S is for...

Stained Glass Windows

from the Royal Chapel in Loches

I have had a love for staring at stained-glass windows since I was a child looking at the square bits of coloured glass in church instead of listening to the sermon.  It was a Protestant Kirk, though, so there were no pretty pictures anyway, just, you know, squares bits of coloured glass!

There's something about the light that shines through coloured glass that has me spell-bound - whether by small portals like the ones above, or the magnificent windows you find in cathedrals. 

 Tours Cathedral

St Donat chapel windows

 reflections on the Grand Hall floor in Blois Château

 another from Tours cathedral

 more from St Donat

 

 and another from Blois

I'm currently touring with a rather special early music orchestra through The Netherlands, Belgium and France, so there's bound to be some more stained glass beauties to discover!

'Tis the Birthday of Sister Mine

Huzzah!

It is indeed the birthday of my DS!  She is cough cough cough splutter years old today!

 that little tongue - so cute!

I won't embarrass her with any more baby photos here, but you can always take a peek at the post I dedicated to her: K is for... 

She's not a totally well bunny at the mo, as she is suffering from costochondritis, which is a condition that causes chest pain and discomfort and is due to inflammation of the cartilage in the chest wall.  Not nice.  It also means she can't drink alcohol at the mo, due to taking large amounts of anti-inflams... poor thing.

Well, I'll have to have a drink for her instead!

Cheers, Toots and Happy Birthday again!

Brilliant Blog Award

ooo!

 Lookie here!
 

Susan nominated me for a Brilliant Blog Award!  I am very chuffed indeed!  (I wonder if I can change the appellation to 'Radiant Wronicle Award'...?!)  This is a web-inspired award for bloggers, by bloggers.  The Brilliant Weblog Award is given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogosphere.  (Argh - sorry Jesh!)  From my spot on the podium, it is now my job to award the Brilliant Blog Award to 7 of my favourite internet reads.

It may take a while to whittle down the list...  No - I have more than seven, so I'll just have to play 'pin the award on the blog' - pass me a blindfold please...

So here goes... RedScot's nominations for the Brilliant Blog Award are as follows, and in no particular order...

klozknitz 

Klozknitz introduced me to the delights of knitting. She then introduced me to the delights of Ravelry. And through reading her blog, I was introduced to the delights of blogging... damn... wronicling...!  For all of that she MUST get an award!

Tsock Tsarina 

A blogful of lively wit and socks to go into debt for, spinny tales and a deliciousness of designs.  (The new official collective noun for, well, yummy designs...)

Opera Yarns

A fellow singer who makes shawls and socks that look like they've been shop-bought.  In an expensive shop.  And she's getting married soon... Can't wait for those blog entires... Wheee!

Jessie Knits 

A lovely blog with a ever-changing eye-poppingly beautiful header - her photos are always beautiful.

Jeshknits 

Not to be confused with the blog above! Jesh is a genius and she makes me laugh. AND she's making me a drop spindle. (Notice the little girl in me jumping up and down and going wheeeeeeeeeee!)

The Panoptican

Okay, so he's pretty famous, but it'll never be uncool to admit you read Franklin's blog. It's FABULOUS!

Quelle Erqsome

Oh man, the recipes you find here are marvellous! And the knitting. AND the designs.  Yep - Erqsome's a keeper!

SO, there you have it... Go on - read 'em - you'll love 'em too!

Wronicles?

Why yes, yes indeed. Wronicles. (Pronounced rŏn'ĭ-kəl - ron-i-kuh-l, from the Greek ρονικάm, don't you know...) Oh. I see...  You think I've made the word up... May I enlighten you? As blogs are really web logs, then wronicles are web chronicles.

Well, they are now, anyway!  (So, yes, I did make it up - you were right! And anyway, Bronicle sounds too much like something you'd scrape off the bottom of a boat...)

So here are the fruits of your labours!  I hope you like them.  Thank you for voting in the poll, and for your comments and private messages. (I now have to figure out how I can respond by email to your comments, but, one step at a time, I guess!) Oh, and apologies for not waiting until the week of polling was over!  I got too grabby hands with the blogger templates!

But before I go on, I need a little something pictorial in nature here... Hmmm...

in honour of the hairdresser with whom I have just booked an 

appointment - she teaches me the smuttiest of french jokes!

Ah, just what the doctor ordered. 

Now, where was I?  Ah yes.  So, gone is the black. Au revoir, noir!  Readability was the biggest issue in the polling and I do have to admit that the white on black may have given some clarity of text issues.  I did like it, however, as a great background for the photos, but because I am as big a blabber as I am a snapper, readability had to come first.  You'll notice I still added some darkness, just not in the main column!

