Happy New Year and Decade, 2020

Here we are, yet again. Time for a review of the year, plans for the year ahead, and my now traditional photo of the London fireworks.
I was disappointed with their football theme, but they made a good show, even if every third shot seemed to be looking through the London Eye.

Pods of the London Eye.backed by and reflecting the light from the fireworks.

There were so many going off at once, that sometimes the sky was just blaze of light, missing the individual beauty of some of the fireworks. I think I would like a finale where, after a crescendo of rockets going off, there is one final, large, beautiful rocket, the sparks dying away as we all admire the falling stars, rather than yet another big blast which whites-out the sky and then abruptly, nothing. Then perhaps less could be spent on them, given the extreme need for funds in all directions, even though the entrance fee for those standing on the embankment to watch the show repays some of those costs.

Too many fireworks at once, and this was quite early on!

I've delayed this post a little, because I've had an attack of the glums in the six weeks since the solstice. I was just re-reading a friend's Christmas letter on Christmas day and thinking loving thoughts towards her and her family, when her husband sent me a message to say that she'd been in hospital for over a week with a respiratory problem which had been plaguing her, and they had decided there was nothing more to do but put her on palliative care. She died on 29th December. On the same day, my closest friend lost her brother, who had been fighting pancreatic cancer for a while.

In early December, we had a general election which returned the Conservative Government (although Wales still has a Labour majority, and the Scottish National Party holds Scotland, but England has the majority of seats in Parliament, because of the higher population, so whatever England wants, England gets), sealing the UK's fate to leave the EU. With all the talk, you'd be forgiven for thinking that we were leaving Europe (and it feels like it), the Channel widening as we move into the Atlantic. The UK (and Gibraltar, who I bet voted to Remain) formally withdrew from the EU on 31 January, entering an 11 month transition period, and effectively putting full withdrawal on 31 December 2020 with 'no deal' back on the table.

The jubilation of those who were enthusiastic to leave the EU is getting to me. I've seen lots of comments along the lines of 'now we need to all pull together to make Brexit work' and 'putting the great back into Britain' (sorry, Northern Ireland, you obviously don't count!). I don't know what this means in practical terms. I really want to know what, precisely, those who were keen to leave and are urging us to make it work are going to do, what action they are going to take to implement this, personally and together. So far, no one is coming up with anything concrete except that both sides have to stop arguing and we have to 'wait and see what happens', and a lot of crowing about finally being free and not having the EU telling us what to do.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump, US President, wants us to import chlorinated chicken from the USA and there's been a lot of talk about deals involving our precious National Health Service (NHS).

Enough of our woes, the news is full of worldwide gloom too.

After months of drought, then record high temperatures, bush fires are now burning across Australia. People have died, many have lost their property, the cost of fighting the fires is huge, but the environmental cost is enormous, with many animals, including endangered species, killed or left without shelter, food and water. Then, like some cruel cosmic joke, there have been downpours in some areas, extinguishing the fires, but causing flooding, with golf ball-sized hailstones which have damaged houses and cars (and further battered the poor wildlife).

The climate emergency is still high on the agenda in Europe and many other countries, pursuing a goal of net zero emissions by 2050, but this excludes the biggest CO2 emitters, China, the USA and India. Trump started a process to withdraw the USA from the Paris Climate Accord, because (apart from other things, like possibly not believing there is a climate emergency) he supports using coal.

His idiosyncratic style of brash denials, blame, insults and threats continues unabated, with added drone strikes, so that what started last year as a US-led military effort to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz nearly escalated into full-on war with Iran in early January.

The Civil Wars in Libya, Yemen and Syria rumble on, with no apparent end in sight.

Also in early January came the first news of a virus outbreak in Wuhan, China, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) advised was a new type of Coronavirus. It later emerged that cases have been known since November, but Doctor Li Wenliang, who in December alerted some of his colleagues and tried to warn the authorities, found himself being investigated for spreading rumours and lies. (Update 7 Feb: sadly he was infected with the virus, and has just died). However, they didn't lock down Wuhan straight away, because they thought it was caught from animals at a market and was spread by animal-human contact (which it obviously was). It soon became clear that it could and did also spread from person to person, with an estimated incubation (where a person can be infectious but not aware of symptoms, just like a cold or 'flu) of a fortnight, at a time when people were travelling internationally for Chinese New Year, so the virus has a head-start. By the end of January, it became clear that previous estimates of the numbers infected were completely blown out of the water and it had spread outside China, the WHO decided to declare the novel Coronavirus a global health emergency. Let's hope it's brought under control quickly and doesn't affect the Olympic Games, to be held in Tokyo in July-August. However, it is already spreading to other countries and has the potential to become a pandemic and impact the global economy.

Mid January brought Storm Brendan, with damaging 80 miles per hour winds and heavy rain on already saturated soil.. The shed is now so wonky, the door keeps falling off. There's a warning already looming for next weekend (update: now named Storm Ciara), with similarly high winds and rainfall.

So much gloom and doom! What else has 2020 in store?

• (Chinese Zodiac) Year of the white metal Rat. Although I don't take much notice of horoscopes, it seems this year could be a better one for me than last year.
• Year of the Nurse and Midwife (NHS/World Health Organisation)
• International Year of Plant Health (United Nations): 'an opportunity to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment and boost economic development'.
• Year of Coasts and Waters (Scotland)
• Global Year of the Bible: 'to highlight the importance of the Bible as the enduring foundation for fostering unity, freedom, development and quality of life'.
• MMXX has a nice symmetry to it, as does the date 02/02/2020.

