedrooms are all on the top floor, and we're several years away from being able to convert the old stables to ground floor accommodation. Tourist Info does have a list of places to stay which are suitable for people with mobility problems, but the room we are likely to be using for workshops, lunch etc is one floor up.

Transport?
We are about an hour from Edinburgh, Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Newcastle, and about 90 minutes from Carlisle by road.

Public transport is fairly good for such a rural area. We have regular bus services to Newcastle, Edinburgh and Carlisle as well as local buses. There haven't been trains since the Beeching days, but your cheapest option may well be to get the train to one of the main stations and then get a coach the rest of the way. At the moment, London-Newcastle single with GNER can go for as little as £10 online!

The nearest airports are Edinburgh and Newcastle, and the nearest ferry terminals are there as well.

Fibre Attractions?
Although the Borders has a rich textile history, there is very little left - a few Cashmere producers, some machine embroiderers, and a few fibre-artists are all I'm aware of.

I have been in touch with Margie Robinson of Moondance Wools which is based on a farm in Berwickshire. She was about to leave on holiday, and we've agreed to discuss things in more detail when she returns.

Lindsay Roberts, of the Workhouse Gallery has run fibre workshops in Jedburgh before. I have spoken to her in the past about the possibility of running something at the hotel, and we will be talking in more detail as the time gets closer.

There's also been the suggestion of contacting Sheila McGregor (author of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting) who may live in Ediburgh, although rumour has it that she may have moved to France....

There is a fairly active branch of the Knitting and Crochet Guild based in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, and the Guild may be able to provide details of people willing/able to run workshops if that's what we choose to do.

Alex Byrne, who organised SkipNorth has also offered to help with organisation. She's the one collating a list of interested parties right now, and I can provide her contact details to anyone who asks.

What if you get bored with knitting?
The Borders is beautiful, uncrowded, and relatively unknown. The scenery is every bit as good as the "real" part of Scotland where all the tourists go (the Highlands) and, most importantly, we don't get nearly as many midges.

We have a very attractive golfing package locally known as the Freedom of the Fairways, with 6 rounds over 3 days on any one of 23 courses for GBP70 and 10 rounds over 5 days for GBP100. There are discounts for juniors and seniors based on playing fewer rounds.

There is a lot of very good mountain-biking nearby - Glentress is probably the best-known area within the Seven Stanes project - as well as gentler shared off-road walking and cycling routes.

There are a number of waymarked walks - both short and long - including the Borders Abbeys Way and St Cuthberts Way.

If you're into motorbiking, Keilder Forest is about 45 minutes away across the Carter Bar and into England.

If you're thinking about bringing children, there is a Deer Park, an Archery Centre, a working silversmiths, and several other "active" venues within easy driving distance.

Any and all suggestions will be gratefully received. I don't know if I can do this, but I'd like to try!

Checking in

2006-07-21T16:55:00.000Z

No, I haven't quite fallen off the edge of the world. Apologies to those of you who were wondering what had happened.

In order:
1. The Jedburgh Festival (like a common riding, with lots of horses, alcohol, and a ball)
2. The Jim Clarke Rally (a huge event, which just happened to be on the same weekend as 1)
3. Two completely new bathrooms installed at the hotel (still being snagged, and barely ready for 1 & 2)
4. Two days in Edinburgh to think (a very rare occurrence!)
5. The start of the tourist season (English schools break up today)
6. The realisation that my CV is several years out of date, and on a computer which I don't have access to.
7. A heat wave (Jedburgh has been above 28C for more than a week now!) such that I can dry towels on the line indoors in less than 4 hours.
8. A brainstorm (I'm thinking about arranging a knitting retreat here sometime in late spring next year)

So, I've been a bit busy, and I've not been knitting, but I hope to post more regularly soon.

Some time ago

2006-06-24T11:46:00.000Z

Actually, quite a long time ago now, Franklin posted about a book that was due to come out and which he thought would be well worth a read. I have now read it, in conjunction with this one. I think it was a good combination - two books from completely different perspectives both looking at communication and life across the gender divide.

If I'd only read the book which was written by a linguist (the second one), I'd have a very skewed understanding of how communication works. As a woman and a linguist, the author was quite understandably very focussed on the role of words and the meaning beneath words. The book Franklin recommended, also written by a woman, was a very good read, but not a comfortable one. I'll be going back to it a few times, I think, to see what else is waiting to bite!

I'm not going to give any more away. There's a good review linked from Franklin's post, so if you want to know more, pop over.

Work
I've had a wretched week, but thanks to a brief conversation with the best Dad in the world (not that I'm biased or anything) I've got my head straightened out a bit and hope to get a bit more done this week coming.

Knitting
You must be joking! It's nearly July, which is when our busiest season starts, I'm still trying to finish painting downstairs, and we're down to three rooms in the hotel thanks to the emergency renovations....

Brr!

2006-06-18T18:43:00.000Z

The weather has, rather unexpectedly, broken. After forecasts of 19C and sunshine, we have 13C and rain. Here's hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Knitting
Progress is being made on the purple pullover I'm knitting in Jaeger "Odessa". I've now completed all the bits, and the front (the last part knitted) is soaking at the moment in preparation for blocking. Pictures once it's dry, I promise.

Knitting this has entailed a number of "Firsts" for me:

the first pattern I chose because I liked it, and not because it came in my size
the first pattern I've knitted with set in sleeves
the first pattern where I've done serious rewriting and recalculating to get something that will (hopefully) fit me
the first garment I've knitted for me (other than accessories) in a lightweight yarn that is likely to suit me

There's another big first coming up: sewing in set-in sleeves. Any tips?

Comments
I've had fewer responses to my political posting than I expected. Today I received a fairly strongly worded one from a person who apparently doesn't feel quite strongly enough to provide either a name or an email address. The gist of their query seems to be whether I believe that people who do bad, even terrible, things have the same fundamental rights as people who don't. I'm paraphrasing here - do go and look at the comment yourself for the details.

As I can't reply directly, but feel that this deserves an answer, I'm going to do so here.

To put it bluntly. Yes, I do.

I believe that every human being has the right to be treated with respect, and according to the rule of law. Even if they have done, or may do, or are accused of doing, things which I find abhorrent. I believe that it is important that justice is done, and that it is seen to be done. I believe that what you do is far more important than why you do it: in other words, that there is no occasion on which it is right to say that the end justifies the means.

Until people are willing to accept that there may be more than one right way to live, or govern, then I don't see how any peace can be made to last, whether it be negotiated or imposed.

Navel Gazing

2006-06-17T10:36:00.000Z

Awkward and generally uncomfortable, but sadly necessary at times.

I've been thinking about our business, and the part I play in it, rather a lot recently. Fundamentally, I think I'm in the wrong job. I'm very methodical, very orderly, and reasonably good at getting things done properly and well. Sometimes I'm even good at getting things done to a deadline, and I'm pretty good at prioritising and time-management and all the other 'management' things which people say are so important to running a business of any kind.

