Had such a lovely day today . Some of the knitting group came round for a morning of knitting , coffee and baking!
The children came too had had a smashing time playing out in the garden , or on various computers or just sitting crafting .
Had a near disaster when baking the cookies this morning , went to take them out of the oven , burned my finger and almost dropped all of them in the sink full of bubbly water - Yikes . Thankfully most of them survived , but the ever talented Noah and Freya had brought round some fab Brownies and Empire Biscuits anyway.
They were almost done by lunch.
Have lots of projects on the go just now , but was approached recently by a local shop to knit up some Hats'n' stuff for them .
Wool is lovely , and the colourway is their choice , quite dark for me .
It's a bulky yarn so it shouldn't take long to knit up , hopefully they will like the design .
Then I'll need to work out the 'n stuff!
My Great Grandmother and Grandmother were both beautiful and expert crocheters . My sister also inherited the gene ,and although she says she can't really crochet , she can do beautiful things with a crochet hook .
I , on the other hand , did not inherit that gene , the first time I tried to teach myself crochet I ended up with a four dimensional object .
However , my good friend Rosie recommended the Beginners Crochet workshop , that Karen holds in Once A Sheep yarn store , taken by the very talented Janet Renouf-Miller .
And after much practice , this is what I made ( the other two squares are not quite right , but were good practice ) .
Excuse the grainy macbook photo - DS1 has hidden camera again , no doubt with several thousand snaps of lego for his stop-mo shorts for Youtube!
Anyhoo , think Granny would be proud of me now , with this Granny Square . Can't wait for the intermediate course!
(My new Kitchen clock - looks like a pizza board!)
a few more repeats of the Yucca Chart in the Aeolian Shawl .
Now I have got my rhythm with the knitting and bead attaching , finally enjoying this knit .
The beads are not quite uniform , but given they were a job lot for a few pounds , I think they look great . And there will be 2250 beads attached by the time I am finished , phew!
Have my good pal Seona to thank for this Knit - A - Long (madness) , and of course in a moment of weakness , I joined in .
AND agreed to knit the large size shawl , which is done in lace - weight yarn and on 3mm needles - I have completely lost leave of my senses!
If that's not enough , I am itching to cast on for Karise - Karies' new shawl pattern knitted in OMA yarn - and I have the yarn too -- oooooo.
I could blame this all on housework avoidance , but its just another case of severe startitis .
I am also about to add another "craft" to my skills (fingers crossed), I have a Crochet class on Saturday at Once a Sheep yarn store . This is a craft I have never quite gelled with , but would love to learn it properly . My Grandmother and Great Grandmother were beautiful crocheters , a gene I did not inherit. Hopefully Saturdays' class will remedy that .
There is a (not so) small boy bothering me for his laptop and camera , and he won't go away .
Could've sworn these belonged to me at one time.
It has been a while since I blogged - too long , perhaps . Time to make time for it again - Thanks Linn for the nudge ;)
Spent a wonderful week in Majorca , our family Summer Holiday , with the children and their Grandparents . Weather was wonderful , very warm with occasional cloud cover and gentle sea breezes , which took the intensity out of the heat . There was a wonderful pool at our aparthotel which also helped us cool down when the Sun was high . Having not seen too much sun before we left , I was worried about burning , but we all managed to avoid it (just) , thanks to boots Soltan sun lotions and being sensible .
There was a definite change to the resort this year , we've not been for a couple of years , but it was obvious . A lack of people , a quietness , everywhere . I didn't mind it at all , I love it when a resort is not too busy , but for the business's and Restaurants this can't be good .
This year though , I managed to climb the Calvari Steps in Pollensa , even though I chose the hottest time of day . There are 365 steps in all , the children were skipping up , putting me and my vertigo to shame!
Looks a gentle incline , doesn't it , Hah! don't let that fool you !
Here is the view from the top , just along from the Chapel . Hat is on as hair is sticking to head in the heat , and the cardi is on to protect pale skin from the 30+ degC heat . Cardi is my summer knit , pattern is a Louisa Harding pattern called Percy and I used a Debbie Bliss yarn called Amalfi, a silk, linen, cotton mix . It can be a bit splitty like a lot of cotton yarn , but it has a beautiful drape to it and feels gorgeous .
The views from this vantage point are marvellous , you can see for miles. However the heat saw me taking sanctuary in the coolness of the Calvari Chapel , and viewing the beautiful altar piece and wonderful paintings . One of the paintings is of Fray Junipero Serra , the Majorcan Franciscan Monk who founded the chain of Missions in California .
The cats , however , were just happy to take shade in the shadow of the building , as cats do !
Deo Gratias! indeed.
