Manfred Mann - Colchester Mercury

I have been to another concert!! So late start this am.

Managed to get to meet the band and got all their autographs too. Plus just two quick pictures.

Paul Jones (69) and Tom Mcguinness (70) still playing fantastic.

Not so good an image I need a new camera, this was on my mobile.

Anyway i had a good time.

Having had surgery my poor wee dog is finding it hard to recuperate.  Upset tummys all round. Poor Molly had been ill again when I got home. Friends had looked after her till 10. She had the runs all over the art room, thankfully its lino, but at 11pm not fun to clean up!! Its another saga in my life but I do hope she is now going to be better.

The Blues Band at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds

Last night I went to the Apex to see my favorite band, The Blues Band. http://www.thebluesband.net/  I just love these guys and have been going to their concerts for 31 years. OM goodness that is a long time. 

Well it was a real hoot I decided to have a go and see if I could still fit into one of the old tour T-shirt, miracle with a bit of adjustment to my spare tyre yeah I'm in. Loads of people asked me about the teeshirt and my badges, even the staff!! I know I'm an old groupie, but you just can' get the groupie out of the girl no matter how old she is!!

Over the years i reckon I have been to over 40 concerts, stayed for a weekend with the band and other fans in a hotel in Grimsby, met all the band many times and know the roadie and staff that always sell the merchandise. Its a bit like a family thing. 

If any of you are old enough the lead singer is one Paul Jones who was lead singer with Manfred Mann in the 1960's. Tom McGuinness was also lead guitarist in MM. Dave Kelly is the best ever slide and acoustic player he's been in some great bands too. Base is played by Gary Fletcher who writes a mean song too. Drums are played by Rob Townsend, he's brilliant too.

If you like blues Paul Jones has a radio show on BBC R2 on Mondays at 7pm. That show has been running since the 1980's. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00y8x5p/Paul_Jones_09_02_2011/ 

This was one of the best gigs I have seen the guys play and if I died now I'd be happy.

Not much art going on here as I am still on socks. Nearly at the end of my patience with them, so the needles will be going away soon for their summer vacation.

Digging has been going on at the veg plot as we have had some good drying winds. The greenhouse has nearly been cleared out and the earth from that is put on the root crop beds. 

Ski Socks

Here is the latest pair of socks, these are knee length, so take two balls of yarn. I did not have two balls of the same colour so I have combined two yarns. They are from different manufacturers but knit to the same tensions. Here is the result.

More yarns have arrived too.

Soon I shall have to change my profile entry to "The Sock Knitter".

More Sock Yarn Arrives

These are the latest yarns!! Lovely bright colours, they were collected from my local PO today. Picture below each ball of yarn gives you an idea how it knits up.  These three brands are the very, very best and therefore are the top $ price. Opal. Trekking and Schoeller+Stahl can't be beaten. All are 75% New wool and 25% polyamid, machine wash 40c, Do NOT Tumble.

Mad Socks can be made using several different balls of yarn for one pair. These will be totally unique.

More is on the way, ebay buys, as all the best sock yarn come from Germany. 

Swapping Stuff

I belong to a web art group and last year one member offered a swap of stuff. You know we all have lots hidden about our dwellings!!! 

First off I owe Trudy a big SORRY!!! My postie left her parcel in my shed and forgot to pop a note in my door to say she had done this. DOH its winter time, who goes in the garden shed, its raining freezing cold and I'm going to garden. Any way yep there the parcel sat for days and days. 

Good news is I got real excited when I realised who it was from. This is what I got..................

MILK???? No read on lol.

Just Knitting patterns??? No read on..............

OMG loads!!!!

Buttons

Jewellery and beads.

Thank you Trudy. Now I got a hard task to find enough good stuff to send back.

Shetland Wool - Felted Snuggle Blanket

This is the finished blanket. 

Picture 1 Folded ready for use.

Picture 2 Draped over my 2 seater settee so you can see how big it is. 7x5ft !!!

Picture 3 Inside/wrong side showing seams.

Picture 4 right side showing edgings.

The more you wash it the softer and fluffier it gets. Hand wash then spin/rinse in your washing machine.

It took a whole kilo of yarn. That's 2.2 LBS.

Sock It to Me Baby!!!!

Ok so I am just going nuts on knitting socks. It must be all the cold weather!!! Plus I found a bargain from Germany, six balls of sock yarn, on auction just before Christmas day. Not a good deal for the seller but oh boy I did well!!


I've knitted the red/black and grey pair for my friend Ann, she deserves a treat and these will keep her nice and snug when she's out walking the dogs. So these took me 4 days of knitting whilst watching TV, or having a game of scrabble on facebook. 


Today I started on a brown pair, going to do these in a man's size, perhaps I'll sell them at the village fete later this year. Oh it will be summer then, I hope.

On the machine knitting front I have been experimenting with felting Shetland lambswool. It comes on huge cones and I have more than several cones. So I thought it would be nice to knit some snuggly felted blankets. They take a while as each one has 3,600 rows for the main part and another 4,000 or so for the border. And I have to join the strips of knitting. Phew, first one done today. Then chuck it in the washing machine and 30c quick wash, delicate setting. Its come out looking good, now it just has to dry.