reconnecting...

This week I have picked up a few things that seem to have got rather sidelined in the crazy whirl of life - my camera has barely been out of late, the regular walks have gone by the wayside and as for anything crafty...

But a few cooler, darker evenings have seen me reaching for my hook and yarn again. Combined with a spot of decorating that means suddenly another blanket is not just a yearning but positively required ;)

I had a hankering after something slightly less bright than my usual go to colours. Initially I was thinking for my spare room but actually wondering now whether to put it in my room. I have just painted it a very soft peachy pink. Sounds a bit hideous but actually its nice - quite a warm colour and changes a bit through the day as the light changes in there. It reminds me of old fashioned calamine lotion... I've also stripped the paint off the ancient old beam in there and replaced the horrible freebie bed I picked up when I was scrabbling around for furniture 4 years ago with a lovely black metal bedstead. So I think it could take a muted blanket... Or maybe I'll just ring the changes according to my mood... 

I started off doing a granny stripe of cream alternating with pink, blue and green. These photos make them look a bit more bleached but actually the cream is quite a 'clotted cream' colour and the colours are soft but not too insipid. Then I got a bit bored (seriously poor concentration span!) and decided to add a row of daisy grannies. I might mix it up completely and and add some bigger granny squares too. My favourite blanket of all time so far (that I've made - have seen some lovely ones elsewhere!) is the daisy blanket at the top of my header. It was a completely made up as I went along random make - but is still the one that on the whole is at the foot of my bed. This time I might try to be a bit more disciplined with the joining up so its not so crooked but I like the idea of some continuity and simplicity in the colours but a mix of basic patterns. We'll see - I've a way to go yet as this needs to be full double bed size. The last one this big took me forever!

This last weekend was trying in all sorts of ways and after a pretty sleepless Saturday night I was up early Sunday to bright sunshine so decided to head up to the coast and walk a bit further round my beach walk challenge. When I started this in January I was trying to visit each of the Norfolk beaches and walk a bit but I have really struggled to get up there over the summer months so progress has dramatically slowed. The last walk took me (with Mum!) from Overstrand to Cromer so this time I parked at Cromer and headed out from the pier...

in the direction of Sheringham...

There were autumnal colours in the hedgerows along the way...

but the sun was glorious and warm and the sky and sea so blue you could be forgiven for thinking it was high summer. The tide was going out and the wet stones seemed to almost sparkle on the sand...

At East Runton I headed up to the coast path along the cliff top, looking back over the expanse of sand and shingle...

This path is easy walking with not much in the way of inclines until you get to Beeston just before Sheringham with views across open sea peppered with wind turbines on one side and gentle countryside and fluffy clouds the other...

Norfolk cliffs may not be very high really but looking down you do get a sense of the expanse of the beaches stretching in each direction, to say nothing of the precariousness of the crumbling cliffs...

As you arrive into Sheringham there is the usual row of coloured beach huts...

but also a real sense that this is still a fishing base, with boats and kit pulled up on the shingle at the top of the beach...

I'm always slightly fascinated by the demarcation of the sand and shingle sections of this beach. Its probably not obvious from these photos but the shingle here is hefty sea-smoothed flinty pebbles of a good couple of inches across or more.  It amazes me that the sea must drag them up and deposit them so neatly against the defences.

The sandy part is lovely fine sand and with the tide just out perfect for sandcastles. Isn't this a fab example?! Complete with moat and stone walls...

Heading on towards Weybourne past the lifeboat station, brave crews who I have every admiration for...

I think this beach looks as though someone has carefully swept all the stones up to the cliffs in the neatest line!

One last look back at the sea before heading inland again...

past another iconic Norfolk sight, this windmill in beautiful condition, repurposed as a home...

and up to the pretty church at Weybourne with its mix of ruin and working place of worship...

It was a lovely late summer walk, with real warmth in the sunshine and that sense of space that is not difficult to find her if you just walk a wee bit further than most do.

And another treat awaiting when I got home! I have been on Artesano's mailing list for some time and this offer of reduced Alpaca/wool DK blend caught my eye. It is sooo soft (much more than it looks) and felt very special in its purple tissue wrapped skeins...

This colour blend is called malt and although at first glance looks just brown, up close is actually a mixture of shades and textures. I loved winding it into a ball...

and couldn't wait long before starting to knit it up...

So far, it is gorgeous to knit with - smooth even and feels like it will be warm and cosy. Cooler, dark evenings looking better already!

S x