Colours.  Well, I have a fondness for purple, green, black (well, as non-colours go, I'm still rather fond of it) and, on looking around my apartment, I also find I must be partial to blue, too.  It's everywhere!  But I digress...  Black was out, as, well, you know... Green, well, green is lovely, but as my main website is GREEN already (see below), I thought it would be unfair to the other colours to indulge again.  I tried some blues, but although it looked very pretty, it did smack slightly of being a poster-page for Delft pottery.  So, the obvious choice to keep all those colours from falling out was to choose...  Well, you can see what I chose.  Dusky, heathery purples with a hint of sage for highlights (just to keep green, happy... you never know - could get jealous...! Green - jealous - geddit? geddit?!  Don't worry, I'm sighing and shaking my head at myself as I type...)

green, some green, and just a smidgeon of green

I did, in the end settle on this layout - the actual blog wronicle part is wider than the last one, which means that photos sit better, and the post doesn't seem to last forever anymore!  I found the template amongst the wonders at http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/  They have a host of gorgeous templates that are a doddle to use.  This one has so many shiny, pretty options that I think I wasted a whole day tinkering around with it. 

I know my knitting must think my arms have been chopped off...

Autumn Cleaning aka HALP!

Well, it is that time of year...  Why, I ask, do your annual house-cleaning ritual in Spring when it's already getting too warm for lugging furniture and upholstery around, when you can do it in Autumn, and then you don't mind so much working up a sweat and you keep warm in the cooling days into the bargain?  Okay, so I've posed that as rather a rhetorical question... 

I have to concede that my main reason for my cleaning stint has been to find a new place for my ever-growing stash, which was enhanced by this little lot yesterday:

Angels and Elephants! wheeeeeeeee

I know you'll be shocked to see that I have grabbed a few more skeins from the A & E dye-pots in Cornwall.  Man.  I really MUST MUST MUST stay away from eBay until I can actually afford such beauty, instead of mortgaging my soul to the devil for the same ends...

Here we have 'Plum Crumble' (purple, pink and olive), 'Raspberry Ripple' (pink, purple and blue), 'Candy Floss' (pink, lavender, turquoise and blue) and at the back 'Pentillie' (pale pink, lavender and green). 

Aha! But I forget!  Sock yarn doesn't count as stash, does it?  Heh!

 

Gratuitous yarn shots

So to continue the Autumn cleaning angle, I am thinking about changing the layout of this blog and here, my friends, is where YOU come in!

You may have noticed the addition of :: GASP :: a poll at the top...  If you have the inclination I'd love you to help me decide what to do...  But before I say anything, I'm intending to keep the 3 columns, as that is one thing I do rather like!

Option 1 (to be known as Why change? It's bloody marvellous as it is!)
    is to keep it as it is - colours and layout. 

Option 2 (to be known as 'I'd like to be able to read this wonderful blog properly')
    is to keep the same format but go with lighter colours.

Option 3 (to be known as 'Shoogle it aboot a bit - why not?')
    is to keep the same colours but arrange the columns starting from the left as BLOG POSTS, then 2 thinner columns

Option 4 (to be know as 'A change is as good as a rest')
    is to change to lighter colours and arrange the columns from the left as BLOG POSTS, then 2 thinner ones.

(Lighter colours will be versions of the ones already on the blog. Purples, greens and greys...)

I seriously can't make up my mind!  After polling, (presumptuous? Me?) and if you have the time and inclination, please feel free to post any comments about little tweaks that you think this page needs or, you know... anything - even just a hello!!  I'm open to all hints, tricks and categorical slap-downs!

Well, almost!

R is for...

Resemblance

The Wrong Socks

I've been wracking my brain for topics to write about for this abc-along post... wrangling with a few ideas and wringing my hands when they had to be written-off, to wretched disillusionment...

Heh!

So, I decided upon 'Resemblance' as I've just finished 2 items of the  family knitting, genus sock... subcategory SSS...

Firstly is the finished 'Crooked Cable Sock' by Sockbug. It's very cute in the Phildar 'Phil Luxe' yarn in the Nympheas colourway! 

Then we have the first 'Monkey Sock', by Cookie A. Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon - surely hundreds of knitters can't be wrong?  And, no, they're not! This is such a fun pattern to knit up... (actually the Crooked Cable pattern is a lovely knit, too...)

The wool is the hand dyed Shetland sock wool in 'Damson Delight' by my fave 'Angels & Elephants' team in Cornwall! Man, I love their yarn!

Well, I guess I'd better resume work on the replication of this, um... raiment...? Okay, that's stretching things just a wee bit!  Heh!

p.s. Thank you for all your lovely comments on the treasure chest! I'm VERY chuffed to tell you that the recipient loved it! Huzzah!  I might try and post a pattern for it in the near future...