Scotland 2008

I can't believe we have been back for a week and a half already! We had a wonderful time staying in a converted chapel - second picture down on the left.

One of the highlights was meeting Ruth (Roobeedoo) for the first time. We went to the Rowan 30th Anniversay exhibition being held at Twist Fibre Craft in Newburgh, about 30 mins down the road from where we were staying.
The exhibition was mostly full of mindboggling examples of mad1980's cotton colourwork. I only wish I'd taken a picture of the mustard intarsia jumper that we all agreed was the worst thing there. In fact neither Roo or I took any photos at all, and we call ourselves bloggers!
Roo made me a gorgeous crocheted bracelet you can see on her blog here and we found a delicious little cafe for lunch. A lovely Sunday out.

The rest of the week was spent out and about in Perthshire and beyond. We saw Tamworth pigs and Highland Cattle at various different farm shops. Spent a day driving around the villages near St Andrews looking for fish! Visited the fabulous cathedral at Dunkeld on a very stormy day and finished the week in Arbroath with some fantastic smokies.

Sunny Holiday

A fabulous time was had in our beautiful little cottage on Exmoor. We had gorgeous sunny weather for virtually the whole week. Lots of walking and wildlife spotting. We went to the sea, to the moors, for cream teas, duck racing,and, of course, to the pub! We even had the first BBQ of the year and sat outside until the sun went down. Glorious.



I managed a little knitting whilst away... No swallowtail progress, but I did finish my Speedway Socks:

Pattern: Speedway Socks by Anni Design
Yarn: Regia Kaffe Fassett in Landscape Fire (4259)
Needles: 2.5mm
Started:17th April
Finished: 4th May
Comments: A fabulous alternative to the jaywalker, gives a very similar pattern, but it is STRETCHY! Horay. I love these, I even took the time to make them match perfectly. My new favourite socks.
I started my Stashbuster spirals too... spot the deliberate mistakes made whilst watching films!

Unfortunately for some unfathomable reason I've make this one far too small for me so I think they will have to be a present for someone with smaller feet (I can think of two people who fit into this category but I'm not sure if either of them will like them! Fi? Kerry?)

And now for the exciting UK Swap news I promised in my previous post; Delle (my downstream swap parter) and I are co-hosting the next round of the UK Swap. We are waiting for final confirmation that all of the parcels from the last round have been received and then we will be announcing sign up dates and the swap theme(s). Come and join our Ravelry Group for more info. This will be my first time hosting a swap and I'm really looking forward to it... :0)

Belgium and Birthday Presents

Firstly Belgium.....

The first two days were great, we wandered around Brussels, went to Bruges, did some shopping (for beer, I didn't buy ANY yarn despite visiting a couple of shops), drank beer, chilled out. The Tony got food poisoning from some evil quiche, so we spent Saturday night and most of Sunday in the room at the B&B watching BBC TV - not really what you go to Brussels for. Never mind, every holiday can't be perfect!
However, the time spent in the room did give me chance to finish Tony's Birthday socks.

I'm not entirely sure what went wrong, but the second sock is loads tighter than the first. I wonder if my gauge has really changed that much since October (when I knit the first one)? Or maybe I used a 3mm needle without realising it for the first one. Or maybe it makes a big difference knitting socks in one go rather than for 20 mins a day on the train. Who knows.. they fit ok and he will probably only wear them in the house so it doesn't really matter!
Pattern: Retro Rob Socks from Favourite Socks (Interweave)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Denim
Started: October 2007
Finished: Feb 2007 - (one sock was finished for Christmas!)
Comments: Really easy pattern and I think it looks quite good in the variegated yarn. It is a pity they aren't the same size!
I also managed to finish the Flowers Wrap in time for my Mom's Birthday.

Pattern: Flowers Wrap from Interweave Crochet Winter 2007
Yarn: Pura Lana Ecologica in Charcoal (about 17 skeins)
Hook: 4mm
Comments: The pattern is well written and easy to follow. The finished wrap is really quite soft despite it being made from pure wool. It is also quite heavy, but should be a good cover up. I bought a shawl pin so my Mom can fasten the wrap across her. I'll try and get some modelled photos soon!
Now onto the last birthday project for a while... a jumper for my Godson, Owen, who will be 1 in a couple of weeks.
This is Catch Sweater from Louisa Harding's Miss Bea's Playtime. I knit in the round until the armholes, have finished the back and don't have too much of the front to do. It will have turquoise arms and green cuffs. A jolly spring jumper I hope... and I am convinced it won't be too small!

In knitting for me, the second of my Monkey's is at the heel flap and I've swatched for Rogue, which will be the next thing on the needles I think! Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine this weekend.

Toronto and Niagara Falls

I'm back, and we had an amazing time! Can you believe this is all I bought?
Well ok, some purple crocs and a purple Roots hoodie may have some how ended up in my case but I don't know how that happened!
Toronto is a great city, great for just ambling around and taking in the sights and sounds. I visited Romni Wools and Lettuce Knits in Toronto. Romni has more wool than I have ever seen, but only the sock yarn above grabbed me. Lettuce Knits was very cute, and very busy on a Sunday afternoon.... however I didn't like the Handmaiden colours they had, there was only one skein of Koigu and no STR so I came away empty handed! I think Tony was a little shocked. The fabric came from shop very near to Romni, it is exactly what I had been looking for to make another Frenchy Bag.
I only managed a tiny amount of knitting on my holiday too. I started my first Pomatomus in the KoiguKPPM I bought at Stash last year. So far so good...
At the last minute I decided to take my September Yarn Yarn sock club yarn for a generic top down, knit anywhere sock... Fruit Salad or what?
Finally I'll leave you with a selection of my favourite photos from our trip. You can see more (a lot more) on Flickr here.

Firstly Toronto....A view of the skyline from the Hippo tour (a bus that turns into a boat)

Then onto Niagara - I can't explain how amazing the falls are, or how much like Blackpool the town is. We had a fabulous room overlooking the falls which was breathtaking!

Sunrise from the hotel window

A rainbow over the falls - also taken from the hotel room

Me at the top of the Horseshoe falls

The Horseshoe Falls and the Maid of the Mist boat

American falls by night

And lastly - fountains outside the new Casino... I like the lights on the water.

Waterfalls and Rockin' Socks

Tony and I had a fabulously relaxing holiday here.... The owners were lovely, we had home made cake and bread along with a bottle of champagne on arrival. We did venture outside, did a little walking and even some ice cream eating at a Jersey Ice Cream Farm despite the cold. We also watched organic flour being traditionally milled and ate scones at The WatermillBut most of the time was spent in our own mill relaxing and doing a bit of crochet:The baby blanket has progressed a little since this photo. All 25 squares are done and crocheted together. It is just waiting for a border... and the baby hasn't arrived yet (s/he is a week late tomorrow) so I'm doing ok!
And I found time for a bit of knitting too:
One of Tony's Birthday Socks was finished for his birthday. The other is still in progress. I love the Socks that Rock. I want every single skein on their website. It is the daddy of all sock yarn.