Last year started with buying a new car. Even though it isn't as easy to get in and out, and was right at the top end of my budget, I love my Skoda Fabia, and the freedom it represents. Although the insurance is slightly more expensive (it goes up every year anyway, despite no claims), the garage is good at their customer service, it seems to be more economic on fuel and the road tax is way cheaper. And it's a faster, smarter car, and there are lovely little details, such as a drop down box above the windscreen for my driving glasses, and a little clip on one side of the windscreen for parking tickets. So far, very good.

I also passed the JWAAD 'Understanding Music used in Belly Dance course. It seems so long ago now, but it was a great course, and I ended up listening to so much wonderful music.

Although I didn't get to teach much belly dance, I treated myself to a weekend in Swansea for some workshops with Khaled Mahmoud, which gave me so much to practise and think about, they completely blew my mind.

My right knee played up so much last year, it got in the way of a lot of gardening, walking, dancing and generally having a good time. It's still a major issue now, something I want to change!

I've started the year with several WI bookings, both for belly dance talks/tasters and a couple of wire-wrapped sea glass workshops.
I've replaced my Create 365 project with Create 366, so the crafting, creativity, destashing, making do and mending continues.

My aims are the same as ever: trying to earn an income, losing weight (I'm very pleased with the 7.5 kg lost last year), getting the garden, the house and my life in general feeling less chaotic and more under control.

Whatever this year and this decade brings, I hope and wish for us all health, wealth, luck, happiness and creativity!

Happy New Year 2019

Here we go again!

Looking back over 2018, it wasn't as great a year as I'd hoped. It was supposed to be a year of changes, but it doesn't seem like much has changed. Even the fireworks picture feels a bit 'same old ...'. Will I ever feel as though I've got my life together?

The United Nations have declared 2019 to be the Year of Indigenous Languages, so I'm quite surprised not to have heard or seen a peep out of the Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society).
2019 is also due to be the international year of the periodic table of chemical elements, and from Chinese New Year on 5 February, the Year of the Earth Pig/Boar. I wonder what it will have in store for this metal ox?

I didn't manage to put my Christmas decorations up any earlier than Christmas Eve.
I got closer to side-sit/jazz fourth but haven't managed to do it properly (yet!).
I had to get a new computer when my old one went phut and am still getting used to it. So much new stuff to learn!
The house and garden seems as chaotic as ever, possibly even more so.
I'm still scarcely earning anything.

Looking forward, this is going to be the year of changing my beloved old TARDIS of a Fiat Panda 4x4 for something else. I realised last year that I had absolutely no idea of what makes and models were out there, and the jargon that goes with them. I had people saying 'oh, you'll be looking for a city car, perhaps a CX1'. What's a city car? What's a CX1? I've done a lot of reading around and now know the answers to these questions. I also did a lot of soul searching, because running a car is expensive, both financially and ecologically. People who live and work in cities might decide that they could live without one, and hire one occasionally. In Wales, that's only about 25% of the population. The rest of us rely on personal transport so that we can live efficiently. The amount I would spend on buses doesn't bear thinking about, because I know I would not be able to walk into Haverfordwest or Milford, much less carry the shopping back.  Could I manage with only a bicycle? I wouldn't be able to teach without a car, or do WI talks, Not that I can find enough interest for classes, and this is the first year in several which I've started without any WI talks booked.
I've already been car-shopping locally and there isn't a lot to choose from in my price range which isn't a little gutless city-car runabout.

It's also going to be the year the UK leaves the EU. I'll be dressing in black on 29th March, our planned leaving date. It will contrast nicely with my flaming cheeks. I'm so embarrassed to be British.

What else? My 'Create 365' project. Finishing the JWAAD 'understanding music used in belly dance' course. Getting an editing qualification, perhaps, at last? Doing some belly dance workshops, if I can find anyone who wants to and is available?

Trying to keep calm and carry on. We'll see how this year unfolds!

Learning Curves

I'm having a love-hate relationship with the learning curve involved with getting everything working and myself up to speed with my new laptop.

I had a lovely time at the music course weekend and loved having K to stay. She was the perfect guest, easy, accommodating, unfazed by my chaos and clutter. We chatted almost non-stop.

And so to the homework assignments which are part of the course. I have CDs where I need to identify rhythms, musical instruments and music styles. I have a portable/external optical drive in the form of a DVD/CD read/writer. I haven't used it since my old computer died, but it worked fine then, so I should be able to plug in and play, right?

The new laptop has a couple of USB 3 ports, but only has one USB 2 port. Although you can plug a USB 3 connector into a USB 2 port (it just runs slower), you can't plug a USB 2 into a USB 3 port. It doesn't fit, and needs an adapter which I don't have.  I have a little multi-port hub plugged into the USB 2 port, into which I plug frequently used things, like leads for transferring things off camera and phone, the dongle for a wireless mouse, and then there's a port free for anything else. My optical drive has a USB 2 port, so I plugged it into the free port on the hub.

The drive showed up in the Devices and Drives, and I looked at the properties to see that my laptop already had some sort of generic driver for it and thought that it was working properly. Cool!

I popped a disc in and closed the tray, and immediately the drive's icon disappeared. No error messages. The drive was stuttering away, evidently not reading the disc, the green light flashing on and off. I tried ejecting the disc but nothing happened - the button on the tray front wasn't working.

Okay, well I know this one of old. Into the desk drawer for a paperclip, open out one of the arms, poke it into the little hole next to the eject button on the tray, and it releases the catch.

Take a look in the tray, blow a few times just in case there's dust or fluff or something. Try again.

Same problem. Sounds as though there's a problem with the hardware, it's making such a horrible noise.

