So not everyone agrees with this strike do they, me for one that's sure!

OK let me play devil’s advocate here & put another angle on the public sector strikes. This is a scenario for a not un-typical man who's a small time builder, the sort of chap who most people will only see vaguely on a site building houses. This will happen to lots of people who are not public sector workers:

I am a builder aged 58, I am self-employed,  I do not run my own company but trade as a sole trader, so I have no income at all if a) I don’t work b) I am sick for a time (self-employed people cannot get statutory sick pay like employed people, they can only get employment support allowance which takes time to get & has to be applied for in the same way that unemployment benefit has to be applied for, so unless they are long term sick or unemployed,  no work no income).  If I’ve got the flu, unlike a teacher or refuse collector, I can’t just lie in bed for a week & still get paid. 

I have no work now because of the down turn in the economy. Yes there were a few good years back a while ago & I, like the whole of the western world took advantage of getting more & more credit to enjoy my life & taking out a bigger mortgage so that my family could live as comfortably as everyone else. 

My accountant advised me that unless I saved for a private pension I wouldn’t have any money after the age of 65 except for the State pension but I didn’t bother to take one out of course I was cocky & thought that I could save up enough not to bother with those money grabbing thieves at the pension companies who weren’t going to give me back anything like I paid in unless I lived until I was too old to care. Now like everyone else I will have to work until I’m 66 before I get state pension, OK that’s fair enough, but I have no work, nor do I have any savings left as I’ve been living on them for the last few years. I take the small jobs where I can, like repairing someone’s front wall, which I can hardly make any money out of because the work that I can get is so competitive that other people are undercutting me all the time. The money I get for the job barely covers my materials & the diesel I have to put in my van. 

So where do I go from here?  I’m finding it hard now to do the work that I did even 10 years ago. I’ve had a few accidents in my life & my joints are stiffening, it’s getting harder to get out of bed no matter what the season. My missus has a little job at the supermarket which keeps us in food & helps pay the bills but she’s 57 & won’t get her state pension until she’s just about 66. 

I don’t know how I’m going manage to work even if I can get a decent job, what with getting older & slower, when you have all these fit young lads who can shimmy up a ladder & not think about it. I can’t rely on anything at the moment so even if I had been able to afford to buy a private pension I’d have to have stopped paying into it a few years ago, so my pension would be worth b* all by now anyway.

This is why those of us who aren’t employed by the state have a problem with the strike, many of us don’t get anything except basic state pension unless we pay a very large amount for it, & while I, a woman, sitting at my desk & working can manage another 6 years or so if I have to, there are very many people out there who will physically be unable to carry on & never having had the benefit of being in state employment, won’t get any fat pension at the end of their working lives. 

Another thing that really amuses me is that many of these people who are striking would claim to be good citizens, caring about those less fortunate than themselves, many would also probably claim to be socialists as well, yet they don't give a rat's arse about the fact that it's all of the UK tax paying world who actually have to pay the rest of the contributions for these pensions. I see no problem with the public sector employees paying a higher percentage of their earnings if they want a decent amount for their retirement. I see many of my friends who have been teachers retire early, because they have had such inflated salaries compared to many in the private sector, that they have huge savings stashed away & can afford to travel off to all sorts of exotic countries, play golf & generally enjoy themselves & still expect us the public to pay them a grand pension. And if another teacher tells me how stressed their job is I think I'll wring their necks. Do they not think that people working in the private sector have to cope with stress? Once when we had to ask our solicitor for advice on an ex client who was being thoroughly nasty & offensive & threatening to sue us for nothing we'd done wrong, his comment was 'wouldn't life be wonderful without clients to deal with'! Even though I'm my own boss, boy do I get some awful times, after all I have to cope with public sector workers regularly & let me tell you I'd like to take them out & give some of them a good shaking down. Yes I know that very often their hands are tied with work practices that are sent down from above, but the people who sit on high are also public sector & IT'S ME WHO PAYS THEIR WAGES!!!! They are supposed to be PUBLIC SERVANTS, but do they ever consider that? Do they hell!

