Tuesday Ten

Ten booked trips to look forward to

1. Newcastle, this very weekend, for the usual conference. I'm flying. I feel ridiculous but it was under £30 and under an hour. I've never been to Newcastle before, only through it on the train. 

2. Oxford, half term. I have to write as much dissertation as possible. It will also be my last library tour. 

3. Within that, London, for one evening. I'm going to see Cynthia Erivo play all the parts in Dracula. I booked this on a whim and I'm now really excited about it. 

4. Birmingham, for a work conference. I debated putting this on the list but I needed a tenth and I quite like Birmingham, there's a really good sushi place near the station. Undoubtedly the trust will try to book our hotel and there might be some dismal networking dinner but I might go rogue and book myself a spa hotel, make an occasion out of it. 

5. London - the haircut days. I've scheduled this for right after my first draft hand in date. My friend B and I are going to Ham House, I think I'll go to St Paul's, an exhibition at the V&A, the bathing pond on Hampstead Heath. Maybe Borough market. I booked a spa hotel (a running theme). 

6. The anniversary trip. Mr Z and I reach 20 years this summer! I am planning to use the spa voucher Sib gave me for Christmas to have an overnight at a hotel in the Cotswolds. We didn't get away last summer due to Mother Z's decline, so it will be a real treat. 

7. The big summer holiday. Zoe and I are off to Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. Maybe a day in Austria, too. After this, I have to get my passport renewed, so I'm not booking anything for October half term but my brain keeps revisiting possibilities. 

8. Hythe. Mother Hand grew up in Hythe so we are off there for August bank holiday weekend with Sib and the niblings. 

9. Portsmouth, for a school reunion. It's early September, a lovely time of year for such a thing but appallingly close to the final hand-in date for the dissertation. 

10. Christmas marketing in Germany. I thought I would venture a bit further afield than London for my Christmas haircut trip this year. We're getting the train to Aachen (more spa) and having a day in Cologne. I'm recruiting knitting club people to come along, we're up to four so far. I've only ever been to Berlin, so I'm looking forward to this. 

I do get around. How exciting. 

2026 Week 19

I have done much this week in pursuit of the life part of my miserable work-life balance. This has left me a little twitchy and feeling behind (so I'm writing this instead of moving on with any of my to-do list) but I have enjoyed it and find myself yearning for the future date - I've decided it's the end of September - when 'everything' is done and I can get through weekends without a crushing doom-like feeling of things left unfinished. 

I'm overstating it. It's not really that bad. It's just like a low-level unease. I had a conversation with the head this week, in which she asked how the dissertation was going, and then said that she'd handed hers in (she's been doing a part-time undergrad degree the entire time I've known her) and it had necessitated locking herself in her bedroom for 3 days and a lot of crying. This is a foreshadowing, I fear. Three days is optimistic for me, too, because mine is double the length. 

Anyway - I did manage to get a sense of how my lit review will look and I carried out another interview this week and have another tonight - just one more pair to find; I need to make a plan of what I will do each evening because, though I come to work on it every day, that work is pretty useless because I have not structured my plan. I have two more weeks and then a week in Oxford: I need to make that week as productive as possible, so some legwork needs to be done. 

Meanwhile, I'm trying to rework the presentation I gave with my colleague in April, for a conference next weekend; work on the coaching course I'm doing through school; and work on school things. The marking is ebbing, thankfully, as we are so close to the exams now, but the end isn't really in sight yet. I also need to figure out how I want marking season to go from June. Make a list, make a list, make a list!

(I paused here to make a list). 

So, what did I do in pursuit of life, amid this bin fire of work pressures?

