Podcasts about polworth

Elizabeth Baird Hardy, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts Professor, the genius behind AppalachianInkling.com, Hunger Games expert, and author of Milton, Spenser and the Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels, joined Nick and John to discuss the Charm Bracelet that J. K. Rowling posted on her Twixter home page as a Christmas gift to her readers. She said that that the thirteen charms on nine links were a set of clues about the next Strike novel, the ninth in a ten book series.In the first Part of Elizabeth, Nick, and John's conversation, they discussed Rowling's charm bracelet history, speculated about why she posted this picture when she did, decided to look at each charm on the bracelet for its stand-alone meaning and its place in the nine link set, and to read the whole series as if it were a ring composition, one reflecting a nine Part structure in Strike 9. They then made deep dives into the details of each charm: the heart shaped box containing a ‘You and Me' engagement ring, a golden diamond-laden egg, a foul anchor, two angels, and a Trojan horse.In this second Part of that conversation, the trio of Serious Strikers continue with the remaining charms on the bracelet, namely, a Jack-in-the-box, an Hourglass, a White Rose and Crocodile, a Corvid head, and a Psalter paired on the last link with the Head of Persephone. They share their thoughts, too, about the bracelet as a symbolic integer and its ring meaning.The notes below are in support of references they make mid-flight and to other resources of interest to Magic Charm Decoders! Enjoy.Thank you to all our subscribers with special gratitude and appreciations for our paid subscribers; you are the wind in our sails, the heat from our vents… Serious Strikers are reading Browning's The Ring and the Book, charting Hallmarked Man Part Six, and reviewing the Myth of Cupid and Psyche to look for parallels in the Strike-Ellacott series. See you soon!Jack-in-the-Box Charm* Rowling claims this as her favorite charm (Nick and John in the conversation mistakenly attribute this preference to the Psalter charm):* Badly Wired Lamp ID'd it* Is it a devil — or a Racoon?* The jack in the box toy, the 'Jack' being a devil, was invented in Germany in the 16th century as a mockery of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. * The shape of this charm, the golden circular center in the inside of the open box top, represents the transcendent spiritual realm and the square bottom with its four directions, the fallen world. The ‘jack' devil lives in the latter but is from the former.* The charm is the third latched object in the chain, the heart box and Trojan horse preceding it and the psalter at chain's end following it — which means the ring latch and center are latched objects with surprises inside. The two interior objects at center have deadly surprises and the beginning and end eternal life interiors. The symbolism here is of the human being and its capacity via choice for either spiritual perfection in sacrificial love (anteros) or consumption by individual desires (eros). The thing hidden inside, man's spiritual capacity or heart, is either light or darkness, the inside bigger than the outside. (John)* What is the Strike 9 connection, the analogue to the demonic Jack in the box? Is it RFM? Uncle Ted? Ilsa's husband Nick? Polworth?* The Jack's position is at the center of the bracelet and between the hourglass and the Trojan horse. So it's placed between cleverness and craftiness and things that we can control and bad surprises, but also time, because we can't control time. (Elizabeth)Hourglass Charm* tempus fugit ‘like sand in an hourglass'* memento mori* infinite symbol* The Strike series may be a collection of mystery-story genres, each one illustrating a unique type of story, different from all the others while keeping the same core of characters and overarching narrative (cf., Rowling's note in The Running Grave acknowledgements that that book was her “cult” book). The hourglass, then, may be Rowling's pointer to Strike9 being a suspense drama in which the good guys not only have a challenging mission (find and rescue the missing Robin, Strike, Lucy, Pat, whomever) but have to do it before a literal deadline arrives. The Ticking Clock plot device.* If the Jack at link five is the center of the bracelet ring of nine links, how does the hourglass mirror the Trojan horse? It's two parts? The deadline aspect? “Reveal the crazies inside before the hourglass empties”?White Rose Charm* White Rose of Yorkshire* The interior of the flower charm is a literal Turtleback or ring composition diagram.* White Rose of Dante: Paradiso Cantos XXXI and XXXIIThe true home of all the blessed is with God in the Empyrean, a heaven of pure light beyond time and space. Dante sees the blessed systematically arranged in an immense white rose: like a hologram, a three-dimensional image, the rose is formed from a ray of light reflected off the outer surface of the Primum Mobile (30.106-17). The queen of this white rose is the Virgin Mary, traditionally represented as a rose herself (see Par. 23.73-4). This celestial rose recalls large rose windows of Gothic cathedrals, many of which are dedicated to Mary. The image of the rose, often red, is also used to represent Christ or, in other contexts, earthly love. The white rose is symmetrically structured according to various criteria, including belief, age, and gender. One half of the rose, already full, holds those who, according to Christian tradition, believed in Christ to come (the blessed of the Hebrew Bible); the other half, with only a few seats still unoccupied, contains those who believed in Christ already come (saved Christians). Two gendered rows mark this division of the rose in two halves. In the row below Mary appear women of the Hebrew Bible (Eve, Rachel, Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, Ruth, and unnamed others); Beatrice is seated next to Rachel, on the third row from the top. Opposite Mary, John the Baptist heads a row of men containing Francis, Benedict, Augustine, and other Christian fathers. Mary is flanked by Adam (first man) and Moses on one side, and Peter (first pope) and John the Evangelist on the other. John the Baptist is flanked by Lucy on one side and Anna, the mother of Mary, on the other. While only adults are seated in the upper section of the rose, below a certain line the rose contains souls of blessed children, their precise location based not on their own merits (since they lacked the power of free will) but on predestination. As physical laws do not apply in the Empyrean, Dante's ability to see these figures is not diminished by distance (30.118-23; 31.76-8).* White Rose of Mockingjay (Hunger Games finale)The prevailing symbol of Catching Fire and the most meaningful token the Christ figure of the series gives Katniss is a pearl, the solid-light symbolism of which we've discussed before. I think Commander Paylor's name may be our last Madge-Pearl-Mags name reference in being a “pale orb.” That gold and pearls have a similar translucency and metaphysical correspondence with the ‘Light of the World' make the twin possibilities that much more rich — and Commander Paylor's ascending to Panem's Presidency that much more meaningful and appropriate.Katniss steps into the Garden with the Pearl's blessing (“on my authority”) and discovers roses of every possible color. There are red, of course, and “lush pink, sunset orange, and even pale blue.” She knows what she wants, though; the rose colored like light, the white rose, Dante's symbolic prelude to the beatific vision and transcendence. Just as she cuts the “magnificent white bud just about to open” “from the top of a slender bush” (ibid, p. 355), the manacled, “pale, sickly green” President Snow, our snake in the Garden, speaks.“The colors, are lovely, of course, but nothing says perfection like white.”Our story Satan, you recall, left her a white rose in District 12 in chapter 1 and dropped roses with the bunker buster bombs in Part 1 to terrify Katniss. Now we know why. He was taunting her with her end, that as a seeker's soul he knew her goal was perfection in Christ and taunted her with it, especially when he held Peeta-Christ and understood the cartharsis and chrysalis she would have to pass through to claim it herself. Now that she is in the inner sanctuary, the High Place, he tells her the truth she could not hear anywhere else, the final, ugly truth about the cause for which Katniss had sacrificed everything. Snow reveals, just as Peeta had told her at the story's start, that she was deceived by those she trusted. President Coin killed Primrose with a weapon designed by Gale.Having been to the Absolute center, the world navel, and taken away the beatific vision as a white rose, Katniss is no longer a seeker but the resolution of contraries, an androgyn of justice and mercy. She is above right and wrong now as the phoenix-mockingjay and hears the voice of the “murderer” on the Hanging Tree at last. She deceives President Coin at the Victors Meeting as something of an avenging angel; she becomes a murderer herself by assassinating President Coin. Peeta-Christ comes down from the tree as her savior once again and prevents her suicide via Nightlock by his out-of-nowhere intervention.* Why does the White Rose share the seventh bracelet link with a crocodile? Faerie Queene!Crocodile Charm* The Crocodile in Shed, crocodile skin handbags (Hallmarked Man) “Maybe the4 crocodile or whatever they're keeping in the shed's chewed its way out,” said Strike. “ (Chapter 22, p 176; center chapter of Part 2)* Crocodile entry, Cirlot's Dictionary of SymbolismCrocodile Two basically different aspects of the crocodile are blended in its symbolic meaning, representing the influence upon the animal of two of the four Elements. In the first place, because of it viciousness and destructive power, the crocodile came to signify fury and evil in Egyptian hieroglyphics (19); in the second place, since it inhabits a realm intermediate between earth and water, and is associated with mud and vegetation, it came to be thought of as an emblem of fecundity and power (50). In the opinion of Mertens Stienon there is a third aspct, deriving from its resemblance to the dragon and the serpent, as a symbol of knowledge. In Egypt, the dead used to be portrayed transformed into crocodiles of knowledge, an idea which is linked with that of the zodiacal sign of Capricorn. Blavatsky compares the crocodile with the Kumara of India (40). Then, finally, come the symbols of Inversion proper and of rebirth. (67)* Lyndy Abraham's Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery entry for ‘Crocodile:'Crocodile The mercurial *serpent or transforming arcanum in its initial chthonic aspect during the dark, destructive opening of the opus alchymicum. Like the *bee, the crocodile was classified as a serpent in te bestiaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The amphibious nature of the crocodile made it an apt symbol for the dual-natured *Mercurius. When Lepidus in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra says, ‘Your serpent of Egypt is bred of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile' (2.7.26-7), he is referring to the generation of gold in the earth, and the generation of the mercurial serpent through the heat of the secret *fire or ‘sun'. With the phrase ‘operation of your sun' Lepidus also alludes to the final law of the alchemical Emerald Table: ‘That which I had to say about the operation of the Sun is completed' (48)* Sandy Hope on Crocodile symbolismIsis Church crocodile in Faerie Queene: Book 5, Canto VIIBook V Canto vii. The speaker praises the virtue of justice and cites Osyris as an example of the just man. His wife, Isis, represented equity and to the Temple of Isis Britomart and Talus come to spend the night. Talus, however, is not allowed into the temple. Britomart enters and sees a statue of Isis with her foot on a crocodile. The temple is also full of the priests of Isis who are not allowed to drink wine as it leads to rebellion. Britomart sleeps under the statue of Isis and dreams that the crocodile comes alive and threatens the Goddess. The Goddess subdues the crocodile and it becomes meek and then impregnates the Goddess. She gives birth to a lion which conquers all other beats. Britomart awakes and tells her troubling dream to a priest. He tells her that the crocodile represents Arthegall, Isis represents Britomart, and the lion their son whom they will conceive. Grateful for the interpretation, Britomart leaves and comes to Radigund's castle. Radigund and Britomart battle, Britomart is wounded in the shoulder, and finally Britomart beheads Radigund. Talus enters the castle and wreaks carnage on the Amazon women inside. Britomart finds Arthegall dressed, like other, in women's clothing. she is shamed by the sight, and it is not quite clear whether her suspicions that Arthegall has been unfaithful are confirmed or refuted. She finds Arthegall some armour, arms him, and the rest in the castle. during this time Britomart rules as a princess and reforms the Amazon society so that women are restored to proper subjection to men. Finally, Arthegall leaves to complete his quest against Grantorto. Britomart lets him leave because she knows that his success in this quest is important to restore his ego. After residing further at the Amazon castle she finally leaves to help keep her mind off the absent Arthegall.