So there you go...

I have not managed to finish blogging about one trip away before I depart on another.

Crack of dawn ferry tomorrow morning (thanks a bunch) and then down to Glasgow, where we have a special event to attend on Sunday afternoon at Scottish Opera -  performance followed by drinks and canapés, which probably means juggling bits of unwanted fishy stuff in one hand and trying to sip something fizzy from a glass in the other, all the time trying to make intelligent conversation with whoever we end up standing next to. I am actually looking forward to it very much. Free day in Glasgow on Monday, not sure what to do with it as OH will probably  be working, and Tuesday we fly out to Stockholm for four days.

 

The reason for the Stockholm trip is that we are going to see Jenufa at the Royal Opera House there, but we have other plans too. Stockholm is such a lovely city to explore and wander about in, not to mention I have decided it is time to buy the reindeer skin rug we have always wanted, because if we leave if much longer ie until after Brexit, we will have to pay import duty on it and although Sweden is no longer the scarily expensive place it was when our children were small, I'd still rather not have any extra to pay on the rug.

 

I really need the break. I've been working hard and  I have been majorly stressed out by the arrangements for the unveiling of the George Campbell Hay stone in Makar's Court, which is now actually happening on the morning of April 21st, hurray! and we are dong our best to weather some deeply awful domestic drama just now. So all in all, a week away on our own  including time in one of our favourite places, sounds like just what the doctor ordered.

What I did buy at the Yarn Festival.

Yup, you need to be channelling Morwenna Banks to read that title.

Now as I have confessed in the past I have a lot of wool so the concept of needing more of it doesn't really have a writ to run in this house, but there again I was going to the Yarn Festival which as mentioned yesterday is really just a huge yarn market. I'd said to the other half ages ago, There really is no way I'll go to this thing and not buy wool, is there? and he said 'No of course not. So set a budget and decide that you won't feel guilty'. [I moan, because he does man stuff like leaving open doors and interrupting me when I'm in the middle of something, and puts empty packets and bottles back in the fridge, but he's wonderful  really] 

This sounded like good advice, so I set a budget. I also made a list of stuff to buy, most of which was needles because I needed some new circulars, or rather I needed more circulars for some knitting I had planned for over the next couple of months and I've also decided to replace all my old plastic Aero and Pony needles with much nicer Knot-Pro wooden ones - gradually, because wooden Knit-Pro needles are not cheap, but worth it. There were a couple of other tool type things on there, and some yarn. Yarn that I had plans for and which I hoped would keep me safe  from the temptations of random skeins of sock yarn. In fact my friend was primed with the instruction to remind me, lest I show signs of succumbing, that I do not need any more sock yarn. Which I have to say she managed beautifully, and it's not her fault that some stall holder undermined the whole warning concept by pointing out that her yarn was not 'sock yarn' but 'sock weight yarn'.

 

I'm pleased to report that I came away very much under budget, hugely helped by the fact that there was no-one selling Knit-Pro straight needles, or any of the circulars I wanted, or 5-ply Gansey yarn, or F & B Ring-O markers in the size I wanted for myself and my sister, or the Drops Karisma I needed to make the Christmas socks for the OH again only  this time in a size that would fit.

 

So what I came away with were these

 

 

This was on the list and it's boring looking I know and I bought two skeins of it. They are both for socks; one pair for me using a two colour pattern I have used before for the OH and which I plan to combine with some left overs in a rather nice raspberry colour, and the other for a standard pair of socks for the OH using up some mini-skeins I was gifted to put in a contrast toe and heel.  

 

 

This was on the list too. It's from John Arbon Textiles and I hope it knits up nicely because I had to stand in a long queue to pay for it as they only had one card machine and it kept losing its signal. This is not meant as a criticism of John Arbon  particularly. The Orkney Archaeology Society has had cause to look at getting a card machine in the past and the amount the banks charge for them is absurdly high. I really felt for the people staffing the stand as they tried to cope with an ever lengthening queue and what appeared to be an ever weakening signal. They also offered me a free shade card for their 4 ply and DK as compensation for the wait which they didn't have to do and that did actually arrive the other day so that was nice. Anyway I bought a sweater's worth of this because my go-to DK sweater is starting to fray at the cuffs. I made it not long after we came to Orkney and we've been here coming up for 12 years so it doesn't owe me anything, but I'd be pleased if it could grant me the time to knit its replacement.

