Sunday 12 May 2013

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.

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


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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.

 
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We watched as a couple of barges negotiated a lock.


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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.

 
Lacock Abbey flowers


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!
 
 
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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.
 
 
Sliced Sunshine handspun (5)

Sliced Sunshine handspun (1)

Have a good week and see you soon! xx

11 comments:

busybusybeejay said...

I love the shawl.What a special present.What did you do with Florence over the weekend?

snoopydogknits said...

Love that shawl! Looks like you had a lovely weekend away. Rosx

quantumtea said...

I had a long weekend on the Grand Union Canal with husband and friends whose parents owned a narrowboat, it was very restful. Its top speed was 4mph and we picked blackberries you could only reach from the water.

Una said...

Lovely shawl and the beaded cast-off was well worth doing.

Anonymous said...

oh a barge holiday!! what a wonderful prospect!

love your new yarn and the shawl - you always make the loveliest of things!

-melissa

Lynne said...

The beaded Citron is absolutely beautiful! I hope your friend loved it.

Claire said...

The split sunshine yarn is just gorgeous. Did you dye it yourself? I love the Citron shawl as well, that beaded cast off is amazing.

Clicky Needles said...

Nice to see you in The West Country :-)

Shawl is great, the beads really add something.

CNx

Celia said...

I love all your beautiful photos.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! The citron is amazing! That will be lovely for all those special evenings out.

Kim said...

Helen's friend absolutely LOVED the beautiful birthday shawl!!!! Especially the beads!!! And she counts herself extremely lucky to have such a friend!!