Its small cheese but I now have two knitting patterns listed as my ‘designs’ on Ravelry. I have uploaded the patterns as pdf’s & managed to get things linked together. They will also be available on the blog by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page. They are two versions of a cowl I knitted in a ’snow day’ last December. They are simple but I like them & they are a small ‘pay back’ for all of the free fab. patterns I have found through Ravelry.

Introducing:

‘Snow Day Gaiter, the more ‘manly’ version of Snow Day Cowl & ‘Snow Day Cowl’ herself!

I have got another couple of patterns that I have knitted but need to be test knit or at least re-knitted by me that may appear before Christmas.

I am actually beginning to think I have taken on a tad too much on the knitting front but we shall see! I am knitting a pair of socks for Pure Purl to have on her stand at the Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show in three weeks time, I have 2 socks knitted from different patterns & yarns & various pressie knits plus our knitting group’s Christmas Swap! Shame about the day job! Oh well…knit on!

This week is Half Term….. thank goodness…..!!!!

We took ‘Brian’ to the north east, camped at Old Hartley Caravan Site, mooched around Newcastle …… The quay side made interesting viewing for people & dog.

The ‘Eye’ was opened just as we stood sipping coffee (Black Americano for me, Cappuccino for himself) We were of course able to feed the student, take him to Costco so he could stock up on supplies & we generally checked that son & heir was actually OK. Which he is, very OK infact.

We didn’t hang around until Wednesday, but if we had we could have watched his second appearance for the Lacrosse Team! Its a game that is new to him but apparently he has ‘flair’ & ‘promise’! Stick, ball, physically challenging…. his parents are not surprised!

The mini break in the Lake District was just what we hoped it would be. A magnificent wild day on Saturday blew away the cobwebs  & we had several enjoyable ‘potters’ around Grasmere, at White Moss & in Ambleside. ‘Brian’ was then found a lovely camping site admist the trees at the Coniston Caravan Club site.

In our days as family caravaners it was always a favorite & was as good as ever. We had a pre-dinner wander down to the Lake & then battened down the hatches, cooked tea, poured the wine & listened to Christopher Timothy read the stories of James Herriot whilst the wind whistled through the trees. We woke to sunshine & a much calmer day. Mr J set off on a training run up to Coniston Coppermines whilst I put my mind to finalizing the timetable for the forthcoming Year 12 Geography field course, as I was returning to the Lakes on Wednesday. On his return we ate a hearty ‘brunch’ & then walked along the lake into the village, enjoyed coffee & cakes in the warm autumn sunshine before returning to the campsite to pack up. We only had 36 hours or so away but it was great & we have vowed to do it at least once a month. ‘Brian’ is waiting for his next trip out in couple of weeks when we are heading north to just north of Newcastle at the end of the ‘metro line’ to SEE how son & heir is doing! We hear that he is loving student life, is getting plenty of sport -he has taken up lacrosse & is playing rugby again, along with mixed netball(!) & squash. Maybe some work is beginning to shape up?

Wednesday to Friday saw me back in the Lakes.

The weather was fantastic. The students brill. The roadworks on the A1 on Friday sucked! 2 hours to do a 40 minute stretch & probably responsible for my strained back from maintaining crawl control in the mini bus , which combined with a stomach bug has made me feel pretty wretched since Sunday!

Staright from the fieldcourse Mr J & I headed south to stay with my sister & BiL as the two men had an appointment to do the Birmingham Half Marathon on Sunday! Despite feeling green some of the time I managed to steel myself to go into Birmingham & support the boys. Despite been born & bought up about 12 miles from the center of Birmingham it is not a place I have ever got to know & I must say I was impressed with the elegance of the buildings in the city centre & intriuged by the network of canals that go into the heart of the city. The Birmingham Canal Navigation Network has more canals than Venice!The boys did well! BinL had only just recovered from the illness that kept him out of the Great North Run & the weather wasn’t brill -very heavy drizzle that soaked into shoes-  & a hillier than anticipated course, on narrower roads than the GNR, but despite this they came in just a tad over the two hour mark. The support team found a handy bus shelter on Broad Street as ‘base camp’ & so I was able to rest up when I felt the need!!!!! What a wimp!

Anyhow, the bug seems to be on its way. Its not swine flu & I feel well enough today to do some knitting, so its not all bad. I am knitting another pair of  ’Embossed Leaf’ socks in Zauberball. I like this yarn & its ’strawberries & chocolate’ colourway! I need to photograph these!