So that's why I'm afraid I have no sympathy with this strike. Get on with it, knuckle down & do the work like the rest of us have to to earn our money & just be grateful that you have a very well paid job & can live in comfort unlike those people who do not. Or retire early & live on your humungus savings & let some of the young people or those who have been made redundant & would kill for your jobs have them

I've been ignoring my blog

I've been so busy lately that I've not had spare time to put anything on my blog. Life was hectic in the run-up to Fibre-East, but it went brilliantly in the end after all the worry. Much praise to the main organiser Janet who put in hours of work on getting everything to run smoothly & keep traders informed and up to date. There were things that could have gone a bit more smoothly and some misinformation and we needed better signs, but it was the first festival, so hopefully they will be ironed out for next year. Also much praise to Camilla who worked very hard with the publicity, without her I don't think nearly so many people would have come through the gates. Most people seem to have had a great time at the show, and it looks like there are traders who couldn't make it in 2011 who want to book for 2012, so obviously there's a market in the East/Midlands for another fibre festival.

Ruby's Ripple blanket

I've still be spinning & knitting as well as recently finished a crocheted ripple blanket for baby Ruby. Despite trying to do the starting chain loosely it was a bit tight at the edge. I really should have used a bigger hook. It was made in Sirdar Juicy, a bamboo & cotton blend, ideal for a summer baby. Now of course I wish I'd used something else to make it in, summer has really gone with all these storms coming in. Anyway it should still be warm enough to use for a while yet. I've now got to knit or crochet another blanket for her cousin who's expected in a couple of months time so I'd better get myself sorted out with some yarn. Trouble is I don't want to make exactly the same blanket, but I'm a bit stumped what to make. It does work out very expensive buying so much yarn, I got this lot from a seller on Ebay so wasn't too bad & I still have some left which I'll probably use for weaving a scarf or something, but it's proving hard to get anything reasonable for the new baby, I'll probably go for wool, so will have to get round to looking for yarn soon.

Just finished spinning up some wool for socks for the shearer who was at Fibre-East. He gave me a CharrolaisX fleece & I said I'd spin & knit him some socks. I started knitting them last week but then realised they were going to be far too wide, so frogged them & started again with fewer stitches, just not used to knitting men's socks so it looks like these may take some time to get finished especially as I've just had a delivery of some Marble Chunky to knit for Xmas and a ball of 4ply to knit a scarf for my niece who lost the last one I made for her.

A long time

Well it's 6 months since I last posted here, then autumn, now spring is on it's way. No excuses really, just being busy with getting on with life. Work has been very quiet the last couple of months but that's quite usual for this time of year, it will all start to go mad again once we get into April & the new tax year.

I've been doing my fair share of knitting & spinning & have even taken up the crochet hook again to make a blanket out of granny afghan squares. Even taught someone at Guild how to crochet properly & it seems she can't put her hook down now! Always good to pass skills on to other people, so much is in danger of getting lost.

On the knitting front I've made a lovely chunky jacket out of James Brett Marble Chunky in the sort of blue/turquoise/purple colourway. I even had a compliment from a lady on the doctor's surgery today to say how lovely it is! Always good to get compliments about your handiwork. I've also made the inevitable couple of pairs of new socks, some of my old ones have just about become unwearable, although they're fine under old boots for walking. I'm knitting a Traveliing Woman shawl at the moment out of some sock yarn in burgundy/pink colours as I wanted to try the pattern out before using it for some handspun which I spun for the sole purpose of making this shawl. It is an easy feather & fan type pattern, but I don't know if I want to make more of an effort to use a more difficult lace pattern for my own handspun. I will have to think on it some more. The advantage is that it's an easy to remember pattern though.

I'm crocheting a blanket out of bits & pieces, had some yarn that I'd bought to make a cardigan for my Great niece, but I really didn't like the colours so put them together with some other bits & pieces that I had & it's going to make a really cozy blanket.

Spinning wise I've been doing a mix of merino & alpaca which is coming out a lovely mottled heathery effect chestnut & cream. I'm hoping to get enough out of it to make a waistcoat for me. I've also got some merino on my Bee. I'm a bit disappointed with that little wheel which keeps having bits come loose & despite spending ages cleaning it, as I think the previous owner must have used the wrong sort of oil, it is still hard to get the tension from slipping & needs far more TLC than my Lendrum which I really do still love to spin on. I can sit & spin on that almost all day without really thinking about it, I feel so lucky to have got it.

