Temperature temptations, tribulations and trebles

I hope everyone had a quiet Christmas and that Santa was good.  Happy New Year to you all.

The ladies of the group all seem to have read the same Facebook and blog posts around the turn of 2017 into 2018 and the theme of a piece of temperature work has come up.  Enthusiastically last week we discussed the prospect of doing these and about six of us have got the ball rolling.   This is going to be a sort of CAL within the group but we will all progress at our own pace and at our own skill level. 

There are many blogs and Facebook posts about temperature work and Pinterest is chock full of photos for example The Crochet Crowd, Lion Brand, Simple Knitting, Sleepy Eyes, and photos on Facebook and Pinterest.  I have no affiliation to any of these sites but a good Google search will elicit myriad results to aid you in your research and give you lots of (too many!) ideas to get you started.

The idea is soooo simple …   Isn’t It?  The idea is that you work a set number of rows  per day of an item in a colour that co-ordinates with the temperature. You can pre-decide a colour range/chart using perhaps eight to ten different colors depending on your climate and as you work your piece, you will get a beautiful variation of colour throughout the year. Depending on the climate where you live, each color will probably correspond to between three and seven degrees.  If like me you live in Northern Ireland then temperatures will mostly vary between -5 to about 35 degrees.  However, you may live in a country where a temperature range of -20 to +40 is normal.  Choose your colours wisely.

And they’re off ...  

 

Or perhaps not …

Will I knit or crochet?

Will it be a scarf, a blanket or a tube scarf, a baby blanket? A cat? 

Straight lines or zigzag? Hexagons or circles?  Corner-to-corner?  Granny square?  Ribbed?

A straightforward temperature chart or a ‘mood’ chart, a weather type chart e.g. stormy, windy, wet, hot and sunny?

At what time each day should I take the temperature?  Max temperature, or at a set time?  What if I go on holiday, should still I record and use the temperature at home or the temperature wherever I am?  Do I use the highest temperature each day AND the lowest temperature?

How many colours each day?  Just one or two for the highest and lowest temperatures?  A granny square with three rows using white always as the middle row and the other colour as per the daily temperature?

Shades of the same colour such as a blue theme or a rainbow of colours?

DK, chunky or aran?  Use up my stash or buy new yarn?

Get myself organised?

Which stitch?  Doubles, trebles … Use the same stitch Monday to Friday and change for each weekend?  Use a different stitch each month?

Getting started was not as easy as first thought for many of us.  Two of us have frogged out the first 10 days and started over again.  One has taken a dramatic turn and halved the number of daily rows as her scarf was going to end up measuring over 3 metres/10 feet and another has planned a new colour scheme.  One other person has a spreadsheet to assist her with colours and moods together. 

One of our number, who lives at a great distance from the group but calls in with us when she can, will be working along with us and sharing lots of pics on Facebook.  Hopefully she'll get to visit us often throughout the year.

It’s so nice to see that we are all working differently, interpreting the challenge on a very personal skill level and colour preference.  Most of us are keeping diaries and I hope to update this blog monthly with pics of our work.  It's going to be very exciting watching all the pieces develop.

I thought I had made my mind up but time to cut the ties, I think, and start again …

(All pics courtesy of Pinterest and Google except for those depicting the work of ladies in the group.

Hookery in the Bookery went to Bessbrook-ery

Supper and shop was how it was described, and who could resist?  What could be nicer than a wee festive treat for our ladies, a group excursion to a quaint little village tucked away in the Co Down countryside, to spend an evening at Crafty Wishes?  The welcoming Christmas windows were spectacular with an old-fashioned fireplace and a knitted fair isle Christmas stocking hanging on it.  Moreover, no parking issues, which was the icing on the cake.

Lorna advertised her November/December friendship evenings on 2^nd October and I think it took us all of 24 hours to book our visit.  We did not want to go too early because we wanted to be as festive as possible, but we didn’t want to get into the midst of the December rush and vie with other bookings that the women in the group might have had.

We set out from Newtownabbey at 5.40 and it took until 7.10 to get there - soooo glad I don't have to negotiate that rush our traffic every day.  the evening flew by and soon it was time to make the reverse journey but I imagine many of us will definitely be back.  I have my eye on the Christmas table cloth ....  Just saying.

Knitting, crochet and craft are all about sharing ideas and time, helping others or encouraging those who have lost their mo-jo, assisting the inexperienced and finding new challenges for the confident crafter to make or do.  It’s about the fellowship of time spent together, relaxing, the problems shared and the problems halved. 

A few of us have been there on a couple of occasions in the past, including for the Macmillan coffee morning in September, and we have found that the welcome is always warm and friendly.

