I’m so tied but I just cannot sleep… can anyone think why? That’s right…. 

It’s WOOLFEST tomorrow! I am so stupidly excited I can’t even think of the words to describe how excited I am! I feel silly, but I am really, really looking forward to it. I’m pretty nervous about it, being in a huge crowded place and all, but it is just going to be a mesmerising sight, truly wonderful to behold. I am going to take so many photos if I can. I think that I need to ask stallholders permission before I take a photo of their stall, which is annoying, but polite. It’s just I usually whip out my camera and just shoot photos pretty quick, haha. I plan on going straight to the fleece section if I can, that way I can get the bulky stuff out of the way and then have a good long, lovely look around the stalls with my Mum. I am hoping to get at least three fleeces, maybe a maximum minimum of two. (Wow, that made a lot of sense!). Gibberish in my head at the moment! 

So, what have I been doing today to keep my mind of it? Last night I was reading on someones blog that they had been doing a CAL (Crochet ALong). This particular CAL was a beautiful blanket, all made up of different stitches in the make up of it all. It has been going for four weeks. In just under half a day (overall) I’ve managed to complete two weeks of it, but that is only about 14 lines or so. I love the look of it so far – what do you think? 

I love the purple and pink together at the bottom. The purple is very pretty and I plan on using that quite a bit more in the blanket. I am half way through line 14, which is DC across row. Am very much enjoying it! I am creating a star stitch on the next row, which is very new to me. As well as creating a beautiful blanket I am learning new stitches. I am not sure how the rest of the blanket is going to turn out, but I plan on going around the whole blanket in sc or dc in a few different colours… to widen it out a little and to add more bright colours. Might need to buy some more balls of acrylic in that case, as I don’t think I’ll have enough yarn left over for that. Anyway, getting ahead of myself. 

I completed the light green merino, and spun up the dark green merino. 100g in almost one sitting! Boy, was my back tired at the end of that. I need to sit in a proper chair and not just at the side of my bed. It looked nice when it was spun, a bit neater than the citrus merino, but slightly thinner too. 

I thought they looked ok stood next to each other… 

But I don’t like the way they look plyed 😦 

What do you think? Should I continue? Or just leave it and spin the rest of the yarn in their own colours? I thought I would like the yarn so much better than I do. Maybe I just need to leave it a while, I dunno. Give me some thoughts? 

Think I will put up some gorgeous photos of my babies (pets). 

Here is a picture of me and Freddy I got today. (Please excuse my disgraceful hair, it badly needs a wash in that pic). 

Hasn’t he got a gorgeous smile? 😀 I do adore him so. Here is in playing in his new tunnel. 

Such beautiful, bright, happy photos! I always smile when looking through these. The next couple of photos are of my beautiful chinchillas when they were having a run in the hallway today as I cleaned out their cages. The grey one is Molly (a year and a half) and the beige beauty is Evie (over ten!). 

Aren’t they gorgeous? 😀 Love them all dearly. 

I have one more photo to show you of my darling Isa. She is an elderly madam just now, but such a sweetheart. 

 

I am so fortunate to have each and everyone of my pets. Never, EVER take your animals for granted, and always love and cherish them. I miss each and every one of my pets that are no longer physically with me, and I mean ALL of them. (I have had many over the years). The only photo I don’t have in here at the moment is of the girls, my other hamsters. They are not very old, perhaps just over six months, at most?  I think so anyway, time goes so fast! I will have to get a pic of them soon – Patsy, Eddie and Saffy. Ten points if you know what show that is from! 

Anyway, it’s now half past midnight and I really think I should get some sleep – if I can. I’ll try and do a short blog post tomorrow if I can, but it’s doubtful – so much to do! 

Have a great night everyone. I’m off to snuggle up to Freddy and fall asleep. 

xXx Love Kais xXx 

 

Hello, 

A few interesting things have been happening this week. We went to the car boot on Sunday as usual. We were sort of in two minds about it because the weather looked very grey and downcast. We thought what the heck and went anyway. It was quite a good day when we got there! Warm enough to wander round with a nice breeze for when you got too warm. It was still very overcast though. I think there was about half the stalls there are on a nice day, but nevertheless, some good stuff. The same volume of people turned up to look around though I think… you should see the lines, they are huge! 

Me and Mum went to wander round at the far end, as usual, and Dad went off on his own. That way me and Mum can have a slow wander round and Dad can rush through the stalls and grab all the books he can find, haha. We saw a reborn doll at one of the stalls! £50! It was weighted and felt very nice. The woman let me hold it and we had a short discussion about making them. I would love to be able to make one of these dolls, but as I am short of funds at the moment, the price of the kit is slightly above my means. Never mind! I might try looking for a cheap doll and buy the genesis heat paints on their own. I’m sure there are plenty of instructional videos online on how to do it. The only thing I noticed about the doll was that the skin wasn’t quite right, but still a good first attempt. I don’t think I could have done any better, haha. Well worth the money though. 

