New beginnings...

Some simple pleasures to round off 2018 and ease into 2019...

Bristol cathedral's rather lovely nativity... a place to spend a few moments quietly contemplating.

A bracing Boxing Day walk through woods and by the spectacular Clifton suspension bridge...

Winter sunlight on ferns...

 A moment to sit and think...

A bit of time to finish hooking my scrap busting blanket, which turned out to be a very satisfying project, not least because I didn't spend a penny on it and I have cleared about 1/3 of my unused yarn stash!

A bright start to the New Year was perfect for a walk to shake off cobwebs. Looking back on the pictures I took I am struck by what a focal point the Anglican cathedral in Norwich is. From the riverside path...

From the viewpoint at Mousehold Heath...

Through the trees at Kett's Heights, another new discovery for me, just 30 minutes or so walk from home...

Against a backdrop of slowly sinking sun and dramatic clouds as I made my way home...

The light was lovely - through golden gorse...

And trees stripped of their leaves...

Delicate grasses...

And ancient brickwork...

And enough blue sky to remind me that even winter has its bright moments...

I am resolving to be more appreciative of my world, and to try to find a meaningful way through life this year... 

Wishing all a peaceful, restorative and healthy 2019.

S x

Remembrance Day 2018...

I always find the sound of the bagpipes moving and yesterday was no exception, with a small crowd gathered outside the great West door of Norwich cathedral to hear a lone piper play 'Battle's O'er'  at 6am along with pipers at 2,000 locations across the UK and elsewhere. 

Followed by candles lit for peace in the cathedrals peace globe...

When I came out of the cathedral there was a solitary bird singing its heart out and the sky was lightening. I walked down to the river and slowly home a rather scenic route as the day woke up...

There was an incredible stillness in the air, with reflections like mirror images on the river...

I was home by 7.30am so snuggled up with coffee and my growing stash-busting project for an hour before getting ready to head back to the cathedral with my mum for the remembrance service. There is something very rhythmic and restorative about steady progress of rows of crochet.

I am quite enjoying this project. It is very satisfying to see all those odds and ends and half balls of wool disappearing into something useful. There is no plan to this at all - 2 strands of yarn at a time, one dark and one bright colour, random changes and half trebles worked with a great big hook that makes for rapid progress.

I am using up a complete mix of yarns - mostly double knitting but some aran and some 4 ply, with the lovely colours but slightly scratchy feel yarns getting 'softened' by the soft cottons or cashmerino blends. And the slightly 'yucky' colours or overly bright 'why on earth did I buy that' colours getting toned down a bit with a more muted shade.

I am not really thinking too much about the colours but every so often just photograph it to do a kind of check that its not too wildly unbalanced. I still seem to have stacks of yarn but beginning to make a dent in it! And the end result will be a mixture of memories of makes for family and friends going back over almost 40 years from very first projects many years ago. It feels like times and places are woven into the fabric of this project that just fell out of a bit of boredom and a rummage through my left over yarns...

A day of quiet reflection and thankfulness...

S x

Autumn walks and uncovering unfinished projects...

The last couple of weeks have definitely had an autumnal feel but the last 2 days have seen some lovely sunshine, not with the heat of summer sun but enough to make a walk by Whitlingham Broad very pleasant. The leaves are only just beginning to turn but the hedgerows are full of hips and berries.

I love the sunlight on the water - I have done this walk many times, and probably taken hundreds of very similar photographs but I never tire of it...

After a 9 1/2 mile round trip walk I indulged a little crafty time in front of the television - some time ago I came across this WIP tucked in a pillow case in a drawer in my spare room, with my wedding veil of all things! Goodness knows why I had stowed it away like that but I guess I must have had a reason! 

This pattern was in a 1993 Prima magazine...

...and has been tucked away for almost all of that time! I started knitting it when I was pregnant with my third child, who has just had his 25th birthday! I'm not quite sure what possessed me to start a baby blanket when I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old, had just moved house and was due to have baby number 3...! Needless to say, I hadn't got very far!

It looks a complicated pattern but actually, is very easy, knitted in small squares and sewn together into 7 larger squares.  When I found it, I had completed just 8 small squares. Although there are no babies pending (that I know of!) I thought I may as well finish it and then put it away again in the hope that it might be used one day. Each small square takes me an evening so really it hasn't taken long to get to this stage...

 The yarn is Sirdar Soft Cotton 4 ply - I'm not sure if you can still buy exactly the same yarn, think this pre-dates mercerised yarns so it does have a slight tendency to be a bit splitty but it is beautifully soft and drapey.

Just the border to finish now...

I don't usually use anything so fine and certainly not just in white but it does feel very traditional and I do love it. And it has made me want to get another project underway because, inevitably, it looks as though there are going to be a couple of balls over... Might just have to go and get a bit more 4 ply, maybe with a bit of colour and hmmm...maybe a soft, cottony, drapey crochet blanket...?

S x

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