Facing January!

I hate this time of year! I try very hard not to - each year I try to think of good things to do in January but I never succeed in shaking off the "depression" of the long dank dark January.

BUT I am really enjoying having fires again! There is more than just warmth to them, they are cheerful and require a bit of excercise to keep them going!

We have a lovely log burner in the main lounge and a small "Godin" log burner in the fermette living room. We put the heating (oil fired) on in the morning for about an hour and a half. It's so nice to have a warm bathroom for a shower etc, then we light the Godin. For the rest of the day when not outside in workshops we are in the fermette near the Godin which is so lovely. At night we light the log burner in the lounge and sit and relax with books and the TV, the warmth is fantastic.

This has got me thinking - is it healthier to have fires than central heating? I certainly feel better - not snuffly and " heavy headed".! Today John and I were out moving logs and wood around under the skeleton barn so that the wood dries out etc, (I was also clearing up more Walnut leaves, buit that's another matter!) We started discussing the fact that when you have central heating you no longer think about the effort required to get the wood ready to burn, or take in by the fire etc, the excersise has got to be beneficial and being out in the fresh air even if it is cold! The effort is definitely paid off in the pleasure that goes with having a fire giving it's warmth and comfort.

Maybe this January is not going to be so bad...........!

Designing

I'm hoping that everyone had a happy and peaceful, Christmas, ours was lovely spent with friends in Brussels. I have to say to residents of the UK if you think that the British way of dealing with snow is bad - try going to Brussels, they do NOTHING that I could see! No snow ploughs, no gritters, not a thing done to clear away the snow, it was left to the individuals to clear the path in front of their house and that was it! The roads were solid ice or snow and treacherous - no one was actually having problems though, buses were running but not brilliant, all the trams were running and cars were getting about (well maybe I should say sliding.....)

One of the things I am really aware of is that I never do anything with my yarns - I hate knitting, love crochetting, but haven't a clue how to write a pattern. How do you sell the yarns if there is nothing there for people to see? So I decided when I got back that I would do some designing!

A pair of mittens in Delice - the new 50% silk and 50% baby alpaca yarn, (dyed in pomegranate, cutch and madder extract exhausts, the colour is far more yellow than you would imagine from these dyes, but that's what went into the pan!) it's so lush and warm, these are perfect to keep your hands warm and not a bit "scratchy"!

 I have obviously made them to fit me - fairly large hands but particularly long! Both mittens can be made from 1 50g hank of yarn. Of course the biggest challenge is yet to come - how do I write up the pattern?

If anyone would be prepared to be a tester for me please email and I'll send it out with a hank of the yarn -so far I have made "long hand" notes to tell myself what to do, but putting that into a readable pattern you can follow will be interesting!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year, speak to you all in 2011!

Winter draw results

The winner of the Winter draw is Ladka who follows this blog - if you would like to send me an email with your snail address, please, I will get your parcel in the post to you next week. Congratulations and thanks to everyone for joining in!

We are going to Brussels tomorrow for Christmas, back on the 27th. I'm hoping that it will have thawed out enough to get back into the dyehouse next week - I have lots I need to be getting on with! I also want to do some more walnut experiments as I have had some husks soaking since about September!

To pur you in the right frame of mind for the weekend here's what the walnut trees have been looking like all week - the squirrels have been thoroughly enjoying gambolling in the snow and hunting for missed fallen nuts!

Merry Christmas to everyone, hope it's good for you - wherever you are!