There is plenty of help available through the internet, lots of experts out there, although it really takes some sifting through to find the thing which might be the solution.

I searched using the make and model of my optical drive, adding 'troubleshoot'. The first thing I found was a video from some chap who was reviewing the same optical drive that I have, and had found that neither of the ones he had from new worked. Then there were lots of other reviews which said that it worked fine. No help there, then.

I found the manufacturer doesn't make it any more and had no information on it. I bought mine in 2013, I think, so it's 5 years old, which is practically antique in IT terms!

There were quite a few discussion groups and a couple of sites offering help for a 'modest sum'. Reading some of the discussion groups, with lots of experienced, possibly expert users chiming in, gave me plenty to explore.

From the various opinions, I gleaned the following possible issues:

• Too much play in the disc tray (= tighten up some little screws. They were already tight)
• Dirty head (= clean it. I would, but it can't run the cleaner disc)
• Drive failure, or all sorts of other impenetrable issues with the optical drive hardware (= so buy a new one. Even though they are relatively cheap, I'll hold off from spending if I can possibly help it!)
• Faulty lead, USB connector, USB port. (The former two were working, the latter definitely works).
• Faulty leads or connections in the hub. (Nope, other things plugged into the hub work fine)
• Original drivers needed (there's nothing available to download except some rather suspicious non-specific stuff, and the original drivers are on a disc, which, you guessed it, won't run)
• Windows 10 is not designed to work with external optical drives (I seriously doubt it, although there are a LOT of comments about the unreliability of optical drives, internal and external, with Windows 10)
• Updated drivers needed (Windows 10 doesn't give you an option to look for updates if it's only just installed a driver - logical, providing the driver works, and it thinks it does. It also thinks it's just a CD ROM, so I wonder if this is the source of a lot of the complaints that Windows 10 doesn't work, because the driver doesn't provide the full functionality?)
• Outdated USB controllers (it's a new machine, unlikely)
• Eject/deinstall, reboot, reinstall (the old, reliable 'turn it off and turn it on again'. No change)
• And then, four hours later the very last suggestion; to use a powered hub or plug the lead directly into the USB port, no extensions, as apparently optical drives use a lot of power to start up. I plugged it directly into the USB 2 port and it worked. Hurrah! However, it means I no longer have a USB2 port for anything else, so I could do with an adapter, as I automatically reach for a mouse. (And then tap it a few times and wonder why it's not working, forgetting that its dongle isn't plugged in.)

I was so excited, I let the system rip the disc without setting any options and then spent another ten minutes wandering around my new system trying to find where it had put the tracks. When I found them, they were .wma when I would normally have gone for .mp3 (but what do you expect when you let Windows Media Player loose on them? Tsk!). Then I found that my old reliable audio file converter software is no longer free. Okay, I get it, it's good software, why should the company maintain and update it for free? But it was the final straw and so late it was early (in the morning!), so I took my grumpy face off to bed.

The following day, I wondered about the complaints I'd seen that Windows 10 was unreliable with optical drives and wouldn't play DVDs; also the way that my system just saw this as a CD ROM drive. I had a look and could find options to burn discs but no, it would not play a couple of DVDs I had to hand, and therefore no options to rip or burn video off a DVD formatted disc either. Indeed, it turns out that Windows 10 is not supplied with this, assuming that everyone now streams stuff and uploads/downloads via cloud storage. Or something.

So every issue spawns another few, in this case, a USB 3 to USB 2 adapter, or possibly a powered hub, as I could do with being able to type without resting my arms on the front of the laptop, and a separate keyboard will either need a port for a connector or a dongle. Also, file converter software and DVD read/write software.

The list of things to learn and buy in order to give myself the capability I want seems never-ending. I keep asking myself when the complications will decrease to a level where I appreciate the benefits.

Ho hum, better get on with this running order for the weekend. Funny, I had one to do only 10 weeks ago or so, when my old system died. I never really appreciated how WYSIWYG and plug-in-and-play it was! I was wondering though: do others go through this learning curve with their computers and if so, how do they cope, or is it just my lack of knowledge? Comments welcome!

It had to happen ...

There's no good time for a computer system which is in daily use to go down. I'd been expecting mine to die for a while, and had been thinking long and hard about what I needed for the past couple of years. Bought in 2005, there was no doubt mine was extremely outdated. It had XP as its operating system, support for which was withdrawn a few years ago. It was a good operating system, but my PC didn't have the processor speed or RAM to cope with an upgrade, nor (I suspect) the internal space for new cards etc. so it became one of those 'if it's not broken, don't fix it' things. However, as versions of operating systems and the main Microsoft Office package moved on, it became increasingly difficult to maintain compatibility.  I bought a terabyte external hard drive a few years ago as backup, and then started using it as my main storage too, as the 145 GB hard drive seemed permanently full and the whole thing was getting slower and slower. Then my dear old PC started making some alarming noises (especially when Norton kicked in and hogged the processor). So I started looking seriously at what I would need by way of RAM, processor speed and storage, checking the requirements of the applications I rely on. At least a new computer with up-to-date apps would support more work potential for Plan B.
My stepson, who works in the industry, observed that it didn't much matter what I went for, as it would be so much better than what I had. Knowing that modern apps come with system requirements, I'm unconvinced.

As a friend who used to work in IT sales observed, it's a minefield out there, and this may be an understatement. Computer hardware and software are fast-moving beasts. When I started looking, Windows 7 was just moving to 8, and then almost in a blink of an eye to 8.1 with Office 13 the latest thing. Each upgrade required more RAM, more processor speed, more storage, and more of anything means more expensive too.