* The Spenser Encyclopedia entry for ‘Church of Isis:' (408) Clifford DavidsonWhen Britomart spends the night in the temple, she sees a ‘wondrous vision' in which she participates first as a votary of Isis and then as the goddess herself. Her devotion to the statue causes her to become Isis in her dream: she is serving at the altar when she sees herself transformed into Isis but wearing the royal robe. The crocodile awakens, devours the flames which threaten to destroy the temple, and threatens to eat Isis/Britomart until it is driven back by her rod. Then it seeks her ‘grace and love,' she yields, it impregnates her, and from their union she gives birth to a lion. As the Priest explains, the crocodile is Osiris (the Egyptian god of Justice) who sleeps under the feet of Isis ‘To shew that clemence oft in things amis,/ Restraines those sterne behests, and cruell doomes of his' (22), and who shows thereby the proper relation of justice and judgment to equity. The Priest also explains to Britomart that the crocodile is Artegall, ‘The righteous Knight,' who will settle the storms and ‘raging flames, that many foes shall reare' and restore to her the heritage of her throne, and who will give her a ‘Lion like' son (23), the new British monarchy of the Tudors.The crocodile is a symbol both of guile and of a regeneration that will affect future history. As guile, its relation to Isis is reminiscent of Vice figures under the feet of triumphing Virtues in medieval art. An iconographic association between the crocodile in its demonic aspect and medieval saints' legends derives ultimately – significantly for Spenser – from the classical figure of Britomartis (Miskimin 1978). In Plutarch's Isis and Osiris 50, it is linked to Typhon, the enemy of justice and order, while in Renaissance iconographic tradition it is often symbolic of the need for prudence (for one must be prudent to avoid the wily crocodile). Cesare Ripa's Iconologia (sv Lussuria) shows the nude Luxury (or Lechery) seated upon a crocodile, an interesting analogy to its phallic sexuality in Britomart's dream. Yet along with these primarily negative associations, there are also positive ones in the crocodile's identification with Osiris/Artegall/Justice and in the implication that Isis/Britomart/Equity is incomplete without her partner. The image contains its own contradiction, unresolved by the Priest.* Troubled Blood and Faerie Queene: Where Britobart and Artegall are used as stand-ins for Robin and Cormoran:Troubled Blood features several embedded texts, the most important of which is never mentioned in the book: Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queen. Serious Strikers enjoyed the luxury of not one but two scholars of Edmund Spenser who checked in on the relevance and meaning of Rowling's choice of the greatest English epic poem for her epigraphs, not to mention the host of correspondences between Strike 5 and Queen. Elizabeth Baird-Hardy did a part by part exegesis of the Troubled Blood-Faerie Queen conjunctions and Beatrice Groves shared her first thoughts on the connections as well. Just as Lethal White's meaning and artistry is relatively unappreciated without a close reading of Ibsen's Rosmersholm, so with Strike 5 and Faerie Queen.Elizabeth Baird-Hardy* Day One, Part One: The Spenserian Epigraphs of the Pre-Released Troubled Blood Chapters* Day Two, Part Two: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Eight to Fourteen* Day Three, Part Three: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Fifteen to Thirty* Day Four, Part Four: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Thirty One to Forty Eight* Day Five, Part Five: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Forty Nine to Fifty Nine* Part Six: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Sixty to Seventy One* Spenser and Strike Part Seven: Changes for the BetterBeatrice Groves* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 1): Spenserian Clues in Troubled Blood Epigraphs* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 2): Shipping Robin and Strike in the Epigraphs of Troubled Blood* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 3): Searching for Duessa in Troubled BloodJohn Granger:* How Spenser Uses Cupid in Faerie Queen and Its Relevance for Understanding Troubled Blood* Reading Troubled Blood as a Medieval Morality PlayCorvid Charm* Rowling Twixter headers: 12 January 2016, 9 April 2017 (Nick)* Fantastic Beasts reference? The Lestrange Family Motto features a crow and the ‘Lost Child' of that series is named ‘Corvus'* Crow Symbolism per Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols:Crow Because of its black colour, the crow is associated with the idea of beginning (as expressed in such symbols as the maternal night, primigenial darkness, the fertilizing earth). Because it is also associated with the atmosphere, it is a symbol for creative, demiurgic power and for spiritual strength. Because of its flight, it is considered a messenger. And, in sum, the crow has been invested by many primitive peoples with far-reaching cosmic significance. Indeed, for the Red Indians of North America it is the great civilizer and the creator of the visible world. It has a similar meaning for the Celts and the Germanic tribes, as well as in Siberia (35). In the classical cultures it no longer possesses such wide implications, but it does still retain certain mystic powers and in particular the ability to foresee the future; hence its claw played a special part in rites of divination (8). In Christian symbolism it is an allegory of solitude. Amongst the alchemists it recovers some of the original characteristics ascribed to it by the primitives, standing in particular for nigredo, or the initial state which is both the inherent characteristic of prime matter and the condition produced by separating out the Elements (putrefactio) … In Beaumont's view, the crow in itself signifies the isolation of him who lives on a superior plane (5), this being the symbolism in general of all solitary birds. (71-72)* Lyndy Abraham's Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery entry for ‘Crow:' (49)Crow, crow's head, crow's bill A symbol of the *putrefaction and *black nigredo which is the first stge of the opus alchymicum. The old body of the metal or matter for the Stone is dissolved and putrefied into the first matter of *creation, the *prima materia, so that it may be regenerated and cast into a new form. The Hermetis Trismegisti Tractatus Aureus said of this initial stage of death and dissolution in the work: ‘The First is the Corvus, the Crow or Raven, which from its blackness is said to be the beginning of the Art' (bk. 2, 235). In his Aurora, Paracelsus wrote that when the matter has been placed in the gentle heat of the secret fire it passes through corruption and grows black: ‘This operation they call putrefaction, and the blackness they name the head of the Crow' (55). Thomas Charnock likewise wrote of the putrefaction: ‘The Crowes head began to appere as black as Jett' (TCB, 296). In Zoroaster's Cave the matter produced during this stage is identified with the name of the process: ‘When the matter has stood for the space of forty dayes in a moderate heat, there will begin to appear above, a blacknesse like to pitch, which is the Caput Corvi of the Philosophers, and the wise men's Mercury' (80). According to Ripley the terms ‘crows head' and ‘crows bill' are synonymous: ‘The hede of the Crow that tokeyn call we,/And sum men call hyt the Crows byll' (TCB, 134) (see ashes). In A Fig for Momus Thomas Lodge listed the crow's head amongst other alchemical enigmas: ‘Then of the crowes-head, tell they weighty things' (Works, 3:69). When Face in Jonson's The Alchemist says that the matter of the Stone has become ‘ground black', Mammon enquires of him, ‘That's your crowes-head? And Subtle replies, ‘No, ‘tis not perfect, would it were the crow' (2.3.67-8).Psalter Charm* In ‘Charms, Psalms & Golden Clues: A brace(let) of clues for Strike 9,' Prof Groves discusses the psalm as charm:Charm first meant the incantation itself, and then the amulet that carried that incantation to protect the wearer and then – from the 19th century – the small ornamental trinkets, fastened to girdles, watch-chains and bracelets, that resembled those original, talismanic charms. This means that Rowling's clue-charm of a Psalm book (which can actually carry a sacred text) circles back beautifully to the original meaning of the word – in which a charm was an amulet carrying a holy text. These charms do not always hold texts but Rowling has confirmed that this one does: ‘The book is a psalm book and holds real, miniature psalms' I think this protective hinterland of charms make it likely that the specific psalm that such a psalm-book charm would carry would be the most comforting and talismanic of psalms – Psalm 23. This psalm famously describes the Lord's love as protective, even unto the valley of the shadow of death* John argues that, in addition to the 23rd Psalm, Psalm 90 (91 in Masoretic or KJV reckoning), the so-called ‘Soldier's Psalm' is at least as likely as an insert for this charm, which is to say, as a talisman a soldier might give a woman about to enter Hades to beg a gift from Persephone…The Head of Persephone Charm* Rowling's clarifying picture* Psyche's Last Task from Venus:One final task is then given to Psyche, one in which Psyche is commanded to bring back a bit of Persephone's beauty from the Underworld. In Greek mythology no living soul is meant to be able to enter the Underworld, let alone leave it, and so Aphrodite felt that she would be rid of Psyche once and for all. Indeed, it seemed that Aphrodite would be proved right, for Psyche's only idea about entering the Underworld was to kill herself. Before Psyche can commit suicide a voice whispers to her instructions about how to complete the task. Thus Psyche finds an entrance to the Underworld and is soon crossing the Acheron upon the skiff of Charon, and the princess even manages to gain an audience with Persephone. Persephone on the surface appears to be sympathetic to the quest of Psyche, but Psyche has been warned about accepting food or a seat in the palace of Hades, for both would bind her to the Underworld for all time. But eventually, Persephone gives Psyche a golden box, said to contain some of the goddess' beauty.* The Head of Persephone charm is paired with the Psalter on the ninth and last link; again, if the Psalm is 22 (23) or 90 (91), then the connection is an invocational prayer for help traveling through the “valley of death,” for protection from the “asp and basilisk,” the “lion and dragon.”* As above, note that the beginning, middle, and end of the bracelet feature clasped objects, with the Psalter being a codex that opens and Psyche's journey to Persephone is in pursuit of a “golden box” containing the means to otherworldly beauty. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