The best thing was Friday night, when I went to London for one evening to hear Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris talk about their new book, The Book of Birds. I am such a fan of Macfarlane and I am also (as he might say) 'a bit birdy' so this was a real treat. I couldn't find that they were speaking anywhere else and, when I weighed up how I might feel about not seeing it compared to how I felt about the fuss and expense of going to London for the evening, there was no contest. And I have no regrets. The talk was accompanied by huge versions of Jackie's beautiful artwork of birds and included readings from the book itself. I find Macfarlane's writing to be so absorbing, it's like he's writing non-fiction in the style of fiction and his are consistently non-fiction I actually want to read in paper form, rather than as an audiobook, which is quite rare. The Book of Birds is a little different in that there are rhymes in it, so it is sort of like poetry and sort of like prose. I thought it went really well with the images. Their relationship is also delightful and I really enjoyed their banter. 

I went along with my friend B, who's been my friend since the OG exam board job in 1999, who I love catching up with, who I never see quite often enough. We went for Japanese food first and nearly chatted our way past the start of the talk. He was less inspired by the readings but enjoyed the talk. I'm also pretty certain I saw Mel Giedroyc as I was exiting the bathroom. I did that awful thing of seeing her, double taking, realising it probably was who I thought it was, deciding I wouldn't ask, then realising I was pretty much blocking her entrance to said bathroom during this whole thought process and awkwardly scuttling out of the way. I expect she gets a lot of that. 

I had to run for the train home but it was 2 hours from the Royal Geographical Society, where the talk was, to my own front door, which was pretty pleasing. I once went to a lecture with B when I got the coach to London and back for one evening, which was possible because it was in the holidays and cost under a tenner, but was a long, long time to spend on a coach. I'm richer in money and poorer in time, now. We've decided we're going to go to Ham House to see if there might be some ham in it, in July, when I go to get my hair cut. The summer hair cut days are shaping up nicely - Ham House, Hampstead Heath bathing pond, Schiaparelli exhibition. I just need one more thing to do. 

As well as this adventure, I have been devouring Macfarlane's Is a River Alive? which I have been flirting with for a number of months now, but have reached the halfway point of. I watched all of the episodes of Rooster and Euphoria - Euphoria as bleak as before and I'm annoyed with myself for starting it before it is all out, but I had watched so many clips on Facebook that I was in danger of ruining it. I recorded Wuthering Heights to watch but I am putting it off because the length of time for a film feels like a bit commitment. 

No audiobook progress because my brain needs some time when it can navel-gaze. I also sacked off yoga and did not manage to motivate myself into the gym on BH Monday, but I did get to the sauna on Tuesday. I keep looking at my late spring list and trying to work out when I can squeeze in two hot yoga visits; I definitely can't. But I will keep trying. 

I have divided for the arms on my latest knitting project and wound some more yarn. The first ball of yarn got me to half a row before the armhole division so I am feeling quite confident that I will have enough for the whole jumper. It's the most amazing, saturated blue and I can't believe that it's not rubbing away on my hands - what an excellent dye job. 

Throwaway Thursday - Miss Selfridge body spray

An occasional series that I might also title, 'Things in my house that are basically rubbish but I am a borderline hoarder and cannot bring myself to throw them out'. The idea is to memorialise such things here and then bin them for good.

Another scent memory: Miss Selfridge body spray, in Heart. 

I was never massively into body spray. We all had a thing for Impulse O2, obviously, being 90s children, but even then I was fairly sparing in my application. I have strong memories of Zoe standing and spraying herself in a circular motion, like she was creating a tornado of the scent, which is probably why that scent is just an immediate transport back to that time (or would be, if it were still available). But as a very sweaty person, I was mainly using Right Guard in some less overpowering scent, in a desperate attempt to stop my arm pits from soaking all my outfits - a fight I have long since given up on. 

Thus, I don't really remember using this body spray. It's about a third full. I loved Miss Selfridge cosmetics and still appreciate the aluminium packaging, which might bear responsibility for the scent lasting as long as it has. I have no idea what the scent is, but it takes me back to late 90s, possibly as I was moving out of home at 17, living in a bedsit in London and going clubbing with my boyfriend's friends every week; maybe even a bit later, and uni. 

It smells of vanilla and then maybe a bit fruity, like jelly sweets, or maybe something a bit floral (I'm terrible at doing scent notes) - it isn't exactly edible but it smells vaguely juicy. It is funny that I have held on to it for so long because, I have to say, sniffing it doesn't flood me with a happy feeling. I don't know what it is. That gap year before uni was not my happiest year, so I guess that would kind of make sense. 