My Dad and I had been talking about getting a PC built to order, but I thought this might be an expensive way to go, and it seemed like it was necessary to know more about chipsets, graphics processors and internal gubbins than I could get my head around. I'd got to the point where I thought I probably needed a laptop to act as a backup system and provide a flexible, mobile solution (it's great having a smartphone, but I'm hardwired for a qwerty keyboard and preferably a mouse, and proper word processing capabilities at the very least),

And then, just as I was starting the running order for the Cardigan Belly Dance Festival a little over a fortnight away, and just as I had seen an email requesting changes to a book I'm editing, my old computer went FUT! Literally, with a bright flash from the back and a smell of scorched dust. And a lot of loud swearing.

I used my phone and a library computer (almost as slow and unreliable as my old one!) to do some searching and had several conversations with my Dad about requirements. I went into the local branch of a chain store which sells computers and had a browse around, gravitating immediately to a couple of laptops which turned out to be top end, though not gaming machines, with prices starting at £1500. Typical of me to go for the expensive options; even so, I was a bit shocked at the prices. So many advertisements with offers on laptops would lead you to believe you can get something really good for under £300. Yeah, right.

It's always a case of any two, but not all three, of fast, good or cheap. I needed one quickly, with a reasonably good specification in terms of RAM, processor and storage, and it soon became clear that in order to achieve the latter in particular, it would be rather more expensive than I had intended. The cheaper laptops were fine for social media and online shopping, but wouldn't support any productive work on documentation. Even the next level up, marketed for students, weren't really up to working with the full Office package. We excitedly explored a 2-in-1 Microsoft Surface Book, until it became clear that even the 13" screen with an i5 processor was approaching the £2000 mark, and even then, it would need a faster processor to run the Adobe Creative suite software which I'd intended learning into and exploring to take my digital art to the next level. We'd be looking at £2500 before adding the cost of software and other peripherals, like a wireless keyboard, new monitor, new printer - even the stylus didn't come with the machine, which seemed like a damned cheek for something so expensive.

In the end I chose a machine with 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, an Intel Core i5 DDR4/quadcore processor, with a clock speed of 1.60 GHz, but with a maximum 'turbo frequency' of 3.40 GHz. Just looking at the numbers, that didn't seem any faster than my old Intel Pentium 4 running at 3 GHz, except that it's not meaningful to compare processors like that. Used to a 19" monitor, I went for a 15.6" as the 13" seemed too small, even though I intend to find a way to plug my old monitor in. And like my trusty old workhorse, the new one is also a Dell.

As a not-very-techie-but (I think/hope) fairly competent user (#itsnotrocketscience!) moving from an old XP desktop to a Windows 10 laptop, I expected a steepish learning curve and to have to take time to get apps and other things set up and learn where everything is. The user interface is quite different, so I'm gradually fumbling my way around. The track/touch pad is the best I've used in my admittedly narrow experience of laptops and the keyboard isn't too bad, although the different layout and key spacing from my old one has me hitting hash instead of return a lot of the time and inadvertently putting caps lock on. Having my forearms resting on the front of the laptop while typing isn't ideal - I could do with a lower desk. It's really fast and the fan, when it comes on, is so quiet, compared to my old system. I plugged in my external hard drive and found to my immense relief that I could read and use the files immediately.

I've had it a week and the teething troubles are still outweighing the good bits. I'm permanently in a state of how does this work, what-does this mean, why isn't this working, what am I supposed to do? Grrr, aggravation, right from the start when registering the machine. Why do I have to select business or personal. It's both, why can't it be both, what's the difference? Much of the online help and feedback, which Dell and Microsoft invite, seems to go unanswered, or has answers which take three paragraphs to give no intelligible information and are applicable to a previous operating system.

Things have been somewhat erratic, Having watched something on YouTube, a few hours later, it wouldn't work. I can't remember the exact wording of the error message that came up, but it wasn't clear whether it was a problem with YouTube or the browser, or possibly something else. 'Try again later' didn't work and eventually I gave up and went to bed. It worked the next day.

Having set up the printer, everything apparently okay, I went to print, and the computer told me that the printer was offline. It wasn't. It was on, both in terms of power and on the WiFi network, and the computer could obviously see it because it queued the document. Switching various things off and on, retrying, etc, didn't do anything. I wondered if I needed drivers and went off to look, but found conflicting information. And lots of unanswered feedback and questions about whether Kodak printers were compatible with Windows 10. There was very little information and only one driver on the Kodak site, and something about drivers automatically loaded from the Windows end, which left me none the wiser. A couple of hours later, I jumped out of my skin as the printer started printing the page I'd sent. No dialogue from the computer. What the hell happened there?

The LCD screen seems to have a grey-blue colour cast and isn't reproducing colours at all accurately. I didn't really notice how bad it was until, fed up of trying to find a way to adjust brightness and contrast, I was looking at some photos and found that the colour reproduction was way off. Again, conflicting information - apparently the LCD screen on a laptop shouldn't need adjusting, but this looks like a colour profile issue. But instructions on colour management seem to be aimed at monitors as separate devices, So the suggestion is to plug in a monitor to test the LCD colour reproduction. I'd need a VGA-USB-C adapter and even the expensive Dell version doesn't include this laptop in the models with which the adapter is supposedly compatible, and I can't find any reason why. I might buy a cheaper one just to test it out, otherwise I can't think how I'm going to make any progress with this, short of taking it back to the shop ...