EPISODE 661 - Leah Polworth - The heartbreaking news of a terminal diagnosis and the aftermath of sorrow, longing, confusion, and the heartache after lossWelcome to “Letters to Billy.” This memoir is my legacy. Journaling has always been a means for me to track my most heartfelt thoughts, deepest emotions, epiphanies, and reckonings. I am so pleased I persevered and published this memoir, which was initially intended to be something I could pass down to my son, Billy, when he becomes old enough to read and understand it.As I delved deeper into writing about my husband Steve's cancer journey—the knowledge we gained, the decisions we had to make, and the trials and tribulations along the way—it became apparent that my story might resonate with and provide comfort to others whose lives have taken a similar path.This book explores many themes: finding your soul mate, the wonderful man my husband was, the fleeting yet precious time we were blessed to have as a family, and the heartbreak of a terminal diagnosis. It captures hope, doubt, fear, tenacious love, and the short but intense journey through treatment, followed by the aftermath of sorrow, longing, confusion, and heartache after loss. Suddenly, I found myself a single parent needing to raise a young baby amid crushing grief, to the moments of peace, clarity, and reflection as the grief tide slowly ebbs and joy returns once again.I hope you find comfort, solace, and perhaps some inspiration from our story. Thank you for joining me on this path of self-discovery and healing.Book: Letters to Billy: A story of love, loss, lessons and self-discoveryLeah and Steve Polwarth seemed destined for a lifetime of joy. They married in 2017, and by 2019, their hearts swelled with the arrival of their son, Billy. But it wasn't long before their perfect world fell apart - Steve was delivered a life shattering diagnosis.Despite their unwavering hope and desperate fight, Leah was forced to say a heartbreaking goodbye to the love of her life, leaving her to navigate the suffocating grief of widowhood while raising their son in the midst of the global chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic.Letters to Billy is a raw and emotional journey through unimaginable loss, yet it is also a celebration of a mother's unbreakable love, fierce resilience and the powerful bond between a mother and her son.In the face of devastating grief, Leah finds a way forward, discovering moments of grace and uncovering the beauty that can still bloom, even in the darkest of times.https://letterstobilly.com.au/Support the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca

Nick is joined by John Granger and special guest star Guido in their temporary headquarters as they await the move to Granger Towers. We discuss the revelation that J. K. Rowling has an inherited blood clotting disorder, and speculate that this could be von Willebrand Disease, and discuss what this could mean for a Golden Thread that John first explored more than five years ago. Nick surveys the instances of blood in all her published work, and John identifies a theme that Nick has missed - the Eucharist. Could this be the key to understanding the final narrative arch of the Strike series?Links Discussed in this Episode:The revelation of J. K. Rowling's condition:https://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/j-k-rowling-and-the-roy-phipps-connection/John discusses the Golden Thread on the Reading Writing Rowling Podcast in 2020.https://audioboom.com/posts/7566531-episode-37-troubled-blood-and-the-faerie-queene-strike-5John Granger's book How Harry Cast his Spell exploring the Christian content and meaning in Harry Potter.https://www.amazon.com/How-Harry-Cast-His-Spell/dp/1414321880John's visit to Denmark Street and St Giles-in-the-Fields in 2016.https://web.archive.org/web/20171130161236/https://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/visiting-cormoran-strikes-pub-and-denmark-street-premises-in-london/Victor Turner - Colour Classification in Ndembu Ritual (1966)https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/vision/1966-turner.pdfThe Blood Survey:Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneThe word “Blood” appears 33 times.dragon's bloodThe Bloody BaronHarry thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him.One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood.That's unicorn blood.It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone.Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsThe word “Blood” appears 46 times.not a drop of magical blood in their veins‘Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere –'No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter. Bad blood, that's what it is.‘No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,' he spat.who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood.Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway.‘… I smell blood … I SMELL BLOOD!'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanThe word “Blood” appears 21 times.‘It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia'Ron and Hermione were standing underneath it, examining a tray of blood-flavoured lollipops.‘BLOOD!' Ron yelled into the stunned silence. ‘HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?'Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireThe word “Blood” appears 37 times.Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep, blood red.‘B-blood of the enemy … forcibly taken … you will … resurrect your foe.'I wanted Harry Potter's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago, for the lingering protection his mother once gave him, would then reside in my veins, too …Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixThe word “Blood” appears 85 times.‘Yoooou!' she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. ‘Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!'‘Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal‘The pure-blood families are all interrelated,' said Sirius. ‘If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods your choice is very limited; there are hardly any of us left.‘Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins –'Again and again Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what he soon came to realise was not ink, but his own blood.‘It seems there was some rather unusual kind of poison in that snake's fangs that keeps wounds open. They're sure they'll find an antidote, though; they say they've had much worse cases than mine, and in the meantime I just have to keep taking a Blood-Replenishing Potion every hour.‘While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refugeHarry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceThe word “Blood” appears 105 times.‘If I had murdered Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could not have used his blood to regenerate, making him invincible –'Harry had never hated Malfoy more than as he lay there, like an absurd turtle on its back, blood dripping sickeningly into his open mouth.‘My daughter – pure-blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin – hankering after a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle?'It was as though something large and scaly erupted into life in Harry's stomach, clawing at his insides: hot blood seemed to flood his brainI've learned more from the Half-Blood Prince than Snape or Slughorn have taught me in –'‘Harry, I'd like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine, author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires – and, of course, his friend Sanguini.'Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backwards and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.‘Payment?' said Harry. ‘You've got to give the door something?' ‘Yes,' said Dumbledore. ‘Blood, if I am not much mistaken.' ‘Blood?'Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsThe word “Blood” appears 125 times.As I reveal in chapter sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already discovered eight uses of dragon's blood when Dumbledore “borrowed” his papers.'MUDBLOODS and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society‘Splinched,' said Hermione, her fingers already busy at Ron's sleeve, where the blood was wettest and darkest.Was it his own blood pulsing through his veins that he could feel, or was it something beating inside the locket, like a tiny metal heart?‘Drop your wands,' she whispered. ‘Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!'Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.‘Precisely!' said Dumbledore. ‘He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily's protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemThe word “Blood” appears 11 times.The Kappa feeds on human blood but may be persuaded not to harm a person if it is thrown a cucumber with that person's name carved into it.Re'em blood gives the drinker immense strength, though the difficulty in procuring it means that supplies are negligibleSalamander blood has powerful curative and restorative properties.Quidditch Through the AgesThe word “Blood” appears 6 times.The first Bludgers (or ‘Blooders') were, as we have seen, flying rocksThe Tales of Beedle the BardThe word “Blood” appears 5 times.There is not a witch or wizard in existence whose blood has not mingled with that of MugglesCasual VacancyThe word “Blood” appears 97 times.Then pain such as he had never experienced sliced through his brain like a demolition ball. He barely noticed the smarting of his knees as they smacked onto the cold tarmac; his skull was awash with fire and blood; the agony was excruciating beyond endurance, except that endure it he must, for oblivion was still a minute away.All they could get out of her at first was, ‘The Fields, the bloody, bloody Fields …'‘Mrs Weedon's new pills are upsetting her stomach,' said Parminder calmly. ‘So we're doing your bloods today, aren't we?'Sharp, hot pain and the blood came at once; when she had cut herself right up to her elbow she pressed the wad of tissues onto the long wound, making sure nothing leaked onto her nightshirt or the carpet.Some of her self-hatred had oozed out with the blood.Pagford, bloody Pagford. Samantha had never meant to live here.That morning, at breakfast, she had tested her blood sugar with the glucometer for the first time, then taken out the prefilled needle and inserted it into her own belly. It had hurt much more than when deft Parminder did it.Did she find it easier to accept him as a separate individual than if he had been made from her flesh and blood? Her glucose-heavy, tainted blood …The Cuckoo's CallingThe word “Blood” appears 64 times.Her accidental assailant was massive; his height, his general hairiness, coupled with a gently expanding belly, suggested a grizzly bear. One of his eyes was puffy and bruised, the skin just below the eyebrow cut. Congealing blood sat in raised white-edged nail tracks on his left cheek and the right side of his thick neck, revealed by the crumpled open collar of his shirt.Perhaps a knife would plunge between his shoulder blades as he walked through the front door of her flat; perhaps he would walk into the bedroom to discover her corpse, wrists slit, lying in a puddle of congealing blood in front of the fireplace.‘Pushing someone over a balcony's a spur-of-the-moment thing,' said Strike, as though he had felt her inner wince. ‘Hot blood. Blind temper.'When Lucy's lips were pursed she bore a strong resemblance to their Aunt Joan, who was no blood relation to either of them.You're a cold-blooded b*****d, aren't you? No f*****g wonder old Jonny's not keen on you.'Strike, however, knew Charlotte as intimately as a germ that had lingered in his blood for fifteen yearsSergeant Gary Topley lying in the blood-spattered dust of that Afghanistan road, his face unscathed, but with no body below the upper ribs.The SilkwormThe word “Blood” appears 140 times.Message after message, stuck out on the bloody cliffs at Gwithian trying to get reception—Strike had never taken the time to consider, although Polworth, a man of many pithy theories, took the view that such women (‘nervy, overbred') were subconsciously looking for what he called ‘carthorse blood'.‘—and she says he won't let them sell. There was bad blood between Fancourt and Quine.'Strike would have advised any friend to leave and not look back, but he had come to see her like a virus in his blood that he doubted he would ever eradicate‘So much for love being a mirage and a chimera,' sighed Mrs Ellacott as she tossed down her pen. ‘This is no good. I wanted blood and guts, Michael. Blood and guts.'Career of EvilThe word “Blood” appears 115 times.He had not managed to scrub off all her blood. A dark line like a parenthesis lay under the middle fingernail of his left hand.He was good at reading people. He had read and charmed the girl who had died yesterday among the blood-soaked peach towels.“He doesn't like talking about personal stuff. Blood out of a stone.”On a high metal table sat a pillow in a plastic evidence bag; it was covered in dark brown bloodstains. A cardboard box next to it contained bottles of spirits. Where there was bloodshed, there was always alcohol.Strike remembered the wide patch of blood on the sheets, the excoriated skin on her wrist where Rhona had tried to free herself.Nevertheless, those long hours of driving through the darkness when he had known an encounter with the police might be fatal, when he had feared a request to turn out his pockets or a shrewd-eyed passenger noticing dried blood on him had taught him a powerful lesson.He was wearing a yellow T-shirt and on his right forearm was the rose tattoo, which had undergone a modification: a dagger now ran through it, and drops of blood fell out of the flower towards the wrist.If they'd been five minutes later she'd've been a goner. It took two blood transfusions to keep her alive.Lethal WhiteThe word “Blood” appears 143 times.He had been left with a deep dislike of being driven by anybody else and, to this day, with dreams of blood and agony that sometimes woke him, bathed in sweat.She could imagine Raphael bloody at the steering wheel, and the broken figure of the young mother on the road, and the police cars and the incident tape and the gawpers in passing cars.“Last night, when he was stoned. He said he knew a government minister who had blood on his hands.”“Would you mind waiting outside the curtain? We need to take bloods, change his drips and his catheter.”Strike could taste blood, but, from what he could see, the splintered and torn remnants of Jimmy's placard had been scattered by the mêlée.There was a piece of thick cream writing paper headed with a red Tudor rose, like a drop of blood, and the printed address of the house in which Robin stood.The old knife wound on her arm had been gaping open and it was the trail of her spurting blood that her pursuers were following, and she knew she would never make it to the place where Strike was waiting for the bag of bugs . . .‘She come into the yard, seen what had happened, ran towards Mr Chiswell, grabbed the hammer and just swung for him. Blood everywhere. It was horrible,'Troubled BloodThe word “Blood” appears 171 times.“Yeah, well, blood and soil's never been my—”She'd heard stories that Ilsa gave titles like cheap thrillers: the Night of the Bread Knife, the Incident of the Black Lace Dress and the Blood-Stained Note.She believed, I think, like Suhrawardy, that ‘bloodshed and disorder are not necessarily evil in themselves, if resorted to for a noble cause.'”And even in the seventies, before DNA testing, the police did pretty well with fingerprints, blood groups and so forth.“Anyway, one of the things she told Lawson was that she'd sponged blood off the spare-room carpet the day Margot disappeared.“According to Roy, the age difference and the blood relationship ought to have constituted a total prohibition on the relationship in the minds of all decent people. But as we know, he managed to overcome those qualms seven years later.In the second week of November, Joan's chemotherapy caused her white blood cell count to plummet dangerously, and she was admitted to hospital.She'd only once in her life had to face the possibility that she might be pregnant, and could still remember the relief that had flooded her when it became clear that she wasn't, and wouldn't have to face still more contact with strangers, and another intimate procedure, more blood, more pain.“But there was something bloodless about the man. Not wet exactly, but—” Oonagh gave a sudden laugh. “‘Bloodless'—you'll know about his bleeding problem?”The demon he “saw” was carrying a cup of blood and a sword.‘She – never seemed – to remember – that I couldn't – protect her – couldn't – do anything – if somebody tried – to hurt – because I'm a useless – bleeder … useless … bloody … bleeder … 'A few pages inside was a brown smear. Strike halted the cascade of pages to examine it more closely. It was, he suspected, dried blood, and had been wiped across a few lines of writing.This I will say more, to wit, that those who walk in their sleep, do, by no other guide than the spirit of the blood, that is, of the outward man, walk up and down, perform business, climb walls and manage things that are otherwise impossible to those that are awake.She'd taken the full force of Strike's elbow between her eyebrows, and she realised her nose was bleeding only when she accidentally sprayed blood onto the kind American's white shirt front.‘It – was – a – f*****g – joke,' said Morris, examining the blood smeared on his hands. ‘I only meant to make you jump – f**k's sake—'The Ink Black HeartThe word “Blood” appears 214 times.There was bad blood between Strike and Mitch Patterson, the boss of the agency in question, which dated back to the time Patterson had put Strike himself under surveillance.‘Thanks – I ripped off a nail opening the last one. Yeah, so she was banging on about blood diamonds, and I…'Having explained the Christian symbolism of the pelican, which was feeding her chicks with her own blood, Groomer wondered aloud whether Legs was ready for a coffee‘Second letter of the alphabet, eighth letter: BH. Stands for blood and honour. Blood and Honour are a neo-Nazi skinhead group.'Might still be a bit of Edie's blood on the grass. You could frame it. Sell it on eBay.Vilepechora: I fkn love a redhead. Proper Viking bloodStrike parked, then used the old man's handkerchief and his own saliva to remove from his face all traces of blood, of which there was a surprising amount.Red Soles lay where he'd been deposited on the platform, blood trickling from his inner ear.They fort there was a vampire in the real cemetery, in the seventies. Edie fort it was corny, 'avin' a vampire, but I drew 'im so she could see what I was finking. I wanted 'im to be inept, like, tryna kill tourists but never gettin' enough blood to live on, so 'e was, like, weak an' feeble…'‘Julius Evola. Far-right philosopher. Ludicrous racial theories. A rather determinedly eccentric classmate of mine at Radley was partial to him. Used to carry The Myth of the Blood around and read it ostentatiously at meal times.It was impossible to know whether Ross had turned pale, because the man had always looked as though antifreeze ran in his veins rather than blood, but he'd certainly become unnaturally still.Robin stamped hard on his bare foot before both slipped in another puddle of Inigo's blood.As the door shuddered, Robin saw, by the dim glow from a skylight, Katya slumped on the floor beside the bath, blood all over the hands she was pressing against her stomach.The Running GraveThe word “Blood” appears 194 times.It's important to say that my mother – I was raised to call her Louise, because the UHC forbids naming blood relationships – isn't stupid.It'll have been used for chopping wood, but Oisin was convinced it had blood on it. We couldn't get it out, though. We couldn't reach.I don't know what's normal for a birth but she seemed to lose a huge amount of blood. I was present when the baby was actually born because one of the birthing team couldn't cope any more and I volunteered to take her place.Strike's imagination insisted on showing him a vivid picture of Charlotte submerged in her own blood, her black hair floating on the clotted surface.There was a puddle of blood seeping from under one of the toilet cubicle doors. She could see Lin's bloodstained legs, which weren't moving.They committed nine murders in all, one of them of a pregnant actress, and those young women were right in the thick of the action, ignoring the victims' pleas for mercy, dipping their fingers in the victims' blood to scrawl – Jesus,' said Strike, with a startled laugh, as he remembered a detail he'd forgotten, ‘they wrote “pigs” on the wall as well. In blood.'The Hallmarked ManThe word “Blood” appears 246 times.Some might have considered her flat tone insensitive, given Charlotte's recent death in a blood-filled bathtub, but as Strike was more than happy to dispense with prurient questions or faux sympathyThe body was blood group A positive – that's the same.‘The splash patterns from the blood were un-fakeable, according to forensics. There was also a partial footprint that had clearly been made while the blood was still liquid.'The back wall broke the monotony of the sea of silver, because it displayed many antique aprons and sashes embroidered in gold, and Robin's eye lingered on an apron embroidered with a bloody severed head, held up by a single hand.‘Yeah, somefing like… an' 'e dropped 'is doob tube, remember, Daz? An' 'e told you it was a f****n' blood sample, like you was gonna nick it off 'im.'Previously a Conservative MP, he now headed various charitable and political organisations and committees, was ever-ready with a quote for the papers, sprinkled his conversation with Latin tags and capitalised to the full on the English public's weakness for a toff who seemed ready to laugh at himself, having a fondness for appearing on political quiz shows, where he played to the hilt the part of genial, bumbling blue-blood.Blood must've started pooling in the lower part of the body before they started to mutilate it. Maybe that was deliberate. Maybe they didn't want blood seeping out under the vault door.'As Strike watched, life and blood started to drain from the brindle, its legs twitching ever more feebly as blood flooded from its jugular.Robin took the turn into the road at speed, then looked sideways at Strike, one of whose hands was pressed to his inner thigh, blood seeping through his fingers.The bodies of Jim Todd and a woman Strike assumed to be his mother, Nancy, were lying on the dirty carpet in a foul miasma encouraged by the gas fire that continued to blaze. Todd, who was fully dressed, had been stabbed multiple times. His now black blood had soaked his shirt and the floor beneath himBlood now gushing from his head wound, Strike succeeded in grabbing the wrist of Griffiths' knife-holding hand, then slammed it down on the rough concrete floor,He could feel a weird coldness, as though flesh that had never been exposed to fresh air was meeting it for the first time, and this contrasted unpleasantly with the continuing flow of warm blood.Possibly combining heavy blood loss and neat whisky hadn't been the very best idea, Strike was prepared to concede that now, but he had to keep talking, because he wanted the man to know he knew.The IckabogThe word “Blood” appears 11 times.‘If Beamish was half-eaten, why wasn't there more blood?' asked the second.soldiers who'd been sent back to the marsh to find out what happened to Private Nobby Buttons had discovered nothing but his bloodstained shoes, a single horseshoe, and a few well-gnawed bones.Finally, the same man cut off the head of one of the hens and made sure plenty of blood and feathers was spread around, before breaking down the side of the coop to allow the rest of the chickens to escape.In hundreds, Ickabogs were slain, Our blood poured on the land like rain, Our ancestors like trees were felled And still men came to fight us.The Christmas PigThe word “Blood” appears 2 times.They all seemed to be bits of humans. Some were mouths: one was loudly chewing gum and others smoking stinking cigarettes, which made the glowing red dots and the nasty smell. There were noses, ears, a single finger, its nail chewed to a bloody stub, several oozing spots which were so disgusting Jack could barely look at them, and a couple of fists, which were pounding the ground in a menacing fashion as though they couldn't wait to start hitting someone.The Cursed ChildThe word “Blood” appears 22 times.ALBUS (with power and strength) No, you need to listen to me, you said it yourself – how much blood is on my father's hands. Let me help you change that. Let me help correct one of his mistakes. Trust me.POLLY CHAPMAN The Blood Ball of course – who you – the Scorpion King, are taking to the Blood Ball.POLLY CHAPMAN Mudbloods of course. In the dungeons. Your idea, wasn't it? What's going on with you? Oh Potter, I've got blood on my shoes again . . .DRACO We were capable of having children, but Astoria was frail. A blood malediction, a serious one. An ancestor was cursed . . . it showed up in her. You know how these things can resurface after generations . . .Fantastic Beasts (Screenplay)The word “Blood” appears 2 times.Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of GrindelwaldThe word “Blood” appears 20 times.A baby Chupacabra—part lizard, part homunculus, a blood-sucking creature of the Americas—is chained to GRINDELWALD'S chair.SKENDER Once trapped in the jungles of Indonesia, she is the carrier of a blood curse. Such Underbeings are destined, through the course of their lives, to turn permanently into beasts.We see TEENAGE DUMBLEDORE and TEENAGE GRINDELWALD facing each other in a barn. Both score their palms with their wands. Now bleeding, they interlace their hands . . .DUMBLEDORE turns his head away, fighting the impulse to cover the glass again. Bracing himself, he looks up.From their bloody palms rise two glowing drops of blood, which mingle and merge to create one. A metal shape begins to form around the droplet, becoming more defined and intricate. It is GRINDELWALD'S vial.NEWT It's a blood pact, isn't it? You swore not to fight each other.Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of DumbledoreDumbledore stares at him, then slowly brings a hand into view and reveals: the BLOOD TROTH. As he cradles it, its chain slowly slithers between Dumbledore's fingers, as if alive.Theseus nods, eyeing the troth, watching as the DROPLETS OF BLOOD circle one another like weights in a clock.The blood troth flashes red and flies free, caroming off the floor and to the wall. As he draws his wand, taking aim, the troth's chain, still tethered to his arm, constricts, burrowing deep into his flesh.CREDENCE I'm a Dumbledore. You abandoned me. The same blood that runs my veins runs yours. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