I bought a top/dress at the car boot too. I saw this at the last one, but when I went back for it, it wasn’t there. But there it was this time, haha. It had alpaca in it, and it unraveled like a dream. 

I think it’s pretty horrible, haha, but it has produced a decent amount of wool. Over 500g to be near enough exact. 

I only bought a woolen jumper at another stall but I plan on wearing it – it’s too pretty to undo! Mum found a great big box of craft stuff, but they wanted £25 for it, so umm… no, thanks! (A bit funny and mean – there was a big gust of wind and the clothes racks fell on the woman doing the stall, haha. She was fine though, don’t worry :P). I also found a a Smurf toy I wanted to get Freddy, but the woman wanted £2 for it. Nahhh, not for a dirty toy that will be chewed by a dog! 

Dad managed to go back to the car a couple of times he bought that many books. On one stall he asked how much one book was and she told him to take the entire box for a £1! So, he did, haha. Someone else took the other one but he had loads anyway so it didn’t matter. Oh, I also bought Freddy a play tunnel! He used to have one when he was younger, but he tore it up. Why, oh why did I think this time would be different? (One side shredded in seconds). He now only gets to play with it when I am supervising him. 

On the way out of the car boot there was a large sign up saying ‘Homes4Hens.’ It was asking people to take in some hens that had been taken away from battery farms, thus saving their lives. I’ve always wanted to do that, but seeing that sign I mentioned it to my Dad there. To my surprise he began chatting about it seriously and discussing about having some! I was very pleased. Since then I think we have decided what coop to get and where to have it, and how many chickens we shall have. (A large one with an added run for £99.50, at the top of the yard so it’s easy to see them and they can have a run around, and three I think. We are going to call them after Dr Who companions – Sarah-Jane, Donna and Rose!) I am very excited. However, since I am on holiday next week and it will be Dad at home, we have decided not to get them until after we get back. It’s going to be a busy month then, because we are hoping to get a puppy soon too! I like the name Loki for a male puppy… what do you think? I am hoping for a chocolate lab, but they are very expensive. As long as the puppy grows up with the chickens, I am sure they will get on fine, just as Freddy will. Can’t wait! If anyone can offer a home to battery chickens you will be doing a wonderful, wonderful thing, indeed, any animal that is rescued. 

I have worked on my spindles a bit more. They dried very quickly, and then I varnished them. They feel so much better and dried quickly too. The varnish makes the colours stand out so much more. I am going to have a quick test of each and every one of them. I plan on making up some small kits with them, to encourage people to try out drop spindle spinning. 

What do you think? I’m very pleased with them – might make some more soon. Could do with a few more toy wheels, as two of the ones I have have been dodgy. NOT pleased. 

Oooh, yes, the dyeing! As you could see in the last post they were hanging up in the garden, drying nicely. I brought them inside and teased out all the fibers until they were in a big, fluffy pile of gorgeousness! I think due to my vigorous rinsing of the fibers, quite a bit of it was felted. 😦 I got as much as I could from each however, and was so much more gentle with the tea dyed stuff. 

I love this photo – it’s a really pretty way of holding the fiber until I need it. Here is what the tea dyed stuff looks like. It looks a lot darker in the photo, but I’ve put the white fleece next to it so you can see the contrast. This needs teased and combed out too. 

It got quite boring teasing out the other stuff, so I ended up doing it whilst watching TV and stuff. I couldn’t just sit and do that and nothing else, I’d go mad. I’ve been seriously thinking that I could do with a proper drum carder. Unfortunately they are a few hundred pounds, so that is an extravagant purchase. Maybe one day… 

I’ve been watching a lot ‘The League of Gentleman’ today. I love this show – it’s so damn funny. It cracks me up all the time, and never gets old. Ever seen it? 

I’ve been spinning with it playing in the background. I’ve done the rest of the pale green citrus merino. Now I need to do the dark stuff and ply it together – I’m getting ready by practicing Tour De Fleece! 

It’s a little thicker than I normally spin, but it’s all practice and I like being challenged. I need to get the stuff I want to spin ready for the Tour. I am also waiting to see what there is I am going to get from Woolfest. Here is my list of goals – 

• I would like to spin up my random raw sheeps fleece.
• Prepare a full sheeps fleece from scratch and have it all spun up.
• Spin up each of the three Corriedale wooltops I currently have.
• Spin up some fiber that does not come from a sheep.
• Spin up my ‘home-made’ mixed fibres.
• Spin a fiber of more than 200g.

Anyway, think I must go now… going to go comb out the fleece and watch Storage Hunters when it comes on. I also need to go to the job centre again tomorrow, bleurgh, to sign back on again. Getting sick of the sight of the place – what they don’t understand about supply work baffles me, but then again, what can you do but put up with their crap? I just hope they keep my sign in days and times the same. I would HATE to go in to the job centre at something like 3pm in the afternoon – won’t be able to do anything or go anywhere that day. 