What I'm not good at, however, is big dreams, grand plans, or however you want to describe the process of defining where exactly it is that you want to be. Once someone else has come up with a dream, I can usually take that and fill in the annoying little details which mean it has a chance of working, but without someone else to provide that spark, I tend to do a very good impersonation of a mouse in the bottom of a barrel.

Round-and-round-and-round-and-round.

I think that means that I'm not suited to anything higher than middle management....

I'm sure part of my problem here is that we are chronically short-staffed. It's difficult to think about what you'd like to achieve when you're struggling to keep the place open and running (not to mention your eyes open and yourself running) - and even more difficult when you're dealing with fairly serious structural repairs right in the middle of the tourist season! Nevertheless, I don't believe that the overwork is the main problem. It's more that the overwork has been masking the lack of vision.

"So busy being busy, you forget what it was you were trying to do."

We're getting our railway back

2006-06-15T11:37:00.000Z

Well, sort of. It will run from Edinburgh to Tweedbank (near Galashiels) which means that instead of having the nearest railhead at St Boswells (10 miles) we'll have about double that to travel to get a train.

Details here.

Work
The strip-out-and-fix of the family rooms continues - but a little slower than we were hoping. We have to have them ready for the 1st of July, so that's when they'll be ready ... I hope.

People from the National Museum of Scotland have arrived today to take the old mechanical dumb waiter away. Good for us, as it saves space in the skip, and good for them as they get one with all its workings intact.

And the new member of staff due to start on Tuesday didn't turn up. Didn't phone. Nothing. I simply don't understand the attitude that sends someone to interview, has them accept a job after negotiating hours to suit, has them confirm their start date and time, and then silence. The idea of recruiting a couple of overseas working holidaymakers is becoming more appealing by the minute!

Crafty stuff
Not knitting, but rag rug making. Last weekend saw me out from 10.30 until 4.30 on both Saturday and Sunday, learning about the rag rug making methods of both the UK and the USA. The course was led by Mary Dayton, who is based in Dunoon. It was fun. Really good fun. Particularly as I was concentrating so hard on learning how to do new stuff that I didn't think about the hotel more than once an hour. This is a good thing.

On the Sunday we watched a video about an American fiber artist Gloria Crouse. I can't find much on the web about her - just this episode on HGTV. Watching my fellow workshop-takers during her video was informative: Gloria seems to love bright, cheerful, loud colour combinations; and the rest of the group were squirming uncomfortably at the lack of "subtlety" and the "Americanism" of it all. I thought it was wonderful - totally appropriate for the large-scale commissions she was making. Some of the smaller rugs were very cleverly constructed too - no plain rectangles here - or with small removable bits attached with velcro to allow for a complete colour-scheme change!

The obsession of our little group with doing things that will last - no latex, as that breaks down in less than 50 years - and not spending more than you have to - buy second-hand or use your old clothes. The thought of using all new materials, as the American tradition appears to be - horrified them. The reasons given were interesting - oh, but all the reds will be the same colour if you buy them new: you want old faded colours to get more richness to your work.

Fascinating stuff.

I'll probably not do much rug making myself - but I might make little things like decorations, pictures, or bags. If you want to see what's possible, though, have a look at this.

I'll put up pictures of my own attempts as soon as I get new batteries for the camera.

Edited to add
Pictures are here. My favourites are below.

I don't normally "do" politics

2006-06-11T08:24:00.000Z

but I'm going to make an exception today.

According to the BBC, three detainees at Guantanamo Bay have committed suicide. They weren't the first to attempt to do so, just the first to succeed.

The response of the Camp Commander, Rear Adm Harry Harris, has left me feeling both sickened and shocked.

Rear Adm Harris said he did not believe the men had killed themselves out of despair.

"They are smart. They are creative, they are committed," he said.

"They have no regard for life, either ours or their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."

How on earth do you characterise suicide, in a cell, using bedsheets and clothing, as an act of warfare?

The men had apparently been on hunger strike, and had been force-fed by the US military, before they killed themselves. From what I've read, they must have been desperate: there is no hope of their being brought to trial, no information on what they are accused of, and hence no chance of their being able to defend themselves and either serve their punishment or be freed.

I used to have a great deal of respect for the American Dream, and the people who worked so hard to make it possible. I still think their are lots of good Americans, but my feelings towards America as a political entity are distinctly mixed.

How can you claim to uphold the rule of law, and favour democracy, when your own people are stretching the law to the point of breaking, and apparently only support democracy outwith the USA when the people vote as you want them to?

Been a bit busy recently....

2006-06-07T15:58:00.000Z

Here's why.

No knitting - fingers covered in paint do not mix well with purple sparkly yarn!

Of smoke detectors and labourers

2006-06-02T21:32:00.000Z

So, imagine you are going to take down an old (very old - probably over 300 years old) plaster ceiling in a room which has a smoke detector. You have been provided with detailed instructions on Health & Safety, and a set of caps to isolate any smoke detectors.

Do you:
a) wear a hard hat
b) isolate the smoke detector
c) evacuate the building when the fire alarm goes off
d) apologise

That's right, you:
e) do none of the above, and act extremely disgruntled when the site supervisor (that would be me) swears at you after the fire alarm goes off for the umpteenth time.

I really swore. Lots, and at length. Having to kick my pub customers out into the rain was bad enough, but fetching a smoke detector cap, only to find that said labourers had just fitted the one they already had - thereby trapping the dust inside the detector.... Well, lets just say that I wasn't particularly polite.

Thank heavens this lot have finished the work they're doing in the main building, and are only responsible for a little tidying up of the back carparking area.

Weather
Truly gorgeous today.

We ended up eating out in the beer garden, and it was lovely. We'll have that open for the weekend, which is forecast to be warm and sunny, but will then have to close it to allow for work on the ceiling/floor above.

Knitting
Still plodding away on "Melissa" (see below). I've completed the back, and am trying to work out my first ever set of bust darts in knitting. I've also just realised that although the overall circumference is likely to be correct, I've miscalculated the side seam positions.

Drat.

I honestly had no idea how narrow my back was compared to my front, despite much use of tape measures over the years. I am not ripping the work-to-date out, though, for two very good reasons. Firstly, this yarn doesn't survive being knit with terribly well, never mind being ripped out. Secondly, there is just no way that I'd ever knit it again if I did, so I carry on and hope for the best.

Slow-solid

2006-05-24T21:39:00.000Z

(the tortoise from the Just So Stories, in case you were wondering)

Yup, that's me.

I have been working on a dressy jumper for quite a while now. It was started some time ago, at least on paper, but due to the requirements of Pub Knitting it has been rather well-and-truly stalled.

The plan is to knit Melissa, by Hillary Rohde (no, I'd never heard of her either and this might or might not be her company) from an old Jaeger Pattern Magazine. It's JM06 published in 2002, so not ancient, but sadly no longer extant either.

