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!

Now - I'm sure I've forgotten something....

I'm back from Darkest Cheshire where I went for the weekend for my "baby" cousin Jenny's 30th birthday party. The lilac Swallotail in Posh Yarn was for her present, and I remembered it. I remembered all the bits for my outfit for the party (it was a Wild West theme, and I was a cowgirl, complete with pink sequinny cowboy hat - it's amazing what you can pick up at a major supermarket these days). I remembered my knitting (but was having such a good time, I didn't knit a stitch ALL WEEKEND!). I remembered my 12p for the toll bridge into Lymm. I remembered my way - which is hard for me - I have the sense of direction of a spinning top. What I didn't remember was my camera - so I have no photos, which is a shame, as the weather was beautiful, and Jenny looked absolutely beautiful dressed as a saloon girl. She loved her Swallowtail, and wanted to wear it, but didn't, in case of spillages.
It was lovely to spend a couple of days with my family - I feel comfortable there, and it's great to see them all again. My Aunt has also asked me if I will make a shawl for her friend - so I am going to attempt to make up my own pattern. I'm not "designing" - what I am doing is compiling, I think. I have Traditional Lace Shawls by Martha Waterman, which has a lot of traditional patterns in for Shetland Lace, and what I'm doing is a little bit of swatching. I'm not sure, so I'm doing a 40 x 40 stitch swatch of the centre, then popping on a border, and maybe an edging. That way, I'm not committing to something I'm going to be unhappy with. It also means I can play without frogging. My rules for this are to go with something I think I like, and see how it looks. No frogging unless I make a boo-boo. That way, something I'm maybe not keen on to start with may do an ugly duckling on me.
What I probably will get is a lovely set of lacy dressing table mats! I'm horrificly indecisive, so I'll probably knit 10-15 swatches by the time I decide (or give up and go and buy a ready made design). I'm only on swatch 1 at the moment, so I will post swatch pictures as I get them.

Best Laid Plans...

Oh well... I was going to try Baltic Blossoms, or Melon, honest, but it's my niece's first birthday soon, and so I'm ploughing through a cardigan for her. It's a Tiboodoo pattern, and it looks lovely, and it's an easy knit, but I'm finding it slow going.
And I'm having an Anne Hanson thing going at the moment... I've knitted one Cardigan sock, and I'm itching to start its mate. Great pattern, and it looks fab - pictures when I have a pair. Then in the past few days, my Cranapple laceweight's arrived for my Whispering Pines triangle, and today, my Blue Moon Fiber Arts Haida arrived, for Irtfa'a... And they're calling to me, seductively, from their gentle squooshiness...
Not to mention I scored with Posh Yarn this week too - with three skeins earmarked for the Wallis Cardigan from the Summer Interweave Knits.
So, like, yeah - I'm really going to knit all this, aren't I?
Well maybe not this week, but yep I am.
And it's my cousin's 30th this weekend, so hopefully I can get some pictures of Jenny's Swallowtail in action!

Blocking Day

Today, I have been mosty blocking...

I have upstairs, drying, a Spiders Web Shawl in Cherry Tree Hill Merino Lace, Winterberry (could not get a decent photo); two Swallowtails - one in Posh Yarn Eva 4 Ply, Frock (a lavender / silver one), destined for my cousin's 30th birthday present, and one in Knitpicks Alpaca Lace.






I've loved this pattern. It's such an impressive knit, and once I had my head around the nupps, really straightforward. The Posh Yarn one was part of the Posh Yarn Swallotail KAL on Ravelry - if you're on Ravelry, and love Posh Yarn, or think you may, pop along to the group - it's one of the friendliest going (except for Sundays at 6pm, when it's every Poshite for her/himself).

I've also blocked out my Gust by Anne Hanson of Knitspot. Again, a very well written and straightforward pattern, with lovely results. I've got wool for two of Anne's other designs, irtfa'a and Whispering Pines (both shawls, both stunning) on order, and I'm itching to get going on them.



It was a little difficult to get the photo, but I couldn't resist the contrast of the wispy warm earth tones of the Posh Yarn Sophia against the green of the new growth in the "garden". It goes beautifully with my new shawl pin from Leslie Wind - absolutely beautiful in its simplicity. I was spoiled for choice amongst her designs, and have already mentioned to Jon that I would love the heart shaped one for a special occasion pressie - such as my birthday, maybe?



The closure is a pair of long tabs - so no pins, and it sat on the wispy cashmere laceweight like it belonged there. It's going to get well worn!

I'm working on Victorian Ruby from Victorian Lace Today at the moment, and am about halfway through the bottom border - after that, it's either going to be the Melon Shawl in Kidsilk Haze (nothing if not ambitious, me) or Baltic Blossoms by Evelyn Clark (more nupps!) in Posh Yarn Lucia... Nice decision to have to make...

Freedom tastes so good!

Finally, after 6 weeks and one day, I am off Jury Service. I appreciate that people need to do it, and that we need a cross section, rather than those for whom it may be convenient, and that everyone charged has the right to a fair trial, but sometimes, you wonder who is on trial. I have had 6 weeks at right angles to my life, with things going on as normal, but where I have been sitting with different priorities. Without going into details, the trial has been complex, and we can't forget that this is not a logic puzzle; that the people accused, giving evidence, and referred to are all real people, and all have a lot hanging on what the Jury eventually decides. It's taught me a lot about myself - I thought until very recently that I was quite good at dealing with things, that I could divorce myself from what was happening, but that has proved impossible. I became emotionally involved, and have really felt under a strain. I have spent a lot of the afternoon crying, which came as a surprise to me.

Now I am finished, I need to pick up my life and put the pieces back into place. It's going to be hard to click back in. It's as if I have to forget about this, and let go of the last 6 weeks of my life, where I have eaten, slept and breathed nothing but this trial, shared with 11 other people who I became close to, but will now probably not see again. It's Jon's birthday tonight, so we will be celebrating quietly, free of this hanging over us, which is good. The support I have had from Jon, my family and my friends (both "real world" and "online" has got me through this - so thank you - if you are reading this, you probably count in one of those categories).

So - I can let all the detailled data ooze out of my mind, and get on with making honey and lime glazed chicken for Jon's Birthday Tea!

Confessions - from right at the bottom of a rabbit hole...

Oh dear. Please will someone stop me, tie my hands, hide my purse, anything to stop me from buying even more yarn? After a quick enable from a couple of members of the North East Yarn Fiends on Ravelry, I visited Woolaballoo in Crawcrook. It is amazing - they have beautiful yarn. They are lovely people. They have Colinette, Noro, Regia (including the new Galaxy yarn), Artesano, Ranco. They are good value. The displays are lovely - I can see what things look like, and feel the luscious yumminess of the yarn. They are sitated 5 minutes in the car from my house. They are too near...

5 Skeins of yarn, 2 circulars and a book later, I am at home, and I am torn. I have a Local Yarn Shop which is local, and beautiful. I also need to discipline myself, else I may as well ask for my wages to be paid to Woolaballoo each month, and I can then just go and pick up my goodies! I shall be back, and I shall be buying. Again. What a lovely shop!