Anyway… think of cheery things! Have a great night, 

xXx Love Kais xXx 

Hello, 

Today has been a nice, relaxing, calming day. I had a lie in which was amazing after a busy and crammed week. I helped Mum tidy up the kitchen and then we decided to go into the local town and see how Dad was getting on. We bought him another book shelf from a charity shop for £8 which will fit nicely into his shop. We saw a small notice in the police station window for Mossburn Animal Sanctuary and on the spur of the moment we decided to go. It took us a little while to get there, but it was a fairly nice drive – albeit the pot holes! 

When we got there it looked just like a normal farm house. We parked the car and walked up past the tiny cafe in a portacabin. We looked to our left and there was a small fat pot bellied, black pig! Gorgeous! He had a massive head and a chunky belly and he was beautiful! We managed to get a photo of him. I will try and get that up later. We turned the corner into the main yard and almost all at once ten goats, a dog and a sheep turned round and looked at us. It was pretty eerie but so wonderful at the same time! There were little pygmy goats and other larger goats. One of them came up to me and gently head butted me to get his head scratched. The others all came up for some fuss and it was lovely. Even the sheep came right up to us to get her head scratched! I loved them all, they were gorgeous. A guy was playing with the goats like they were dogs and they adored it. A young Collie dog was running round them all too, and the goats and sheep didn’t mind and welcomed him round them. A young girl (maybe 14?) came and showed us round the free site. She showed us some more pigs that we relaxing in the hay in the barn. Two massive black ones and two big black ones. Their teeth were gigantic! They sort of had smiles on their faces and grunted when their ears were scratched. I had never seen more contented pigs in my life! Apparently the smaller ones were given to them to look after when their owners discovered the hard way that they were not micro pigs! Beautiful! We also saw some horses, including a teeny tiny Shetland pony. We also saw some cows, some guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens. It was a lovely walk around. We decided to go and have a cup of tea in the cafe after looking round the charity shop on site. (Didn’t buy anything but nice to have a look round). It was so nice in there that we decided to have a cheeky bacon roll – nom nom! It was gorgeous. The couple serving us in the cafe were so lovely and sat at the table next to us, and we had a lovely chat about everything about the farm and much more besides. I’d defintely recommend it, it’s beautiful. The animals are all free range and have a wonderful life. Thanks for taking me Mum! 

This is the dyed fleece that I had washed out and set to dry. The beetroot dye left the fleece with patches of different pink and it’s actually really pretty. From dark pinks to pale pinks. It rinsed out pretty easily and didn’t stink, unlike the tumeric! When I rinsed that out from the jar it smelled like old sick. Not nice. So much air freshner and perfume was sprayed in the bathroom afterwards. It took quite a bit of time to rinse it through and there still was some yellow running out by the end of the rinsing. Thinking back I probably should have kept rinsing as I don’t want my Bliss being dyed yellow when spinning it! I put them both in the bags one at a time, and spun them at the bottom of the garden. They were then pinned up on the garden bench and left to dry in the wind. Unfortunately it started pouring down earlier and I mean really pouring down, but thankfully my Dad had got the fleece in for me and hung it in the porch to dry instead. Thanks Dad! 

Here I have made up six spindles using the pieces I bought last week. The wheels were annoying me as some would just NOT fit onto the dowel rods, no matter how much I tried by sanding it down. Some of the wheels were a little dodgy which I am annoyed about. When I buy something, I expect it to be perfect. Anyway, these didn’t take too long to do, and I have another nine dowels to fit wheels onto, but that’s for another day. I painted these up using household paint from the tester pots you can get in DIY stores. Think these were from Homebase at something like £1.69 for 50ml, which is plenty. And they include a brush in each. Tomorrow I will give each a second coat and then varnish in the evening. I might give the next set of spindles I do some more details and leave these a plain, simple block colour. 

This is just a quick sneak-peek at what I started a couple of hours ago. Some light green merino in citrus. Beautifully soft and easy to spin up. I am trying to spin it thicker than normal which is a challenge for me as I feel I’m ‘wasting’ the wool. But I’m not, I know I’m not, haha. I should just experiment and have fun. I plan on plying this with a dark green merino to get a nice twisted coloured yarn. We shall see 🙂 

Anyway, going to sleep now. Got a car boot tomorrow in the morning if the ground isn’t wet, and if not we are going to go to Dads shop and sort out his books into alphabetical order. *groan* At least I can take Freddy with us, which I’m looking forward to 😀 

Nighty night! 

xXx Love Kais xXx 

 

Urgh, I’m exhausted! Having a P1 class is literally exhausting and stressful. I love little kids, don’t get me wrong, but I far, far prefer having older children to teach. There is only so much sitting watching children playing that I can do. I did have some work ready for them, e.g. the Good Samaritan putting pictures in order, umm, some ice cream combination colouring in, and making some masks. Well, they coloured them in and cut out the outside of it. I then had to spend my time making all the slits and slotting the two bits of the mask together. I do not want to work in a class lower than P3 again, haha. Too stressful! But it was a good day overall, and I think I enjoyed most of it. But very glad to get home!