Send us a textMartin, Laurie and Stephen discuss a match of all sorts in Paisley where the teams shared the spoils, VAR reared its ugly head again, Ndaba and Polworth masterclass and the usual stats you want to know about. Support the show

First league win for the lads to analyse, as well as a look ahead to back-to-back visits to Edinburgh and some transfer talk.

Thank you for tuning in to Episode 225 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website. Click here. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins From the Armchair Crafty Adventures In My Travels KAL News Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Winter Carnival Hat Pattern: Winter Carnival Hat by Margaret Stauffacher Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in Genie (multicolored), Pachamama's Alpacas Trixie & Preston Sport (natural), Spunky Eclectic Victoria (100% Polworth) in Sky (Blue) & Ginko (Green) Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) & US 5 (3.75 mm) Size: Adult Medium My Ravelry Project Page Costume Party Socks Yarn: Woolens & Nosh Sock in the Costume Party Colorway (75% SW Merino/25% nylon) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Ravelry Project Page Plied 2 skeins of yarn: Three Waters Fiber- Forested Hills Colorway- 4 ozs. Split into 3rds but didn't weigh anything. Rhapsody Fiber Arts- 2oz 50% Angora/50% merino no colorway Washed it but I still need to measure, weight etc.  Check out my Ravelry Project Page On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Mr. Fezziwig Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Yarn: Woolens & Nosh Corriedale Sock in the Mr. Fezziwig Colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) My Ravelry Project Page Click here for Wiki page on Mr. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol Finished the first sock Emma's Yarn Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Yarn: Emma's Yarn Practically Perfect Sock in the Knit & Stitch Colorway from Knit & Stitch Boutique in Cocoa Village, FL My Ravelry Project Page Boujee New Years Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Yarn: Yarnable by Hypnotic Yarn in the Boujee New Year Colorway (January 2022 Subscription Box colorway) My Ravelry Project Page Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link Dotted Rays Pattern: Dotted Rays by Stephen West (Knitting pattern available on Ravelry  for 6 Euros ~$7 US. Also available on Gumroad.) Yarn: Knit Picks Capretta Superwash in the Sagebrush colorway, Knit Picks Palette in Wonderland Heather, Opal Heather, Caribbean, Seafaring, Spruce. Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) My Ravelry Project Page 2022 Fun with Fiber Kingdom Fleece & Fiber Works 100% Tunis Pete's Fleece (light blues, dark blues and whites) Liz from Kingdom Fleece & Fiber Works very kindly sent this braid, and a few others, for me to try out. Check them out on Facebook 1 bobbin full. Started second.  Check out my Ravelry Project Page From the Armchair In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Makers Gonna Sell Podcast Cheryl Ham of Hypnotic Yarn and Nicki Avery of Avery Lane Creations.  Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. Crafty Adventures Taught Millie how to make pom poms to make them into little doggies. She didn't finish but we got the basics of 2 pom poms done.  Knitting in Passing I lost my new ski hat in NH but thankfully was able to find it. Riley got her sweater project back and knit on that during sleepover at my parents and then on our ski trip. Millie brought her cowl and knit a bit in the car… and then per usual got car sick.  Millie wore a granny square jacket mom made for me when I was little, out to dinner the other night! It looks super cute on her.  My friend Laura sends me photos of her feet, warm and cute in her handknit socks which makes me so happy! Now my friend Megg has started doing that too. It's a fun little game. Check out my Reel. Use the Hashtag. Share your knits. Encourage your loved ones to play along too!  #knitgiftwearshare I picked up a bottle of wine for big storm this weekend and received a nice compliment on my Felici Hat. Aran weight slouchy hat I knit out of Duck Duck Wool in the Summer Sidewalk Colorway. Click here for my Ravelry Project Page. In My Travels Tune in to hear a story of our ski trip to Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. PSA: Please wear a helmet! Patrons, check out the Patreon feed for a video vlog from that weekend! KAL News Pigskin Party '21: Official Hashtag: #DCSPigskinParty21 Important Links: Official Rules (Google Doc) Register to Play! (Google Form) Points Tally Form (Google Form) Sponsor List (Google Doc) Questions: Ask in the Ravelry Thread or email Jen (downcellarstudio @ gmail.com) Prizes- see details in this Ravelry Thread Coupon Codes: find details in this Ravelry Thread or on my website (coming soon) Pro Shop Sponsor Exclusive Items: find details as they're posted in this Ravelry Thread or on my website (coming soon) Use the Points Tally form for official entry but celebrate with everyone in the End Zone Dance Ravelry Thread and using #DCSPigskinEndZoneDance Check out your standings (and others') on the Players Stats Sheet (Google Sheet) Fumble your entry on the Points Tally form? Use this Support Form (Google Form) Pre-Game Chatter on Ravelry can be found in this Thread. Tune in to hear if you're a December Participation Winner Life in Focus Tune in to hear an update on my Goals for 2022 and my 22 for 2022 list. On a Happy Note Encanto on Disney Plus. Riley made us a popcorn/candy bar!  Liz & Millie playing guitars I got to see Millie's last session of gymnastics for the season. Meeting up with my friend Melissa and her daughter for lunch.  We bought a book called “Mom Tell Me Your Stories” from Savers. It's a book where you can document answers to questions about your Mom's life.  Riley and Millie are into it. We spent an hour Sunday morning asking Mom questions. Dan bought me a cool new contraption so I can make hot coffee when we go camping. Dan surprising me with dinner one night and lunch another day when my week was really hectic. Not so great- Millie & Mom getting Covid. Happy note- Mom was chosen in the lottery to get monoclonal antibody infusion! Snow is coming!  Quote of the Week “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” —Mark Twain Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link Music -“Soft Orange Glow” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Thank you for tuning in to Episode 224 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Click here for full show notes & photos on my website. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming KAL News Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Perry's Vase Cozy Pattern: none Yarn: Lily Sugar n' Cream (teal color) Hook: 4.5 mm My Ravelry Project Page Ripped back and repaired toe of Mom's Patons Kroy Deep End Socks. Click here for my Ravelry Project Page. On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins 2022 Fun with Fiber Kingdom Fleece & Fiber Works 100% Tunis Pete's Fleece (light blues, dark blues and whites) Check them out on Facebook 1 bobbin nearly full.  Check out my Ravelry Project Page I shared information from the Livestock Conservancy & from Northwest Yarns.  Citrus Hat Pattern: Citrus Hat by Laura Treadway (free knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Worsted in the Zen Colorway Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm) Size: Adult small which is 96 sts. 20″ circumference but I know from experience this cast on count should work.  My Ravelry Project Page Dotted Rays Pattern: Dotted Rays by Stephen West (Knitting pattern available on Ravelry  for 6 Euros ~$7 US. Also available on Gumroad.) Yarn: Knit Picks Capretta Superwash in the Sagebrush colorway, Knit Picks Palette in Wonderland Heather, Opal Heather, Caribbean, Seafaring, Spruce. Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) My Ravelry Project Page Winter Carnival Hat Pattern: Winter Carnival Hat by Margaret Stauffacher Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in Genie (multicolored), Pachamama's Alpacas Trixie & Preston Sport (natural), Spunky Eclectic Victoria (100% Polworth) in Sky (Blue) & Ginko (Green) Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) & US 5 (3.75 mm) Size: Adult Medium My Ravelry Project Page Emma's Yarn Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Yarn: Emma's Yarn Practically Perfect Sock in the Knit & Stitch Colorway My Ravelry Project Page Knit & Stitch Boutique in Cocoa Village, FL Bayou Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Bayou Colorway My Ravelry Project Page New Years Eve cast on based on ones you all selected on Instagram Want to try Knit Picks? Please consider using my Knit Picks Affiliate Link Mr. Fezziwig Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Yarn: Woolens & Nosh Corriedale Sock in the Mr. Fezziwig Colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) My Ravelry Project Page Click here for Wiki page on Mr. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol Brainstorming Pink Moon Sweater Pattern: Pink Moon by This.Bird.Knits. $8 US Pattern available on Ravelry and on the This.Bird.Knits Site. Needles: US 5 & 7 (3.75 & 4.5 mm) Yarn: Sweitzer Fiber Mill unknown (gray)- Rhinebeck 2019 Lisa Daschinger Wools (mustard)- Farm Fiber Day's Russell's Market January 2020 mur yarn merino cashmere fingering (pink)- Barcelona 2019 Rowan Alpaca Classic (pink) Staci's Stitches- LYS Marroon- Handspun Ravelry Project Page Finished before the last episode. Blocked it again and the sleeves are too long.  I am going to wash and block again, but there's a 95% chance I'll be ripping back the sleeves by a good 4-5 inches.  KAL News Pigskin Party '21: Official Hashtag: #DCSPigskinParty21 Important Links: Official Rules (Google Doc) Register to Play! (Google Form) Points Tally Form (Google Form) Sponsor List (Google Doc) Questions: Ask in the Ravelry Thread or email Jen (downcellarstudio @ gmail.com) Prizes- see details in this Ravelry Thread Coupon Codes: find details in this Ravelry Thread or on my website (coming soon) Pro Shop Sponsor Exclusive Items: find details as they're posted in this Ravelry Thread or on my website (coming soon) Use the Points Tally form for official entry but celebrate with everyone in the End Zone Dance Ravelry Thread and using#DCSPigskinEndZoneDance Check out your standings (and others') on the Players Stats Sheet (Google Sheet) Fumble your entry on the Points Tally form? Use this Support Form (Google Form) Pre-Game Chatter on Ravelry can be found in this Thread. Updates for this episode: December Interception Winner: Congrats to sarahkatsq for Post #10. Thanks to Natalie for hosting the Cozy Up Interception No Interception in January  Monthly Scavenger Hunt (January clues have been posted): Figure out these fun clues and earn points each month. Check out this Ravelry Thread or this Google Doc. KAL ends on February 14, 2022 Life in Focus Word of the Year: Pause Pause: take a time out. Breathe. Relax. Be present.  Pause: put obligations that you may no otherwise, on hold and reprioritize.  Pause: savor the moment. Cherish it. Freeze time if only for a second. Pause: I want the cancer to pause. To stop, if only for awhile, to give us some more time. I know it won't be forever but I am putting energy into this pause.  Pause: a period or time free from engagement Pause: take a breather Pause: take five Pause- and connect. connect my feelings. connect with others.  Primary Goals: Move your body 4 days a week. Any movement for 15 minutes or more counts.  Say Yes to time spent with Mom. Call often. Visit once a week, more if possible. Say yes to things that involve her unless it's interferes with my own mental health or need for rest. Journal about each day of this year. I can write about things a day or two later if need be, but I do want to keep a record. I do want to pause and reflect on things are they happen this year.  22 for 2022 List Check out this episode of Happier with Gretchen Rubin to hear more about this project. Go Skiing (from 2021) Knit a garment out of handspun (from 2021) Spend at least two hours learning something new (on my own, in a class, YouTube videos etc) Read 22 novels  Go to an art museum  Buy something a little extravagant  Meet with financial planner about new investments. Do at least 1 yoga video per month Kayak at one new place Create the collage wall in my studio Visit Eme at school Try out the new trail on Grove Street 2nd Annual Nora Ephron Movies Day Purge & declutter the secretary Plan and go on at least 1 date with Dan that involves going at least 1 place we don't “normally” go Take a vacation/staycation before August  Buy a fabulous new dress to wear to weddings Have my car's backup camera checked out & ideally fixed Hire a professional photographer for family photos Spend a weekend with Laura (in NY or MA) Go Apple Picking Hang a calendar in the diningroom On a Happy Note Quiet New Year's Eve at home, with Covid all around us. Homemade popcorn, cold craft beer, and Lupin on Netflix. I got a text from my cousin Joanie. Her mom, my Aunt Florence has been struggling to make pom poms for the hats she's been knitting. I showed her early in December how to use the Clover pom pom maker I bought her, but she was still a bit stuck. Joanie's daughters helped her make the pom poms! They came out great! Love a good family project. January 2: Nora Ephron Day. Started with You've Got Mail, found a Nora Ephron documentary Everything is Copy on HBO Max, then proceeded to watch Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally. Getting silly videos of my niece Hattie in Ireland My January Yarnable Box! Check out the video on my YouTube Channel Yoga with Adriene: Move- A 30 Day Yoga Journey. Check out the Playlist on YouTube. I've done 4 so far.  SNOW! We got a good 7-8 inches and it was beautiful.  Fun dinner, post-Christmas but still exchanging gifts with friends, and Yahtzee playing game night at Mom's last Saturday.  I've kept my succulent alive for 1 whole year! Started teaching my Ice Time Hat Class at Staci's Stitches this week. I won't be teaching again this year, but I will keep you posted if that changes. An impromptu dinner and game night at mom's this Thursday. Quote of the Week New Year- new verse, new chapter, or just the same old story? Ultimate we write it. The choice is ours.  -Alex Morritt. Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Music -“Soft Orange Glow” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

