The Wool Palace

Where people often meet

Well, that turned into a bit of a longer break than anticipated.

I am surfacing from a couple of manically busy weeks at work, with not an awful lot to tell you really.

Holidays seem like such a long time ago.  Our week in Cornwall was a bit too much of this type of weather

and not enough of this

It wouldn't have been so bad, but we were camping and spending every evening in a tent in the rain gets a bit wearing.  I think next year we'll go for the cottage option.

Dorset on the other hand, was gloriously sunny.  However, the only photos I have are of the children at the beach and I'm not keen to put up pictures of them in their swimsuits all over the internet, so you'll have to take my word for it.

So now we're back at school and work and I've been able to start thinking about a little knitting.  I haven't had a chance to look through the new knitting magazines in too much detail, but have totally fallen in love with the Tangled Yoke cardigan from the new IK.  So much so, that in what is a very unusual move from me, I've even ordered the yarn from my LYS in Taunton - I'm going for a dark brown version.

I'm going to try and look through Vogue and the new Rowan this evening and see if anything else catches my eye.  Any suggestions?

The north wind does blow

We had the first of our May bank holidays this week.  The weather forecast was a mixed bag but we decided to throw caution to the winds and go on our first camping trip of the year.  We kept fairly close to home and visited a part of North Devon that we didn't know particularly well.

It wasn't swimming weather, or indeed swimming terrain, but the coastline is well worth a visit.

Close up, it's even more spectacular

and rather imposing.

 

When we'd had our fill of clambering over rocks, we walked through woods covered in bluebells

and detoured back to the coast to look at shipwrecks.

We had two days of reasonable weather, but by Sunday night it was blowing up a gale.  We retreated to the pub for dinner, then hunkered down in the tent for the night.  Packing up in the wind and mist on Monday wasn't much fun but we all agreed we'll be back, hopefully in better weather next time.

Forgot to say - yarns in the previous post:  Fleece Artist shade is Hercules, the blue/green Koigu is shade P124.

So, the holidays are over and it's back to school.  We've had a good break with fantastic weather but I have to admit I did feel quite happy waving Sam and Josie off on the school bus yesterday morning.  The last couple of days, with boredom levels rising, were a bit of a challenge.

However, before that we did lots of fun stuff.

We went for walks

and looked at the obligatory spring lambs.

Talking of lamb, we had quite a few barbeques as well, but I'll spare you pictures of us with our mouths full of food.

We took a trip to Symonds Yat and walked by the river.

We didn't make it to Cornwall but we did spend the day at Woolacombe.

And of course, there was an Easter egg hunt, with predictable results.

Thanks for all your support over the driving test.  I've rebooked, so let's hope it's second time lucky...

Day return

I've just done a post about our trip to Get Knitted on Saturday but Typepad crashed and I've lost it all, along with the will to write it again.

Suffice to say, it was great day.  Sue and her team have done a great job on the shop, which is huge and wonderfully stocked.

I met up with some of the Liberty knitters for the first time in ages and had a wonderful time with them; it was lovely to see everyone again.

I managed to forget my camera, but luckily Amelia, Dawn and Polly have done sterling work at capturing the day and there are more photos on Get Knitted's flickr stream.

There - a slightly grumpy post about a distinctly less than grumpy day.

PS. Polly has pictures of everyone's shopping baskets in her entry.  Can you guess which one is mine?

7th highest!

Sorry Ruth, I will post photos of the haul but the trekking photos were ready first, so here we go.

The drive to Woolfest was a trek in itself.  7 hours in a car on a very hot day is not my idea of fun.  It did give me the time to finish one pair of socks.

Eventually we saw signs that we were getting close.

I love these blue signs you see on motorways here, 'The NORTH' - don't worry about places names, we'll take care of that later.  Driving round Birmngham is the best for this, you are constantly being confronted with various junctions signposted, 'The SOUTH-WEST', 'NORTH WALES', 'The SOUTH'.  Just put your trust in the compass points and all will work out fine.