I went to Glasgow yesterday on my day off. It was nice to go on the train after a long day at a school. I relaxed on the two hours up there by learning some algebra (I found the book in my cupboard just before I went, so I thought, why not?) and reading a wonderful story called , ‘An Ordinary Princess.’ Such a gorgeous, sweet story. I also had a go at spinning some of my fleece using a home made drop spindle.

It went pretty damn well! I’ve realised though that this spindle is perfect for spinning very thin yarn. It can spin cotton if I tried. It’s a little difficult to see in the photo but there is an example of the yarn just on top of the fleece. I loved using this… just the right size for using on a train or when you can have some time on transport. And it goes into your bag quickly and easily.

I had a go at dyeing some of my fleece finally. The ivy leaves didn’t go too well and I had plenty of fleece left over. It had been sitting in a jar of water and vinegar for over a week (not sure how long, but quite a while!) I thought that I would buy some tumeric as I had seen online that it was a pretty good dye. I bought the cheapest spice tub from Tescos (£1) and mixed it in some boiling water. I waited for it to boil and then cooled it down enough to go into a glass Kilner Jar. I stuck some sticks into the top to hold down the wool. I also had a go at using beetroot juice but since looking online, it doesn’t seem a good idea as it appears to wash out easily. Ah well, trial and error. I looked at the top of the jar today and it has gone all moldy on top! Is this normal!? I know I can wash it out but it’s pretty yucky. Oh, the sticks in my tumeric jar have gone pretyy mouldy too, urgh! After school today I grabbed hold of the tea bags that had been used once, plus a few fresh ones, and brewed up the strongest black tea mix I could. I then poured this into another Kilner Jar (huge ones from ASDA for £1 each. I got three) and stuck the fleece into it. I might give that until Monday before I take that out. I’m not too sure how long to leave the wool in each of the dyes. It might be tomorrows job in the afternoon to wash the other bits of wool.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but L-R, beetroot and vinegar, black tea and tumeric. The tumeric seems to have settled down to the bottom which is a bit frustrating, but ah well!

Now, the awesome thing about yesterday? Well, when I went up to Glasgow I took a huge, big, black suitcase, about twice the size of my normal case. And what’s more? It was practically empty. This is what I returned with.

     

 

It doesn’t look a lot at the moment, but the photo on the right shows exactly how much I came back with! I got all of this yarn, most of it ICE YARN for only £30! 102 balls of wool, plus a few part balls for only £30! I plan on selling it eventually. If I can get £1 a ball then I will more than make my money back. The woman who sold it to me had it on eBay with the starting bid of 99p. I was a bit naughty and asked her if she would consider a Buy It Now price. Turned it out she had it on Gumtree for £25. I asked her if she would take £20 and yep! She also had some other yarn on eBay at 16 balls for £9.99 in two lots. I also got those for £10 for the both of them. I got a fantastic deal and she got some much needed space in her house, haha. Me and my bf went to collect it yesterday (Thursday) in Maryhill, Glasgow. I finally went to Maryhill, the site where ‘Still Game’ was filmed! I needn’t have got excited. It was pretty naff unfortunately. I managed to get a photo of the flats where it was filmed but it was only from the top of a bus.

   

 

Still, at least I got it! It only took about twenty/twenty five minutes to get there from Drumchapel. We went into the Tescos after we got the wool. (I managed to squeeze it into a small box and into a large Morrisons bag for life. We got a Salt and Pepper baguette and it was lovely! We managed to eat half of it before we even got on the bus it was that nice.

Got hold of a cashmere jumper today that someone has saved me from the dog charity shop. That was lovely of them as they knew I would unravel it. Unfortunately I did a stupid thing and tried it on. I love it. So now I shall wear it. They also saved me a funny snoody scarfy thingy. I think it will be easy enough to unravel. See photo above.

I am going to attempt to make some more drop spindles tomorrow. I very much enjoyed creating my last ones. And  I have thought of some nice designs to go on them. I shall put up some photos when I can.

Anyway, best go to bed, I’m shattered!

xXx Love Kais xXx

 

I feel like I’ve been seriously neglecting my blog lately, but it has been such a hectic week. I feel like I’ve not been away from schools! 

Last week I worked four days, and this week I have three, unless the supply agency calls me up for work on Thursday, bleurgh! I love working in schools, but I am adoring the work this side of the border so it means I can use my car instead of public transport. I was in the same school for three days last week and then a different one all day. This week it is two in same school and on Friday it’s yet another one! All experience and working well. I adore the school I’ve been in most. I’m disappointed that I won’t get to teach them again for what will probably be a very long time. I think I have been privileged to teach some wonderful children. I am going to be working in the older class which is fantastic and I just need to get used to them I think. They are also a great class. 

