27 January: Sewing machine

My sewing machine was bought in 1992, after I had cancer; if I was going to die, at least I would have had a decent sewing machine.

I survived, and the sewing machine saw a lot of action over the years. Not so much since spinning and related activities took over from quilting and embroidery. And the last time it came out, the tension would not adjust properly. So I sewed that item by hand, and kept an eye open for sewing machine service. And last week it went to be serviced for the first time in over 18 years.

It came home on Tuesday, and it just so happened that I have a new bowstringer which needs a little bag to keep it tidy in the kit case, so it was the ideal opportunity to try out the machine.

Photo taken after the power lead had been put away. The bowstringer is the black strap by the machine, and here is the finished drawstring bag -

Cotton fabrics from the old quilting stash (it's lined with a dark green patterned fabric), and the drawstring is 2 lucet cords made from handspun ramie, home-dyed. Result!

18 January: A Tuesday walk

A bright sunny afternoon, clear and cold. We thought that one of the muddy paths in the woods might still be frozen after last night's hard frost, so we set out.

It was muddy in places, but lovely to be out. From the path across a field we could see Brancepeth Castle in the distance -

Not as sharp as it could be, but it's only a small and old camera (about 3 or 4 megapixels, I can't remember), and it was on maximum zoom.  It's much better for the close-up shot, like this interesting bark we saw further on -

To follow up the previous post, my sciatica cleared up quickly, as quickly as I regained a pound in weight.  Hmmm.

12 January: You can't have your joys ...

...without your sorrows, as my mother used to say.

So yesterday I lost a pound and a half of that extra Christmas weight, set a new personal best in archery practice, and had a violent attack of sciatica.

Oh well, it makes life more interesting, I suppose.

8 January: A whole sheep-ful

of fleece has been combed, carded and spun into 741 gms of moorit shetland yarn:

And since this photo was taken, this morning, it's all been wound into balls, ready for heaven knows what. This was the last of the fleeces waiting to be processed, the 6th or 7th I've done this summer (short term memory loss), and probably the best processed.

Now I'm slightly bored with combing and carding, and fancy doing something else.