May I take this opportunity to introduce ‘Onthehill patterns’? The first one is ‘Snow Day Cowl’ & can be found on the separate page (click the tab on the blog header).

Its nothing mindblowing, but its a quick, easy & cosy cowl & I was flattered to note that someone had the requested a pattern for one of my ‘knitted on the fly’ hats last winter & so I have decided that each time I re-knit an improvised design I will write it down & publish it (& link to Ravelry of course!) I have had so many great free patterns that I felt I wanted to contribute something.

…for a 36hr escape to the Lake District in ‘Brian’! We are going to camp at ‘Park Coppice’ nr Coniston. This has been a base for loads of happy family autumn caravan holidays. I will be back in the Lakes on Wednesday for 3 days with yr 12 on their Geography field course so I want to check a few things out & as we found out with our Alnmouth trip, even a short break really boosts the batteries!

The weather might be like this but…. that’s not what the weather forecast suggests! Knitting will be coming too!

I became very frustrated when trying to add photos to blogger. It was OK if I did it in one go, but not if I typed a bit & then added a photo & then typed a bit more before adding another. Then Clarabelle moved for the same reason & I realised that it wasn’t just me being a bit ham fisted! So, we will see how this goes! Adding a pretty header was easier too! At the moment its the view to North Uist from the road near Stein in northern Skye. I have the same view as the desktop on my laptop & I just love it!

For me September is back to school, of course, same for Mr J. This September also sees son & heir’s début as a University student. He has been at Northumbria University for two weeks. The verdict after three days? ‘Beyond awesome’! Infact, much to the amusement of his Aunt & Uncle, most things have become ‘awesome’! There is sometimes a qualifying comment on the lines of ‘other than skiing’ or ‘other than Courcheval’ but that was to be expected. Obviously abandoning him in the surprising luxury of his ensuite student accommodation, with views over the Tyne bridges, was a little traumatic for the doting Mama, but we left him in glorious sunshine & within an hour we had arrived on the beach south of Alnmouth, armed with a picnic from Sainsbury’s in Alnwick, to join sister, BiL, Bil’s sister & her husband (in other words, the bike ride crew!). It was beautiful! Hot! We had a fantastic time. We stayed until after tea on Sunday. We visited Cragside on Sunday morning & then lounged in ‘The Boathouse’ & luxuriated in the wonderful views over the estuary.No! The picture is NOT upside down!

We were back in the North-East last Sunday. Husband did the ‘Great North Run’. BiL got ill with a horrid chest infection & wasn’t able to compete again. The student had already decided that it wasn’t an ideal end to ‘Freshers Week’ & so had not entered. This means they all have one finish each as DH was injured last year! It was a fantastic day. Warm for spectators! We picked up the student from his quayside apartment! He was on top form but the decision about running was probably right! He might have held his Dad back as Daddy completed the race in 1 hr 49 m & came something like 5,000th  & 265th in his age group. 50,000+ people ran! All VERY proud! Pictures to come. Next race is the Birmingham Half Marathon in two weeks time. Hopefully BiL will be fit & they can complete another race together.

Apart from all the rest of ’start of term’ stuff, for me September/ October is fieldwork time. Yesterday I went to Grassington with my GCSE group. On Friday its Yr 13 & a day on the North York Moors & then its three days in the Lake District with Year 12. Although being out of school involves additional work, such trips are always one of the most satisfying parts of a Geography teachers lot & yesterday was no exception.

I have managed some knitting in all of this. I have finished my ‘Ginger’ scarf & giving it a light block is one of the pleasurable tasks for today. A couple of pairs of mitts have flown of the needles. One for SiL’s birthday, one for me. Both knitted in aran weight yarn & using the pattern Juniper Mitts. Quick & cosy mitts. I think that the Gracie shawl will be one for the long haul!. Its a nice thing to work on but the rows are all ready very long. I think I am going to cast on Water Diamonds scarf, but use a thicker yarn & fatter needles to make a real warm winter scarf. I snapped up some Sirdar Hug as a bargin price, in a lovely pale grey which should do the job.I did flirt with the idea of Faeroe but realistically it wasn’t going to happen. It would have been a three figure price tag apart from any technical issues! I also need to finish my sunshine socks & get some more socks on the needles. That could be a fieldtrip knit I think.

Oh….by the way… I am Sue & I am addicted to ‘farmville’ on Facebook!

Well I have arrived from blogger! Onthehill has become Fromonthehill! Hopefully I will be encouraged to blog more often because I don’t spend hours chasing the pictures around & I DO like photos in my blog! I just need to learn how to use WordPress! I need to smarten things up around here & I will be back!