Life LackaDaisiCal

Well, I missed the morning of Day 2 (Thursday) at "The Mill". While all of the other RA's were having breakfast and then on the bus, I was already down in the local Health Centre waiting for a 10:15 appointment!  I recognized the symptoms and knew that I had a UTI!  Not the thing to ignore at any time, but especially troubling when on vacation....so I had been at the Clinic when it opened at 8:00 am and had secured an appointment.  Everything went well and I was in a Taxi with medication in hand, on my way to the mill....I arrived just before lunch was served!  Yes, excellent timing! :) (Sorry if this is too much information for you ha ha ha!) Unfortunately, I MISSED the discussion about yarns....how Rowan chooses them, why they discontinue yarns, what they have in the pipeline for future seasons...yes, new yarns are chosen maybe 2 years in advance?  It takes that long for the whole process of identifying a need, developing a yarn, deciding on shades, h...

That's Yorkshire speak.... Here's what REALLY happened at the Mill! All Rowan Ambassadors were present and accounted for bright and early Tuesday morning when our man at Rowan, Karl, arrived to pick us all up in the "Last of the Summer Wine" tour bus! You might not be familiar with this UK television show, but it ran from 1973 to 2010 and focussed on the antics of a trio of men, and the predicaments they got into with various people around and about the town of Holmfirth...yes HOLMFIRTH! So, on the bus we go.....first stop!  The Green Lane Mill...home of Rowan Yarns! Yup, that's the entrance.....and see that window above the entrance?  That's where Karl hangs out!  He has a great view of the comings and going at "The Mill" and has a lovely window seat in his spot too!  Lucky guy eh? and I guess I already showed you this too right....so come on in! Honestly, even though I'd been here before....I was totally in awe....bec...

This year I have been challenging myself to finish projects by a set date.  Not a firm day date, but a general "end of the month" type of date. To do this, you have to assess realistically the amount of knitting time you can give to a project, how much actual knitting there is in a project...and give yourself mini goals...like have the back finished in two weeks, then the front in two weeks, the sleeves in two weeks, finishing up - give it a week - and there you go, you have a finished sweater! If you meet your goal early, you have permission to go on to another project....a pair of socks, a shawl, or even start something else...but you MUST stay on track with the original "goal project". This year I have applied this principle to my Silkystones Cardigan.  I was so determined to finish this and blog about it, that there was still snow on the ground when it was done and I had to go on a road trip to take photos.   Remember this post ?  I won't forget this w...

So we're at Charleson House, in the workshop room.... and there is LOTS of yarn! a serious amount of yarn! +RowanYarns   Big Wool! And we've got Martin Storey, yes, THE Martin Storey! right there to lead the way...... not only did I have a weekend workshop with Martin, we stayed in the same hotel! .....it's Friday night, we've finally found our hotel and settled in....it's been a long day... and we're either going into or coming out of the dining room.... the front door opens and in walks this tall man.... "Martin Storey?" I ask.. "Why yes" he says..... about now he's wondering what he has got himself into... crazy stalking knitters in the same hotel! It wasn't surprising....not many hotels in Lewes.....but it was a fun coincidence. We gave Martin lifts to and from the workshop, had meals together...yup, spent the weekend together! A great teacher, is our Martin. He went around the table to make sure everyon...

Rowan Magazine 54 has a gorgeous design in it - Juliet by lisa Richardson, using  +RowanYarns  Fine Lace yarn.  It's a gorgeous sweater, knit in two pieces - left front, arm and back, then right front, arm and back, with a crochet band which joins it all together to create a truly unique sweater! Isn't it gorgeous?  Look at the styling of this photo - the hair up, the velvet skirt, the fabulous tapestry or wallpaper in the background.  So elegant and formal.  Knit in Fine Lace.  Absolutely Spectacular. Now Fellow Rowan Ambassador Ute, decided she would knit this for herself....but she wanted a more casual look....so she knit hers in  +RowanYarns  Fine Art hand-painted sock yarn! I LOVE THIS VERSION....I LOVE the way the Fine Art pooled in different patterns with the change of width of each piece.  I LOVE the way Fine Art works in the crochet piece. This is great example of how to perhaps modify a design that you LOVE, but...

I know, I know!  I thought I'd update Flock twice a month.... but right now I'm a Flipping Fool and I've added quite a bit to Flock...... so there's an update available......see the new cover? You can review it like an on-line magazine,  or if you have an ipad or an android tablet,  you can download the App and flip through it there! I'm loving searching the web for interesting knit/crochet related items  to gather together in a  "Flock"  for you.... I hope that if you enjoy it, you will Subscribe! The cover is Lorettaknits version of the Noel Shawl by Pauline Popiolek - knit in Rowan Fine Art yarn.  Isn't it just gorgeous! She used one skein of the Fine Art in the Waxwing shade. There is another absolutely drop dead gorgeous crocheted shawl in here, "Raven in Fine Art" by Viviane (Ravelry: vidertextil) who lives in Brussels, Belgium!  You must click through to her blog where she tells you that to her horror......

I love social media...but it can be a serious time gobbler! My blog is for big stuff....reports on knitting progress, vacations (I still have to blog about Switzerland...on the to do list!), things I want to actually talk a little bit about. I have a FB Community page Life Lackadaisical where I post quick links to things I find on Facebook that I think might be of interest to other knitters. A lot of people are not on Facebook - surprising but true!  They avoid social media....and I can't blame them.  You have to spend a bit of time getting to know how Facebook works, how to set your security settings, to be confident in knowing who can see what you share. How to marry the two....blog readers are blog readers....they don't want to be bothered with Facebook. Fans of Facebook like it's ability to bounce from one page to another reading updates, but yes, it can be a bit frantic. So......... May I present Flock ...a gathering of wooly friends... my on-line ...