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.

I'm Ready, Are You?

It's been an interesting few days.  My husband and I had a lovely two nights away in Oswestry, but since we got back, I have not been well for a day or two - achy and shivery and no energy.  It sounds like a bug to me but my husband reckons it could be an allergic reaction to the countryside!  Today I'm starting feeling more normal again - the bounce is slowly coming back.

Oswestry was a fairly last minute decision.  And it worked out so well.  The weather was gorgeously hot and sunny.  We had picnics in the park, a walk around Oswestry, we visited Chirk Castle, lots of pubs and ate far too much.  On the way home we stopped off in Rhuddlan and visited the castle - you can't beat a Welsh castle.

Chirk Castle

Embroidery Exhibition at Chirk Castle

The Fox Inn, Oswestry

Rhuddlan Castle

Today, I am taking it easy, watching the cricket (third test match against Sri Lanka), watching some cycling (Criterium de Dauphine) and catching up with my knitting.  You know you're ill when you don't even feel like knitting!

I've been knitting an aran cardigan (in this heat!) to use up some yarn that Grace had leftover from a hat she made.  I started it on the 1st June and by the end of the 2nd I had completed the back and two fronts.  I was fairly optimistic that I would get it finished within five days, but sadly I had to eat and sleep, so not quite possible.  I didn't take it to Oswestry with me, so I have only just picked it back up today.  I just have the sleeve head on the last sleeve to do - not sure I have any suitable buttons, but apart from that it will be finished this afternoon.

For my car journey to Oswestry knitting, I frogged a shawl I made a while ago and started knitting up a scarf with the yarn.  The yarn is Sirdar Crofter in lovely pinks, purples, cream and grey, so in theory some of my favourite colours.  Sadly every time I knit it up, I'm never happy with the finished article.  Prior to being a shawl, this yarn was a sweater - it has been multi- frogged.  This is its last chance to please me.

Scarf is knit on the bias

In our house, we are all ready and waiting for the football tomorrow.  The European Championships kick off tomorrow evening and then after that there'll be at least two matches a day for a considerable time.  There will of course be lots of other sport that we will need to fit in, the US Open golf championship is on next week, there's a Formula 1 Grand Prix race this weekend and the Tour de France cycling race starts at the beginning of July - whew, that's a lot of knitting time!

For the duration of the Euorpean Championship, I have decided to knit socks - I'm hoping for a minimum of five pairs.  I have three unused quantities of sock yarn, plus I would like to use some older leftovers.  Each pair will involve a technique that I haven't tried yet - can't wait to cast on and get started.

I'm not going to just knit socks though.  I would also like to start a new cardigan - Fair Isle - yes please.  Look at those pretty colours.

So that's the plan for the next month or so.  Will you be watching the football?  Who will you be supporting?  I will be cheering on Wales (Land of my fathers!).

An Early Weekend

Today I am catching up on all the jobs and housework I haven't been doing over the past two days.  I took my weekend early this week, on Thursday and Friday, so now it's payback time.

Thursday was officially a knitting day.  I had a wonderful time sitting out in the garden in the glorious sunshine, casting on to my heart's content.

First there's Swallowtail, a gorgeous lacy shawl pattern.  I'm using a beautiful lace-weight yarn I bought at Yarndale specially for this project.

Look at those beautiful, delicate colours.

I then knitted up a mini sock yarn sweater - to join the previous two, this one and this one,  that I've made that will eventually become bunting.  I used one of the mini skeins that Grace and I bought between us at Yarndale, I can't wait to knit up the other colourway.

And because knitting shawls is so much fun, I then cast on for another one.  For this one I'm using a pattern called The Love of a Pirate and more of the Yarndale goodies.  Again, I get quite giddy looking at the lovely colours.

Then in the evening, just for a bit of variety, I cast on some socks!

What a wonderful day, how lucky I am to be able to spend my time like this.  I am constantly counting my blessings.

On Friday my husband and I had a little road trip to North Wales.  First we visited St Asaph.  We had a picnic by the river and visited the tiny cathedral.

Then we went on to Rhyl.  The dress I'm wearing is the one I made in September.  It's the same pattern (Simplicity 2444) I used for my bed sheet dress and also this dress.  I love the style, it's so comfortable to wear.

We walked along the promenade.

Had a paddle in the sea (I can't believe it's actually October and yet still so warm).

Then just sat and enjoyed the lovely warm sunshine.

Obviously I had some knitting with me.  This is a cardigan I started knitting back in August, but I'm now having second thoughts about the pattern so it may not progress much further.

We ended our day with a lovely meal of fish and chips (what else could you eat at the seaside!)

A most enjoyable early weekend, but now I need to get on with some ironing!  I hope that your weekend will be as lovely as mine was.

Summer Has Arrived

Well as soon as I had published my last post, complaining about the weather, the Sun comes out, the wind drops and lo and behold, summer has arrived!

It may not last, so to make the most of it we packed up our lunch and went and sat on the beach for a picnic.

Delicious camomile and honey tea.

Goats cheese sandwiches, followed by home made chocolate, fruit and nut flapjacks.

The figure in the background on the left of the above picture is actually one of the Iron Men statues. Someone has given him a lovely blue and floral outfit to wear.

This singled him out from the other (naked) Iron Men and he was proving to be quite popular with the photographers.

A lovely treat to be able to enjoy the lovely weather, and visibility was very good so the Welsh Mountains, across Liverpool Bay, can be seen clearly.

I apologise to all of you who are not having the best of weather.  I know some of you are struggling with near impossible conditions.  Here in Britain we like to complain about the weather even when it isn't really that bad.  But it's good to be able to cheer when the Sun shines.