,,, which I'm very loath to do right now, as I'm in the middle of gathering all the music and dancer details for the show this weekend. I have the running order and playlists to do, as well as preparing my own mini workshop and notes for attendees, and finishing my choreography as well as preparing my costume and trying to find some time to rehearse. Some music tracks which played yesterday now don't play today on Groove Music (which was the app which popped up automatically to play tracks). Okay, so I'll play them with Windows Media Player. Nope, 'a problem occurred' and when I clicked the link to take me to the Windows help and support, I had half a dozen lines applicable to Windows 7, starting with 'Unfortunately, specific info about the error isn't currently available'. If not now, then when? And lots of forum posts wondering whether Windows Media Player works with some update or version (or something) of Windows 10. Which left me wondering how I could find out which version or update I had. Again, Windows support was no help, I found what I needed from How-To Geek. See, if they can do it, why can't you, Microsoft? #notrocketscience.

In the meantime, I thought maybe the tracks would play through iTunes and as I generally sync my iPod to ensure I have the show tracks backed up on there as well as on a USB stick, I tried downloading iTunes. And found that apparently it's not available for my laptop. According to Apple, this laptop should be capable for it, but Windows store only offers it for a different version of Windows 10. I managed to find my system information; my version is 15063, the one required is 16299, which is apparently a PC (as in desktop?) version. But again, there's no real information about how to get that build version, what it relates to. The link just takes you through to Windows 10, as if the choice between their Home, Pro, Education etc. editions is all there is. I have a lot of my music in iTunes format and some credit in the store. I've found a link to download build 16299 but nothing that helps me to know if it's safe to do so.

Returning to the Microsoft help and support, I put in the code from the Groove Music error message to find a thread dating back to Windows 7 in 2012 with exactly the same problem, basically that the audio playback stops working due to an unknown error. Again, with non-answers about codecs and third party software not working with Windows, until an addition from someone last year on Windows 10 with the same problem and an observation that YouTube playback is also affected. Sure enough, YouTube has stopped working again.

Oh dear, this post has turned into a rant. All this is making my brain hurt and the hours I'm spending just trying to get things to work have resulted in a literal pain in the arse from sitting for too long. After a week's ownership, I'm still struggling to get back up and running effectively and hoping I haven't made an expensive mistake.

'Strong Heel' Socks

I can't believe I started these socks a year ago, and I've no idea when I finished them (probably only a couple of weeks after I started them). Then I got busy in the garden, and gave them their first wash before wearing, and months later blocked and photographed ... and then wore and washed them several times more ... and completely forgot to write up my notes. So, with apologies for the long post, here goes!

My Ravelry queue (for which, read wishlist of interesting things to knit and crochet) has over 1000 items on it, of which 200 or so are socks - just ridiculous! I need to have a cull, especially of those patterns I first queued up a few years ago when I was first learning to knit socks and experimenting with magic loop, toe-up, two at a time, and so on until I settled in a comfort zone of cuff-down on dpns. And then I stumbled across another pattern in Knitting Squirrel's blog for 'Strong Heel' socks.

I added it to the queue and then decided perhaps it was time for another pair of socks for myself. (Yes, I have other WIPs to finish, but I've realised I just like having several things on the go at once, so I can flit between projects as the mood takes me.) I'd been dithering about whether to have a pair in Drops Fabel 151 'Guacamole Print', (am I ready for orange and lime green?) then thought, to hell with it, why not have some zingy colour on my feet?

As Nicolette of Knitting Squirrel explains, the 'Strong Heel' sock is so-named, not  because it is a reinforced heel, but after its originator, Gerdine Crawford-Strong. It's an easy heel to work, because instead of a heel flap and pick-up-stitches and gusset, it's created by increasing the number of stitches on the heel needle, then working short rows (although they get longer) with decreases to turn the heel. The bottom of the 'flare' created by the increases effectively sits on the line where you would measure from the point of the heel across the instep/front of ankle and back round to the point of heel again, a critical measurement for those of us with wide heels and ankles.

As always when I come across a different technique and pattern for socks, I am uncertain about how well they might fit me. So I read through the pattern, paying attention to the size of needles and gauge, comparing this to my usual 72 sts on 2.75 mm dpns with an approximate gauge of 36 sts and 48 rnds  to 4"/10cm. (I think I may have mentioned elsewhere that I have something of a death-grip when it comes to knitting tension.)

I cast on my usual 72 stitches and did my usual 12 rounds of K2, P2 rib and 48 rounds of leg. Looking at the pattern, I realised that contrary to many patterns which have the heel stitches on needles 3 and 4, I've got into a habit of putting all of my heel stitches on one needle and designating it 'needle 1', starting my rounds with the heel stitches. This may not be a good way of working, so don't take this as a recommendation, but it works for me!

I reset the round counter for the flare shaping to help me keep track. I used kfb (knit into the front and back of the stitch) to do the 'M1' (make 1) increases in the 2nd and penultimate stitch of the heel needle on alternate, odd rows. This is where I had another waivery, doubting moment. If I just followed the pattern based on a  60 stitch sock, with 26 stitch/26 rounds of increases, would it fit? I needed width but not length. What was the logic behind this? I followed the link to Aaron Clark's instructions to see what that was about.

The explanation was that, assuming you were using two heel needles which each have a quarter of the total stitches, the heel needles should each end up with an extra number of stitches which is two less than the number they started with, nearly doubling the number of stitches.
So on a 60 stitch sock, each of 4 needles would start with 15 sts.
Two less than that is 13 sts.
So if you knit an increase round and a 'straight' round for every increased stitch, that's 2 x 13=26 rounds. (And across two needles, 26 extra stitches.)

So if I followed the same calculation, assuming I was using 4 needles, not 3:
72 stitch sock, divided over 4 needles = 18 stitches per needle
18-2=16 sts,
16 sts x 2=32 rounds.

