Monday 12 September 2016

Exciting Times

September has proved to be a very eventful month so far.  At the beginning of the month my husband retired.  It was something we've been planning for quite some time, but even so, it's a big change in our lives which we are going to have to get used to.  The plan is for lots of holidays and days out, but I'm sure we'll settle into a slower routine over time.

As a celebration of his retirement, we had a holiday away with our daughters for a week. It's been a while since we've all been away together.  As a reminder of holidays gone by, we booked a holiday cottage in North Wales, in Pwllheli to be exact.

It was a wonderful week, I enjoyed every minute of it.  We had some lovely walks around the coastal paths on the Llyn Peninsula.  The landscape is amazingly beautiful and rugged.

Hell's Mouth


Mynydd Cilan

We had a paddle in the sea at Abersoch.

So cold!




And I was quite emotional at finding the gravestone of one of my ancestors in the church yard in the village of Llanengan.


Llanengan Church

Lovely old pub in the village of Llanengan

It was all over far too quickly, but now that work is a thing of the past, I'm looking forward to lots of time away.

Our holiday cottage

The cottage we stayed in was lovely, but the internet reception was poor so I'm trying, this week, to catch up.

Before I went away, I finished my Fair Isle cardigan.



I love the colours, but I'm a bit annoyed with myself that I didn't check my gauge properly.  The cardigan is a lovely slim fit, but maybe a bit too snug on the sleeves.  Never mind, it's still wearable but would be just that little bit better if there was a little bit of ease around the arms. Details of this project can be found on Ravelry, here.

I also completed the button-through skirt I had been wanting to sew.




I used leftover fabric from a dress I had made last year and buttons recycled from an old dress.

I was so pleased with how easy the button holes were to make.  I'll definitely have to make more of these skirts.

It's less than two weeks to go until Yarndale and I'm so looking forward to it.  My knitting mojo has deserted me lately and I suspect that the stash busting has had an impact on this.  It will be lovely to have an injection of new yarn.  I'm sure that will get the creative juices flowing again.  In the meantime, I'm knitting up a cardigan in some frogged yarn - not very inspiring but I've only got one more sleeve to do.  I'm now busy dreaming of the new yarn that'll be coming home with me shortly.

Have a good week everyone.

16 comments:

  1. Congratulations on all your special times. That cardigan is just lovely! The colours are so pretty and work well together.

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  2. How exciting. My husband keeps hoping that he might be offered retirement in the next few years. It is lovely that your girls still want to go away with you. I had a very grumpy 17 year old, although hopefully he will grow out of that stage.

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    1. I'm lucky that the girls still want to come on holiday with us - it might have something to do with it being a "free" holiday!

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  3. How lovely that you can plan such fab family time. Looks like a lovely week away too. x

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  4. Love your cardi. Just put it in some water and softener and give the armholes a gentle pull. It will be fine.
    If you want to get rid of some stash the Oxfam ladies at Yarndale will be glad of it.

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    1. Thank you Caz. I'll follow your advice about the sleeves on the cardigan, I'm sure they will loosen up over time.
      I wasn't aware of the Oxfam ladies at Yarndale, I shall see what I've got in the stash and make a donation.

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  5. Congratulations on your husband's retirement Janet I hope that this is just the start of lots of exciting adventures for the two of you. It looks like you had a great holiday the cottage looks so pretty. I love your cardigan and the skirt, I'm going to miss Yarndale this year but will hopefully make up for it big time next year it will give me more time to get some of this stash busted. You deserve to buy more yarn you have been so good with your stash-busting. Have a great week. :) xx

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    1. Thank you Linda. I'm planning on being more restrained this year at Yarndale, but I'm sure when I get there I won't be able to resist everything.

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  6. Congrats to your husband, I bet there is some adjustment for both of you. Your trip sounds wonderful Janet and I love all that you make.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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    1. Thank you. We're viewing retirement as an adventure we can share.

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  7. How wonderful that your husband as retired. Both my husband and I took early retirement and have adjusted well. We both have hobbies so we go in different directions in a morning meeting up for lunch and then spending quality time together in an afternoon. By doing something separately we have found we still have plenty to talk about. Love the cardigan.

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    1. Thank you Lorraine. We're lucky that we can take retirement in our fifties. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to be spontaneous and enjoy life together. Fortunately we are the best of friends.

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  8. The pictures are pretty!!We spent a few days in llandundo this summer. Wales is soo beautiful..love the cardi and more love to that skirt

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