Saturday 1 July 2017

Loads of bits and bobs


Drum roll please - I actually have a finished knit to share with you! I know, have you picked yourself up off the floor yet?! I managed to sneak in a few rounds of sock knitting when I was on a bus this week. I've finished my Lovehearts handspun socks and am really pleased with them. I even put them on briefly this morning to model them for you!




The yarn is quite softly spun so I'm not sure quite how hard-wearing they're going to be. I might even keep them as bed socks for the winter. But I am pleased because it's the first time that I've spun enough yardage to get a pair of socks from 100g of fibre. I love the soft colours of the yarn. The fibre is from Picperfic's Fluff-n-Stuff and there's some of this colourway in there right now. And if you keep reading, you can also win some in my July Pay it Forward giveway!  

Sarah from Fripperies & Bibelots (my favourite stitch markers) also loved the colourway and was inspired to create some Love Hearts ringOs; both Marianne and I were lucky enough to receive a set and I love them! Sarah has just moved her Etsy shop to her very own website and you can see more here. I think she's sold out of Love Hearts for now, but you can be sure that they'll be making a reappearance very soon. Just look how beautifully the colours echo the colours of the socks...




The rest of my knitting this week is all secret projects I'm afraid. As soon as I am able to share with you, I will - promise!

In the meantime, I must tell you about a yarn festival that's happening in Norfolk next weekend. You might remember that a couple of years ago, Mr JK and I visited six Norfolk churches to look at the Blossom and Yarn festival. You can read my blog post from the day here. This year the theme is The Creation and I'm sure it's going to be an equally spectacular event. I shall definitely be paying a visit to all six churches and will share it with you. But if you're in the area, you might want to pop along too.

June has come to an end now, and with it my efforts at spending one hour outside each day. It was quite hard sometimes, especially if the weather wasn't so good, but I will try to keep it going, even if I don't post a photo every day. Here are the last few days of June...



June 26th - loving the lavender in the garden, a real magnet for the bees



June 27th - the courtyard at Kentwell Hall, Long Melford



June 28th - raindrops on roses 



June 29th - the big daisies are in flower in the garden



June 30th - an evening in the garden with Flo (who is on the prowl for moths!)




The random number generator picked post 9 as the winner in my June Pay it Forward giveaway - congratulations to Claire Carter. I'll be in touch with you very soon to get your address. My July prize is one for all your spinners out there - a braid of Picperfic's Fluff-n-Stuff Twinkle blend fibre in the Lovehearts colourway. If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is leave me a comment on the blog with a recommendation for a quick and healthy meal. I'm on the lookout to try some new recipes over the summer. The giveaway will be open until midnight on July 31st and I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner after that date. Please make sure it's easy for me to contact you by leaving your Ravelry or Instagram name, or leave some other way for me to get in touch. If I haven't heard from the winner within a week, I'll pick another name. I'm happy to post world-wide so please do enter. Here's a peep at the prize...




And now if you'll excuse me, as the Tour de France, and therefore the Tour de Fleece begins today, I'm off to dust off my spinning wheel and get going for a whole glorious month of spinning! xxx

6 comments:

Emma Joyner said...

Healthy summer dinners for us a family of 6, a rotisserie chicken and a yummy salad

Christine65 said...

Such pretty colours in your socks; I really enjoy wearing my hand-spun, hand-knitted socks and if they aren't long-lasting, at least you know you can spin the yarn to knit another pair. I can't think of any quick recipes for summer, but shall have a think!

BabyLongLegs said...

I loved seeing your sock yarn emerge on your Instagram... such eautiful spinning!
Uhm... healthy food... a huge great big salad with iceberg, carrot spaghetti and radish... with cubed grilled halloumi (with red or green pesto on) and gently warmed wraps/pita bread to stuff it all into!
Big love to you Helen xXx

VeggieMummy said...

I'm so impressed that you have hand-spun socks; they're beautiful. xx

Jen B said...

I love the colours of your socks! And they look fab finished! One favourite healthy meal I like to cook is a vegetable curry! I fry an onion & a pepper with some Frylight, add in a tin of chopped tomatoes, some tomato purée, a teaspoon or two of curry powder and a tin of chickpeas. Let it cook through for five minutes or so and add some natural yoghurt to make it nice and creamy! I cook the rice in a pan with some Bouillon added in, which gives a such a nice taste, and the two together is just so filling and delicious and not too expensive! I am @knitteddaydreams on Instagram!

Jane Winter said...

Hi Helen
I hope that it is not too late to leave a comment (even though the prize has now been awarded). I recently got a recipe book from my local library which I loved so much that I have bought myself a copy. I have never cooked so many recipes from a single book before and they are all super healthy and most are very quick and easy to prepare too. It is called Thrive on Five and many of the recipes actually have 5 of your 5 a day in a single meal! Most of the recipes are for two portions but I have found that if I have one portion for tea the other one is good to go for lunch the next day. Here is a link to the book on Amazon ...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=thrive+on+five
Glad that you enjoyed Fibre East - I went too this year and ...ahem....spent rather more than I intended!