Wool on Sundays – 142 (A Butterscotch Cardigan)

May 7, 2017May 7, 201714 Comments

Welcome to Wool on Sundays!

When I changed Wool on Sundays to a monthly event, rather than weekly, I thought I would blog about other things in between but, it seems, I just blog less often. I began this cardigan a while ago because I had some wool left over from a pair of gloves! I was looking for something textured and I chose this pattern because I thought it would be more interesting to knit than something with a lot of stocking stitch but after an initial burst of enthusiasm I got very bored of it and made two shawls, three pairs of socks…then I resolved I would do no other knitting until it was finished and powered through the pain barrier.

The pattern I used was ‘Holkham’ by Sarah Hatton, which you can find here on Ravelry andI used Aire Valley DK in Butterscotch, which is produced by the West Yorkshire Spinners. I do love this yarn and I’m very happy with this cardigan now it’s finished.

It’s very warm, so although I thought I’d be setting it aside until the Autumn it’s just right for our current cold snap, and I always think a yellow cardigan goes with everything!

For Summer yarnwork, I’ve decided to stash bust (I’m sure we all know how that will end!) and make a crochet Granny Stripe blanket. It’s going to be a lot smaller than the Ripple Blanket (which is really too big but it’s my favourite ever make and I can’t imagine life without it). I’ve made a start and, hopefully, I’ll get a decent way into it by by next month’s Wool on Sundays :)

Do you have yarn plans for the Summer, or Winter if you are on the other side of the world? Or are you in the middle of something? Or in the middle of lots of things?

If you have any wool/yarn posts to share, I’d love you to link up. The rules, as usual, are: 1). Posts must include some content – makes or musings or photos – related to knitting, crochet, felting, spinning or yarn. 2). Projects sewn from felt or wool fabric or stitchery using wool are also welcome but please don’t link posts that are exclusively about sewing, quilting and fabrics. 3). Posts don’t have to be from the past week but please put a link to WOOL ON SUNDAYS or grab the button from my sidebar and include it in or at the bottom of any posts you link up. 4). MOST IMPORTANT visit anyone else who links. The next Wool on Sundays will be on Sunday 4th June.

Janine @ Rainbow Hare

Please click on the button below to link up or view linked posts.

The Greatest Show on Earth!

May 1, 201714 Comments

Welcome to Rainbow Hare!

Today, for one post only, I would like to introduce to you: The Greatest Show on Earth!

I will speak of no circuses, no smoke and mirrors, no conjurer’s tricks (and absolutely no animation!).

Today, I would like to share with you the Awe, the Wonder, the Amazement, the MAGIC of ‘Light in the Darkness’.

Before we go any further, I should mention that this is not The Greatest Show on Earth. This is just a little piece of Quilt Theatre and it is my tribute to The Greatest Show on Earth – and my offering for today’s Four in Art reveal. Our theme for this year is ‘Light’ and the sub-theme for this quarter is ‘Light in the darkness’. Our aim, as always, is: “…to break out of the usual gridded experience and try a new concept, free of structure or preconception, moving the boundaries of our own skills forward in both concept and technique”.

If you will bear with this eccentricity (for one post only), I will show this quilt as a slideshow as that seems to me to be the easiest way of displaying it (You may have to visit my actual post to see the slideshow as I don’t think it will show up in an email) and then share the inspiration behind this piece.

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The photo above is meant to show how I made flaps on the quilt and folded them over to reveal the pictures but it doesn’t do that very well :(

This quilt was inspired by Black Light Theatre, which I first encountered on a trip to Prague, where I had the wonderfully good fortune of seeing the The Wow Show. The person I was with thought it looked silly and was just something for children so, for the first time in my life, I went to the theatre by myself. When I say ‘theatre’, it was a shabby old building with peeling paint that reminded me of your average village hall and, as I sat waiting for it to begin, I did wonder if it really was going to be as good as I’d hoped. Then we were plunged into the darkest of darkness and it began and all at once we were transported into another world. A parallel universe of wondrous, beautiful, bizarre and delightful scenes where any expectation was simultaneously surpassed and confounded. Where expectation itself became obsolete, being too much rooted in ordinary, mundane, everyday things.

And, unlike most ‘magic tricks’, which make us gasp in amazement but become entirely ordinary when we learn how they were done, I found knowing that the whole effect was caused by a particular way of costuming dancers and lighting the performance made the whole thing even more incredible! One day, I would love to see Aspects of Alice…Here is a clip.

I hope you have enjoyed these clips. If you have yet to experience Black Light Theatre in real life, I must tell tell you that wonderful as they are, they are the merest shadow of seeing this extraordinary art form live and, should you ever visit Prague (or anywhere else with similar performances) I would entreat you to visit and I’m quite sure you won’t be disappointed :D

In the meantime, please visit the other members of Four in Art and see their interpretations of this quarter’s theme.

Bette Ayers Camilla Cathro Catherine Chisholm

Elizabeth Eastmond Nancy Myers Rachel Riley Simone Bradford

Janine @ Rainbow Hare

Someone beginning with ‘R’…

April 22, 2017April 22, 201710 Comments

This week we’ve had a surprising guest. A tiny little bird who bounced up and down all day long on the hydrangea outside the kitchen. We thought he was a baby and we were concerned that he couldn’t fly because he just went back and fourth from the twigs to the window sill. We kept Fiona in the house and hoped his mother would come for him.

On the second morning, Mr RH announced he had called him Rob.

On the third morning he was nowhere to be seen and we sadly assumed he hadn’t survived the night :(

But when I came in Mr RH said Fiona had been staring through the window at Ronald. “Ronald?” I asked, “Do you mean Mr Smartie?” (Mr Smartie is the cat from across the road, who, on occasion, disagrees with Fiona about who owns our garden).

“No, Ronald“, he said.

So, it turned out the little bird could fly after all and could come and go at will. And come and go he does. Every now and then I see him bobbing about and every now and then I hear Mr RH call out, “Reg is back!”

After some discussion with my parents, we discovered he is not a baby at all but an adult Goldcrest (the UK’s smallest bird) – possibly an adult female Goldcrest…”Ah, Regina!” concluded Mr RH or perhaps Roberta or Rowena…

Should you be interested, you can discover better pictures and some interesting facts about Goldcrests (though not the personal names of individuals) below.

Inside the Makery Country Birds have also been a theme. This time, I have been knitting with West Yorkshire Spinners Signiture 4ply in Owl. Having concluded that self striping yarn really needs to be knitted in the round, I wanted to make a cowl in owl – mainly because I like how that rhymes!

And the colouring worked out quite evenly.

But the pattern really didn’t show up well so I frogged and knitted a pair of socks instead. I, foolishly, gifted the socks on the promise of receiving a photo from Son #1, who merrily walked away in them. Perhaps I will show them to you one day.

I the meantime, I have a kitchen full of vegetable and flower seeds growing out of control and, after a beautifully mild month, frost is now forecast, maybe snow!

I hope you have a lovely week, whatever the weather :)

Janine @ Rainbow Hare