This week's episode is sponsored by:     Carry your creativity with Erin Lane Bags! Whether you show your fiber fandom with the woolly wonder Sheepleverse, or dive into history with the Curiosities collection, our project bags, totes, and hook and needle         organizers are at the ready to keep your hobby happy.       When was the last time your knitting yarn was a work of art? Infinite Twist produces one-of-a-kind semi-solid gradients featuring speckles, high-lights, low-lights, and gorgeous color transitions. From 700 y Giant Gradients to 200 y matching sock sets, Infinite Twist Gradients will hold your interest from cast on to bind off. See the currently available gradients at infinitetwist.com, or be the first to know when new colors are posted by signing up for our newsletter at infinitetwist.com/newsletter-signup       Have you ever had to frog because you forgot a step several rows back? Or lost your spot because you dropped your magnet board or lost track with your highlighter tape? Instead of wrestling with paper, use the knitCompanion app. It keeps you on track so you can knit more and frog less. knitCompanion works with ALL your patterns and is available for Apple, Android, and Kindle Fire Devices   Bummed about missing Rhinebeck? So are we! Lisa Souza dyeworks specializes in dyeing mill spun yarns and fabulously decadent luxury handspun yarns, for discerning collectors. Soothe your Rhinebeck FOMO with some delicious decadence at Lisaknit.com     Are you feeling dis-GRUNT-eled about your stash? Are you browsing Insta-HAM looking for knitting inspiration? Is color "kind of a PIG deal" in your life? Oink Pigments offers over one hundred forty PIG-ture perfect colorways to make you SQUEAL with delight.   For a limited time only, bring home the bacon with code KNITMORE and get fifteen percent off in-stock yarns and fibers at oinkpigments dot com. Shop soon, because these pigs will FLY!       The Sandpiper Gift & Yarn Boutique and Hoof-to-Hanger Fiber Mill in Bridgman, MI. The Sandpiper offers artisan - designed gifts (local, regional, national artists and Fair Trade products).  The boutique also offers their cottage industry fiber mill products - yarn, roving, corespun, batting, knit/woven garments, accessories, home goods and an exclusive Yarn and Fiber Club. Explore www.thesandpiper.biz!          The kids got their first Covid vaccine! Gigi went for a walk! On the Needles:(0:40) Genevieve worked on her hat on the sly   Jasmin swatched again for the “Consider This My Olive Branch” Sweater test knit for Charisma in Lady Dye DK “Goldenrod” Jasmin swatched for a secret test knit for Yelley in Sea Change Fiber Arts DK Gigi is working on autopilot socks for Jasmin: Online SuperSocke 2317 from Black Squirrel  in Berkeley is done. Started the next pair with turquoise  Genevieve wound Nicole Frost, Liza Frank Mini Skein Kit, wound colors 3,4,5,6,8 Jasmin finished the body on her Rainbowgan test knit by Saffiyah/DrunkKnitter in the Frost Yarns Lisa Frank gradient kit. Gigi finished the Musselberg hat  by Ysolda out of Oink Pigments in the Halloween colorway. This is the Weigh. Genevieve worked on Lisa Souza, Spruce, Polworth/silk hat Jasmin finished the back of the Whitby cowl and is about halfway up the front in Nicole Frost's MCN worsted in “Jasmin Yellow with speckles” Gigi Rocky Coast cardigan, working on the second sleeve, time out . Needed something else to knit on, started another sock in lavender  Thinking about making Dr Gemma's Frankensocks In Stitches:(16:26)  Gigi is wearing hand knit socks, the Carli cardigan, Pointed Firs shawl  Genevieve wore her Anna cardigan, Gryffindor hat and scarf set, and hand sewn masks, Pantasic hoodie, Hearthstone cardigan, and Coronation cardigan, Snowflake hat Rex wore his fox hat, Lionheart hoodie, dragonfish hoodie, and hand sewn masks Jasmin wore her yellow silk/merino hat, resistance hat,    Events:(24:07) Stitches West 2022, Sacramento CA (March 3-6, 2022) Digital COVID19 Vaccine Record website Mother Knows Best:(26:00) Not a marsupial. Clothes need pockets  Articles of Interest podcast LINK  to Jasmin's hip pack Threads article on pockets When Knitting Attacks:(33:17) Rocky Coast cardigan. Reknitted the second sleeve. Have the correct number of stitches for the cuff, but it is four inches too short. Tired of it.  Knits in Space:(35:57) Trip to Harts www.hartsfabric.com Gayle's Bakery  And Sew On: (42:55) Trouser Drafting class at Cañada College Last assignment: trousers. Teacher and classmates liked the fit.  Pants Construction class starts Monday. Ordered supplies. Picked up zippers from Harts    

Former home of notorious black magician, Aleister Crowley, the "wickedest man in the world".

