There will be no surprise I’m sure that when I chose the name of our newest MKAL I was influenced by the wonderful phrase “Cymru am byth” – Wales forever! On it’s own ‘Am Byth’ also gives a nod to some of the design features – I wonder if you can guess what they might be?
Dw i’n mwynhau dysgu Cymraeg – very much. I’m on Day 66 of my Duolingo ‘journey’ – I know that because I’m on a 66 day streak and I haven’t missed a single day since I started learning. I’m currently on Unit 8, which is the last of the ‘Intro to Welsh’ units and there has already been a noticeable increase in difficulty level! Phrases are spoken more quickly now and words are gliding into each other. I’m often very grateful to the tortoise button, which replays the phrase at a slower speed, although it does rather sound like someone speaking sarcastically slowly to the hard of thinking!
There are some words I’ve found really difficult to remember – particularly the different between the various versions of the verbs ‘did’, ‘made’ and ‘went’. The present tense is fine, but the past tense seems to have all kinds of complications! I started off the course by writing words and phrases down in my journal and those have really stuck, so my plan is to revisit the more recent lessons that had me most flummoxed and write these down as well. Sometimes writing by hand can stick in the brain more than typing – I don’t know why that is, but it seems to hold true for me when I’m trying to learn something new!
(The groovy red dragon at the top of the post is a version of a Welsh flag available from wikimedia under creative commons license, designed by NikNaks.)
Speaking of new things…
There are only three days until Am Byth MKAL is launched! You’ve still got time to buy the pattern from me or get a kit from Yarn O’clock. I’ve even recorded, subtitled and uploaded the video for the Pinwheel Cast-On. You can find it under ‘Knitting Tuition – Free Video Tutorials‘. I’ve moved things around on that page so the most recent videos are at the top as I think that makes it easier to locate the latest additions. There’s quite a collection of these short videos now.
There’s also a new page on the website! Titled “Where I’ll Be”, it lists all events and workshops I’m booked for. Two days ago, when I set up the page, there were two yarn shows listed. Now there are four workshops added as well, and there’s going to be more! I’m adding contact details and links where I can so you can go straight to the right place to book a place or a ticket.
The way it’s set up you only see one ‘event’ at a time, and you use the arrows at the right and left of the screen to move through them. I’m considering adding a calendar underneath with the same info, so you can see it all at a glance as well if you want to. Would you find that useful?
I got accepted for the yarn show I applied for last week! I really wasn’t expecting to hear back from them until after the closing date, so that was a lovely surprise. I’ll add it to the page of ‘Where I’ll Be’ once I’ve paid the invoice and it’s all confirmed.
The Safe Space cross-stitch has been stretched onto mounting board and is at the framers! He’s a busy chap, so it’s in the queue; he expects to get it framed at the end of the month. The stretching took about an hour or so and used a HUGE amount of thread! I’m showing you the back as well as the front as this work will never be seen again once framed.
Since finishing this cross-stitch and getting my magnifying lamp (I wrote about that on social media last week) I have done quite a bit on Mum’s photo embroidery. I’m not sure you can actually see much of a difference from the last time I took a pic of it (last July!), but I promise you there are at least 8 hours of stitching added in, if not more. The July 2022 pic is on the left and the January 2023 pic is on the right.
This morning I cast off the reworked Llandudno Promenade. As the pattern went on, more changes were needed, including a rewrite of the border lace as the number of stitches and rows were different from the original. The shawl will now be blocked and I’ll get the new version of the pattern written up and off to a tech editor. I’m really pleased with it, especially with how well these colours match the paintwork on Llandudno pier! You can probably see how the darker turquoise sections are shedding colour onto the cream – that’s the crocking (the excess dye rubbing off) – it *should* all just wash out when I soak it for blocking. I’ll report back next week!
That’s all for now – unbelievably it’s already 8.30pm. It looks as though the brownies I’ve been trying to make since Sunday might have to wait until tomorrow!
Take care, stay warm and do something that makes you happy this week, K x
Da iawn ti am dysgu Cymraeg. Dw i’n dysgu Cymraeg ar DuoLingo hefyd.