Sadly for me, Jaeger's sizing doesn't quite stretch to mine, particularly in the arm region. I need an absolute minimum of 36cm around the upper arm if I'm to get any blood to my fingers, and the largest size (112cm bust, to fit a 107cm bust) has an upper arm circumference of 30cm less your seams when you work out the gauge.

Ouch indeed.

So, I needed to find a way to add about 10cm of stitches in the length of a sleeve, and then get rid of them in such a way that the sleeve cap would still fit.

I did it
Or at any rate, I think I've done it.

I'm working in Jaeger Odessa, rather than the Trinity DK specified, and getting my almost invariant gauge of 22 x 28 using 4mm needles. Jaeger patterns all seem to get 22 x 30 with DK, so there was a little recalculation involved there as well.

I'll try and scan my working sheet and post it some time in the future, just in case someone else is having similar problems. Grumperina has the opposite issue with written patterns - batwing sleeves appear to be her pet hate....

Work
Two potential bar staff who were due to come for interview this evening phoned about 15 minutes before the start time to cancel. "Something had come up."

SNARL

Ouch!

2006-05-18T11:36:00.000Z

I was in Edinburgh on Monday (in the rain of course) trying to get my haircut fixed. I had suspected, but still wasn't overly happy to have it confirmed, that the local sheep shearers, sorry, hairdressers had made a complete hash of it. £50 later, and with a small improvement in matters, I'm left with the injunction not to look in a mirror for two months, and then go back to see what can be done to salvage things.

To console myself, I popped into John Lewis to have a look at pattern books and yarn. I was sorely tempted by one of the RYC (Rowan Yarn Classics) books, but as the patterns stopped at 40", and I'm the wrong side of 42", I resisted. Realistically, I don't have the time to completely rework a pattern to fit me at the moment.

I also resisted this:

Yes, that's right, £7.25 for a single ball of slightly ombre yarn.

Now, I'm more than willing to pay for quality materials, and I do have half-a-dozen balls of Kidsilk Haze in a bag along with the Summer in Kansas shawl pattern I bought about five years ago, but....

I didn't see any Kidsilk Night, which is supposed to be truly beautiful - which is probably just as well given the state of my bank balance just now.

I think I'll stick to Capricorn Mohair for now. Their 4-ply brushed mohair may not be Kidsilk, but the colours are wonderful, and it's half the price!

So how would you like...

2006-05-17T20:26:00.000Z

a sparkle ceiling in the front hall? That was the electrician asking, and me screaming and running away.

Otherwise, the work on the hotel is proceding at a snail's pace, with interesting disasters being found on a fairly regular basis. I'm not going to talk about it, just in case the plaster which appears to be holding everything together gets tired and decides to fall off.

Knitting
Thanks to Ted and Wendy, it seems that feather and fan doesn't bias. I still think it should, but apparently it doesn't, and there's an end to it.

I've been working with a very old lace pattern which I charted out some time ago.
=

I really like the geometric effect, and am playing with a few ideas in terms of actual garment knitting. Playing is all that's likely to happen at the moment, but it's good for the brain to have something to chew on.

Details

Yarn: King Cole Magnum Chunky in colour 210 (25% wool, 75% acrylic) - 2 x 100g balls.
Needles: 8mm straights (random plastic from the collection)
Other info: 63 stitches (5 pattern repeats) with a slipped selvedge, and pressed at 'cotton' with steam using a linen press cloth to open up the lace
Grumps: As I've discovered before, this yarn bleeds. A lot. And that rather puts paid to using it anywhere it's likely to get wet. So my plan of using this test square as a baby blanket (it's about 65cm square) is on hold.

Bias

2006-05-14T20:01:00.000Z

or rather, the lack thereof.

Based on the fact that I've had no money coming in since my last payday in January 2005, I've decided that knitting will be from stash for the forseeable. I've got my eye on an old P&B pattern for a lacey dress for a toddler, not because there is any appropriate toddler to knit it for, but because I am puzzled.

The dress is in a version of feather and fan, with a lacey rib bodice and sleeves. It's worked in pieces, as usual, and I started to wonder if I could work it in the round, at least to the start of the bodice section. Then I started to ponder the wisdom of working what is basically a series of unidirectional decreases on a tube - won't it bias?

The pattern as written is a two-row repeat:

Row 1:[3(k1, yo); 6k2tog; 3(k1, yo)]k1 and repeat to end
Row 2:purl to end

So, you end up with a charted pattern which looks something like this:

| O | O | O / / / / / / O | O | O |
| O | O | O / / / / / / O | O | O |
| O | O | O / / / / / / O | O | O |
| O | O | O / / / / / / O | O | O |

So, why doesn't it appear to bias when I knit it? Or does it, and I just need to work a bigger sample?

I'd assumed that it would bias slightly even worked flat, as the decreases are all going one way, but when I worked several balanced variations I can't see much difference at all between them at the original above. They're blocking right now (as in, I washed them and they need to dry before I can photograph them) but I'm definitely puzzled.

What am I missing?

I know that Wendy has been working a different version of feather and fan on her socks recently, so I might pop over there and ask for advice....

So so close.

2006-05-13T20:10:00.000Z

Gretna, a tiny town with official population 3000 (that's smaller than Jedburgh!) sent 12 000 fans to Hampden in Glasgow today. The occasion was the Scottish Cup Final, where they were due to meet the team which came second in the Scottish Premier League (that's the second-best team in Scotland) - Hearts.

The game went to penalties!

Gretna, sadly, lost. But there's no shame in that, considering how they played, and I have it on good authority that they were planning a party no matter what. If Jean is a Jambo fan, I hope she's celebrating tonight as well.

The only people I feel sorry for are the Gretna police: they were drafted in to make sure that burglers didn't have a field day when the entire town was deserted!

It was great to be in the pub, watching the English FA cup final on one TV, and the Scottish Cup final on the other, as both went to penalties within minutes of each other. Definitely an afternoon to remember.

Seeing double

2006-05-11T20:21:00.000Z

The socks are done. Not washed yet, but done, and worn, and I'm almost completely happy with them. I've managed a pair of socks out of one ball of Regia miniringel sock yarn, and about half of a ball of plain black Regia - and for once I've just about got perfectly identical twins.

Details:
Needles: 2mm Inox double-pointed (came in a set of 5, but I'm not fussy about that)
yarn: Regia mini ringel (I think the colour was called Blue Sea) bought many years ago from Opitec, and black Regia bought last year from Fankle in Troon.
Pattern: Shapely secrets by Dawn Adcock, from the Autumn 2003 issue of Heels and Toes Gazette

Modifications:
I worked at a slightly tighter tension than that given (33 stitches x 50 rows to 10 cm) to give me a snugly fitting sock.
I also worked multiples of 8 rows rather than 10 rows in the early ribbing to give me a shorter sock, and only worked 8 rows before starting the extended heel shaping instead of the given 20. I worked a lot fewer rows after the gusset decreases as I have very short feet to give me only 76 rows from heel flap pick-up to the start of the toe shaping.
I worked my own version of what I think must be a star toe: 5 decrease points decreasing every other round until just over half the stitches have been decreased away, then every row until 5 stitches are left.