Only a half inch longer, but a total of 36 stitches across the instep, 36 original heel stitches and an additional 32. 104 stitches in total.

That seemed huge; if I work at 9 sts per inch unstretched, it would fit an instep of 11.5 inches unstretched. I generally calculate a negative ease on my socks of (give or take) 25%, and if/when my ankles are a bit puffy, the socks need to stretch to 14". 9 sts x 14"= 126 sts, 25% (a quarter of which) is about 32 sts, so 126-32=94 sts. Otherwise the sock might be baggy and swim around my heels.
72 original stitches, plus 26 as originally suggested would be a total of 98 stitches and should be enough!

So, 26 rounds, 26 extra stitches (so my single heel needle had the original 36 stitches (half of 72) plus 26 extra equals 62 stitches on the heel needle).

The next little moment came when the heel starts on a wrong side and because I work 'heel needle first', there didn't seem to be any point in knitting the instep stitches after the increase row 25, let alone completing row 26 (I really don't need the length, not that one round makes much difference), as I would have had to knit across the heel stitches again before turning to start the heel. I compromised by completing the last increase round and then just knitting across the heel stitches, rather than completing the even numbered round too.

Turning the heel, I had to translate the pattern into a single needle's worth of stitches. It starts by working across the wrong side of what would have been the second heel needle and a few stitches on, the turn creating a gap between the worked and unworked heel stitches. (I've done this before, but it seems so long ago that I thought it worth documenting.)
R1 (WS) sl1, p31 (i.e. half of total heel stitches), p2tog, p1, turn
R2 (RS) sl1, k3, ssk, k1, turn
R3 sl1, purl to stitch before gap, p2tog ('over the gap' - decrease using stitches before and after gap), p1, turn
R4 sl1 knit to stitch before gap, ssk (over gap), k1, turn
 ...and so on, until all the stitches have been worked in. It finishes on a right side, so I completed the round by working the instep stitches.

I found that if I knitted everything back to the ends of the heel needle, I would have 32 stitches on the heel needle plus 36 on the instep needles, a total of 68.

The flare shaping of the heel brings you a good 15 rounds further down the foot than an all-in-one type of short row heel such as my favourite Sweet Tomato heel, so I did 45 rounds of foot before starting the toe shaping by decreasing to 64 stitches total and decreasing by 4 stitches, one each at the start and end of the heel and instep on rounds 1, 5, 8, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19 20 to leave 24 stitches to Kitchener 12/12.

The first sock wasn't a bad fit, the heel shaping and decreases very neat, except that decreasing on the end stitches of the heel needle left holes when working around onto the instep stitches, which I hadn't noticed at the time. The longer leg meant it was a bit tight at the top. I decided to tweak a few things on the second sock, starting with 4 fewer rounds on the leg (so 44). The foot needed to be just a little longer, too.
Then I got a little hung up again on why 2 fewer stitches per heel needle? Sizing includes proportion, where did 2 stitches come from? All right, let's do a little more maths. (Don't be scared now, it's only numbers!)
For that original 60 stitch sock, half the stitches for the heel is 30 and the total increase was 26, which is an increase of approximately 86%.
So for a 72 stitch sock, the heel half is 36 and an 86% increase is an additional 30 stitches.

I decided to do those extra 4 sts, (and extra 4 rounds), as the length would be in and around the heel rather than the leg length, and the additional decreases would lengthen the foot a little.
On the heel decreases, I stopped a stitch short at each end of the heel needle, then started the instep with ssk, and used decreases on subsequent rounds to get down to 66 sts before starting the toe.

'Strong' heel socks in Fabel Guacamole print yarn

I think the second sock was better, even though it was only a matter of a few rounds and stitches here and there. I'd knit this heel again, even though it felt long during the back-and-forth increases, it was actually not a lot of fuss.

I recommend The Knitting Squirrel blog (linked above); well written and full of lovely photographs, tutorials and creative inspiration.

Happy New Year 2018!

Wow, where did 2017 go? I know, I say something similar every year. It's true though! So here we are again, a new year before us, full of potential and possibilities. And of course, the now obligatory new year fireworks picture:

Fireworks around the London Eye, view across the Thames from the Embankment

There has been much discussion over gender equality and sexual harassment/assualt (#MeToo), and 2018 is the centenary of women being granted the right to vote in British parliamentary elections. To mark this, a female/Venus symbol was projected onto the Shell Centre tower building (left of the Eye in the above photo) while a soundtrack by various female artists played. It's a great milestone to celebrate, even though the Representation of the People Act 1918 only granted voting rights to some women (over 30 years old if they were either a member or married to a member of the Local Government Register, a property owner, or a graduate voting in a university constituency). It took another 10 years and an update to the act to grant votes for all women over 21, providing equal voting rights with men. A number of commentators have hailed 2018 as 'the year of the woman'; by this time next year, we'll see if they were right.

More officially, the UK government  has announced 2018 as the Year of Engineering, part of a year-long campaign to tackle the engineering skills gap and widen the pool of young people who join the profession. The UK Space Agency will be supporting the campaign by funding a series of education and outreach projects designed to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The Scottish Government has made 2018 the Year of Young People, providing a platform for those aged 8-26 in Scotland and opportunities to explore and showcase their personalities, talents and achievements.

National Geographic has decided 2018 will be the Year of the Bird, and has launched a year-long campaign dedicated to celebrating and protecting birds. So the first of my resolutions will be to do more wildlife watching, starting with birds (RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch, last weekend of January!). More moths, more butterflies, other insects, spiders ....

Chinese New Year on February 16th is the start of the year of the dog, a male earth dog to be more precise.
I've seen lots of predictions that this will be a year of changes, but don't we all say that, every new year?

