Cloud, Eesit, Stone

Little cloud from one of the maroons announcing the Breeches Buoy Demo on 23rd August at Prior's Haven, part of the 150th anniversary celebrations for the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade. (The event was filmed by BBC Coast, and I'll post a link, for those with access to UK tv, as soon as it's available).

Beachcombings: hag stone, or holey stone, from the beach at Prior's Haven.

Now the dog rose flowers are almost gone, same colours in bindweed growing above King Edward's Bay.

In progress: lace stitch cowl in Native Shetland Wool (shade: Eesit).

"Is it Caspar, Melchior, Balzar...

...Is it Beastrib, or Muttoncalf, or Legstring?"

('Rumpelstiltskin'  Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, 1812)

Quite a late night last, spinning this, my first tiny ball of wool, from lovely chocolate brown Ryeland fleece. I suppose it's the sort of work a young child would produce in the days when everyone could spin, super-chunky and guilty of 'slubs' and 'overspin', but it should knit up into a fine mug-cosy/pint-cooler. I hope the producer of this fine fleece was not overly snowed upon this winter.

Ryeland sheep have been famous for at least six centuries, kept by the monks of Leominster in the rye-growing area of South Herefordshire. Their wool was known as 'Leominster Ore' and for hundreds of years it was the main wool used in English broadcloth.