The socks fit very well indeed, although I've not actually tried walking around in shoes with them on. It's been far too hot for woolly socks. The extended heel shaping (closeup below) does as promised and reduces the bagginess which can form around the ankle on stocking-stitch socks.

Sadly for me, it also makes it very difficult to get the dratted things on. I have what must be a high instep, and the distance from heel to front-of-ankle must be larger than the designer had allowed for. I can't just pull them on, but must wriggle them over my heel. I'm not sure if the good fit can be seen in the picture below, but even though my foot is at an angle, there is very little excess fabric around the ankle.

The pair I knitted for my mother has yet to arrive (it was sent surface mail), so I'm hoping that she won't have the same trouble putting hers on....

Spring Greens

2006-05-09T16:39:00.000Z

I really like the effect as the new leaves on the copper beech hedges start to change to their true colour as spring moves on.

Knitting has been progressing, albeit slowly. This weekend was the Jed Sevens rugby tournament, which is our busiest night of the year, and we've both been trying to get caught up with ourselves since then. Socks have become my pub knitting for the moment, which means they're getting done, and nothing much else is - we're very short-staffed just now. Hopefully we'll find the right person or people to take on in the pub soon, but I'd rather spend 12 hours standing behind the bar than employ the wrong person.

Here's the progress on the socks as of last night:

Since then I've finished the toe (I tried my own version of a round toe and will be trying it on this evening) and am working on the toe of the second sock. I was worried about running out of the stripey yarn (I only had one ball) so I worked the socks in tandem.

Not much achieved today otherwise: I was at the funeral of one of my ex-staff this morning, and haven't really felt like doing much since. He was 5 days younger than my sister....

Distractions

2006-05-04T18:17:00.000Z

John is back from his trip away, and I have caught up on my sleep.

I've been thoroughly distracted by the lace symposium currently being held by the KBTH group, and by some truly gorgeous weather.

Pictures tomorrow, I hope - I'm off to sit outside again and soak up some UV.

On science and scepticism

2006-05-01T19:54:00.000Z

This article at the BBC gives a very good summary of the thinking behind my refusal to debate the merits of any religious explanation of the universe as opposed to a scientific one.

In religion, any single positive correlation can be taken as proof that the entire story is correct. Go on, click here and see for yourself (warning, sense of humour required).

In science, a single negative result can be enough to send an established theory out on its ear.

Important: I am not rubbishing anyone's faith. I simply would like more people to realise that attempting to explain the details of one by using the other is about as sensible as multiplying apples by oranges. The sums don't add up!

Cheviots and cheviots

Well, they're probably not cheviots, but some sort of cross-breed sheep, but anyway....

The empire strikes back

2006-04-30T16:09:00.000Z

It's hard to be a metric person in the UK.

Metric measures became legal in the British Empire in 1873 but it appears that your typical Brit will never accept them. There are several societies who appear to have the sole purpose of opposing metrification in the UK, and those who have been convicted of illegally selling items priced only in imperial measures are referred to as Metric Martyrs. Meanwhile, distances are given in feet, yards and miles; weights are given in ounces, pounds and stones (14 pounds, if you care!); volumes are given in fluid-ounces and pints; and temperatures are given in both Celcius and Fahrenheit. Even older measures are still in use too: allotments are still defined in rods, poles and perches - and I'm not even going to try and explain what they are....

It seems that those who oppose metrification are winning at the moment. It is legal to price and sell things in pints, pounds and ounces - just as long as you have an equivalent metric measure displayed as well. The only exceptions are beer and cider on draught, which can be sold in pints, and only in pints.

Our local Co-Op (supermarket) has just switched their packaging from whole numbers of litres of milk to whole numbers of pints.
Before

After

Of course, the price has gone up, the containers are heavier and more awkward to use, and frankly, it just looks all wrong.

Then people wonder why you end up with a situation like this where the wrong units were used, and NASAs Mars Climate Orbiter crashed and burned.

And before anyone jumps down my throat, yes I know that the Imperial System is different to the American system, despite both including pounds, ounces, fluid-ounces, miles etc. One more cause of confusion.

Meanwhile: more sheep for Franklin

Lovely day

2006-04-29T23:32:00.000Z

Freezing night.

Amazingly, the under-19 Rubgy sevens competition down at the Riverside today resulted in a truly beautiful spring day. There are a lot of tomato-coloured people walking around this evening. The downside of this is that once the sun went down, it got cold. And guess who was outside on bouncer duty from 20.40 to 23.15 this evening?

My fingers have just about thawed, and I have renewed respect for the women who used to stand and knit waiting for the fishing boats to come in. cold fingers = slow fingers.

Here's my progress from 3 hours in the pub, and almost as long again outside.

The pattern is a modification of the one I used for the Olympic Socks which is from the Autumn 2003 issue of Dawn Brocco's now discontinued Heels and Toes Gazette. The pattern has some clever shaping to help avoid the bagging which often appears above the heel flap, and I want to try a pair for me to see if it works.

Yes, I know I said that I needed to finish something, and here I am starting yet another project. I'm utterly fed up with trying to write up the pattern for Amy's hat, and so headed off on a tangent with the socks. I wanted to be able to offer a child size and an adult size using the same yarn, but mucking about with the stitch count has resulted in hats which just look wrong. Back to the original plan of using 4-ply for babies and DK for grownups.

Comments
Dawn, thank you for the reassurance. I do sometimes wonder if I'm only using this to remind DH what I've been up to!

Sheep update

Lunchtime!

I need

2006-04-29T00:21:00.000Z

to finish something.

Anything.

Really.

I've been rushing about like a hen with 24 different, but equally yummy, bits of grain to choose from. Sadly, this has been occasioned by rather too much work, and nothing yummy at all, but you get the picture I'm sure.

I have started (and stopped) so many different things over the past two weeks that I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever complete anything. And that is a bad place to be in.

So, I finished this:

A Debbie Bliss pattern, King Cole Bounty DK (acrylic, 725m/250g) and hell to sew up
Modifications:
Different yarn, of course, as I find that using the specified DB stuff results in clothes that are at least three sizes too big.
Worked in the round, to what I fondly assumed were the armholes.
My first steek, occasioned by realising that a saddle-shoulder pullover worked as separate front and back does not have armholes.
Verdict:
I'll probably make the pattern again. It looks good to me, and practical as well, although the true test of that will be when I find an appropriate small person to give it to. I'll work it in the round again, but this time I'll work the sleeves first, so that I know how much of the body should be worked as separate front-and-back. And I'll probably cast off a few stitches at the underarms, just because I think it will work better.
The seaming really wasn't fun at all. Sewing rib onto rib at right angles is tricky at the best of times, and in an acrylic which is less-than-forgiving it was trickier. There was a certain amount of fudging involved, but I'm generally happy with how it turned out.

