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Alison Hawke

Alison Hawke

Spin, spin, spin, and rest

Still spinning for La Tour De Fleece 2008. What do you make with a micro-skein of yarn? I have two 30 yard skeins of spindle-spun yarn and little idea of what to make beyond a glasses cleaning cloth. One is beige baby camel down, the other is cream Wensleydale. I

Living history

BBC News: Ancient tree 'one of UK's best' An ancient Perthshire yew has made the top 10 in a list of the most important trees in the UK. The Fortingall Yew, which grows at a churchyard near Aberfeldy, could be up to 5,000 years old

Consecutive spinning

Progress reports on my Tour de Fleece. I'm still in the running for that yellow badge because I've spun every day so far. Wednesday 9th July Spun up some of the flick carded Polwarth on the wheel and got a new appreciation for combed top! It&

Solar powered windows

BBC News: Solar dyes give a guiding light A new way capturing the energy from the Sun could increase the power generated by solar panels tenfold, a team of American scientists has shown. The new technique involves coating glass with a specific mixture of transparent dyes which redirect light to

Recipe: Better garlic bread

Hubby came up with this one as an experiment. Roasted garlic is milder and without the aftertaste. You end up with a golden brown garlic cheese loaf. * 1 head of garlic * some butter * grated cheese * 1 roll of Pillsbury dough * a little milk Slice the top off the head of

Four days of La Tour de Fleece

My goal for La Tour De Fleece is to spin a little every day, and I'm counting fibre preparation as spinning time. It's been fun cruising the participant list to see who's doing what. I'm going to save up my rest days

Tudor re-enactment

Fascinating article about Tudor re-enactment at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk BBC News: Upstairs, downstairs. Last weekend I travelled back in time to a place where the worlds of those with lavish lifestyles were of necessity closely intertwined with those who provided them with all their everyday needs - the year

Diverted

There just happened to be this sock yarn in my knitting bag along with Eris, Mama Blue BFL semi-solid in Beekeeper, which reminds me of the inside of a Cadbury's Crunchie bar. Plus my sock needle, and the yarn I use for provisional cast ons... BFL (Blue Faced

Le Tour De Fleece 2008

I signed up for Le Tour De Fleece! This year is a "spin from your stash" event, and purely by chance, I just enhanced my stash with some Wensleydale and Gotland from Copper Moose and some Lincoln locks from sheepsandpeeps on Etsy, both of which are still en

Adipose

In the first episode of season 4 of Doctor Who, there's a creature called an Adipose, made from living fat cells. The Adipose isn't a bad guy as such, and they're cute little blobs. Mazzmatazz wrote a pattern for a knitted Adipose and posted

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