 

This one was sort of on the list. It's from a company called The Fibre Company and what was actually on the list was to look at their new yarn called Luma which I found and in the event didn't like very much. But then I saw this, which is called The Road to China Light. Many years ago I wanted to knit a hat in this yarn but you could only get it in America. A friend there kindly  sent me a skein but it then transpired that you needed two skeins for the hat and I didn't have the heart to ask her to go to all the trouble of getting me another skein. So imagine my delight when I saw the company were still doing the yarn and still in the same colours. This is blue tourmaline and now I can finally knit that hat. If I can find the pattern.

 

 

This was only on the list in the sense that had I known there would be any there I would have put it on  .... which is a roundabout way of saying it's a mixture of camel hair and silk which I've wanted to try kitting with for a very long time. A local craft co-op sells very lovely jumpers which include camel hair and silk yarn and they're so soft you wouldn't believe. I'm not even going to say this yarn is  not cheap, I'm just going to come right out and say it's expensive, but probably worth it. I have no idea if I will ever find a pattern worthy of it, but it doesn't matter because when I am miserable or stressed I can always just get it out and stroke it to make me feel better.

 

No this wasn't on the list, and yes it's sock (weight) yarn and no I didn't need it, but I couldn't bear to think of anyone else buying it and taking it home. So I saved it by buying it and bringing it home with me!

 

Enough with the yarn. Tomorrow a flying trip to Leeds. Not literally. Described. Here. On the blog.

 

Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2017

A Few Q & As

Did I go? Yes

Did I enjoy it? Mostly

Did I buy stuff? Er - is the Moderator a Presbyterian?

Was it far too crowded? See reply to previous question.

How was the catering? Dire

Was it better organised than the horror that was the first Yarndale Festival? Umm, just about.

Will I go again next year? That's a definite no.

Will I go again ever? Well, maybe.

So it you're thinking from the above that, like the curate's egg, the EYF was excellent in parts, you'd be about right.

I'd bought myself a ticket in advance but the friend I was going with hadn't so we had to wait to get in in a queue that seemed unfeasibly long for something which was basically a chance to buy wool. On the plus side, the queue was good tempered, it moved relatively quickly and it supplied its own entertainment in the form of a constantly changing 'which pattern is that she's wearing?' challenge.

Inside there were far too many people making far too much noise in a space which was far too small to contain both them and the exhibitors. I understand the organisers of the festival refuse to consider changing to a larger venue, on the grounds that this would 'spoil the unique atmosphere of EYF'. Now I am not an airy fairy person much given to sampling atmospheres so I may be wrong, but for me the atmosphere is already ruined because it's all too crowded and too noisy and that to me is an unhealthy and unwelcoming atmosphere just there.

My main grumble is the lack of anywhere to sit and eat. The food was mass catering horrid in that predictable white bread and brie and bacon sandwiches, and cakes that are far too sweet sort of a way and when I was told that they had lemonade and I asked for a bottle of it I was not expecting to be given a bottle of lemon tonic water. There may have been nastier things on offer than fizzy lemon flavoured quinine, but if so I'm glad I didn't have any. Once you had queued for your food and waited for what seemed like hours to pay for it, you were then faced with the challenge of how to eat it as both times that my friend and I braved the catering area the tables were all full. I would not have minded this had the tables been full of people eating, who would then finish and vacate their seats in a manner reminiscent of - well almost any other eating place on the planet really -  but many of these people were not doing that. They had eaten, and were now sitting in groups round the table, knitting.

 

Now some of you may be thinking - so what? It's a yarn festival, but that's my point. Yarn. not kitting. You can knit anywhere, any time practically. You do not need to knit at a yarn festival. The thing about a yarn festival is the opportunity to , yes maybe take a class and learn something new, but mainly it's for buying yarn. It is a temporary shopping mall full of wool. It is not a knotting circle, it is not a Stitch and Bitch group, it's a big shop'n'café combined with a lot of customers, many of whom find it very uncomfortable to sit on the floor and eat. C'mon people, it's not even that it's not rocket science, it's just basic common courtesy.

On the positive side I managed to catch a word or two with Joy from The Knitting Goddess which is always good, I met some lovely people on a stand for a brand that was new to me Whistlebare Yarns, and I bought a pattern from the charming and extremely talented Lucy Hague. And although I lost my wallet it was returned to me with all contents intact, which says something about knitters, or women, or just people.