I'm not going to list all the things I need to get done here: just too depressing. I have five pages in my diary devoted to to-do lists, sorted by category, and that is enough.

Franklin
This one's for you:

I'll post more pictures of this year's lambs over the next little while....

Why move to the borders?

2006-04-26T23:55:00.000Z

Well, that's one reason anyway....

However, it is a question we get asked rather a lot. Often by random strangers in the pub, it must be said, but I think it's worth taking a little time to think it through. Particularly as we're debating getting some staff through an agency, and it might help us to attract the kind of person who will see life here as a positive part of the job.

So, the Borders, or Scottish Borders if you want to be pedantic about it. You'd think that it would be the area along the border between Scotland and England, and in a sense you'd be right. However, the area as defined by the local council as well as the tourist board is a little more tightly defined than that.

So, how do you feel about living in England then?

That's the first misconception we generally have to deal with. Jedburgh is still in Scotland - only just mind, we're about 10 miles from the border, max - but because the Borders don't look like the pictures on shortbread tins, very few people actually realise that. We're very much seen as a convenient stopping-off-point on the way to the "real" Scotland of big scary hills, big scary Scotsmen, and big scary Highland cattle which you apparently find in the same area as the big scary (but completely invisible) Nessie.

A gentler side of Scotland

The scenery in the Borders is on a far less grand scale than the Great Glen or the Cairngorms. That doesn't make it any less lovely in my view. In fact, if you're a bit intimidated by the idea of a Munro (that's a hill which is over 3000 feet high) then walking up the Eildons near Melrose, or simply taking in part of the Borders Abbeys Way (quite a bit of it flat) might be possible.

The empty part of Scotland

Yes, I know most people would think of the Highlands when you said that, and there probably are fewer people actually living there. In terms of actual bodies spending time there, particularly in high season, though, I think you'll find the Borders are a lot less busy. You can go out on a country road, or off to the top of a hill, and meet nobody at all. The air is clean: there are lichens growing on the paving slabs in the town centre. We sleep in a room which looks out onto the High Street, and generally the only disturbance is people walking home from the club which closes at about 2 o'clock on a Sunday morning....

But close enough to the cities

Another disadvantage, as I see it, of living in the Highlands is the sheer time it takes you to get anywhere of a decent size. Durness to Inverness is 105 miles, and the AA thinks it will take you over four hours to drive it. I won't argue! Inverness to Edinburgh is another 160 miles, or 3-and-a-bit hours. If you want to do some serious shopping, and many Highlanders do, then your best bet is often to spend a night away from home in either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Jedburgh, by contrast, is roughly equidistant between Edinburgh and Newcastle. It's just the wrong side of 50 miles to Edinburgh, and about 56 to Newcastle, but driving will take you 80 minutes either way. If you need public transport, well, you're limited to Edinburgh, but there are at least 5 buses a day, and it takes around 2 hours at longest.

Not bad, really!

And if you love golf, or fishing....

Well, I probably won't need to sing the praises of the Borders to ardent fishermen: the Tweed and Teviot are known world-wide as wonderful trout rivers. Golfers, however, seem to be blissfully ignorant of the opportunities locally. Unlike the famous course at St Andrews, you don't need to book your tee-time months in advance at either the Roxburgh or Cardrona - and they're championship courses. As a visitor, you can buy a Passport which gives you 10 rounds of golf over 5 days, for the princely sum of £99. Not bad when you realise that there are 21 courses in the Borders which are part of the scheme, and even Cardrona only asks for an extra £20 for a round (instead of the normal £45).

The downsides

Well, there had to be some, didn't there?

For me, living in any small town was always going to be second-choice. I'm a city girl at heart, and really enjoy the busy-ness, the multiculturalism, and the open-ness that you find in a city - and which you simply wouldn't expect to find in a small town or village. Jedburgh is still very much a local town, rather than a commuter dormitory, and that applies to most of the Borders towns too. That's good in that it gives a sense of community, but it can also be stifling as change comes slowly, if at all, to an area where the same families have lived for hundreds or years.

Conclusion?

I'm not sorry we moved here. The things which made us choose the Borders still apply, and it's as good a place as most to be trying to run a tourism business. I can't see myself staying here forever though, which shocks the locals who really can't imagine living anywhere else, and look forward to moving somewhere a bit closer to the bright lights of the Central Belt before I reach 40!

Risk assessment, anyone?

2006-04-23T19:11:00.000Z

Left - Right - Left - Right -

2006-04-22T07:31:00.000Z

Or: how to go about choosing the Saturday newspapers you wish to provide for your guests.

I'm not sure if it applies in any other country, but in the UK one can make some fairly accurate, but nevertheless sweeping, generalisations about a household based on their choice of newspaper.

Left Wing:
The Guardian (otherwise known as the Grauniad due to a history of terrible proofreading)
The Independent (which claims to be neutral, and is therefore sometimes boring)

Right Wing:
The Telegraph (otherwise known as the Torygraph)
The Times (less obvious editorial interference, but it is owned by Rupert Murdoch
The Sun (rabidly so, despite being also owned by RM - and despised by the chattering classes as being beneath them)

Then you get the odd distinction between what are known as broadsheets (newspapers you have to read sitting down at a table because the sheets are just too big to hold out in front of you) and what are known as tabloids (sheets about half the size, and generally much heavier on the headlines and "shock outrage" kind of articles, as well as having one picture of a topless model). The Sun is often regarded as the most extreme of the tabloid-type (reading the pictures, rather than the text) with the London Evening Standard being the exception which proved the rule: broadsheets are impractical on crowded tubes, so it was tabloid in size, and broadsheet in attitude.

The tabloid/broadsheet distinction all started because umpity ump years ago there was a tax on newspapers based on the number of pages they contained. This tax was reduced from around 1830, and done away with in 1850! It's only in the past year or so that some of the self-styled serious papers (i.e. broadsheets) have moved to tabloid size - and the amount of soul-searching and complaint that this caused really had to be seen to be believed.

Personally, I rather like being able to read a newspaper without taking up two or three seats on a train or bus, but an awful lot of Brits seem to have liked the splendid isolation that over a meter of newsprint provided....

Sorry, I digress.

As a hotel, we like to provide newspapers for our guests in the mornings, and we need to be careful to give the right impression - at least to British guests. I suspect continental visitors are blissfully ignorant, but you never know.

