Knitting for sanity

 

 

 

I am taking my class on a trip tomorrow. We are going to Derbyshire for the week. I have chocolate and just as important, I have yarn. Think of me sat outside the bedrooms, knitting a pair of socks, repeating ad nauseum 'go back to bed'!! See you in a week. xxx

A little touch of luxury

My dear friend Kim gave me a delicious ball of luxury for my birthday last year - a ball of 50% silk and 50% qiviuk. Qiviuk comes from the underbelly of the Arctic Muskox and apparently it is the most expensive wool in the world. (I have to tell you at this point that Mr JK very kindly offered me his belly hair as an alternative, but I politely declined!!) The colourway she picked out for me was Iced Violet, it's a beautiful shade of pale purple with greyish hints.

 

 

What to knit?! I tried a cowl to begin with, but it was rather floppy and I didn't think it would stay put around my neck. So after a little search, I found the perfect pattern - Plain Jhayne mitts. Except I decided that mine wouldn't be quite so plain because I was going to add some beads to make them extra special. I had some purple beads left over from the beaded Citron shawl I knit, and they were a great match with the yarn. What can I say about the mitts? Quite honestly, I don't think that I have ever felt yarn quite so soft and light as this, I know that they are going to keep my hands lovely and warm next winter. I might just have to have them threaded through my coat sleeves on ribbon so I don't lose them!! Have a good week! xxx

 

Good things too must end......

Back to work tomorrow!! I really would like another week off to chill, but sadly that's not to be!! Never mind, I shall be counting down the weeks until the summer holidays. Seven and a half weeks to go!! I don't seem to have achieved a great deal during this holiday. I had good intentions of sorting out box loads of paperwork that currently reside in the craft room, but I always managed to find something else more interesting in there to distract me.

 

I did finish my Tidal Sands cowl, using a skein of BareNakedYarns Breakfast Blend fingering. I really can't say enough good things about this yarn. It knits up to give a cosy, cushy fabric which feels very luxurious. I used one skein to knit this, in the colourway 'Burnt Toast'. It really feels delicious and is going to be a staple in my wardrobe in the autumn. Flo is rather partial to the yarn too, and helped with the blocking!

 

 

The cowl is reversible and very straightforward to knit. I love how the waves on the knitting remind me of the ripples left on the beach after the tide has gone out.

 

 

And the answer is NO, Florence. You may NOT have a blanket knit from this yarn!

I've just finished some test knitting and will share that with you once the pattern has been released. My dear friend Snoopydog came to visit this week and took lots of photos of the finished knits. It was great to catch up. We are planning to go to Fibre East together in the summer. I've also picked up a pair of beaded mitts, that I started knitting a month or so ago. They are knit with the most gorgeous yarn I have ever felt and will be extremely luxurious. I hope to finish them this week.

 

I don't think I showed you the most recent projects from my school knitting group. We knit little owls and cats and the children are keen to take them home. The pattern has worked very well, and I'm wondering how I might be able to adapt it to make other animals in the future.

 

  

We had a busy day in the garden yesterday potting up some of our ceramic pots with summer bedding plants. Although the garden is absolutely beautiful, it's nice to be putting a little bit of ourselves in there too. Mr JK is growing his veggies in pots this year. We'll see how that works before deciding on whether or not to have a separate vegetable plot in the future.

 

Mr JK and I went for an early morning walk today. It was just beautiful to be out walking through the country lanes. We are planning on making this a regular activity in a bid to increase our levels of exercise. And with scenery like this, it's not going to be a chore! See you soon. xxx

 

 

 

Spring time in London

Hello there! It's a dull old day here, but I am being cheered up by looking back at some photos from last weekend, when Mr JK and I were in London. The sun shone for much of the weekend, and we were able to make the most of our time. On Saturday we visited the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. We first went there a couple of years ago and have wanted to visit again ever since. The huge old glasshouses are very impressive.

 

Despite the rather chilly start to the year, there was lots of colour to admire. We saw a couple of plants that might just find their way into our garden next spring. We definitely need some tulips - we have pretty much every other spring bulb, but no tulips. I'd also like to plant some alliums if we can find the right spot for them.

 

 

I especially love the water lily house. There is something rather soothing about it. The giant lily pads dominate the pond, and some of the lilies were in bloom.

 

 

 

On Sunday we decided a bit of culture was in order, so we visited Tate Britain. We decided to take the BP Walk through British Art to get a taster of what was in the gallery. It was incredible to see some of the great works of art by Turner and Constable as well as more modern pieces by David Hockney. My favourite was a painting by John Singer Sargent called 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose'. It had a really magical air to it.  Later on we headed up to Islington so I could call in at Loop. I wanted to buy a present for Snoopydog's birthday, and managed to find just what I was looking for!! After a quick bite to eat, we went to Hoxton, where we thoroughly enjoyed the Geffrye,  Museum of the Home. Like many museums and galleries in London, entry was free. It was a fascinating look at how homes have changed over the past 400 years. The museum is set in an old hospital and one of the almshouses has been restored, although it isn't open every day.