Tomorrow, for those interested, photos of what I bought.

Well that was tiring...

Yes I'm back and whoop! whoop! not going away again until next Saturday which gives me a whole week at home to work rest and catch the blog up with what I've been doing.

 

The main purpose of week one was library based  research in Edinburgh. I was rather dreading the trip to the National Library but in fact my day there went quite smoothly. Either their invigilators were having an off day, or for once I didn't break one of their multifarious unwritten rules of conduct for the special collections room. I know I sound defensive, but when you have been ordered on one occasion to pick your (official issue) plastic bag up from the floor and put it on the desk and on the next occasion told in no uncertain terms to take the bag off the table and put it on the floor it tends to make you a bit wary.

 

Going to the Edinburgh University Library is in contrast always a pleasure. The staff are helpful, friendly and very efficient ( see NLS, it can be done!), and there's a lovely café although on this occasion I didn't use it as the queue when I came out of their Special Collections Room was horrendous.

 

I also spent some time meeting someone who is almost as fascinated with my poet as I am. He was given a book of the poetry by his wife which she had found in a second hand bookshop in Edinburgh and it turned out to be the poet's own copy and heavily annotated by him. Some of the annotations were only done when the poet was very ill - it's hard to be brought face to face with a manifestation of someone's mental breakdown. But useful too. And anyway it was nice to talk to someone else who a) you know is interested in the topic and b) as a result doesn't need a lot of background explanation before the conversation becomes meaningful. It's all very well choosing to write about someone or something overlooked or obscure, but it can sometimes be a lonely furrow to plough.

Up, up and away....

So having got myself up at the crack of dawn in order to pack I am now in that limbo where you're all ready to go somewhere but it's too soon to set off, which only makes me think that a) I didn't need to be up quite that early after all and/or b) I have probably forgotten something vital.

 

It doesn't help that I am packing two bags; one to take with me today and another to follow in the car on Friday but I daresay I'll be grateful for the split when I only have some not too heavy hand- luggage to cope with  at Glasgow Airport.

 

I am not taking my laptop, and I don't fancy struggling to get access to this to post on my tablet, which in any case is not nearly so easy  to write on, so I'm about to fall silent for a couple of weeks.

 

Think of me rattling from Glasgow to Edinburgh to Perth to Leeds and to Inverness and then having 4 days off once I'm back.

 

See you on the other side!

Project 60 No 45 - Eyebrow dyeing

This one sort of snuck up on me. It was only when I was saying for about the third time 'I've never had it done before' that I realised  it was therefore obviously Project 60 fodder.

 

And no, I didn't do it myself, I had it done at a local salon where I also had my eyelashes dyed. I am not a complete stranger to the eyelash tint, but I'd never even thought about dyeing my eyebrows. Partly because it didn't occur to me that they go grey, partly because I always think that mine are well hidden behind my glasses.

 

and let  us duly  ignore the fact that it is years since spectacle frames large enough to hide eyebrows have been available ....

 

Anyway a wee while back someone mentioned to me in a sort of 'tactful voice' that my eyebrows were 'very fair' these days, and it didn't take the intellectual capability of anything more complicated than an earthworm to realise that what she meant was that they were going grey, especially when she added that you can get them 'coloured as well as shaped these days'.

 

So as I was going to get my lashes done yesterday, preparatory to a two week trip away doing all sorts of stuff, some of it exciting enough to be covered here in due course, and some of it not, unless I get particularly narked yet again by the staff in the National Library, I added the brows to the list.

 

What can I say? They're now brown rather than fair to grey. Will I bother again? Who knows?

 

Straight afterwards I went to get my hair done which is something else that normally only gets seen to  when I go away, which is bad news for it this year, with our determination to cut down on off-island trips.

 

Anyway the hair turned out fine, but I still had a nasty experience while I was at the hairdressers. It is the only place where I ever see celebrity magazines such as Heat and Ok and Hello and one of the ones that I was given yesterday to peruse while my hair colour 'took' carried a short piece on the upcoming sequelette to 'Love, Actually' which is in the works for this years Comic Relief. That in itself is fine, its one of my favourite films, but I could have done without the accompanying photo of Thomas Brodie Sangster. My general feelings about Mr T B S were nicely encapsulated back in early 2015, here , and my opinion hasn't changed, although he has, to the extent that in the photograph he had one of those straggly and unconvincing moustaches that appear on 17 year olds when they first try to grow facial hait before becoming convinced that it's bad idea and shaving it all off, to the huge relief of their Mums.