This morning I have provided the Saturday editions (both more like books than newspapers in terms of actual page numbers) of the Times and the Scotsman. The Scotsman and the Herald are both Scottish papers: printed up here, and very much more focussed on Scottish affairs. I didn't used to think this was important, but since devolution it's useful to get information on what bits of legislation actually apply north of the border. The English papers (and, sadly, both the BBC and commercial TV stations) often just assume that the latest Westminster wheeze applies to the whole of the UK. The Scotsman is Edinburgh, and the Herald is Glasgow, although they will both deny this at every opportunity, and in fact changed their names to remove the respective cities not that long ago.

Spring (take II)

2006-04-16T15:10:00.000Z

It's a lovely day out there, and I am in a blue funk. Nothing serious, mind, just the absence of a garden to play in (or time to do said playing) now that the weather seems finally to have decided that winter is over.

The laundry is calling (loudly) the end-of-financial-year PAYE returns are waiting (impatiently) and I am sat in an office, grumbling.

Not good!

Renovations
John has posted details of the structural work going on in the hotel at the moment. I'm sure that's part of the blues: we've been waiting to be granted planning consent since last August, and still haven't got it, but this is now an emergency repair which neither the local council nor Hysterical (sorry, Historic) Scotland can stop. Sadly, it means the work is going on over Easter, and during what we hope will be the start of busier times in the hotel, rather than during January and February as we'd planned.

Work
I was out doing my East-European border guard impersonation again last night. Full marks for brass neck to the 16-YO who came back twice after being asked to leave, and then spent a good 10 minutes commiserating on the problems of fake ID. Nice try, Leonie, but it's not going to work....

The fabric for the new curtains arrived the day after I ordered it from B.L. Joshi in London. I'm still very impressed with them, as I may have mentioned before. No progress on actually making said curtains, but at least I've got everything I need on hand.

Comments
Franklin: thank you so much for your sympathy on the misplaced leg (!) I'm hoping to go and collect the dodgy specs some time this week - hopefully without semi-rotating legs this time.
Sahara: thanks for the encouragement re. the blouse pattern I've been tweaking. I've got some seconds of broderie anglaise which I might just use to test the fit. If it works, I have a new blouse, and if it doesn't, I've lost very little.

New toys
The new Canon A620 appears good. Very fast startup, which is important to me, and good colour balance as well. The usual problems with photographing reds continue to plague me, though.

Cold

2006-04-12T10:37:00.000Z

It is, and I have. Not the best of combinations, especially when I was on bouncer duty for several hours in the rain on Saturday night.

The message about underage drinking (we won't tolerate it) seems to have got out, as most of our regular crowd of young people arrived clutching driving licenses. A few chancers were politely asked to leave, and generally a good night was had by all.

Non work
I have finally picked my birthday present: a Canon A620 digital camera. I very nearly got the Fuji F10, but it doesn't have an optical viewfinder.... Maybe next time, once they upgrade to that.

Knitting
Stalled. Completely. I have reconstructed the tensioning system on my Singer (from the MIL) and am psyching myself up to the task of making muslin "net" curtains for all the bedrooms, as well as the equivalent of fitted sheets for several bed bases which are too low for valences to work (can we say muddy footprints all over clean white linen?).

More work
The H&S for the reconstruction-renovation-repair project needs to be supervised on-site. That'll be me, then.

Apologies for any long silences which ensue: I'll try and get pictures of progress up on the blog as I have time.

You should have gone to

2006-04-04T21:50:00.000Z

Specsavers.

Non-UK readers will, no doubt, be mystified by this phrase.

Suffice it to say that I went to a local optician (not Specsavers, which is a half hour drive away) to get new glasses. Very expensive new glasses, as it turned out. Having collected them yesterday, I discovered that one leg was altogether in the wrong place once I got home (stop it - that's the leg of the specs, not the leg of the blogger!) and had to go back today to get them readjusted.

The leg is faulty. One end turns through 30 degrees. I now have another 10 day wait for my specs.

Fortunately, this will have no impact on my knitting at all, as I'm short sighted and can deal with yarn and needles perfectly well while bare-faced. What I can't do is see who's giving me cheek from the other side of the pub.

Non-knitting craft
Preparation before knitting a garment is something I've been fairly good at. The tension square is knitted, and sometimes even washed, before whatever-it-is is cast on.

Sewing, on the other hand, I tend to just leap into. Or at least, I used to, when I could still buy patterns in my size. That strikes me as a bit odd, as once you've cut out the fabric you're stuck with the shape, whereas with knitting you can generally rip it all out and start again if you've misjudged something.

I braved the tape measure several times over the past few days as a result of my fruitless search for a white blouse on my birthday shopping trip last week. I found three which will do in a pinch, but nothing which really looked good, and frankly three is just not enough for a 7-day job like this one.

Following a tip in an old fitting book, I measured across my chest, and across my back (not all the way round, just from the creases where arm meets body.) And I made a discovery. Despite the fact that I am about a pattern size 22, my front measurement is closest to a size 16, while my back measurement is even narrower. My shoulders are significantly narrower than even that size.

Bafflement ensued. I've always assumed that I had wide shoulders. They certainly don't look narrow to me, but hubby has done the measuring, and come up at about 0.75 of the pattern standard.

I've tweaked this pattern all over the place: I've narrowed the shoulders, narrowed the back, widened the bust area (front and back) and attempted to add depth for a C-cup. I've widened the waist, raised the hips, and widened the sleeve. That last is scary. I've no idea what a sleeve with a 3cm straight extension on either side of the cap will look like when sewn up, but that appears to be my shape, so we shall see.

I now need to find the spare parts for my sewing machine and fix the top and bottom tension.

All in the vast amount of spare time that I have, of course.

If I wasn't already blonde....

2006-04-03T09:09:00.000Z

I would be out in search of peroxide.

I have been working (for about 3 years, on-and-off) on a cabled toddler pullover. The pattern has you work the usual front, back and sleeves, and sew them all together. Aha, thought I, this is a perfect situation for working front and back together in the round at least to the armholes. So I did.

Or at least, I thought I did.

Reading futher, and now that I've finished the sleeves, it turns out that this pullover has saddle shoulders. No armholes....

There's nothing for it: I'm going to have to 1. seam up the sleeves and work out what armhole depth I need; and 2. rib back all that lovely cabling and work front-and-back separately from the depth that the armholes shold have been made, if I'd made them.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Work
We appear to be fighting a rearguard action against underage drinkers. This weekend I will be on the door, and if they look under 25, and there's no ID, they won't be getting in. Even if I've known them for ages. Even if they've been drinking at the Spread for year. No passport or driving licence: no drink! It is just too easy to buy fake ID on the internet now - even the Government-approved "Pass" hologrammed proof-of-age cards can be bought on ebay, it seems.

Saturday night

2006-04-01T20:17:00.000Z

Which is usually our busiest night of the week. Add to that the first weekend after payday for those who are paid monthly, and the pub is (wonderfully) full.