I don’t think there is much to say otherwise. Mum and Dad went to my Nannys for a week long holiday so I was in charge of the shop. However, because I got called into work, I was unable to open the shop much. I only managed about six or so hours altogether. When I went back in on the Saturday (the day my parents came back home) there were a few customers complaining about the shop not being open. Sorry, but if there is supply work I’m going to take it… I need the money! Made a decent amount that day though, so no harm done. 

Mum called me up whilst she was still on holiday to ask about the shop as the landlord had called them up about it. Apparently it looked like someone had been at the lock with a screwdriver or something. Probably because I hadn’t been there in a few days to check on the shop. I checked it out the next day and it was pretty scratched and looked like someone had just vandalised it by scratching. I told the police (who were only a few doors down) to come and take a look and they agreed it was probably just kids, but to keep an eye out for anything. 

A came down to spend the week with me which was just lovely. It was nice just the three of us (Freddy included!) and we learnt that we could live together in the future without one of us killing the other! We also learnt that we could cook together without a screaming fit! Also wonderful waking up next to each other – doesn’t the bed feel empty the night your partner isn’t there!? 

Right now, the crafty stuff! 

 

I have been busy combing/plucking/teasing the nasty, icky fleece into this gorgeous mess! It is so soft I keep rubbing my cheek on it. I finished what was in the pan and I have another load in a bag to tease. I don’t think I will use a comb as it is far too time consuming to do what seems to be done through the teasing. I have worked on the ‘dyed’ fleece but it seems to have felted slightly so it’s a little tougher to tease out. Not that it looks dyed! Talking of dyes, I have put a bit of fleece into a tumeric and water solution, and another lot into beetroot and warm water. I will leave that for a couple of days and hope that the dye fixes in. The fleece I have used had been soaking in a vinegar mordant for the past couple of weeks. I have still got a bit left, maybe I need to find another dye to make up tomorrow? 

I got these from the dog shop yesterday. I bought the cotton for £1, and when I told the woman there I planned on unraveling it, she immediately went into the back and bought out the black top on the right. She gave it to me for free, and even threw in the ball of wool you can see there. I love the black cardigan, it has alpaca in it! I managed to unravel that in one evening, and the green one took two evenings. I got a very pleasing amount of yarn from it, probs almost a kilogram altogether. 

Lots and lots of lovely yarn! Speaking of lovely yarn, I finally finished spinning the hot pink merino I started seemingly ages ago. I am very pleased with its turn out. For some reason, it just would not ply properly on the wheel so I ended up plying it by my trusty drop spindle. It is an excellent tool to have… I love mine. Simple, yet effective. 

I have also, funnily enough, managed to knit my way through almost four pairs of baby socks. I’m starting to surprise myself now how quickly I can rush through them. I think they are so cute and dainty, and my children are going to have HUNDREDS of these. I love, love, LOVE Patons Smoothie yarn. I need to reorder that when I can, I have practically no yellow left and for some reason HobbyCraft don’t stock it, yet they do other colours?! Strange. 

Gorgeous aren’t they? I keep touching them every time I go past them. They are sitting on my shelf at the moment, sitting pretty with the rest of my knitted pieces. Oh, I also finished knitting another baby cardigan. This took perhaps two days to do, on and off. Quick, easy and adorable! Loved knitting it, and the yarn was a joy to use – King Cole Chunky Riot. 

 

The photos don’t give it justice how wonderfully soft and sweet it is. It swamps my baby doll, but I did more repeats for the bottom of the jumper than I did for the previous one she is wearing now. 

Mum and Dad picked up this awesome books for me for £1! They got it from one of the charity shops when they were away. (They got some bargains that week I can tell you – more about the dolls house later!). It’s very useful, regardless of the age of it. (70’s/80’s, I think). It even has section at the sides for you to write notes in! 😀 It is a bit heavy on the weaving side of things, but as I have a weaving loom now I shall give it a good read later on I think. Excellent book. 

Got all my stuff ready to make my new drop spindles with! Only thing missing in that photo is hooks and varnish, but I got them yesterday, so yay! (Oh, and the dowels are elsewhere in the house, haha). More on them when I start I think. 

Anyway, got to be up at 7.15am tomorrow, all ready for school again. Isn’t it fortunate I LOVE my work? 

Nighty night all, 

xXx Love Kais xXx 

Hello again.