 

It was not a Good Look.

 

 

Swimsuits - How Much do they Stretch?

And I will tell you for why I am asking. I am not thin. and even when I was thin, a long time ago now, I was still what they used to describe as well endowed.

 

So a few years ago I invested, and believe me I use the word advisedly, in a swimsuit from Bravissimo. One of the ones with built in support at the top. I did this not because I intended to take up swimming locally but because we were going on holiday somewhere warm and I thought it would come in useful. That swimsuit subsequently had holidays in Australia, New Zealand, and Spain, cruised round The Baltic and enjoyed several long weekends away in various parts of Britain, without ever getting wet. Or indeed being taken out of the suitcase.

 

Now  obviously it is getting well used just at the minute. But there's a problem and it is this. I have never known a swimsuit that was so difficult to get into. Not because it doesn't fit, it does. But those support bits are very mobile. Give them half a chance and they flip from the inside to the outside, which, when you are trying to get changed in the narrow confines of a swimming pool changing room is quite confusing. The thing itself tries to turn itself completely inside out every time  time it gets a whiff of chlorine. The bits where your arms go through masquerade as the places for legs. And I can't use the back fastening at all because it is so difficult to reach and fiddly to do up.

 

Now I do have alternative swimsuits, without the support-y bits, and I find I am not after all too bothered about the thought of swimming without being trussed up like I have a bra on under my costume. These others, and I am amazed to report that I have no fewer than three,  are all two sizes too small. But because swimsuits stretch I'm wondering if they're wearable. Wondering but without, you know, actually doing anything useful like trying them on.

I must get round to that. Sometime.

Project 60 No 44 - A North African Meal

I am, as regular readers will know, somewhat resistant to what I unfairly class as 'funny foreign food;' this encompassing almost everything which hadn't passed my lips by the age of twelve. Why this should be so I do not know, but possibly it's something to do with how I was brought up, as my sister is much the same - although given that she doesn't even eat pasta I would say she was slightly worse. I am an enthusiastic consumer of Italian food.

 

This unwillingness to try new cuisines has been slightly eroded by our household addiction to several cooking competition programs on TV, not least My Kitchen Rules Australia, which is by far the most entertaining of them.  But there's always that conundrum; you can go to a restaurant which specialises in a new cuisine but if it turns out you don't like what you ordered,  that's an evening of embarrassment , not to mention probably quite a lot of money wasted.

 

However, I have often thought that I might enjoy north African/middle eastern food, which seemed to consist of meat, flatbread and dips - what's not to like? and by a happy coincidence this is what the training restaurant at the local college was putting on yesterday. They're doing a series of non-British meals as part of their training, as much in diversity as cooking. Going to the training restaurant is something which we've been meaning to get around to, literally  for years, so when I got the menu for this North African  venture it seemed ideal. There was a certain degree of choice, it all looked approachable even for a foreign food phobe like myself and of course it's relatively cheap.

 

So off we went. We started with Moroccan Lentil Soup. There was a choice of main course and of course the OH had a portion of everything; beef samosas, Algerian vegetable stew, turkey with garlic and rosemary and shish tawook chicken. I had the chicken and some of the vegetable stew, and there were flatbreads, salad, cous cous with roasted peppers, a raita and some mango chutney to go with it. For dessert the OH had Bala El Sham, which were sweet fritters with lemon syrup and I had Layali Lubnan which is a semolina based thing with rosewater and orange, with a sprinkle of pistachios on the top.

 

Three courses plus a soft drink each came to £18 for two which was a bargain. I didn't go a bundle on the raita, but at least I tried it.  I  have my doubts about the authenticity of the mango chutney and you wouldn't get offered pouring cream with the fritters in the middle east ... but apart from the raita it was all delicious. I think my favourite was the vegetable stew.

 

I daresay that it was a bit of a mish mash and that most Middle Eastern/North African countries have specific and possibly quite disparate cuisines, but as an introduction it was perfect; tasty, varied and cheap. Now when we're away I will be able to venture into a restaurant serving this sort of food quite happily - which is a good result in my book.

 

Unforunately I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures, which is a shame as most of looked as nice as it tasted!