This shop is a real treasure trove, a treat for the dedicated, enthusiastic knitter and crocheter, many beautiful gifts for sale, yarns to die for and patterns a-plenty.  There are seasonal Christmas patterns for festive characters and decorations, scarves and hats as well as all the usual array of patterns from all the major suppliers.  Accessories from buttons and bows to yarns of all ply, from the very fine to the super chunky.   And lots of already knitted and crocheted items on display, which give her customers ideas.  

Lorna also sells some costume jewellery such as brooches and long necklaces to adorn your yarny creations.  The shop even has a loyalty card!

We were presented with festive treats of (non-alcoholic) mulled wine, mince pies and other festive goodies.

It was a real winter's treat.  Thanks to all the ladies for coming along and than you Lorna for hosting. 





Sun, seaside and silks

Ohhhh what a lovely, relaxing day we had yesterday at Corrymeela overlooking the sea and Rathlin Island.  Catherine, Niqi, Mags and I were at an away day led by Pauline Edmiston the most wonderful Scottish artist who works with silk and can use her craft for either relaxation or therapy.  The day was entitled Dreams and we were gathered in the very restful, and very peaceful, Croi.

We arrived to tea/coffee and a lovely plate of home made scones with beautiful blackcurrant jam; lunch was lasagne, creamy garlic and leek potatoes with a multitude of salad sides to choose from and peach and pear pavlova for dessert.  At the end of the day, after we had finished our craft and had everything packed up for the journey home, we were given yet another cup of tea or coffee and another slab of home made lemon cake topped with fresh blueberries and raspberries. It was all very yummy.

The sun shone all day although the drive to Ballycastle was a little longer and more diverted than usual due to the annual Auld Lammas Fair being held on the same Bank Holiday Monday.  The fair has been running for about 400 years and is associated with the start of harvest and the Lammas tradition.  The tradition is to bring a loaf, made from the new wheat harvest, to Church for a blessing.  Bits of the bread were also placed in corners of the grain store to protect the grain and ensuring a season of plenty.

I was walking along the beach just after 8am and Ballycastle was just waking up in preparation for the Auld Lammas Fair.  You might be able to see the 'Big Wheel' in the background.

We all took different routes to get there, some coming from Coleraine or Bushmills/Balintoy, others from Belfast either around the coast road or via the M2.  Whichever route you had to travel the day was fabulous and so were the colours of nature.

Pauline told us a little about her work, how she became involved and talked about the textures and colours of the silks, how they can be cool or warm, vibrant or pale and how they can remind us of people, situations or of scenery.  The silk was so fine and yet so strong.  Pauline likened all of this to our lives, our strengths and weaknesses, colourful times in our lives and duller episodes, the warmth of family and friends or the coolness of hurtful situations.

We got to see a tiny cocoon, the size of a thimble and first of all we stretched it out to the size of a hat for a human head! Pauline talked about when is the best time to dye the silk and what different effects you can achieve if you dye it at the cocoon stage of wait until it has been unfurled.  Then we started to take apart the ten layers within each 'hat' all the time the silk getting finer and finer.

 
At every stage we had the opportunity to be hands on and to learn so much.  It was indeed interesting to see how tentative everyone held the tiny cocoons at the start of the day and pulled the silk for the first time but by the end of the day we were all so much more confident.  Did you know that silk makes a noise when you stretch it out?  Yes, it creaks and crackles - amazing.

Can you imagine that this ....

... would become this?

Each of us had the opportunity to add some of our own history, emotions, family life, thoughts and prayers into the creation which was a great privilege and whilst very personal also showed a high level of trust, sensitivity and understanding within the group.  Pauline spoke to us at various stages throughout the day and asked us to concentrate on something specific mentioned by her and to then choose a colour which represented what we were thinking about at that time.  We created something completely original and personal yesterday and which, one lady said, can never be replicated even if we had tried there and then to do the same thing again.  The piece has been gifted to Corrymeela.

We also got the opportunity to make our own piece to bring home.  Here is mine and it represents the seaside where I am always very at home and which has so many 'associations' for me.  I am also, if you know me well, drawn to the colour blue.

It was a day to re-kindle friendships and to make new friends.  Thanks to everyone for an absolutely wonderful day.  If you are on Facebook you may be able to see some photos here.

We had time to ourselves as well within the very busy day, time to knit or crochet or to just relax around the beautiful grounds and admire the views of Rathlin Island.  Niqi and I caught up on some knitting and crochet and I even managed to get a pic of part of my Seaside Winter Blanket CAL on the beach!

At the end of the day we 'yarn-bombed' this ladder which tied in nicely with Mags' closing theme of Jacob's dream and the ladder.

And goodnight