Just had a full on stare for a couple of minutes, thinking of those nights out that this scent probably accompanied. Thank god, thank all deities, that digital cameras and social media were not a thing. I'd either have had a lot less fun at the time, due to a shred of self-preservation; or (more likely) I'd have had a lot less fun afterwards, when it all went up online. 

The Remains of 13 Wonderwools

I'm not really about shame, but felt I should document what I have bought at Wonderwool in previous years and never used. Some years, I burn through the stash pretty quickly - this seems to be the years when I have very particular plans for the yarn and/or it's to knit things for other people. Other years, so little has been made that I start to edge towards that aforementioned shame. 

I've learned that I almost always knit up my fivemoons yarn but that I have never (that I can recall) knitted up anything I've bought from Knitwitches, which is a shame, because her yarn was always glorious. A quick riffle through my projects reveals I have knitted a cowl with some of her yarn, but it was purchased at Fibrefest so isn't in any of my stash lists for Wonderwool. 

Anyway, I must stop procrastinating my dissertation work. There are no pictures so this is going to be a bit dull for you, but if you click on the Wonderwool tag you can see all my posts with pictures, to show the offending items. 

2010: 

• 3 skeins of grey camel/silk blend from Knitwitches
• 1 skein of blue cashmere laceweight, also Knitwitches
• 1 skein of pink alpaca silk cashmete from Artyarns

2012: 

• Many buttons
• Some red Knitwitches merino-angora blend, probably DK
• 2 skeins Blue Heron sparkly yarn - I did wind this and start something but it never made it much past the cast on

2013:

• More buttons
• 1 skein of plain sock yarn and 1 skein of Jawoll rainbow for some colourwork socks I have never made
• 2 skeins of Artisan linen/silk laceweight - wound, cast on and sitting in a project bag for about a decade
• A couple of skeins of brown Laalbear worsted - I have knitted two project with this yarn, so sort of doesn't count, but some remains
• 2 balls of Bigwigs angora/merino blend

2014:

• Obviously more buttons
• Roving - 400g; for thrumming, not yet done 
• 1 skein fivemoons Nanna Not Sock 
• Artesano BFL DK, 11 skeins in navy 
• A couple of skeins of Laalbear Naturals in cream - same as above, I have knitted a project with some of this
• 4 skeins Knitwitches Seriously Gorgeous BFL/Silk/Cashmere
• 1 skein Knitwitches aran silk 

2015:

• I'm just going to stop saying buttons
• 500g aran cashmere from Knitwitches

....and that's all that's left from 2015! Proud. 

2016:

• Buttons
• 5 skeins of green Triskelion
• 4 skeins of a blue blend DK from Owl About Yarns - I wound this but I have been putting off using it because I'm afraid it might have been mothed. It's in a bag with some moth strips
• 1 Zauberball

2017:

• 1 ball of Pook in a long gradient

2018:

• A few buttons
• 2 skeins of Riverknits 4-ply in Starry Night
• 1 rainbow gradient set, also from Riverknits

2019:

• 1 more skein of that Riverknits Starry Night so I had enough for a jumper (plan well-conceived...)
• 1 Riverknits blue gradient set
• 1 skein of delicious beige Triskelion 4-ply. The plan was (is?) to use this to make a shawl, with the blue gradient

2022:

• 2 skeins of Woolly Wumpkin very saturated red 4-ply
• 20 50g skeins of fivemoons grey 4-ply

2023:

• A Latvian mitten kit - this is OTNs and is sort of my current project (along with the other current project)
• A skein of DK Merino from Penrhallt Alpacas
• A sale grab bag of 5 skeins from fivemoons.
• A skein of DK merino from Lay Family yarns and a matching pom pom, to make a hat for the SIL - I have decided that SIL is not knitworthy, so I need to find someone else to make this hat for 
• Some rainbow yarn - two teeny skeins for adding a single rainbow stripe to the cuffs of some socks or mittens, and a ball of DK for some mitts