Been another tiring week! On Monday I was asked to do some more supply work, this time for the Scottish side. I enjoyed it very much. This was in a very local school, no more than ten minutes away from me, which suited me perfectly! I was in a P3/4/5 class with only 16 pupils. I loved it. I also took the P6/7’s for the afternoon which was interesting, but not nearly as fun as I was just supervising and not actually teaching. I went back there on the Wednesday too for the full day in the P3/4/5 class. This time I taught my own lessons which I much prefer. We also discussed a book called ‘The worst jobs for children in history,’ by Tony Robinson. I think most of the kids enjoyed it, and loved hearing about the gruesome jobs that children their age would have to do, such as a chimney sweep or paddling in wee to keep woven cloth in check. I think one kid got bored however and asked quite loudly, ‘can we do some work now?’ Cheeky so and so! I also had one kid inform me that he loved learning languages and knew Spanish. I asked him to say a few words in the language but he said, ‘Oh no, I need to remember the words first.’ Kids make me laugh every day and I love working and teaching them. On the first day one of the children said to me, ‘Thank you for teaching us.’ They don’t understand yet how happy that can make a teacher.

On the Tuesday my Mother, my little brother and I went to Glasgow. D was moving to Glasgow to go to College there. We had to move all his stuff to Glasgow and boy, did he have a lot of stuff! We were so crammed in that car. We managed to drive all the way up which wasn’t too bad. We got lost because of the very poor instructions from Google maps. Also, the signs in Glasgow were very old, or very small, or very obscured. Very difficult to see! We also tried turning to the right on one road and almost got knocked over by a bloody lorry. I think we had right of way (we were following the car in front) and the lorry just kept speeding towards us. I just felt horrible all over and couldn’t stop shaking afterwards. I don’t even like thinking about it, so let’s move on.

We got there eventually and it was quite a nice area. We parked almost in front of the house and found the flat. It was a nice bottom floor flat, but when you walked in the shared hallway it was a bit like a mens toilet with the tiles!

The flat itself isn’t actually too bad. D has a fairly large room, big enough for his large telly and all his other things. Mum and I got the boys to bring in all D’s stuff. D is moving in with our brother, F (also younger than I), and F’s boyfriend M. M is so gorgeous and sweet! Me and Mum made up D’s bed for him and helped him rearrange things. The front room was amazing! Bay windows and a huge red curvy sofa that you could sink into. There was a telly left by the last residents so they were using that! There was also a gorgeous Victorian fireplace. The only thing wrong with the room was that some idiot had sealed shut the windows with sealant! Except the top one, which they would be able to get out of if something was wrong. There were three bedrooms in the place as there was also someone else they knew moving in. There was a sort of dining room linking all the rooms together and a small kitchen. The kitchen was pretty dark because it was an inside room with no windows. Nice and modern looking though. All in all it was a nice day. Just down the road is a small high street – nothing amazing, just typical back street shops, about six second hand shops though! I bought a set of Just William books for my Dads shop, and a cotton jumper for 50p. I meant to unravel it but I stupidly tried it on and now I like it! Grrr! 😦 We bought some chips from a local chippy and took them back to the flat where we all sat round the gorgeous wooden table and ate them with some Italian bread.

Oh, when my brother set up his (VERY new, recently bought, never-had-anything-but-problems-with-it) computer he found that it didn’t work as wasn’t even turning on. He got the phone and wanted to ask the company for a refund as the computer had turned out to be a waste of money and it would have been the fourth time he called. Unfortunately he got no-where with them and was looking pretty sad and dejected at wasting so much money. I told him to hand me the phone and I dialled the number.

‘Hello, is that *****? I believe you were just talking to my brother on the phone?’

‘Yes, we were, what can we do for you.’

‘My brother bought a computer from you only a month ago and has had nothing but problems with it. We have already sent the computer back to get repaired before and it’s just not good enough. I’d like the money back, please.’

‘I’m sorry, we only give refunds in the first two weeks, otherwise it is a repair and return service.’ 

‘I’m sorry, but that’s not good enough, this computer is not fit for purpose and I am not happy with it. I would like my money back, please.’

‘I’m sorry, but we don’t do that service…’

‘I’m sorry too, but I want a refund. This is a bad computer and it is not working. I don’t spend that amount of money on something that is not working. We have called up your company x amount of times before because of problems.’

‘Look, we just don’t do refunds, the best we can do is sale or return!’ 

‘Right, in that case I would like to speak to someone else, please.’

He agreed to get someone else to talk to me and I overheard the conversation in the background. He was sort of moaning about me and I heard someone very clearly say, ‘Why don’t you just give her a refund?!’ I grinned then, because I knew if that guy had said it, it was possible. The bloke eventually came back on the phone and said,

‘Fine, madam, you can get a refund, but you must post the computer here at your own expense and it must have everything single thing with it that it was sent with. You will only get a refund if the computer is shown to be faulty when it get’s to this end.’ 