Lots of folk standing outside smoking, as expected, and a few trying to have a fly puff in the toilets. Not good. We're going to invest in some cigarette smoke detectors at around £70 each as we have to be able to prove that we have done everything possible to comply with the legislation.

Knitting
As promised, here is a sample of that sock yarn which I so loathed last week. Apologies for the quality of the image - I am still without a digital camera, and the scanner struggled with the contrast.

On my monitor the maroon areas are too red, and the yellow areas too gold, to give you a true feel for the yarn. I still think that if they had left out the raw-meat-coloured pink speckled bit, it would have been just about OK....

The colours aside, I don't think I'd be happy to use this yarn for socks. It is very soft on the hands, and quite fine compared to the Opal and Regia sock yarns that I'm familiar with. The yarn also splits very easily, which isn't a good thing when you're working with needles which aren't much thicker than the yarn itselft.

So, I am offering this single ball of "Town and Country" sock yarn, colour Volcano free of charge. I'll even pay the postage! Please send an email to me here with the subject "Town and Country" and your name and snail-mail address in the body. I'll pick a name at random on Thursday of this week.

Smoke on the water

2006-03-28T09:52:00.000Z

Well, you'll not find it in the pub anymore, anyway.

In response to Jean's comment. We appear to have survived the first few days of the Scotland-wide ban on smoking in substantially-enclosed public places. There is a great deal of bad feeling locally about the ban, but fortunately for us, it appears that blame is being placed squarely where it belongs: on the politicians. As we're expected to police the ban (after all, publicans are used to dealing with violent situations, aren't they?) and deal with any unpleasantness, we had been a bit worried. The enforcers have been told not to confront anyone in case they provoke a "situation" (apparently they are supposed to follow a smoker home and then send a letter fining them for enfringement) but we're just expected to get on with it!

The ire of the locals is actually less focussed on the pub than on what they see as a completely unjustified invasion of their homes. If you have a home help, or cleaner, or any tradesman, working in your house, you are not permitted to smoke for the duration of their visit, and for two hours before they arrive. As one wag put it yesterday: If all they can tell you is "8am to 8pm" for a visit from a council workman, what do they expect?

The true test of compliance will be on Saturday, when people are less sober, and may simply forget, or may push the limits with smoking as they do with just about every other house rule. We'll also get a better feel for the effects on custom, as those who come in through the week would probably be there even if we didn't have a roof: the habit is so strong.

The details of the ban are a tad on the rediculous side. Smoking is banned in substantially-enclosed public places. According to the executive, this is as plain as the nose on your face, and means that if something has a roof, it has to have at least 50% of its wall space missing, not including doors and windows. Sadly, it's about as clear as mud, leaving the local enforcers (environmental health) to interpret as they see fit.

The result, here in the Borders at least, is the following:
1. See above for definition of a substantially enclosed space.
2. Add: any wall within 1.5 metres of your structure counts as part of the wall area for purposes of calculation
3. A "structure" can include plants, hedges etc

Yes, that's right. If I put a few plants (which actually absorb pollutants) in my beer garden, they will be used in the calculation. if your garden hedge has grown a few inches, you could inadvertantly infringe the ban, as the open area has been reduced....

Sigh.

As the beer garden is actually a courtyard, we're a bit stuck on how to fit an awning which has two sides open, and isn't closer than 1.5m to any other wall. Environmental health suggested a triangular awning in one corner. I declined to point out the impossibility of getting the longest side of a triangle to be greater than 50% of the total.

Sock yarn

2006-03-22T18:07:00.000Z

I am not a happy camper. I bought one ball of Sirdar's Town and Country sock yarn from the local shop, just to try.

I am very very glad I only bought one ball of the colour "Volcano". I can't show you a photo, as the camera is still on strike, but trust me, it's awful.

I use baby bootees as a test knit for sock yarns, as I get to see what the colours look like and a finished item far quicker than I would if I started a pair of socks. For the first time ever I have given up after a single bootee. The general consensus in the pub is "horrible". I agree. Frankly, the colours which have been used just don't go together.

They look all right in the ball (see above), but knitted up it honestly looks like I've just grabbed random black, dirty pink, yellow-ish and maroon bits from the bottom of my knitting bag, and worked them all together.

Yetch!

I've reverted to Opal and Regia for bootees. They both result in lovely socks, and I've yet to find a colourway that didn't work, although there are plenty that I don't particularly like.

Schadenfreude

2006-03-19T11:20:00.000Z

We (Scotland) beat Italy in Rome yesterday. It was great. A close game, with lots of clever tactics - some of which even paid off. Then Ireland beat England in London. That was just brilliant. My barmaid, who generally doesn't see the point of rugby, was engrossed, and the rest of us were enthralled.

The six nations thus ended:
France
Ireland
Scotland
England
Wales
Italy
I don't think that's a particularly fair reflection on how Wales played, but the combination of winning the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield, and then finishing above England on the table is very pleasing indeed.

The BBC will ignore this, as they ignored the Calcutta Cup victory, but for once we have beaten England both in the actual game and on points overall, and Scotland is happy.

Work
I am knackered. This was our first really busy weekend of this year, with the Border Counties Rally on Saturday. Both teams which stayed with us retired, which is the same result as last year, although different teams.

The rally is held mainly on Forestry Commission and MOD land around Otterburn and Keilder. You can see pictures of the 2005 event here. This year it was snowy, and the marshalls were a bit twitchy about letting spectators get close to the course, so I've not been able to find any pictures yet.

On both Friday and Saturday night we were up until around 02.00 with guests in the pub, and on both Saturday and Sunday morning we had early breakfasts from 07.00: do the sums yourself.

Crafts
Thank you Franklin and Alison for your compliments on the Nudibranch pattern. I have to admit: I rather like it myself.

Still not much progress on any other knitting, but I do have my next design in mind....

I'm impressed

2006-03-17T11:51:00.000Z

Very impressed indeed, by B.L Joshi, which is a fabric shop in Wembley which does mail order (important when you live in mamba country). I phoned yesterday to ask them how I'd go about getting a price list, and what to do about samples. Today, I received a fat parcel with a personal letter, a price list, and (despite what they said about needing to give them more information before they sent specific samples) lots and lots of tiny squares of fabric.

Details, for those who are interested:
Charlie & Bina
B.L. Joshi, 212-214 Ealing Rd, Wembley, HA0 4QG
0208 903 0653
BLJoshiuk@aol.com

I'm waiting for info from another shop in Linlithgow, and will post details when that arrives.

Still no cleaner, so no knitting, and precious little free time.

Discovery

2006-03-16T11:47:00.000Z

A blog I've started reading recently, is Musings from the Merse - a writer in Hutton, Berwickshire (not Cumbria, sorry!)

The fire safety risk assessment proceeds at glacial pace (not perhaps the best of analogies - more like a damp fuse....) not helped by the absence of our cleaner this week. Compassionate leave, for very good reasons, but still a pain in the tail.