2024: 

• The yarn for a 4-ply jumper for Mr Z
• The needle-felting kit

2025:

• Some neons with a UV nep from Sealy MacWheely
• A Starry Nights minis set from the Yarn Artist
• 2 skeins of bird yarn from Mothy and Squid in the robin colourway - wound, sitting in a bag somewhere
• A 45 colour cashmere kit (plus the undyed for swatching) that will knit into a three-dimensional shawl

Wonderwool 2026

A rough count seems to indicate this was the 12th weekend away at Wonderwool, 14th visit in total. As this was their 20th anniversary show, I feel fairly accomplished - because of the missing in-person ones for covid, I calculate that as 19 shows since 2006, so I've only missed five. And I have the stash to prove it. 

As noted previously, I sacked it off on Saturday morning for a slightly disappointing visit to Powis Castle (may have to be repeated next year if the Clive museum has reopened by then), so I didn't get to the show until after 2pm on the Saturday, had a bit of a walk round, ate an ice cream and then left. It was positively hot inside the halls, which was a change for most other years. I had nothing for show and tell in the evening and wondered, might this be the year when I actually don't buy anything? 

But no. The ghosts of Wonderwool past haunted me: the rare occasions when I hadn't bought something and then regretted it, because I never saw it again. So I made some informed choices for Sunday and came home with this little haul. 

From the left:

• A kit to knit two otters and a pattern book from Sincerely Louise. What a delightful stall. I had a good chat with the artist and her partner on both days, all about Game of Wool and her famous octopus, featured on Tom Daly's shoulder. There were too many kits I wanted but the otters won. The word on the street is that she might have pigeons next year. 
• Top middle - a block printed silk scarf from a clothing stand called Running Stitches. They did well out of us as April bought a jacket from there on the Saturday that sent most of us running to the stall to see what she had the next day. 
• Middle middle - 18 mini skeins from Wee Yarns. They had 150 colours laid out in baskets, it was just divine. The package on the right is a pre-organised fade that I bought to knit a scarf for our Brazilian cleaner at work; the one of the left is an orange fade I put together myself, plus a couple of greens. The greens are part of my seemingly unending quest to find the right green yarn to go with some brown sportweight I took out of Kat's stash last year. 
• Bottom middle - three skeins from Sealy McWheely. The middle one is navy with a copper glimmer: very unusual, and the thing I decided on Saturday night that I would be most sad not to get hold of. I went straight back on Sunday morning and she only had one skein left! Four in the DK, so I did dither for a while, but then decided I probably don't want a whole jumper of sparkle, so I bought some plain navy for striping. 
• If you look closely at the top skein of the navy, you'll see a little vintage pearl-handled pin sticking out. 
• Top right - project bag from An Caitin Beag. It has a contrast cat lining. In the middle there is also a pin from her stand that says 'Deeds not purrs'. 
• Middle right - a needle felting kit to make three robins. I had decided against this, as I still have the needle felting kit for the door wreath from 2024, but then someone pointed out I could add robins to the wreath and I also remembered that, this October half term, I WON'T be working on a Masters, so I bought it. There's also a teeny notion purse and a crab brooch. 
• Bottom right - a kit from An Caitin Beag to make a cowl. It's the softest thing. This was originally meant for the cleaner but I like to have options. 

Given that I donated three bags of yarn to the Air Ambulance stall, I think this probably represents a net loss from my stash. Proud. 

Close up of the glimmer yarn, because so pretty. 

2026 Week 18

There isn't a great deal to say about this past week. It's bank holiday weekend and I'm trying to work on my dissertation but not being very focused. I have, at least, managed to set up a few more interviews so that is one less thing to do - by next Sunday I should have 9 in the bag, of a target of 10-15, so I am close to completing that part of the research. You know, the actual research part of it. 

