extreme knitting...!

Yesterday saw us trekking across the county to the Sandringham craft fair after R won more tickets in some online competition. The day started less than well after I inadvertently missed one digit of the postcode in the sat nav and neither of us noticed until we were almost to Peterborough! Dur! An extra hour of driving later (back the way we came, oh the joys of the A47...) we arrived at Sandringham to find a field full of marquees with crafty things, foody things and general 'country fair' type stuff.

I do tend to come away from these things thinking 'I'm sure I could do that' but it's always good to have a look at what people are doing - some of it very arty and clever and definitely out of my league both in terms of skill and price tag! There was some fabulous woodcraft - sculptures and garden furniture that was definitely art as well as functional.

But the thing that really caught my eye was this...

How mad is that? Have you ever seen anything like it? This was draped over one of those two seater camping 'sofas' and the needles are about the size of broomstick handles! The yarn is a mix of strands from lots of different balls of wool in different colours and textures and the effect is amazing.

I sooooo want to have a go at this!!! Some were soft, drapy (is that a word?!) pieces that would make lovely cosy blankets and some were thick durable rugs. I can't imagine its easy to handle because it must get very heavy - I think it would require a sofa takeover bid - but I bet it grows quickly!!!

And how about extreme crochet?

Can you imagine making granny squares with these?!

Then, today, no 1 son took me over to the annual Daffodil Day fair near to us. Although we've been in this house 18 years, I've never been before. Lovely mixture of country fair, village fete and craft fair; steam engines, classic cars, tea and cake and lots of stalls.

The sun had been out most of the day but actually by the time we arrived, a bit late in the day, it had clouded over but was very pleasant nonetheless.

I've always loved steam engines. I love the smell and the sound and the intricacy of the mechanics. When we were kids we used to go to the steam engine rally in the next village to us and I was always fascinated by these huge machines, polished to perfection and manned by cloth-capped, oily, jolly men who seemed to take such pride in showing off their 'babies'. This one was a miniature and chugged around the site periodically with happy passengers balanced on the back.

There was also a display of steam-powered industrial machinery - a reminder of how relatively recently mechanisation began in earnest; these systems must have revolutionised manufacturing and farming. And I loved these...

Great use of colour!

The fair is held at the private school, which is set in beautiful grounds and we had a wander through the woods on the 'daffodil walk'. There are lots of daffs but we also came across this stunning camellia...

Even without the benefit of sunshine the colour was vivid, especially contrasted against the dark glossy leaves. Gorgeous.

And I can't finish telling you about Daffodil Day without a few of these...

Great swathes of daffodils of various shades but these three jumped out of the sea of yellow at me.

Not a bad weekend at all.

Til next time

Sx