The first change for me was to change the layout of this blog a little - I was bored with seeing two sidebars, so back to a right hand side bar with all the usual bits and pieces, and the articles on the left. 

I was terribly untidy in 2016, with craft stash all over the place while I prepared for workshops in early 2017, so didn't put any decorations up. This Christmas, I loved rediscovering the various baubles, decorating the tree, putting lights in the window. My preference for decoration on Christmas Eve now feels like I don't get to enjoy my decorations for long enough, before it's time to take them down again. I don't like to see decorations up very early (certainly not before December 1st), but I've decided I shall put my decorations up earlier this coming December, and enjoy the sparkle for longer. And be tidier!

Another change for me will be to find a new car, not something which fills me with excitement. I've just put my car into the garage for some urgent work to shocks, brakes, exhaust and so on, only to find that the rear subframe is corroding and won't last another year, and would be uneconomic to repair/replace. Chatting to the mechanics, they suggested I buy myself some time by getting the work done, which will also give it some trade-in value. They said it was the sort of corrosion they see when a car has been used with a boat trailer, dipping its rear end into the sea. Of course, the original owner would probably not have owned up to that when he traded up. The corrosion isn't noticeable for the first few years, but it explains why the sump guard rusted through and gave up relatively early, too. It's only 10 years old, I've had it for 8 and the mileage hasn't even been that high.  Such a shame, as I've liked this car better than my previous ones.

So sadly, this is not the year for getting the central heating, soffits, gutters etc. done. Double glazing, replacement bathroom fan and shower and rebuilding the chimney all loom on the near horizon. As for fencing, new shed, greenhouse ... unless by great good fortune I win the lottery or some other prize. I don't know where the money's going to come from, so this is definitely going to be a year for trying to earn more.

In order to do that, it really is going to have to be a year to change my computer. I hardly dare type this, just in case it hears, but it has been making some alarming rattling, grinding noises.  

Looking back, 2017 was not as fabulous as I'd wished, but that's life, I guess. I learned a lot about editing, managed a lot of gardening (well, a lot of digging, and a certain amount of enjoying peas fresh from their pods) and did a lot of meditation. After a concerted effort to clean and move furniture and get a bit more sorted out in order to host a visit from my parents, I feel as though I've made headway, even though there is always more to do. I've decided that I like to have a selection of works in progress, and anything I didn't achieve last year I can continue to strive for; anything else can just have a veil drawn over it. Preferably one with sequins and beads along the edge.

2018 will hopefully also include more dance, yoga and exercise, regaining enough flexibility to sit in jazz 4th position on both sides; more beach time, more gardening and vegetable growing and crafting and blogging.
It's time to rouse myself from my inexplicable January funk, there's so much to look forward to!

Time Lapse

My blogging has lapsed somewhat, largely replaced by doing. While the weather was good, I spent spare time out in the garden, (currently) marked by my last published post in August, although there are (quite) a few draft posts which get looked at and tweaked from time to time.

When at my desk, I'm invariably working, still editing the magnum opus which came my way at the start of the year. It's a fascinating book set in 1949 Ethiopia, but irritatingly wordy, with dialogue in five languages and occasional words in a further two. The typescript was an incredible mess of typographical, spelling and grammatical errors, which are gradually falling away under my relentless nit-picking. I keep reminding myself not to over-correct or change the writer's style, that it's not my job to fact check - but inevitably, I've picked up on some anachronisms which needed further research and discussion. It's still very long, the equivalent of five average-sized novels, so it's undecided yet whether this will be one novel or perhaps a series of three or more. I'm really enjoying the work (although the amount of work I'm doing is disproportionate to what I'll eventually be paid!) and loving the way my relationship with the author is developing. I am learning so much about language and editing, and more than I ever imagined I wanted to know about Ethiopia!

I have also received a PhD thesis to proof-read, started earlier this year and now in its final stages. I've also quoted for another. Both have been affected by the supervisors' requests for rewrites. I've previously seen this 'you get it ready to publish, then I'll make suggestions for changes', which has the potential to become a soul-destroying, endless loop of draft versions and self-questioning - am I/is my work good enough yet? The answer, at least in my opinion for the thesis I'm working on, is 'this is awesome and you are utterly amazing!', but I guess the rarefied heights of academia have a more jaded and demanding attitude.

A combination of changeable weather and the conflict of what else I 'should' be doing has largely kept me out of the garden. The days flicker by and only time will reveal the cumulative effects of barely perceptible daily changes, like the comparison of first and last drafts, or the start and end of a time-lapse film. 

It's More Than Just A Dance Class

Another term, another manic round of  finding and reminding dancers to register, liaising with the Adult Ed department to try to determine whether there are enough for the class to go ahead (a floating number depending on how many pay which level of fees, which no-one seems able to estimate until at least 10 are registered) and preparing classes.

Then, revising the plans a little due to a change in location (industrial carpeting is horrible to turn on! The ceiling height looks okay - would we hit it if we used canes or Isis wings?) Then ensuring our Facebook group and my website have all the up-to-date information. From an organiser's point of view, whether that's an Adult Education organisation or the teacher themselves, trying to get a class going, chasing up enquiries, booking and checking the venue, marketing, advertising and planning the class, it's all necessary work, but is also unpaid expenses until the class successfully goes ahead.

And then, the day before the class is due to start, I hear that two have failed to pay. So now those who did pay for the term have no class, and no prospect of a class at least before half term, and want their money back (a pain and further sunk costs for the community education centre, although I would probably have gone ahead if it were one of my independent classes). Why the drop-outs? One I now know about; flu' over the holiday season left a harsh cough and such strained intercostals (never mind gasping for breath) that her doctor instructed her to rest for at least the next few weeks. About the other, whom I don't know but who was apparently eager to join the class, I have no idea, and neither does her friend who already comes to class.

