What I did at the weekend....

I went to Woolfest, and had a fabulous time. I met a lot of people in person, and spent a lot of time squinting at Ravelry badges... I won't namedrop, as I'm bound to forget people but it was lovely to meet you all, and was a fantastic day out.

I bought loads, and won't post too many photos... let's face it, it's all beautiful stuff, but some of my highlights were the lovely laceweight from Andy of Bluefaced.com...

This is going to be the baby shawl that I really need to start swatching for...

And I fell in love with the Cranford Mitts kit from The Yarn Yard...

These are so pretty. But need to be added to a ever-growing list of projects.

Then there was this fella, who seemed to delight in covering himself in his straw...


Finally, for now - I took a Hand Spindling workshop with Spindlers 2 (no website that I can find, but fantastic people - I spent an hour being tutored by very patient people, had fun, and came out with my very first handspun:

I may spin finer, more even, longer yarn, but I will never spin yarn I am more proud of.

And with other purchases under my belt from Fyberspates, and a Kool Aid Dye kit from DT Craft and Design and fibres to practice my spinning with, I shall toddle off to roll in my ever increasing stash...

SPLAT!!!

I'm having a busy week this week - not much progress on the knitting front - I'm working away on Moni's Slow Bee Mystery shawl - although it's designed for slow bees, I'm still having to pedal very hard to keep up. I've also started the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl - I'm just onto Clue 2, and it's my first Pi Shawl, and I'm loving my pattern - I'm saying "my" pattern - Renee of Goddess Knits has designed a "choose your own adventure" shawl based on the theme of a Mandala - signups are still open until June 30th, so if you haven't, go on... you know you want to... go to the Yahoo Group and sign up... Go on...

I'm also working on a Cobblestone Sweater for Jon - I'm using New Lanark Mills Donegal Silk Aran Tweed for it, which is smashing value (whole sweater will be knit for under £20) and lovely to work with. It's knitting up into a good hardwearing sweater, and I'm up to the armholes on the body, and am approaching the end of the first sleeve. It's a Jared Flood pattern, and I'm sure he won't mind me saying that it is welcome, mindless knitting - round and round and round with very few fiddly bits. It's my first sweater in the round, and with my aversion to sewing up, it won't be my last.

Jon's mother and sister came to visit for the weekend, and here's where we get to why I've titled this blog post as I have... We took them up to Seahouses for the day on Saturday, and went on a Billy Shiels trip over to the Farne Islands. I love this trip - out on a little boat around the islands, with stops on the way to see the seabirds on the Islands, the seals hunting, and the site of Grace Darling's rescue of the Forfarshire survivors, and then an hour on Inner Farne. There were some lovely birds to see - Eider Ducks, Shags, Razorbills, Kittiwakes, and these little fellas:


Everyone loves Puffins, don't they?
And who would have thought this little critter would turn into an Attack Tern - but he will - once he is old enough to have his own chicks, he will rattle like a machine gun, and attack anyone who he sees as a threat. But for now, he's just fluffy cuteness itself. Everyone go "aaah"...


Finally....

The one....

The only....

The money shot....



Jon had it worse than me... but we were both blessed as you can see. We were looking at a Shag nest, with 4 fluffy chicks in it, clinging to the cliff edge of Inner Farne, when the parent lifted its tail, and the wind did the rest. Oh well - it washes off.

Next stop - Woolfest...

ETA - No Handknits were harmed in the creation of this blog post. Jon and I both make sure we wear old clothes when visiting birdy places!