I thanked him most sincerely and put the phone down, very happy that I had got my way! I was not rude, just firm. I don’t think anyone else could believe that I had gotten D a refund. Mum said that they were all like omg! when I had asked to speak to someone else. Sorry, but if there is one thing I abhor it is terrible customer service and that computer was not working. We took some pictures of the screen and I am going to print them off and stick them in the box with the computer to prove that it wasn’t working. Oh, and something sweet M said? ‘If I ever have some problems on the phone, I’ll get  my sister in law to deal with it!’ 😀 Made my day 😀

I gave my other brother, F, a small, hand-made drop spindle because he had expressed an interest in trying one out. I gave him the rest of the Jacobs fleece, which probably added up to about 10g. I rearranged it for him before I left –

Me and Mum left about 4pm, very happy that D was happy. The boys were laughing and joking with each other when we left. It wasn’t until we were half way back to home before we started getting upset. It was when Mum asked me if I was going to sit down and watch Storage Hunters with her and Dad before I started to cry, as that was something we all did as a family, without fail. I only cried for a few minutes as I didn’t want to upset Mum. It’s horrible without him here, it’s so quiet and I miss him coming in to randomly sit with me and chat about random things. I know we can chat on the phone and see him when I go to Glasgow, but it’s not the same. I miss my little brother like crazy – both of them.

Anyway, happy thoughts. Crafty time!

I went to a massive car boot with my Father on Sunday and I hit the jackpot! There was a couple of women on a stall nearer the top end who seemed to just have two racks of clothing. I went up and saw some Pringles jumpers and I thought, awesome, pure wool! I overheard some woman say to the owners something about 50p. I asked the owner immediately how much everything was and she said, 50p for any top. Omg! I found a 100% CASHMERE JUMPER! I also found two pure wool jumpers (Pringle), a brand new cotton jumper, and two angora and lambswool cardigans. Bargain. I probably should have kept on looking but I thought enough is enough!

From Top to Bottom: Angora and lambswool x 2, cotton, cashmere, wool x 2.

I made a start on unraveling the oh, so soft! cashmere, but it didn’t turn out well AT ALL. The seams were super easy to undo and I enjoyed the quick process, but when it came to unraveling the wool was just so soft and simply kept pulling apart without any pressure on it. I got fed up with it eventually and stopped to trying to unravel. I tried to make a sleeve sock out of it, and it did work eventually but wasn’t too aesthetically pleasing! Soft and warm though 😀 I have started unraveling the merino cardigan from my last post and it is a weird one. There seem to be two separate strands knitted in together that can be wound into two separate balls of wool… yeah, weird! It isn’t very strong stuff either, but I plan on doubling it and plying it together on my spinning wheel. Plenty to work on in my spare time.

I have plenty more to write in this post but I’m a bit tired at the moment. I think perhaps I will get some chicken noodle soup and watch the last few episodes of series two of The Apprentice. Anyone been watching the latest series? Not too sure of what to think of them, but I know that that Luisa gets on my nerves and firmly needs taken down a peg or two.

Have a great night!

xXx Love Kais xXx

 

I PASSED MY TEFL COURSE! YAY! I actually finished it yesterday. The grammar course was horrible and the exam was …. ARGH! It consisted of five sentences and I had to explain four different parts of each, e.g. a) the verb, b) the form structure, c) the tense, and d) the function (meaning). VERY HARD! At least it should be because there is so much to remember, e.g. past participle, past simple, future simple, past perfect continuous, etc. Ridiculous, huh?! I am just so pleased that I am a copious note writer, because my note book pages were invaluable and I was using them for every exam and lesson plan. My last lesson plans were pretty good I think. One was on adverbs of frequency with the new vocabulary of hobbies, and my last one was teaching the culture of the UK. I did a fun lesson with lot’s of stereotyping (and correction!) and plenty of realia, e.g. tartan, haggis, red bus, money, etc. It was quite fun and it seemed an awful shame that I am not actually teaching it! Anyway, I get my certificate in four or so weeks, a nice shiny one apparently. The only thing I had a problem with is the fact that the feedback on some of the homework is pretty poor. I had one tutor leave the remarks, ‘ok this is good.’ Umm… yeah, not helpful! But don’t get me wrong, some left excellent feedback. But it depended on what tutor marked the work. I left them a 4/10 for their feedback on their comments sheet, but mostly 10/10’s for everything else. The other thing is that now I have finished, I can’t go back into my account! Which means all my work will just disappear 😦 I did all that work and now it will vanish. I’ve had to save all the PDF files that I can, but whether it will work remains to be seen. 

Hmm, what has been happening lately then?

I have managed to finally get some of the fleece cleaned. I was given a big bag of it a month or so ago and boy, did it stink! I grabbed a big plastic box, and filled it with super hot water and some washing up liquid. I picked off as much straw and bits from the fleece as possible so it would (hopefully!) just be fleece when it got in the water. I dunked it all underneath the water and instead of using my hands, I used my feet!

Looks yucky, but I actually enjoyed it! I had to wash the fleece THREE times before it stopped being so filthy dirty. The water was brown every single time. On the fourth rinse it was just nice, still a little brown, but hardly as much. I got it all out and squeezed as much water out as possible, making sure that there was no straw, etc on it. If anyone else can help me, can you tell me how to get ALL the yucky bits from the wool? I would be much obliged.