  Sponsored by Weavolution If you would like to support the show, become a Weavolution Patron and get access to exclusive Patron content from Erica. Where to find us: iTunes, please leave us a review on  Podcast FB Page! E-mail! We have an e-mail account, please feel free to e-mail us! Podcast Instagram: fiberatthespeedoflifepodcast    Michelle is             Ravelry: MichelleTF             Instagram: michelletfcrafts             Facebook: Valdelia Maker     Erica is             Weavolution: Erica J, Jahanara, or Weavolutionary             Ravelry: weavemage             Instagram: weavemage             Facebook: Weavolution Intro and Outro Music: Sundown by Joseph McDade, thank you!   Finished Objects Erica Several Weavolution Tutorials. Weasley Jumper to TJ!!! I'm so excited that TJ will have it to open on Christmas day! Duplicate stitch was more difficult than I thought, possibly, because the main color is black./so dark. Two color knitting is quite easy in Portuguese style knitting, so for the next jumper I will knit the initial into the front of the jumper. I've also rewritten the pattern to knit the jumper in the round. I'm not exactly sure how I will deal with the sleeves whether I will still knit sleeves flat or pick up stitches and knit sleeve in the round top down.    I did finish Oli's socks in time for Christmas! Yeah!  Michelle Tawas Point lighthouse. Michelle saw this cutout of Michigan's lower peninsula and knew that it needed a lighthouse. She started this about a year ago, but just put on the finishing touches and glued it on the board. Two gnomes received their beards. Both have locks from the same Icelandic sheep.   Michelle also did a bit of spinning. This is either Polworth or Falkland. It is the last of the fiber she dyed this summer.   This blue wool is of unknown breed. Michelle believes the white in it is mohair.  Works in Progress Erica Oli sock #2 is going along really well, I also hope to have it done by Christmas to be opened as well, we shall see.   Damask Trim I have one entire design woven, hoping to make good progress over break.   Linen lining/tape I think I've got at least a meter woven now, also hope to make good progress over break. Organic Polwarth, picked back up just today, now that the jumper is done I'll be getting back to this spinning project. I took 3 braids and split each in 3 vertically. I have put storage bobbins and the fiber in their own plastic bags to keep this project organized. I am spinning one part of each braid, then a part of the second braid, then the third, and back to the beginning. I am doing this in an attempt to keep them fairly consistent. We shall see if that works! :) I also cast on a hat in some handspun to knit for my dad. Hopefully, it will knit up in time for him to get it this winter. :) Michelle Four gnomes that just need beards.   Crochet spider. 62 of 64 "flowers" made.      Michelle made a few yarn bowls that she added designs to. They're in the WIP because they still need to be fired and glazed. Her new kiln should arrive within a week or two!            

  Sponsored by Weavolution If you would like to support the show, become a Weavolution Patron and get access to exclusive Patron content from Erica. Where to find us: iTunes, please leave us a review on Podcast FB Page! E-mail! We have an e-mail account, please feel free to e-mail us! Podcast Instagram: fiberatthespeedoflifepodcast Michelle is Ravelry: MichelleTF Instagram: michelletfcrafts Facebook: Valdelia Maker Erica is Weavolution: Erica J, Jahanara, or Weavolutionary Ravelry: weavemage Instagram: weavemage Facebook: Intro and Outro Music: Sundown by Joseph McDade, thank you!   Shearing day: Michelle and her daughters attended shearing day at Queso Cabeza farm. They go whenever they can to help schlep fleeces, skirt, round up sheep and whatever else they can do to help Laura and Rick on the day...and to play with sheep and fleece, of course. They have about 45 Icelandic sheep in their herd. The weather was good and they had a good time, as always. Michelle learned that Icelandic fleece grows at about an inch a month, so they're plenty warm for the winter despite being sheared in October. The shearer does most of the work along with Rick and Laura.   This may be a fleece that followed Michelle home.   Thing 2 helping skirt. The sheet on her head was used to transfer the fleeces from where the shearer was shearing to the skirting table The shearer is quick, so they didn't get to fully clean any of the fleece before having to roll it up and bag it to start on the next.   Ryder the guard llama.   Thing 2 and Stevie, one of the bottle lambs.   This fleece followed Michelle home after the sheep "undressed".           Finished Objects! Michelle: Michelle finished skirting one of the Icelandic fleeces that followed her home. She plans to try tail spinning this fleece.       Michelle continues to spin down her stash. Here is a selection of what she has dyed and spun. The fibers include Polworth, Falkland, Targhee (she won't be spinning more of that) and Corriedale.         Erica: Erica finished weaving over 4 meters of purple damask with red weft! This warp was wound 1.5 years ago! Erica can hardly believe this cloth is all finally woven. Can you believe she first talked about her warp calculations woahs in Episode 2! She thought she might have a bit more warp on the loom to weave more cloth in another weft. Now she is contemplating whether to use this 4+ meters for a Sasanid Wrap or a Sasanid Robe.     Erica is also super excited that she has finished knitting another sock! This is sock #1 of pair #2 for her husband, Oli! Once she really got going on this sock it really was quite fast, but life, etc. means that this sock was 2 months in the making, definitely at the speed of life!     The magic swatch! Erica swatched for Weasley jumpers and got gauge on the recommended needle size. She actually got gauge on the first swatch. Erica and Michelle did not think that actually happened to people! :)   Works in progress   Michelle: Michelle is currently skirting the second of the Icelandic fleeces that followed her home.         Michelle is also spinning a Cheviot/Dorset cross white fleece. She's decided to use some of these singles for tail spinning the Icelandic. The rest will be plied and possibly dyed.     Erica: Erica continues to work on knitting a shawl for herself. ?This fingering weight semi-circular shawl is very fun to knit. Erica is glad she is back to knitting on it most days. She is using Replenish Rambouillet yarn in Persimmon from Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Shop. Her knitting pattern is: K2, P2 K2, P2 P2, K2 P2, K2 Erica thought this was double seed stitch, but now she thinks she may have not written the pattern down correctly, still, it is quite beautiful and she really loves it. She is excited to finish this knit, so she can compare wearing a shawl with wearing a cardi with a shawl collar.  

I realize that is an unusual subtitle for a postcast.  I recently had a total knee replacement surgery, and for the first 15 minutes or so of this podcast, I do talk about how the healing process delayed my spinning and fiber work for several weeks. But once the spinning wheels got going again, I had two WIP to talk about, the Pegosa alpaca project was continued and I finished spinning two fibers I had used for a project back in Sept. a babydoll Southdown and a Polworth. As promised I did one book review at the end of this podcast.  It is Creative Spinning, a creative combination of two authors, Alison Daykin and Jane Deane. The Polworth fiber I spun is from MohairandMore.   The episode of this podcast where I review the breed Babydoll Southdown is here, episode 37. Please see a separate non podcast page on the blog for a listing of episodes of this podcast that contain book reviews.  That way I can list the episode number, and the book title, and keep it updated. Photo shown with this episode is of the southdown/polworth skeins I finished and talked about in the podcast.    

Host Jonny Clark, is joined by Callum Scott, Ryan Crombie and Tom MacKinnon for yet another Old Firm free podcast. Enjoy and remember to follow us on twitter @burstbawpodcast and give us a like on Facebook facebook.com/burstbawfootball xfeyspsh

Episode 38 Knitting FO Watch … FO Vanilla Socks out of yarn from Poland…. On the Needles Winter Dance – FiftyFourTenStudio our of Lion Brand Wool Ease “Navy” Diamonds for Lisa – Little Church Knits Spin Me Right Round Hearthside Fibers “Midnight” 85% Polworth 15% Tussah Silk Sewing Circle Still looking for my sewing machine :( Acquisitions All the things: a sweater lot of Jameson and Smith for a colorwork yoke cardigan 3 singleton skeins for socks and hats Two sweater lots of Cascade Eco+ With this Crochet Hook None Giveaways! Still on hiatus for giveaways until books are found in the boxes… Cook Pot HelloFresh’s Cherry Couscous Cook couscous with the white parts of the scallions. Once cooked, add the sliced cherry tomatoes, rehydrated cherries, and the green tops of the scallion. On the Road About to edit the Scotland episode Upcoming trips this summer! Little Raincloud boxes Drop of Sunshine New house! Adorable kittens! Summer Break!

An impressive comeback saw Clachnacuddin come from three goals down to moved up to twelfth with a 6-3 win at home to Huntly. Manager Iain Polworth admitted even at three-nil down he felt his side weren’t out of the game.

Episode 36 Knitting FO Watch … FO Picacho Peak – Alyssa Latuchie out of handspun from Woolpierogi “Dusk” – Merino, seacell, silk On the Needles Winter Dance – FiftyFourTenStudio our of Lion Brand Wool Ease “Navy” Vanilla Socks out of yarn from Poland…. Totally talked about Sara’s finished socks again this week! Oops! Spin Me Right Round Hearthside Fibers “Midnight” 85% Polworth 15% Tussah Silk Sewing Circle/Acquisitions/ With this Crochet Hook None Giveaways! February Giveaway: Simply Modern Lace: Nenitaryc!!! March: Free-Spirit Shawls (not just for the free-spirited! There’s some cute ones!) To enter:           -be a member of the group at ravelry.com           - post saying what you’d like to see more of or what your favorite part of the show is! I’m loving the suggestions so far! Cook Pot none On the Road: Off the Beaten Track Luxembourg: Casemates du Bock           UNESCO World Heritage site with limited season Little Raincloud Second half of the semester hit! 8 more weeks! Drop of Sunshine Contingent offer on the house!

