Monday 30 April 2012

This weeks knitting

This week I've been playing with ribbon wool. When you knit this wool you don't wrap it round the needle you put the needle through the loop.

 

  It's Wendy Rococo Scarf and Trims Yarn and I brought it in gold, silver and black.



 As you can see it is frilly and has little sequins on it. One ball will make a scarf and it has the instructions on the inside of the paper wrap which is very helpful if you haven't knitted with ribbon wool before.


 I used a circular needle for the first time which I had been given by my Gran. It was fun and very easy to use and was also a good way to keep the ribbon loop row on the needles safely, as you don't don't control the tension or size of stitch the loop size does. 



The joy of knitting these scarves is that they grow really quickly. There is only 10 stitches per row so you seem to be starting a new row every minute or so.



They are light and frilly and actually come out really long so you can do a double wrap round your neck.


Which is your favourite colour?


I really enjoyed knitting these and will definitely knit with this sort of ribbon wool again.



wendypoolecraft.blogspot.com has some great free patterns for this and other yarn. 


Sunday 15 April 2012

Well it's been a great few weeks, I have been a very lucky mouse.
 I had a wonderful birthday which started with a trip to a show which was such a great night out, the cast were amazing!


Then out to lunch with a good friend at Jekka's Herb Farm near Bristol, a truly inspiring place, they don't have many open days but when they do I highly recommend it.  Everyone was so helpful and friendly, Jekka gave an interesting and really useful talk and the selection of organically grown herbs was massive.  For more information go to - www.jekkasherbfarm.com  I brought a number of wonderfully smelly herbs one however just for the name - a marsh mellow plant it is meant to have gorgeous flowers.



 I was blessed with being able to spend time and have a meal with my lovely family who spoilt me rotten.  They gave me a wonderful gift which once I'd recovered and dried my eyes, enjoyed looking at the photograph album of my life and those who have been a part of it, some of whom are no longer with us, I will treasure it forever, so many memories. I was especially surprised by the amazing cake that my niece organised - it looked stunning and tasted really yummy although it almost felt wrong to cut it. It was made by a very talented lady, see her page on Facebook - Cakes by Trish


The next day I met up with some friends for a picnic in the park, it was a beautiful day filled with so much laughter.


Hylands Park in Chelmsford is beautiful place to spend time. As a child many hours were spent there running around the formal gardens and the more wild areas with my family and friends. So many happy hours at anytime of year.  I remember with my brother making a snowman by rolling a snow ball for ages until it got so huge we couldn't push it any more. We got slightly separated from our parents and our dog who liked to try and round us all up spent so much energy running back and forth between us.  The house and stables used to be boarded up but now they have been renovated and now have tea and gift shops and a crafts centre, there was also an additional market on selling all sorts from local traders, you can even get married there, or attend a V festival.

So after being thoroughly spoilt all I could come up with was to make some thank you cards. Not nearly enough to express how much fun I had and how loved and blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life, and that's without a special mention to the wonderful photo genius that I am lucky enough to be married to.