 

 

 

 

There are also some rather beautiful gardens attached to the museum. Firstly, a walled herb garden, where the herbs are planted according to their uses.

 



As well as this, there are four period gardens, from the 17th to the 20th centuries. They were really beautiful. I'll leave you with a selection of photos to admire. I'll be back soon with some knitting to share with you. xx

 

 

Craving Colour

Oh goodness, it's been so cold and grey this week, I have felt quite fed up at times. Just a little patch of blue sky and a glimpse of sunshine would be good!! We even put the heating back on and I dug out my hot water bottle again!! I hope that the weather improves in time for half term, which begins next week. I'd like to be able to sit outside and enjoy the garden. Having said that, we are still managing to get out virtually every day to see what's new! The previous owners were obviously keen gardeners and thought very carefully about their planting. We seem to be getting sequential colour which is just beautiful. It's amazing to see just how much the garden has changed over the last month.

Here's how it was on April 21st........

 

Two weeks later .......

And this photo was taken today, another two weeks on......

New this week are the irises, standing elegantly with beautiful purple blooms.

These have also caught my eye this week. There's so much packed in, it's wonderful.

Flo is loving the garden! She spends lots of time bird watching (so far she's not caught anything, thank goodness!) and hiding in the borders. Tree climbing is a popular pastime too!

The desire for colour has crept into my knitting too, trying to escape from the greyness. I've started the next colour strip on my 64 Crayons blanket. It's fun choosing which two balls to use. This time I've gone for one that is mainly blues and greens and am contrasting it with a more neutral one, but with a wicked zing of orange in the middle!! I can't wait to see how that looks as the stripes emerge.

 

 

I've also done some spinning, trying to get myself into training for this year's Tour de Fleece. I'm turning this mixture of Shetland, bamboo and sparkle from Hilltopcloud, colourway 'velvet' .......

 

 

into this.......

Both bobbins are full now, so I just need to get it plied. With any luck, I'll be able to show you next time.

 

I'm taking part in two swaps on Ravelry. I received my first parcel this week from Cynthia in Maine. She chose lots of locally produced goodies, including this beautiful skein of yarn. It's 100% organic merino and is incredibly soft.

 

As well as some local honey and maple syrup (mmmmmmm, blueberry pancakes for breakfast very soon!), there was a pair of knitting needles. The balls on the ends are made using maple wood from Maine and birch dowels from Lithuania, before being assembled and decorated in Russia! I love the feel of them.

 

Cynthia also included a stich counter in the form of a bracelet which I'm looking forward to trying out.

 

I'll see you after the bank holiday weekend. Mr JK and I are off to London for a couple of days. xxx

A weekend away

Hello there! Mr JK and I have just got back from a weekend away in Wiltshire. We stayed near Bradford-on-Avon, having gone down to celebrate the birthday of a very old friend from my days at Bath University. We decided not to venture into Bath, and spent some time looking around Bradford-on-Avon. It's a lovely little town, with some very old buildings, including a Medieval tithe barn.

 

The roof is incredible. You can only admire the craftsmanship of days gone by.

The Kennet and Avon canal flows through the town, and it was while we were watching the barges that Mr JK told me that he'd love to go on a barge holiday!! So for his next 'big' birthday, that's what we shall do!  It certainly looks like a wonderful way to relax and just meader along some of the UK's waterways.

 

We watched as a couple of barges negotiated a lock.

Afterwards we went to the village of Lacock. It's been used a lot for filming period dramas such as Cranford and Pride and Prejudice. Scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone were filmed in the Abbey. The Abbey gardens were a pleasant place to wander around. We are looking for plants to provide some more splashes of colour in our springtime garden, and there was plenty of inspiration to be found.

 

I have been knitting too. I've finished the second strip on my 64 Crayons blanket and am happy with the way it is looking so far. I promise some pictures for next time. I am doing some testknitting at the moment, and will be able to share that with you as soon as the pattern has been released. I don't think I ever showed you a Citron shawl I knit for a friend's 50th birthday. I did 8 pattern repeats and decided to make it extra special by doing a beaded cast off. I think it took me around 6 hours to do that, but it was worth every minute as the beads added a touch of sparkle!

 

 

I also finished spinning up my 'Sliced Sunshine' fibre. I ended up with two skeins which I hope will make some matching mitts at some point.

 

 

Have a good week and see you soon! xx