We've been here before. A few years ago, a dancer was asked and repeatedly reminded by one of her friends to let her know about the class. She gave her all of the information, each time her friend asked her about it. Eventually, her friend stopped nagging 'let me know' and it turned into a sort of accusatory 'you were supposed to let me know'. Exasperated, the dancer reminded her friend that she had let her know, she had given her all of the information, every time she asked. She'd encouraged her friend to come, reassured her; in fact, done everything short of dragging her friend out of the house, driving her to class and back, and paying for her. All her friend had to do was show up (and pay), but she never did. And although 'but I didn't know about it' was evidently not an excuse, we never knew the real reason why she didn't come.

Nor have I had any sign-ups, or even enquiries, for my independent class. It's 15 miles away, which means no-one from the other class wants to move to that one. I've decided that I'm going to keep that room booking and use the space-time to work on my own technique and choreographies, or perhaps the odd private lesson if anyone wants one.

There has been some interest, but no real commitment, for the collaborative piece I proposed last summer. It seems impossible to get all half-dozen dancers together even for an initial meeting.

WI and other talks/demos bring forth regular comments of 'I would love to' or 'perhaps next term/year', but what stops the wish from being fulfilled is anyone's guess. I chat to the ladies over tea and biscuits at the end of these sessions to try to get to the bottom of that. It's evident from the feedback that belly dance is not what they thought it was, so much so that I now include a 'myth-busting' section in my talk (it's not the preserve of slender, leggy young women, you don't have to bare any flesh/tummies/legs, you don't have to be fit, coordinated or be any good at it to start, it's never too late, ... and so on).

I deplore the idea, which I've heard repeated in adult education circles, that adult 'leisure' courses are mainly for the idle rich, but there may be some truth in it. Belly dancing can be a problematic topic in terms of engaging adults, who can find any number of reasons why not to do something. As always, it probably comes down to personal priorities and more intangible reasons for not wanting a dance class, although belly dance classes are not the only classes which are failing to run through insufficient interest. It seems many really just don't want to learn (or feel they're being taught). I can understand this for those who aren't academic and have just finished full-time education, and there are some who have been put off lifelong learning by their experience of school.

Whatever the reasons for not coming to class (and I've posted an example of this before), there are good reasons for getting out there and continuing learning.

If belly dance itself is more than just jiggling your bottom, then learning to dance is about much more than just dance. That's just the vehicle for learning - it can be a very broad topic, from working on rhythms using finger cymbals to exploring the music, history and culture, or political and feminist issues, to building self-esteem and confidence.

Everyone needs physical activities, even the less able-bodied and it doesn't have to be sport. Just walking a bit more is free and contributes to the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of moderately-paced (that is, it gets you warm and a bit sweaty without leaving you unable to speak!) activity per week. However, dance offers the full package, improving balance, posture, range of body and joint movement, muscle strength and cardiovascular capacity. Belly dance is particularly good for core muscle strength and its benefits for balance, posture and digestion, and is low impact, so kind to ageing joints.

Furthermore, learning involves brain activity, promoting thinking skills, improving concentration and attention span, widening interests and generating ideas. For some, the main enjoyment comes from social interaction,making new friends and reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation.

I often worry about the future of public sector Adult Education services, not to mention my own work as an independent teacher. When classes close, it can be difficult to get them restarted and the resulting lack of funds can start a vicious circle, reducing the availability of classes. Yes, there is a lot of free information available via the internet, but it's not always a good substitute for being taught in a class with others. So don't wait for things (life, weight, whatever!) to be perfect before you start doing things you might enjoy, because one day when you decide you want a class, it may not be there. Use it or lose it!

Little Victories

Since well before Thanksgiving, the Gratitude/Happiness/Memories Jar memes were doing the rounds of Facebook (again). I've no idea when this tradition started, but, since it seems to include reading back all the memories, happy moments and things to be grateful for at Thanksgiving, I expect that it's more of a 'thing' in the USA.

The rules are simple, because they're basically whatever you want them to be.You take a storage or preserving jar, a pen, a stack of small note-paper strips or squares. You label and decorate the jar if you like. Daily or occasionally, you record something you're thankful for, a happy moment or memory, and pop it in the jar. Then, at the end of the year, or whenever you're in need of cheering up, you read the notes.

It's a lovely idea, definitely something I would do if I had children. I toyed with the idea of starting a jar this year and can easily find a jar, but where to put it? And considering that I can always find something to be grateful for or happy about, how big a jar might I need?

Mulling all this over, I thought about how I'd forgotten what I'd achieved last year. What and how much do I learn over a year? All the little skills or bits of knowledge which I acquire in the course of crafting, teaching, learning, doing, or simply because something arouses my curiosity so I go and look it up. Some things I forget completely, sometimes I remember them and 'know what I know', and others become embodied and automatic, as if there wasn't a time when I didn't know them.

So I am going to record them (when I remember to - no absolutes here!), in a diary rather than a jar. Not just some of the bits and pieces I learn, but the Yay! moments, no matter how small, whether it's managing to do tummy/diaphragm flutters (still working on that!), finishing a piece of work or doing a job I've been avoiding (for me, that's generally anything which needs me to get the stepladder out). It doesn't matter what others would think of them, because the important thing is their personal significance.

If reading back the notes in a gratitude jar can lift the spirits, then perhaps reviewing all the little victories of daily life can give a real boost to motivation and self-esteem.