Going back to the doctor's surgery bit, I've got cellulitis again in my leg, which is an infection in the cells, I think this time it's from insect bites. My leg started to hurt & swell up Sunday week ago & by the Monday night it was really hot, swollen & sore, so I went to see the clinic nurse & she put me on antibiotics. Went back Friday & then again today & it's still not gone, so back onto another course for another week. This isn't the first time I've had problems like this, seems I'm rather prone to it, I don't know if this sort of thing runs in families but I know both my Brother & Cousins have had problems with this type of infection as well.

The Website's Up

Jan's put the website up over the weekend, Fibre-East so we've really gone public. A couple of workshops and traders already on board, so it's starting to feel as though it's really happening now, so hope all the hard work we've been doing will pay off.

On the knitting front I had a small disaster, the spaniel destroyed my second sock that I was knitting. I'd left it on the arm of the sofa one evening while we were having dinner & he must have got caught up with it while the 2 dogs were playing. I went in & it was strung out right through the room & into the dining room (we eat in the kitchen when it's just 2 of us). To get it off him he'd chewed through the circular needle - my lovely Knitpicks Pro wood needle - & through the knitting. I got a new one on Saturday, but while I was ordering it a set of blocking wires fell into my basket, well I had to console myself somehow didn't I. I've also started a pair of socks from some handspun yarn. The fibre was from a bag that I got from World of Wool, what they call their lap waste. This can be any colour or any fibre, ends of runs etc., some of it's a bit manky, but for £8 for a big bag fibre it's not bad really you just have to work a bit harder to get decent stuff to spin. I blended some of the fibres & came out with a sort of turquoise base with bright pink flecks. I'm knitting them on 2.25 needles to make a dense fabric to make it harder wearing as it's not got any nylon blended in. I might make the effort to get some nylon to blend if I'm happy with this pair. I spun the wool on my Bee spinning wheel at 18:1 ratio, then plied at 20:1. I thought that because I'd used a higher than normal twist that the yarn might be a bit unbalanced, but was pleased when I took it off the niddy-noddy to find that it was fine, well balanced & the overtwist was fine after plying. It's knitting up really well, but it's pretty hard on my hands to knit because of the small needles, so I'm only knitting a little bit at a time.

I've also picked up my Hoswick Jacket again now that it's cooler. I wimped out of it because I'd got to the armhole shaping & still have to keep the fairisle pattern correct. Normally I wouldn't decrease on the 1st & last stitch of the armhole but one stitch in. However I have on this, hopefully as it's steeked it will be OK, only time will tell. I'm thinking about changing the cuffs & neckline as well. They're sort of frilly & fluted, that's not really my taste. I think I may just do a simple neckline & plainish cuffs.

Autumn rolls in

Well that's how it's started to feel anyway, the days are shorter, the berries are all really appearing on the hedgerows, the apples & pears on the trees in the garden are needing to be picked & I'm knitting lots of socks, getting ready to keep the tootsies warm this winter. People think I'm mad, but I really love my hand knitted socks, in fact I did a few rows this morning in the hairdressers while I was waiting for my colour to brew. The boss wanted to know if I was knitting Xmas pressies, but no their mine, all mine . This pair are plain blue & when I started to knit them I thought 'how boring' so I've put a sort of broken spiral pattern in them. I know most of the time people can't see them, but I like them & that's all that matters really.

We're still plodding on with the preparations for Fibre-East, but one big frustration is that although we're really keen, other people take so long to get back to us, it's just not the priority for them like it is for us, don't know how they can be so calm about it all! I just keep hoping that we can really get this festival off the ground albeit in a small way to start with, there are just so many more people now who are getting into fibre crafts & it would be really great to be able to bring a new festival into the area. I suppose it may have been better starting this off a few years ago, when the economy was a bit better, but there are more & more small producers of indie dyed yarns & fibre & also equipment like spindles, so the hope is that some of these newer businesses will come on board.

It's all happening

Well I can at last let my breath out and start to talk about what I've been involved with for the past 6 weeks or so. It seems much longer than that somehow because so much has been happening.