Off to get new glasses today, I hope, as the lenses on the existing ones appear to be delaminating. Trying to see through large white streaks is not improving my mood one little bit.

Knitting
A 2-year-old size cardigan for a newly arrived little girl. Colour "Pilau Rice" according to the pub customers. Pattern from a very old P&B leaflet I bought in a charity shop, but modified to be top-down and in one piece. No piccies: but John's mum has offered a camera for the significant birthday pressie, so that should change in fairly short order.

I hate it

2006-03-12T13:29:00.000Z

when I'm proved right. At least with regard to the weather.

It's not bad here in Jed: a little light sleet and not even cold enough to need gloves. Bonchester, Penicuik, Peebles, the Carter Bar & Soutra are all bad, and our workmen guests have very sensibly come back to the hotel and gone back to bed.

No pictures, I'm afraid, due to the unwell digital camera.

Knitting
Thanks to Jean, I now have two designs available at The Knitting Vault. Much to my delight and amazement, when I checked yesterday I had sold a whole two copies of Chantelle. Nudibranch should be up within the next few days.

Excuse me while I do an Andy Murray.

Other crafty stuff
I need to dig out the sewing machine. I cannot find blouses which a)fit and b)suit me. One or the other seems to be achievable.

Does anyone have any well-loved sources for fabric etc. that they'd care to share? Mail order is preferable - internet, post or phone will do - or alternatively something in the circle defined by Edinburgh, Berwick, Newcastle & Carlisle. All are under 90 minutes drive away, and so could conceivably be reached on one of my rare days off.

Work
We attempted to fit a new light yesterday. Bought from B&Q, it doesn't come with a bulb. Said bulb is a very odd type of energy-saving fluorescent - which B&Q don't stock. A joint sense-of-humour-failure ensued when we discovered that the only way to source said fluorescents was mail-order, and involved spending more on postage than the bulb was going to cost.

Strangely (or perhaps not) B&Q don't seem to see any problem with stocking fittings but not the required light bulbs....

Paperwork
I need to update the Fire Risk Assessment for the hotel. Yuck. An extended silence will mean I am either very busy working on it, or that the frustration has all become too much.

Spring

2006-03-08T11:24:00.000Z

Well, sort-of. The air has lost its chill, and there is a lovely damp-earth-and-growing sort of smell as I walk around the town today. One of the benefits of living where we do is the lack of pollution - there is lichen growing on trees and paving right in the town centre. It will, of course, be frosty and cold again: you really can't be sure of good growing weather until May is out (that's the plant, not the month) properly.

The old farming advice was: if you can drop your breeks and sit on the field, then you can sow. I think I'll pass on that one! I do, however, need to start thinking about tubs for the beer garden, and possibly window boxes for the front of the hotel. The council provides hanging baskets quite late on in the season, but they are pretty dire and don't last despite our best efforts at watering.

Blech!

2006-03-06T22:17:00.000Z

The most recent Interweave Knits magazine has just arrived, and while there is much to peruse, first impressions are less than stellar Mar has written a wonderful ode to bobbles, and my reaction to the cover is rather similar, if a bit shorter.

Having said that, the offerings within the UK are much much less inspiring. For something in excess of £3, you can delight in 16 patterns: at least two will be crochet; of the remainder, at least three will be "variations" on one pattern i.e. they used a different yarn, and at least one will be along the lines of You Knit What, and often more than that.

I know that most magazines are a)tied to using yarns provided by their main advertisers and b)desperately trying to come up with a way to make any garment in under 4 hours. For some obscure reason, despite the fact that many of the yarns cost more per ball than an entire garment from Asda or Primark, they still then go on and on about the fact that "knitting will save you money", and that "knitting isn't just for grannies any more".

Sigh. I feel quite curmudgeonly myself, and I'm not (quite) 30 yet. I knit because I love to knit, and I know very well that I could buy something which will keep me just as warm for a significantly smaller investment in both time and money. That's not why I do it, and until the magazines etc. realise that I will continue to trawl ebay for old copies of Jaeger Magazine, where fine gauge, well-tailored knitwear is the norm, and the occasional blip of "trendy" is just that.

Pictures
The digital camera has gone on strike. It will sometimes switch on, but it declines to take a picture under any circumstances, and I am quite bereft. I was going to ask for money towards a new phone for my birthday, but I think it might need to be a camera instead. My film SLR Minolta (manual!) is lovely for recording things, but not for blogging.

Work
I sent my cleaner home early today - to bed. That's meant 6 hours in the pub on my own, and I'm tired. I'll be more positive about what I achieved tomorrow.

I try to take one day at a time....

2006-03-04T22:36:00.000Z

but lately several have attacked me at once!

Work
Thank you Jean and Dawn for your comments on the website. As an ex mac-user and now linux user (under protest) I'm very aware of the trouble that bells-and-whistles can cause, so it's good to know that the site works on more than just my PC.

Pub
Tonight, for some unknown reason, just about everyone under the age of 35, and a few over, has decided that the Spread is the place to be. Last night we closed early, as it was so quiet, but tonight is more than making up for it. Normally we'd have one member of staff behind the bar, with one of us on call: tonight it has been two behind the bar for most of the evening, with one roving glass-collecter-cleaner-upper-trouble-spotter in the pub.

Whoof.

I am sitting down with a well-deserved cup of tea, but will be back in the fray any minute now.

Knitting
Unsurprisingly, hasn't progressed at all. I do, however, need to post a picture of Chantelle knitted by a member of the Ample Knitters mailing list. I don't have permission to post her name, but here's the lovely lady:

If you're one of the many members of the list who asked for a copy of the pattern while I was having it test-knitted, and you'd be happy for me to add your picture to the album, please send the file (just about any format will do) to me here

Jean has very kindly knitted my latest effort a designing, the Nudibranch scarf, and I really must get back to her with answers to the very valid points she raised. Then I can see about finding someone to host the pattern for me.

Website design

2006-03-02T18:29:00.000Z

As you may have noticed, the knitting has been a bit thin on the ground recently. I have, however, finally completed the rewrite of the hotel website and would very much appreciate any feedback, advice, whatever, that you see fit to provide.

Aside from that, my cleaner has been off sick, as has one of my bar staff, so I've not been making much progress on anything other than the essential day-to-day stuff which keeps the place open.

Country living
The joys of.... Last night one of my regulars wanted a taxi home at 11.45pm. Not really a problem if you live in the city. I tried four local taxi firms, none of whom were answering, and eventually drove him the 6 miles out of town myself. The roads are unlit outside of the town itself, and it was seriously cold, and there's no way he could have walked it.

We do provide the same service for guests, if needed. There are a few long-distance walks which run near or through the town, and as John has done the walking thing for years, we understand that the last mile into your hotel can sometimes just be a mile too far....

Ok, so I'm going on a bit....

2006-03-01T07:56:00.000Z