Knitting FO Watch Ginny’s Cardigan – Mari Chiba out of Malabrigo Arroyo in the “Escorias” or scum colorway! – awaiting a dip in the frog pond FO Two-Faced Toque – Emma Kerian out of Mad Tosh merino Light “Glazed Pecan” and “Deep” Sockhead Cowl – Kelly McClure out of handspun from Highland Handmade Sara Socks – Sweet Georgia bulletproof sock 50% superwash merino 15% silk 15% mohair 20% nylon “Smitten” colorway On the Needles Winter Dance – FiftyFourTenStudio our of Lion Brand Wool Ease “Navy” Picacho Peak – Alyssa Latuchie out o handspun from Woolpierogi “Dusk” – Merino, seacell, silk Vanilla Socks out of yarn from Poland…. With this Crochet Hook none Spin Me Right Round Hearthside Fibers “Midnight” 85% Polworth 15% Tussah Silk Sewing Circle/Acquisitions None Giveaways! February Giveaway: Simply Modern Lace -Be a member of the group -Comment and tell me your favorite pattern! What would you knit first? Cook Pot Tried the worst recipes this past month… Pinterest Fail! On the Road: Off the Beaten Track Paris: visit the Catacombs!! They’re cool. Only skeletons, no decaying bodies. Little Raincloud Commercial socks that disappear in the wash Drop of Sunshine Flowering trees :)

Episode 34 Navy Blue Knitting FO Watch Ginny’s Cardigan – Mari Chiba out of Malabrigo Arroyo in the “Escorias” or scum colorway! – awaiting a dip in the frog pond Buttons sewn on Hopper Cardigan! FO None On the Needles Winter Dance – FiftyFourTenStudio our of Lion Brand Wool Ease “Navy” Two-Faced Toque – Emma Kerian out of Mad Tosh merino Light “Glazed Pecan” and “Deep” With this Crochet Hook none Spin Me Right Round Hearthside Fibers “Midnight” 85% Polworth 15% Tussah Silk Sewing Circle/Acquisitions None Giveaways! January: Knitting Green by Ann Budd Winner: WindsweptMonique!! February Giveaway: Simply Modern Lace -Be a member of the group -Comment and tell me your favorite pattern! What would you knit first? Cook Pot Trying some new recipes… I’ll share if they work out! On the Road Sygic is now a paid for app ☹ Out of the country trip happening in March, contemplating how I’d like to share it on the podcast Daily audio vlog Audio vlog combined into one podcast One podcast episode summarizing the trip like Guadalajara What would you like? Little Raincloud Teachers inserting political commentary into classes Drop of Sunshine Sister visited! We had a great planning sesh for trip in March!

Knitting FO Watch Ginny’s Cardigan – Mari Chiba out of Malabrigo Arroyo in the “Escorias” or scum colorway! – awaiting a dip in the frog pond FO Hopper Cardigan by Amy Christoffers from New American Knits. Knit Picks Hawthorne Kettle dyed Fingering “Conifer” After Thought Everything Socks by Erica Kempf Broughton in West Yorkshire Spinners “Blue Lagoon” Nurmilintu by Heidi Alander out of Handspun merino from Knitty and Color   On the Needles Winter Dance – FiftyFourTenStudio our of Lion Brand Wool Ease “Navy” Spin Me Right Round Hearthside Fibers “Midnight” 85% Polworth 15% Tussah Silk Giveaways! January: Knitting Green by Ann Budd -Be a member of the group -Comment and tell us a time your trip didn’t go to plan Cook Pot  TheSeasonedMom.com   Grease 9x13 pan Combine 1 can condensed cream of whatever soup 3/4 c water 1 c uncooked rice 1 lb raw chicken diced ~13 oz broccoli florets *I added 2 chopped garlic cloves, and two sticks of celery, chopped. I topped with French's Onions optional to add Cheese topping last 5 minutes   Bake 375F for one hour   On the Road Universal Harry Potter! Hogmeade and Diagon Alley…. It’s a fan’s dream come true I loved the attention to detail and being immersed in the world through the rides and setting. I would recommend going during the off season if you can! Less tourists! Little Raincloud Not having a washer/dryer in the apartment…. Drop of Sunshine I only got to record this because my computer was taking hours to update… so… looking on the bright side!    

In Episode 18 of the Close Knit Podcast, I spoke to Georgie Nicholson of Tikki Knits, a knitwear designer and lover of local Australian wool. Georgie takes me through her journey of sourcing wool, a serendipitous stop at the birthplace of Polworth sheep - Tarndie farm, and what types of fibre she particularly enjoys working with. We discuss her work with SEAM - (Sustainable Environmental Art Movement) on WARM - a large scale collaborative community knitting project making a statement about climate change, and what a unique and interesting challenge it was to create a textile representation of a painted landscape. Georgie and I talk about her transition into knitwear design and how her children influence her design aesthetics. Show notes for this episode are available at www.closeknit.com.au/podcast/ep18

We hopefully have sorted out our sound quality issues, with much excellent assistance from Allison's partner.News and Events:28 November - The Yarn Bowl Thing, aka launch of Annette Bugansky's limited edition yarn bowls with Knit with Attitude. They will be on display during the Cockpit Arts Open Studio in Holborn from 28-30 November.29 November - Yarn in the City Bath Road Trip! Now with an option to join up with us in Bath. For more details see our Events page. Or click through for London-to-Bath or Bath-to-Bath ticket options.29 November - Fyberspates new Viviacious book launch and trunk show at I Knit London.6 December - Pom Pom Quarterly's Christmas party, at The Last, Athene Place, 73 Shoe Lane, London EC4A 3BQ. We will be there so come say 'hello'!6-7 December - The Crafty Fox Christmas Market in Brixton, featuring the illustrator behind the Yarn in the City artwork, the lovely Kaylene Adler, on 7 December.On and off our needles/wheels:Rachel is back at work on the Marie Curie Mittens (after finally digging out a beading crochet hook), but has discovered that they are requiring more spare neurons then she has available at the moment, so they are going on hiatus. She cast on for her Insight Pullover, and is almost finished with a handspun Now in a Minute by Brenda Dayne that is her Bath Road Trip scarf, worked in some Hello Yarn Fiber Club Finn that was spun up for the Tour de Fleece 2013. Spinning-wise, she's spun up 4 oz of Polworth/silk singles from Hello Yarn, plied the first of Alli's Christmas 2013 skeins, and done a bit more Targhee spindling here and there. Now in a Minute in progress. Allison has picked up her Selbu Modern Beret and is going full speed ahead with the addition of some Addi Sock Rocket needles which are making her life much easier (good tools y'all...). She's put the Mitini Mitts aside for a bit to consider the yarn/pattern combination, and is working on some superwash BFL from Sweet Georgia Yarns for her spinning.New Book Reviews:We review two books in this episode. First up, Rachel waxes rhapsodic about Felicity Ford's Knitsonik Colourwork Sourcebook, which gives you a complete system for generating colorwork knitting patterns from everyday objects. (And which basically supports Rachel's long-held belief that swatching is the best thing in the entire world - a belief Allison strongly objects to). Then we both discuss Cirilia Rose's brand new book, Magpies, Homebodies and Nomads, with much oooing and aaahing and pre-processing. We particularly like the Isla Cardigan, the Reyka Pullover, the Loro Vest, the Heima Slippers, and the Jordaan Cape. Special feature:A quick chat with Cirilia Rose about her new book, the idea of "bricolage" and inspiration.Wrap up:We invite you to join us in our Ravelry group, let us know what you think about the podcast, and tell us about events happening where you are. You can also find us on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.Music Credits (all available on Noise Trade):Loneliness & Alcohol - Jars of ClayEverything You've Done Wrong - SloanBlue Hotel - Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden

Talking and spinning can go hand in hand, even if it's via microphone for me and an mp3 player for you. I do a recap of the last few months, including a wrap up of the Tour de Fleece spinning, and entering skeins into the state fair.  And speaking of state fairs, this podcast has captured some of the stars of the barns, as I stroll along and look at the sheep.  I ran into a new breed for me Dorper Sheep, take a look! There's a yarnspinnerstale too, on creativity. Along inbetween is some good music from the podsafe music network A short interlude comes from Tim Foley with Monkeyshine, called Back Porch. And keeping with the porch theme, My Back Porch is by Brian McRae In the podcast I mention a blog, Hyperbole and a Half, and I want to make sure others can find it and enjoy it as much as I did!

Buying a fleece straight from the sheep is the true starting point for many spinners.  In this podcast I talk about thinking through the process before you actually go shopping, and then what to look for when you are finally ready to buy. I would like to include references to two books that I mention in this podcast: Turning Wool into a Cottage Industry  by Paula Simmons In Sheep's Clothing by Nola and Jane Fournier Music is from the podsafe music network  and was the instrumental Change of Autumn by Brian Turner.   As promised: a listing of sheep breed based on the softest possible micron count (the number listed after the name of the sheep): Sheep breeds softest to roughest listing Reference  In Sheep's Clothing  by Nola and Jane Fournier Fine wools                                                                                                       Merino 18   Rambouillet 19               CVM 21                                                                                     Cormo 21                                                                                     Polworth 21                                                                           Romeldale 21                                                                   Targhee 22                                                                           Polypal 22                                                                         Bond 23                                                                             Columbia 24                                                                             Corriedale 26                                    Down Breeds                 Shetland  23  Southdown  23  Clun Forest  25       Montadale  25               Tunis  25         Black Welsh Mountain 26    Ryeland  26  Shropshire  26  Suffolk  26  Cheviot  28      Longwools                                                                  Blue faced Leicester 24                          Texel   26                                                    Gotland   28                                                    Perendale  28                                                        Teeswater  30                                                 Wensleydale 30                                          Romney 33                                               Cotswold  34                                            Coopworth  35                                          Lincoln 36                                                  Border Leicester  37

The wonderful fluffy sheep is one of the breeds I talk about in today's spin in podcast, the Polworth.  I also discuss the Southdown sheep breed. I've put in a small segment for beginner spinners on just how I fiddle with my spinning wheel when starting to spin a new to me fiber. And if it is a spin-in then there must be a story, and today's yarnspinnertale is about sense of humor. Here's the promised links! Here's a good link for more information about the Polworth sheep. I have a group on Ravelry, listed as yarnspinnerstales spin-in.  Search in the groups box and come join the group. I have a fiber sampler box of 10 different fibers for sale in my Artfire store, ZavagantStudio.  Check it out now and then, I will continue to add items for sale there over the next two months. All music is from Mevio's Music Alley (formerly the Podsafe Music Network). Today's theme:  Humor! The first song is by Marc Gunn, a podcaster of Celtic Music (The Celtic Music Podcast Show) and writer of very funny songs, often about cats.  Today I chose What Do You Do With a Catnipped Kitty. The very unique 'singing' of the Miranda Rights is called the Miranda Lullabye, and is sung by Paul and Storm. The show closes with The Recycle Song by Bill Bates. As always, a big thank you to Wren Ross for Baa Baa Black Sheep and Clare Dowling for Spinning Wheel. Happy Spinning!