I then left the fleece on a small towel on the swing bench to dry in the sun. This was then moved onto the top of the coal bunker. It was left out all night (due to me not remembering it until 12.00am!) but it didn’t rain so it was ok. I left it all day today, because it was so beautifully hot! I actually went out in the town with NO coat on. And if I’m not wearing a coat, then you know it’s warm! I came back later and it was mostly dry, just a little damp underneath. I shoved it all into a net bag that Mum found, and hung it out on the line this evening. It smells SOOO much better. I’ve left it to dry in the porch for now. I plan on dyeing it as a raw fleece and then carding it for that. I think I may perhaps test out my ‘dyeing skills’ tomorrow. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Today I helped out in the charity shop again (usual Friday work). Mum was at work unfortunately so it was just me going in 😦 I was with Pat and Eileen and there were surprised to see me, but they sort of held their arms out and were overjoyed to see I went there without Mum! (Between you and me I wasn’t going to go, but I had to pick up some knitting patterns I put by last time I was in the shop!) I decided to stay there for a few hours and I enjoyed myself… AND got some good bargains 😀

Here are the knitting patterns I got. I was super pleased to get Scooby-Doo! He goes with the same series of patterns that I have with Tom and Jerry, and Bugs Bunny. The rest of the paper bits are old sewing patterns by Jean Greenhowe and the odd knitting pattern, e.g. Little Bo-Peep. The other magazines are The Art of Knitting, and one of The Art of Crochet.

I found three amazing tops… one was 100% cashmere! I was overjoyed to find it! It is a thinnish red jumper, and soooo soft! I also found a jumper that was 100% thick white cotton, and a very large thin creamy brown 100% merino cardigan.

Unfortunately I cannot unravel the cashmere one so I am thinking of selling it on eBay. I may make something on it, you never know! Anything would be a profit really. I had a good go at unraveling the cotton one. It seemed easy to undo as it was all threaded up the sides, etc. But can I unravel the neck of it?! I have managed to do one sleeve, which was a hassle and a half, but I got most of it. I tried spinning it onto my wool winder which was a disaster as it just kept going funny. I then spun it up on my spinning wheel as it was so splitty and thin which was horrible. I think spinning it up has helped. Ah well, I shall find out more tomorrow when I keep on unraveling it.

Not much happened at the dog shop today, we didn’t have too many people in. However, these two regulars come in, a mother and daughter. The mother is 92ish I think! The daughter has to be in here sixties at least I imagine. The older one has trouble with her sight and finds it difficult to focus on people – but she does love her reading! She saw me sitting down on the stool behind the till and asked Eileen who was working today. She mentioned Pat and me. The older lady asked my name (even though she sees me every time…. ) and I said, ‘K.’ Then her daughter butted in and said rudely, ‘That’s the one I told you about, her Dad owns the book shop.’ Rude bitch. She said it very snidely and looked down her nose. She has never approved of me and I have no idea why. I think she just doesn’t like younger people. I don’t know who she thinks she is. It gave me a smile when her Mother piped up and went, ‘Ooh, do you have any books on angels?!’ I grinned and said I would have a look for her and bring them in. Her daughter sort of went pfffft and walked off. GRRR! Sounds like a spoilt child!

So, what else have I been doing then, craft wise?

Not a great photo, but here is the hot pink merino I am spinning up. It’s lovely to spin up and I am enjoying it. I have been pre drafting it before I spin it up so it’s easy just to try and spin it all without drafting it whilst spinning. The merino is hard to draft with whilst it is spinning – it seems to clump together. So, this is what I do –

Looks like entrails! Haha, it feels lovely and soft though.

This is my second attempt at Tunisian crochet. It didn’t take too long and was pretty easy. An odd looking thing, but still useable! It looks a bit bare, so might actually put some pink cotton just around the edges. I finished my Tunisian crochet hook case, but I haven’t got a photo of it yet. That will get done next time I write on this blog.

OOOOH, look at this too!

This is a weaving loom I got given by someone at Mums work. They didn’t need it anymore so they gave it to me! It was so manky and dirty when they gave it to me, just covered in sawdust as it was stored in a workshop for a long time. Dad gave it a scrub up for me with lemon scented disinfectant and a cloth. It shone brightly afterwards! I haven’t looked at it much. It isn’t something that interests me, but since I have been given it, it would be ungrateful and stupid not to have a go on it. I plan on doing that sometime when I am at home all day. I’ll def. put some photos up of what I achieve.

Anyway, I think I had better go to bed. I’ve just been checking eBay for some reason, and I’ve managed to find some raw fleece at a £1 a kilo, which isn’t too bad isn’t it? They can drop off at Woolfest too, which would certainly save on postage. Perhaps I could buy 2KG’s or something. They also have some wooldyes there, starting at a penny each! They would be good if I could get them, haha.

Anyway, should get a good sleep tonight – that is, if the dog doesn’t decided to sleep like this again! –

xXx Love Kais xXx