Svengelska Hemskolan

Happy 50th birthday Youssou N'Dour From loiswakeman in Meeja! (8 hours old)

A treat for world music fans that I caught in the wee small hours on the BBC World Service: an interview with the immensely charming and (I think) talented Youssou N'Dour. Sometimes, you hear someone … more

More tag woes (bug?, not complaint) From loiswakeman in Help (4 days old)

If I search on a tag in my blog, it says there are no posts matching, but if I click on "more posts tagged with this" at the bottom, the posts are found. EG: Posts tagged with: names of things … more

The names fireworks call themselves From loiswakeman in eye for information (4 days old)

Number 4 in an occasional series: 1 was staplers, 2 was caravans, and 3 was chairs. Some while ago, I got an Epic Fireworks catalogue through the post - why they think a 2-man company would mount a… more

Bonfire Night 2008 From loiswakeman in Devon Life (4 days old)

A poem I wrote this time last year and never got round to posting... Last night, I burnt a thousand peacock feathers, cast-offs from the feather factory, ten tidy bundles of a hundred each. Bro… more

Ironic, or what? From loiswakeman in Meeja! (10 days old)

In the latest O'Reilly catalogue, I was rather amused to find an entry for The Twitter Book by Tim O'Reilly and Sarah Milstein, which weighs in at 240 pages. A system set up to use 140 character messa… more

This little doggie... From loiswakeman in eye for information (12 days old)

I recently installed a trial version of WinZip to see if it was any better than my ancient licensed copy languishing somewhere on floppy disk (!). It wasn't, and I have now decided to uninstall it - v… more

Past Miscarriages and Ill Health From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (14 days old)

I feel terrible that I haven't blogged for over a month, but life has really been hard and I have had difficulty trying to cope with it. The beginning of October marked the anniversary of the first… more

Spit and swallows From loiswakeman in Devon Life (24 days old)

It is easy to worry about climate change desertifying Africa, flooding Bangladesh and melting the polar ice ? but very hard for us ordinary mortals to actually do anything other than be as careful as … more

Celebrity spotting in Axminster From loiswakeman in Devon Life (25 days old)

Today I went to the Axminster Guildhall to donate blood (my 17th - blimey!) Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall - of River Cottage fame - was giving his portion of celebrity blood as I arrived and it was fu… more

Sauce for the goose... From loiswakeman in Meeja! (27 days old)

The radio news is full of MPs bleating about how unfair it is that the rules on reasonable expenses have been changed after the fact. It's called retrospective legislation chaps - just like the rules … more

What price original photos? From loiswakeman in Meeja! (33 days old)

I assume this item isn't a wind -up - it seems to suggest that none of us needs to pick up a camera again, since this clever product can trawl the web for sunsets, kittens in baskets, naked ladies… more

Font or Cheese? From loiswakeman in The Spog Blog (48 days old)

Do you know your Gautami from your Gouda, font from Fontina, or Helvetica from Swiss? Take this (rather long-winded) quiz and find out! (If you find this amusing, you are probably another turophile… more

Alpacas and Spinning From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (49 days old)

As promised, here are the pics of the gorgeous alpacas whose lovely fleeces I have bought. Aren't they adorable. I have begun washing the fleeces and so far am really pleased with them… more

Babies...... From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (56 days old)

Three weeks ago, I went to Shrewsbury to see my cousin and his 3 month old twins (also so pick up some yummy alpaca fleeces, but more on that another time!!) This is the first time I have had to co… more

'Sun' headline writer in local council shocker From loiswakeman in Meeja! (66 days old)

My regular readers (or at least, those who used to be when I posted regularly) will know that I have taken on the job of Parish Clerk for my village. I had visions of a quiet life of paperwork and pho… more

The Art Of Knitting (Again) From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (67 days old)

Last month I finally completed the "Shaker Style Throw" from the partwork magazine "The Art Of Knitting". I have been knitting this throw for around 12 months and am really pleased to have finally … more

Beaded Jewellery From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (72 days old)

As those of you who have seen my Etsy shop will know, I make and sell beaded jewellery. For those of you who don't then you can check some of the jewellery I make in my Etsy shop at http://www.knitte… more

Hurry - your last chance to hear... From loiswakeman in Meeja! (76 days old)

... the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain at the Proms. I only just came across this little gem last night - and am listening again, again. Forget George Formby, and revel in a very eclectic mi… more

Depression From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (82 days old)

Those of you who have suffered with Depression will understand how I am feeling and those of you who haven't are soooooo lucky. My Depression has been coming and going for the past couple of years,… more

The Lake District From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (87 days old)

Finally, here are the rest of my pictures from the Lake District from the end of June when I went to Woolfest 2009. The first lot of photos were taken from the hotel in Whitehaven. … more

Woolfest 2009 From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (98 days old)

Finally, as promised, here are the Woolfest 2009 photos. As usual, there were loads of sheep and alpacas and the "sheep" for the auction were absolutely gorgeous and some went for mega money. … more

Black Sheep of the Family From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (106 days old)

Why is it that in some families one of the children will always be the "black sheep" whether they deserve it or not??? The past couple month has been a nightmare. Firstly there was the "death thre… more

People Who Leave Comments From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (115 days old)

The past couple of weeks I have noticed peopl leaving me not very nice comments and I always feel that "if you have nothing nice to say don't say it". I wish some people would think in this way when … more

Nasty, Evil People From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (125 days old)

This post is going to be all about the nasty and evil people whom are out there. Just over a fortnight ago I went to Woolfest up in Cumbria with hubby. We set off on the Friday lunchtime and came … more

Copyright on Patterns From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (128 days old)

This is going to be a short post as I have had one heck of a week (those of you on my Facebook and Ravelry friends will know all about it, for all others I will post about it next week). The reason… more

Happy Father's Day From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (141 days old)

Whilst I was going through the pictures on my camera I realised that I never posted the ribbed jumper which I knitted hubby twice!!! Yes you heard me correctly I had to knit it twice!! Those of yo… more

LIFE!!!!!! From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (148 days old)

Why is life so crap???????? Yesterday morning my father came to see me all excited with the news that his nephew's wife had given birth to twins. He went on and one about how pleased he was for th… more

Latest Knitting Order and Other Goodies From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (151 days old)

My latest knitting order is off a lady who likes the pink lace machine knitted cardigan which I have on Etsy in a larger size. I of course said it wouldn't be a problem....I was wrong. I have … more

Machine Knitting and My Etsy Shop From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (169 days old)

First of all I thought I would show you what I have been machine knitting over the past 6 months. The first is a baby shawl in a lovely baby blue. It didn't take long to machine knit, but....the… more

The ICSI Cycle Failed From KnitterScarlet ^Pro in Knitter Scarlet (175 days old)

Firstly I would like to apologise for not posting on Friday. On Tuesday I began bleeding and by Fridy morning I knew for definite that the ICSI cycle had failed and my two little embryos had died… more