We finished watching season 1 of The Pitt but don't really want to start season 2 until more episodes are released. I liked it but I felt there were some quite big holes in the plot, or rather, circles that were never completed. I also finished reading The Last Song of Penelope which was very satisfying, I loved the trilogy. I didn't touch my knitting all week but went to group yesterday and cast on for an Isabell Kramer pattern in some 2019 Wonderwool DK; I started something in it last weekend but decided the neckline was going to be way too wide so I went through the Kramer archive because her necklines are always so cleverly constructed. 

I am feeling like this might be my actual favourite time of year. I find it impossible to choose, but this very narrow window of May, when the blossom is ending but everything green is just like HELLOOOOOO and all plant life just seems swollen with brand new freshness, it's so lovely. Both our peony plants look like they're going to flower the year, for the first time ever - I think I planted them in 2021 so it has been a minute. The healthier of the two shot up to fence height in a matter of days; the other one, which began life in a pot and was then planted in the most barren bit of ground in the garden, has been pretty quick too. 

Just to add to my middle-aged stereotype, I've also been having a clear out. I decided to put 'donate 100 items' on my termly to-do list so that involves going through things like my underwear drawer, where there are rich pickings shoved to the back. Socks count as two if they're a pair (my game, my rules) and I also found nine odd socks that are never going to be reunited with their sole mates. I'm going to cut some of them up to be board rubbers. 

I did say that there wasn't much to say about this week. 

2026 Week 17

I was really on the struggle bus with work this past week. I did not want to be there, an issue exacerbated by the fact that BOTH events that would have seen me elsewhere for one day were cancelled. I suppose this made things easier, at least the second, Birmingham-based one but...hrmph. I have decided the grump was due to being tired from a week in Iceland and it being my much less preferred timetable week...but it might be the last time I have to teach it through, since the next one will have a bank holiday in it and the next one will be well into exam season. 

I realised, when I put my out-of-office on for the course I'm at tomorrow (allegedly), that I must not have missed a day of school since before Feb half term. A record! Although maybe this is also why I'm somewhat over it. 

Hobbies continued. I half-heartedly picked away at the Latvian mitten I am reknitting since it was working up too tight. Now I am slightly concerned it will be too loose but, meh. We'll see. I wound a gorgeous blue skein over the weekend to start another jumper but then lost confidence in my planned modification almost immediately after cast on, I think it would end up being much too wide in the neck, so I have stopped again. Mr Z and I continued watching The Pitt; I've nearly finished The Song of Penelope; I'm two-thirds of the way through Anxious Generation. I went to the sauna, yoga, a PT session and the gym twice. 

This weekend has been glorious Wonderwool - and it really was glorious, possibly the best weather we've ever had. The halls were actually a little bit too warm on Saturday afternoon, when I arrived. I committed heresy on Saturday morning by driving to Powis Castle for a visit first. Clive features heavily in the A-level course I teach and I have been very keen to go, but it is three hours' drive from here and I just don't think Ginge would put up with it. 

Powis was indeed beautiful but I was gutted to discover that the Clive museum was closed for essential works. No mention of this on the website. I made do with touring the rest of the house, but the vibe is very much, 'We've had to give you our house but we are very unhappy about it so will seriously limit your access' (see also: St Michael's Mount) and so everything was dark and difficult to access. Not really a problem, I enjoyed it a lot anyway. I will have to repeat visit, thanks to not being able to get into the Clive section yesterday. There's not much mention of the man himself around the rest of the place, even the portraits of his parents aren't labelled (I had to ask), but there was this statue, connected to him:

This is a 1st century Roman statue of a cat, apparently very rare because cats aren't often featured in Roman art. Clive bought this as a gift for his wife in the year that he died. I've been having fun imagining the subtext to this as a gift. Was he just trying to find the rarest and most expensive present he could? Heaven knows he could afford it. But I feel like there's a slight air of 'you're emasculating me'. 

Separate Wonderwool post to follow, with the goodies. I was very restrained this year. I gave far more to the Air Ambulance stall than I bought and I didn't buy anything at all on Saturday, very unusual for me. In the end, though, there were a few bits I just couldn't pass by.