So that was Christmas

 Hi,

Armed with a bag of food ( no chocolates, no alcohol )we made our way to Ferry Meadows campsite just outside Peterborough. This site is a bit of a favourite with us and this was our sixth visit, in fact it was our 3rd and last Christmas visit as we were advise that it will no longer open for the winter.

The reason that we return here is that the site is only about 60 mile away and is next to Nene country park giving us both to go out and explore, Ian on his bike and myself by foot (via the parks cafe)

Christmas day itself was a bit dismal and wet but looking at the forecast on boxing day we booked a extra night and headed out into the park.

Knitting wasn't on the agenda as I wanted to make some progress with the big red thing, my challenge is to get it finished asap especially since its been on the go for a couple of years now,

We didn't avoid Christmas altogether as there was an invite to join the wardens for dinks and mince pies on Christmas Eve and a knock at the door Christmas day by two wardens armed with Buck Fizz, thanks guys xx of course we accepted the offer.

Next post will be in the New year, speak soon.

workroom update

 Remember the workroom? well 4 black bags of rubbish, one box for the charity shop and a bag of bits for the local craft club later.....

You can even see the rag rug now.

Not perfect but a lot better plus I now have enough space to reskein and label the yarn.

Some progress on the sampler band, I'm just looking around for a nice font for the starting date (2024)

That's about it for now, If you celebrate Christmas have a good one and if you just take a break , relax , as that is exactly what we will be doing :-)  xx

 

Early morning garden

 Hi, just a few photos taken in the early sunshine at home. I was fascinated by the sun creating the mist on the fences {not today }

I think that the drumming noise may be the autofocus on the camera rather than a friendly woodpecker :-)

Long overdue crafty update

 I've just had a quick look back over my previous posts and realised that I haven't updated the craft side of this blog since I got back from Cornwall.

I have been busy but haven't recorded all of it. One of my different tasks was to design and make up a cross stitch kit for a friend based on her family tartan. I also stitched up a version of it to check for any errors. I gave her the stitched version just in case hers wasn't finished on time for Hogmanay. This is the project that I didn't take photos of ( I simply forgot)

I have been at my wheel from time to time, sometimes at home and sometimes in public. The staff at Starbucks obviously weren't too sure what spinning was when they said it was ok for my to sit in the corner. As when I looked up after settling into my rhythm I found all three of them staring back at me. I asked if they had any questions and I was bombarded with them !

Over the last couple of months I have been spinning, mainly Texel cross and the odd skein of  black Ryeland

knitting the usual selection of hats, mitts and headbands

spun and knitted a shawlette using some amazing shetland fleece from Ullapool. This needs a good wash and block, it also reminded me how bored I get when knitting a shawl hence its smaller size.

Last time I was in my local cafe, the owner threw a ball of yarn at me and asked if I could knit something for a fund raiser. It looks and feels like wool, a very softly spun commercial single that drifts apart if you don't keep an eye on it ( I suspect that I tend to untwist a bit as I knit) I knocked up a pair of mitts ( had to rewrite my pattern due to the thickness of the yarn) using 5mm needles which felt huge as I'm also working on a hat on 3mms.

Currently in progress I have a bag of prepped fleece and 3 bobbins holding around 50 gm each ( one looks bigger as there is another spin under it.

At this point my knitting and spinning may slow down as I've noticed that I'm tending to find my hands aching so I'm trying to pace myself a bit more.

I've been stitching though, our guild ask us to wear a name badge so I've designed and stitched one.

Looking ahead to next year, I may be stitching more and as I'm well aware that I rarely keep up with annual stitch alongs,  I've decided to do a sampler band and pick out small parts of the many designs I have in both cross stitch and other techniques with no time frame as such. This was I can add material as required and as my restriction in 79 stitches wide in cross stitch I shouldn't get too bored, It will also give me chance to include any of my own designs along with any historical ones that I come across when using the Internet Archive which has needlework books dating back to around the 1500's

Finally. my biggest ongoing challenge will be to reorganise the chaotic mess that is my work room !!!!

There is a rag rug on the floor in the last photo which hasn't seen the light of day for sometime,,,,, watch this space.

speak soon as usual xx

Christmas in Nottingham

 If you have been following this blog for a few years , you will know that we don't 'do' Christmas. We prefer to take ourselves away from all the fuss and bother and chill for a few days although I realise that we now seem to do this a lot !

However, the U3A photography group decided to have this months meeting at the Christmas market followed by coffee.

Here are the daytime results on a cold wet December morning.

To be honest, not a lot of inspiration or atmosphere. Fortunately I had to head back through town later in the day and had another meander round.

Yep, beginning to feel a lot like Christmas for many people x

an unexpected getaway

 I know I promised some crafty content but we decided to grab a couple of days away by the coast. It was very cold, a bit snowy but the sunsets were stunning, the streets quiet and the sea just beautiful.