Some months ago I offered my help to a friend who was considering organising a new fibre festival. I said that if she wanted help on the finance & planning then I'd be only too happy to help out. So she asked me about 6 weeks ago if I was still interested & of course I said 'Yes', anything to do with spinning & knitting & I'm in there. So the ideas began flying back & forth, lots of finding out possible venues, the cost of hiring marquees & portable loos, how much to charge traders, doing plans of floor space. But there was one problem, finding a venue. One of the other people interested, Emma had found a possible site in Surrey, but they wouldn't communicate with Jan, so that was no good. Then she went to an open day/craft day at a farm in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire & thought the farm would be an ideal place. She talked to them & they said they were up for it! We went to visit them & they showed us round the possible fields that we could use & we went away with a venue & lots of ideas buzzing in our heads.

Now we really had to find out very seriously about hiring stuff, and found a few local companies who look as though they will be OK. Jan's in the process of designing a website so that we can go live at the end of September, but she's already getting people wanting trading stalls & that's before we've done any real advertising. It has been circulated to the local Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers, but only just gone out on the huge internet forum of Ravelry, so hopefully people will be starting to generate interest very soon.

Although it's only in the very early stages, we want to work really hard to have a festival here in the East/South/Midlands, so many hours of slog will have to go into getting it just right so that people can have an enjoyable weekend.

Did I tell you the date? It's 23rd & 24th July 2011. The venue will be Scald End Farm, Thurleigh, Bedfordshire.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Another spinning wheel

I haven't posted anything for ages, too busy with life & work I suppose.

Since I last posted I've bought myself another spinning wheel & acquired an alpaca fleece, neither of which I really needed, but this hobby is starting to really get me drawn in. Firstly the spinning wheel is a second-hand Spinolution Bee , bought from someone who I know through that great medium called Ravelry. I met Kat last year at a spinning workshop & was totally captivated by the little Bee, which folded up into a boxlike structure for carrying, so when she advertised it for sale I was straight in there. I had been looking to buy a new one, but they are very expensive, so didn't bother, but of course buying 2nd hand it worked out cheaper. I got 7 bobbins and a bag with it, which are all very expensive, so did really well I think. It's a totally different spinning concept to my other 2 wheels, on the Bee the treadling is a rocking action rather than a treadle as it is on most wheels. It took me a while to really get into it & I got really frustrated because I couldn't get the tension to work properly, either it wouldn't wind on the bobbin & I got too much twist or if I tightened the tension then it wouldn't get enough twist. It has a very unusual tensioning system, which works on Scotch tension principle, where you tighten the tension on the bobbin separately to the tension on the drive band, but it just kept slipping & I thought that I'd made a really bad mistake with buying it. I did join the Spinolution group on Ravelry & noticed that she'd posted about the problem a few months ago, so I contacted her & she suggested that I try what they also suggest, which is rubbing the little bit of suede on the tension block, which acts as a kind of brake system, to rough it up as it smooths out in time. I did this & it was a little better. But before I went to spin on it last night I decided to have another look at the tension block to make sure it was OK. It wasn't, it had become black & oily again, so I got some paper towel & a soft cloth & gave it a really good clean out. There's a spring at the back of where the flyer is connected to the shaft and there was some oil that had become really gunky. I think this might have been transferring back onto the part where the flyer arm goes back to meet the tension block. So after I'd cleaned it I cleaned the suede again, roughed it up & then put some beeswax onto the suede to keep it clean & give it more contact on the flyer arm. It seems to have worked as I didn't have nearly as much trouble getting the yarn to wind on. This particular wheel is made using ball bearings so needs rarely or never to be oiled, so I think either the wrong oil had been used or it was just too much oil for the wheel. I hope that it will now settle down & I'll have many happy hours using it. It's also great because it's quite small I can sit on the couch & use it & not block him indoors' view of the telly, which my other wheels do!

The alpaca came from a lovely couple, near to where I live. His Mum was a member of our Guild, she joined because he had the alpacas & she wanted to learn to spin the fleece. Unfortunately she died last Christmas, so the fleeces from this year's clip were all just left. We went to the farm to have an afternoon spinning etc., drinking tea & eating yummy cakes. Some of the Guild took fleeces & I was determined not to, but there were a couple left & one was a pretty humbug, sort of oatmeal colour, so I took it in the end & gave a donation for the local charity that they support. It's still sitting here, a month on waiting for me to do something with it. I'll probably blend it with some wool rather than spin it by itself I think. I'll experiment & see what happens