Walk in the park

Yesterday we spent the day with Rufus.  As a terrible two he can be very trying for his parents so to give them some space (read here quiet) Peter and I took Rufus out for the day.

We walked over to Burghley House, which they are very fortunate to have on their doorstep.  Its a great place for kids to run around, acres of grass, sheep and deer.  Also there are the Garden of Surprises and the Sculpture Garden - you need to pay to go into these but Beck has a season ticket enabling them to go when they like.  Peter & I have been many times to the Park but never to the gardens so it was a treat for us too.  Rufus was our willing guide. He spent a good part of the walk to the gardens collecting sticks - its amazing how many things a stick can be, chasing squirrels, playing soldiers, by the time we got there it was time for lunch.  Luckily they have a cafe onsite and we managed to have lunch outside, even if it was a bit chilly!

Suitable clothed/shod (read Rufus not us) we headed to the Gardens, what fun, I'll let the pictures tell the story

These heads move very slowly and give you a fright the first time!!

The four elements sculptures - press a button and they all do something - amazing

Fire

Earth 

Water

Air

There was lots more to see especially in the Sculpture Gardens, but the grass was very wet and a certain little boy was getting tired, so he ended the day with ....... we had hot chocolate

Well ladies.....

........ I only bought buttons (for Beck), ribbon and tags.  That's it.  No yarn, can you believe it?  I am actually in shock.  Just didn't see anything that grabbed my fancy.

We did see some hideously expensive yarn, Qiviut - Musk Ox Wool which was £96.00 for a 58 grams skein of yarn!! Too rich for me.  There was also Buffalo which was £70.00 for 50 grams, but even that is far too much. Who actually pays that much for yarn, no one I know and that's a fact.....

It's that time of year again

The Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace.

As usual, Rachel and I will be heading off, hopefully we will be restrained.  I have checked my stash - decided that really I don't need anything....... who am I kidding.  

this actually isn't all of it, there is another basket full in the garden room

I do need buttons for Beck - she needs to make another Christmas Stocking for Laurie.  I will post again on Saturday with what we purchased .........or not....... wish me luck.  

Oh, by the way I get to go in Rachel's new car, she got it today.  Its very red 

Pockets of colour

Autumn is underway.  Misty mornings - cooler temperatures - wood burner - jumpers and boots -  casseroles and stews (yum)..... but still in the garden there are pockets of colour......... and weeds and nettles. I need to get outside and have a good tidy up, but procrastination is my best friend

Getting leggy but still pretty.  The basil is suffering now with the lower temperatures

So sour!!

How pretty does my yarn look wound up.  I am itching to get started on it, but I must finish the projects currently on the needles

To Dye For

Yesterday I had such a good day.  Pauline & I attended a Dye Workshop given by Clare of Boo's Attic fame.  What fun, this really was more me than the spinning.  More like cooking and I felt more or less in control of what I was doing.

Firstly, I dyed a skein of sock yarn - which was a Super wash wool and nylon mix.  These are the colours I went for

and this is what I got - wow!

I then followed up after lunch dyeing my skein of Black Hills Boucle Chunky which is 70% wool and 30% mohair.  It was interesting to see the difference in take up of yarn.  With the super wash there was no surplus dye in the rinsing water, but with the Boucle; I nearly had a heart attack when I took it out of the steamer and saw a huge purple mess, so much dye, not sure how much water I used to rinse this but the end result is very subtle. I wished there had been more green and the orange is more of less lost, but the overall result is very organic looking. 

This yarn I plan to make into a cowl or a short scarf - there is only 150 grams and so not really much else I can do with it, especially as I'm not a hat person

The super wash sock yarn 100grams/400 meters - so there is enough for a shawlette.

Can't wait for the yarns to dry so I can wind them up and see how they look. A big thank you to Clare for a great day out

New skills week

Yesterday we had a spinning class at Medway.  Great to have a day off work and do something different.  Not sure that I will become a spinner though. I seemed to have a mental block when it came to trying to get my hands to work independently of each other.  I think my grip is far too tight.  Anyway I came away with a drop spindle and a bag of fleece and instructions, so I can try to practice at home!!

Today, Rachel and I went up to see Beck and Laurie (10 weeks).  Rufus was with his Nana, so it was just Laurie to play with. When I say play I mean amuse between sleep and eat, which actually isn't very long!

Tomorrow I'm off to learn how to dye yarn, hoping for a better day, I think this will be more "my thing".  I plan to take some yarn with me that I got given last year.  This will be additional to whats included on the course.  So we will see how it ends up.



I hope you all have a great weekend.  Currently its raining here - again, lets hope its dry on Sunday so I can get some garden clearance done.  Have fun.

WIP Wednesday

I have finally got round to posting a WIP after a few week absence. This weeks' WIP is Lady Kina, the first top down that I have knitted for myself.  It will be good to be able to get the length right as I can try it on as I go.  I have left the sleeves on some scrap yarn as I'm not keen on cap sleeves so plan to see what yarn I have left then knit the sleeves to hopefully 3/4 length.  I have already made a mistake by not reading the pattern correctly, ended up with 144 too many stitches, so my mistake is a design feature rather than a rip back!  The yarn I am using is Sirdar Click Aran - 70% acrylic and 30% wool, it nice and soft, I've used this yarn previously and am happy with the results.

I still have 3 hats to knit for the family, but they won't take that long to do.

I am still reading through the Miss Read books.  But I got a real bargain at the charity shop last week - 

An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler - 3 stories in one for £1.00.  I look forward to picking that up over the winter months.

And finally a sky shot from Monday evening, seconds after taking this it started raining