A good but painful excuse for a whole lot of knitting

Hi,

Its New Years Eve so I'll start with a quick knitting update.

The Kep cast on just before Christmas has come to an abrupt halt..... I've run out of white yarn and the reason for not spinning some more will become clear further down this post.

But I am really pleased with the progress so far and it is really, really soft. Shetland, Norfolk X, BFL X.
Next on the needles is a quick hat which I think has a mainly vintage feel about it, mixed fleece ( mainly Shetland) hand dyed etc. I'm not sure yet whether I like it or not.

I've been thinking about the New Year, do I resolve to lose weight, save more etc etc But I think really I just want to travel, maybe reduce my working hours and enjoy my spinning. Maybe 2018 will bring some changes, maybe not.

As for the no spinning, the hospital that told me that my foot was just bruised with soft tissue damage and I was ok to walk on it phoned back on Wednesday to say they have had another look at the x rays and I may want to go to the local A&E if I was still having pain from it. This is the reason for no spinning.....

I may have to break out a drop spindle or two :-)

Have a great New Year xx

not quite what we planned !

The plan was simple, lets go away for Christmas and spend some time together. So we threw all our belongings into the van and drove up to Yorkshire.

Out of the city, into the countryside. A lovely drive up with blue skies and sunshine.

We were on our way to a campsite called Colman's in the village of Aysgarth in the Yorkshire Dales. This turned out to be a lovely little site, just room for 5 vans and a small reception office where we booked in. We also noticed a decent looking coffee machine in there along with frozen home made meals. After a quick tour of the site and directions to the village via the footpath beyond the hedge we set up the van for the next few days.

since the sun was still shinning it was off out for a walk and to enjoy the scenery.

Walking around Asygarth we noticed a small garden that said open on it. It turned out to be a rock garden that has been restored and like the Tardis it was a lot bigger than we first thought.

The afternoon was then spent comfortably in the pub then dinner and a film in the van

It was very, very windy that night and an early morning trip to the loo ended up with me falling over and injuring my foot. A trip to the local a&e followed where they assured  us that it wasn't broken but very badly bruised. The rest of the holiday was spent mostly inside for me, knitting and reading with my foot encased in a cold wet bandages and plastic bag!

Christmas day was very wet and windy  but the drive back on Boxing day was more pleasant. I love seeing things from the added height that the van gives you :-)

That's all for now, update on the foot and the knitting will be in the next post x

Grey and dismal today

and its cold !!!

Yesterday we braved the cold and cleaned the van, I took the easy option and did the inside, repacking anything that can rattle !! It was sol cold in there that I could see my breath so I've left some more damp traps in it and we will take it out for a spin next weekend.

This morning I washed the last week or so spinning ready to knit the next hat.

Hebridian. Norfolk/Suffolk, Shetland and mule, ready to wound into balls once dry.

I've started again on the huge Ryland fleece again looking for the light grey shade. I still much prefer hand combed top for spinning.

I don't think I showed you my latest books? I picked this one up in Orkney and used one of the patterns in this hat that you may have seen before

and this one which was my treat to me knowing that I would be getting a small amount from the works lottery syndicate (just enough to cover the cost)

I did finish the last hat :-) so the needles are free for the next one once the yarn is dry.

Winter Brrrrrr

this morning we have woken up to this

so I think I will be mainly finishing this

and skeinning up this

altogether a sort of monochrome day xx

back to my old habits

Yes, its getting towards the end of the year ( we don't do Christmas) so once again I'm looking and assessing the contents of my work room. Things really haven't changed much ! I manage to stay tidy(ish) for a few weeks then its back to stuff all over the place.

My knitting pics are deceptive...

 The reality is pretty grim!!

 and probably dangerous given that I can be unsteady on my feet. In my defence I have emptied 5 pillow cases, albeit not full ones, of fleece in the last month or so but I do seem to have an ongoing problem !!

Today is dedicated to making a start, working out what I have and maybe even a plan of what to spin next and how to spin it.. who knows ??

Yarn and inspiration

Last year I treated myself to a pair of cheap slippers which have provided inspiration for my knitting and would also make interesting inkle weaving patterns.

See what I mean? the knitting is a hat ( no surprise there then) and the book is one that I have read before but quite sometime ago.

Here's a closer look at them and they are really comfy as well.

Since my last post we have visited Moreton in Marsh, I had intended to take photos but it was a damp, drizzly day and much of our time was spend trawling through the charity shops and drinking soup.

The evening was spent knitting and dozing in front of a DVD, such an exciting life!!

I can't even do the view from the kitchen window as there was so much road muck on the van! This is the view from the door.

The beginning of last week was spent carding and spinning this ryeland fleece which is now on the needles although I'm not sure of a design yet.

that's about it for this week, the brief snow shower midweek caused excitement but the temperatures seem to be heading back up to double figures again for this week.

xx