TESTING TESTING.

Bless Ian the Tea Thompson who has managed to make some fantastic sounds come out of my spinning wheel ahead of our gig at Girl Monster near Vienna on Saturday night. We have yarn being spun with old tape cassettes, which pass over a pick up and then microphones on the wheel, picking up squeaks and knocks through effects to make it sound like I'm spinning in a dark and dingy cellar, with scary noises going on in my head.  Fortunately we will have Louise there on the stage with us in her fantastic new flax wig, carding beautiful rolags and doing her Bez Happy Monday's dancing.  I think we are going to have a fantastic time.  

ZARA'S RUBY SLIPPERS.

We love it when Zara comes to work with us, because she has lots of dreams which she makes come true. Today she wore these ruby slippers which were hand made for her by a man in Hollywood. They have 'J Garland' written inside them and felt on the bottom so she can dance really quietly. They were so shiny, they made the shop go all red and spotty. 

CELIA LETS SLEEPING DOGS LIE.

Thank you Celia. In keeping with this month's theme of letting sleeping dogs lie, Celia sent us this picture of an embroidery that used to lie at the foot of Aunt Lillie's bed (her friend Daniel's aunt) then for years it rested on the arm of Daniel's sofa, so when you lay down you could rest your feet in the foot prints. Daniel gave it to Celia last year and she has it on her wall as it is very fragile and the stitches are worn down. Celia loves that feet can be called dogs and so do we. 

LOLA.

We are loving learning the words to Lola, which we knew anyway, but we thought we'd better practice, so we can do our best, when we sing in the Girl Monster Orchestra with the Raincoats, yes the Raincoats, on Saturday in a little town near Vienna, and we love the song version so much, we thought it would be a nice idea to share it with you.

KNITTED WEDDING REVISITED.

What better way to celebrate this gorgeous spring time than to watch Simon Irwin's film of the 'Knitted Wedding', which I arranged and knitted for Freddie and Ben with the powerful aid of 'Cast Off Knitting Club for boys and girls', in the Summer of 2005.

Simon, it is beautifully made and thank you for putting it on U Tube.

FELIX AS A FLUFFY CLOUD.

Congratulations Felix on your SEXY fluffy yellow with blue bits ribbed raglan JUMPER! Hooray! I witnessed your anger and frustration at those fluffed over decreases, and it looked dreadful to un ravel, but then you fixed it in no time at all. Well done, it looks georgous. This was the fluffy jumper you wanted before, and the wool is so well spun you won't get fluff in your mouth. What next?

UFO PROJECT ADMINISTRATION SERVICE.

I would like to invite you to be part of an exciting new project for the Jerwood Contemporary Makers 2009 Exhibition at the Jerwood Space in London. 

Across the world, hidden in cupboards are accumulations of half knitted works. On conception the ideas were fueled with love and contemplation. For various reasons, sometimes sad, the projects have stalled. The patterns may be lost, and the yarns run out but with hours of skilled effort, these pieces are rarely thrown away, but hidden in drawers, left to harbor unexplained feelings. Recently abbreviated to 'UFOs,' unfinished objects seem to effect nearly every knitter.

UFO Project Administration Service aims to take these lost, guilt-ridden projects and inject them with a new lease of life. You are invited to send us your UFO's and apply to finish someone else's UFO.  We invite you to do what knitters do best - be practical, imaginative, and inventive. 

Please e-mail ufo@prickyourfinger.com for an application form.

All UFO's can be seen at http://ufoadministration.blogspot.com 

This site will be constantly up dated as the UFOs fly in. If you see one you would like to work on, please e-mail us.

When finishing a UFO we advise maximum creativity. A forlorn UFO may arrive on your doorstep, asking you to unlock it's secret history, the yarn within the yarn!

Help these UFOs become couture fashion, fine art or heirlooms!

To show a piece as part of Jerwood Contemporary Makers, please act hastily. I need everything in by 29th May!

(But there is no pressure to exhibit, you can work at any pace!) 

Watch this space for up dates and paranormal activity.