Anyway, eventually more place names became evident and we were able to find our way to our hotel in Buttermere, where we enjoyed views like this.

I cast on the Trekking sock in preparation for the journey ahead, but forgot to take any photos.

Our trek of choice was a circular route up to Great Gable and back through the valley below.  The first part of the ascent was steep and the day was hot so it was pretty slow going.

We stopped to cool off by a waterfall.

If you enlarge this photo and look at the very top of the waterfall you will see people there.  They had climbed up the waterfall from the bottom of the valley.  One way to stay cool on a hot day I suppose.

We stopped for lunch at the top of the first climb.  I did a little work on the sock.  WARNING - hideously unflattering photo ahead.

The things I do for the blog.  The hat is very special isn't it?  Still, it did stop me getting sunburnt.

After lunch we carried on up and up for a good 2 or 3 hours.  Unfortunately it got quite hazy so there weren't many good views.  The sock saw some relatives.

Then it was time to go back down again.

The descent to the small lake took an hour as the path was very loose.  We still had a way to go but took a breather and cooled our feet in the lake.

Of course the sock wanted to join us, even though she had been carried most of the way.  Still, she was very persistent so I gave in.

Then we were on our way again.  Another 2 hours or so and we were back at the bottom.

Then it was back to the pub for cold beers all round.  No more knitting was done and we slept soundly on our last night in The Lakes.

Calloo, callay!

Yes, we are back from the Lakes.  We have been back for a couple of days but our return coincided with my parents visiting from the States for the first time in 18 months so things have been a bit busy.

The Lake District was wonderful.  Neither Toby nor I had been before and we will definitely be back.  How could we not go back when the view from our hotel bedroom looked like this?

-

We didn't stay in Cockermouth but I was able to get a bus there straight from our hotel.  Even better, I had the bus all to myself as it was part of the Dial-a-Ride service where you phone up and 'order' a bus for the following day.  I could get used to that sort of thing.

Woolfest was absolutely fab.  I am so glad I went.  Even though it wasn't huge I was easily able to keep myself occupied for the whole of Saturday.

I relived my student days in New Zealand when I used to take Japanese tourists to the Agrodome and watched sheep shearing displays - hand clipping and electric.  There were also opportunities for audience members to have a go.

Afterwards the fleeces were literally thrown to the audience.

There were plenty of fibrey animals on display.

I didn't see many people I knew, although I ran into Ruth late in the day who introduced me to Susoolu, who I had been standing next to at the KCG stand earlier in the day.  However I was happy enough on my own as it was a very friendly show.  It was a nice change from Ally Pally in that there were far more small producers there and commercial yarns were outnumbered by fibre and spinning supplies.

Come back tomorrow for details of what I brought home, plus I go trekking with a sock...

Happy days

Back down to earth today after a lovely Easter break.  We got home last night and it was off to school and work this morning. 

Somerset was wonderful, as always.

We spent a day on Exmoor and took the children on a walk that Toby and I have done before.  It takes about 4 hours and combines some great open country

with wooded valleys and rivers.

Lunch was by a stream, with not a single other soul around.  We did see a party of riders making their way down to the stream as we crossed it - barefoot with our boots tied over our shoulders.

Josie decided she wanted to have her birthday party there.  I had to break it to her that it was unlikely that we would be able to transport a group of 7 and 8 year old girls from London to a valley on Exmoor, but have promised we can go there again in the summer.

Signs of spring were everywhere.

I felt a bit embarrassed taking photos of lambs, but as Toby said, 'Think of the blog!'.  The next picture is a bit small, but if you click on to make it bigger it's really very cute - go on, you know you want to.

So, how was your Easter?

In which I ramble about snow and walking

Yes, it was Wales.  Snowdonia to be precise.  In fact the photo in the previous post was of Sam and Josie in front of Yr Wyddffa, or Mt Snowdon as it is also known.

We stayed in a cottage we have rented before, in Beddgelert.  The cottage is in a beautiful location at any time of year, but just take a look at the views from the balcony on Saturday morning.

Toby was meant to be ice climbing on Saturday but a combination of equipment and transportation problems meant he wasn't able to.  Bad news for him, but good news for the family as it meant we did the walk we had planned for Sunday on Saturday, when the weather was at its best.

No, Tracy, we didn't tackle Snowdon itself - although I did catch Toby staring longingly up at Crib Goch.  We didn't have any ice axes with us, only two small(ish) children, so stuck to gentler terrain, though still spectacular.

This is part of the Ogwen Valley. Wonderful walks in what feels like a really remote setting, yet it is accessible by a 10 minute walk from the road.  We circumnavigated the (frozen) lake while watching other walkers make their way up to the Glyders and Tryfan.

Contrary to appearances in the photo, we didn't take the children out in just fleeces and tracksuit trousers.  Although snowy, the sun was very warm and the valley is sheltered, so they quickly shed most of their outer layers.  In fact it was so warm, we stopped for a picnic by the lake.

In the afternoon we took the children sledding (or maybe sledging?), something they had never done before.

Here's Sam learning that while it's fun to go down, you have to come back up the hill if you want to do it again. 

There was no fresh snowfall on Saturday night, but there was still a fair bit of snow around.  On Sunday we did a small section of the Watkin Path and then back by another trail.  Sam got to practice his map reading for cubs.

 

Despite the 6 hour drive each way it was a fun break.  We're back in London with some colour in our cheeks, wet boots and lots of washing to do.

Jack Frost

I hope everyone is feeling refreshed and relaxed after the holidays.  I'm still feeling quite full - and there's New Year to come!  We had a lovely time in Somerset; no snow but some very pretty frosts which stayed most of the day, especially towards the end of our stay when it was getting down to -6 at night.

Not much knitting was done but now I'm back home I'm cracking on and I can at last provide you with photographic evidence of my progress.

These are the last of the Christmas gifts. 

I gave the recipient a sample of the wool as his 'present' on Christmas Day, so he knows what to expect.  They don't have to be done until after New Year but I am aiming to make these the last completed project for 2005.

I finally got around to picking up the stitches for the body of Tubey.

Nothing like some black knitting to provide scintillating photos is there?  I've done one ball's worth of ribbing on the body, most of it accomplished while watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night.  I have left a ball of yarn attached to each sleeve as I'm not sure what length I want them to be yet - I want to do a bit more of the body and try it all on before deciding.

I am mulling over what to knit next.  I have a little plan to do with stash busting, of sorts, but more on that later.

I will leave you with Sam and Josie after our constitutional on Exmoor.

We picked the coldest day to go for a walk but it was beautifully crisp and clear.  Sam took this picture of the view from the Coastal Path.

Keep warm!

Married with children

We're back from a few days in the Peak District, relaxed and refreshed.  I'm not sure the same can be said for our hosts.  I like to think we were providing a useful service; showing a couple who are expecting their first baby in six weeks time just what to expect in seven to eight years time.  Just to make sure we got our point across, we went with another friend who has three children, including eight year old twins.  The children fulfilled their side of the arrangement admirably.

Very little knitting was done.  The baby blanket is finished and ws passed to said friends.  Before I left London I thought it would be a good idea to photograph a cream blanket on a white sideboard, just to really show it off.

It turned out rather nicely.  Here's a closeup of the edging, done in (Jill, look away now) recycled sari silk.

I know there were mixed feelings about using this on a baby item but I'm thinking of this less as a blanket to sleep under and more one to be used in a buggy or car seat.  I washed the skein of sari silk several times before using it, so hopefully the colour won't bleed anymore.  If the worst comes to the worst, it can be unpicked and another trim put on instead.

I love the colours of the sari silk and the effect it gave, but I found it broke a lot, both when I was winding it up and when I was knitting with it.  As I was only doing a couple of rows it wasn't much of a problem, but it would have been very annoying if I had been doing a larger item.  Has anyone else had this problem?

Off to do some laundry.  The Wool Palace machine is moving on to Somerset for a few days.  Thankfully our hosts know what to expect, being the childrens' grandparents and all.  Have a good weekend.