Christina's Creations: It's not really Sunday...(It's Saturday times two!!)

A reasonable time was had by all at the Cheshire Guild yesterday (Saturday part one); it was Silk Paper making which I decided not to do hence no lovely piccies, instead me 'n' Mel got some quality spinning time in and the chance to chat with other guild members so it was still a good day.

I'd brought some fleece along to see if anyone wanted any, unfortunately I picked totally the wrong day! In a twist of fortune, one of the older members of the guild who I had not seen before as she had not been to group for a while due to ill health died. In her will, she had bequeathed all her spinning materials including two rather fine wheels to the Cheshire guild to sell for their own funds. I ended up bringing all my fleece back but picking up a bargain or two too..

There were two pairs of Louet single row woolcombs..they are rather flimsy and really only suitable for fine fibres or shorter length staples and when it came down to it, three of us wanted them but one lady kindly backed down so I managed to get one set, yaay! One day I will get a proper set of woolcombs complete with clamp, they are on a wish list but apart from anything else, I need to find the combs that are right for me and my fleece needs, haven't found them yet!

There was also a jumbo woolwinder that I picked up for a mere £5 (when I think of what they go for on ebay!), a sheepy half apron and a sheepy bag full of cotton yarn I haven't a clue what I'd use for, ah well!

I haven't been entirely caught up tidying, there's only so much a girl can do without the aches and pains kicking in but we now have a definite reduction in volume and not one but TWO paths in the back room so a definite improvement...

Anyway, amongst other things, I finished the latest installment from Sock Madness, Godmother Socks.

There's a humorous pic towards the end, unfortunately as they're self-taken, you can't easily see the fact that I've been tinkering with the pattern again, the fold-over cuffs are knitted in two colours. When I knitted the base socks particularly as they're longer than originally designed, I knew I'd never have enough yarn to knit the cuffs in the same yarn. Serendipity meant I had a yucky beige yarn that is almost the exact shade as one of the colours in the STR and it transforms into a milky coffee colour which is nice. Anyway, I wanted a bit of the STR yarn to show on the cuff, so I knitted the last 5 stitches with it, twisting the yarns together and ensuring any floats were in the back. It's ended up making little diamond shapes at the end which is pretty but it does get lost in the background colour a bit.

Despite not touching the Secret of the Stole shawl all holiday, I weakened and cast on for Mystic Light...

This is my own hand-dyed creation, double dyed to be accurate..I feel it has the proper level of flaminess in it now. I've knitted up to clue 4 so far but my brain's having issues with the front-and-back-row patterning so I need some time to properly study it when there's not a dozen other things happening too.

Despite being variegated, I think the patterning will show through, particularly when it is blocked. A nice knit though, my first sockweight shawl!

Anyway, Holiday part one:

As time's a bit tight on this post, I'll break the hols down into bite-size chunks though I'll hopefully post another installment tomorrow.

Well, Saturday was mostly travelling, finding the acommodation and grabbing the key from a local shop. After trundling all our junk into the property, it was turn around once again and head bac into Grassington village to explore. There was a book fair on (lucky lucky!)- actually two but we missed the other one. I unearthed two knitting books and a brand new crochet book and got the lot for a princely £7 so I was happy enough and the ice-cream from the stall was pretty nice too (little was I to know at that point that ice-cream would become the theme of the holiday!).

Anyway, amongst the leaflets at the property was one for a food and drink festival over that weekend. We decided that would be a perfect Sunday outing, less than an hour's travelling and FOOD!!!!

By the time we arrived, somewhat frazzled from threading through teeny back roads and dealing with oncoming traffic (thanks Tom-tom), and the clouds threatening rain, soon after it did rain; we were not in the best of moods but there was plenty to see...

Sheeps...

...Shearing (I actually managed to pick up that self-same fleece later on in the day); and lots and lots of FOOD! I must have spent £40 + that day but we did have some lovely stuff, yummy lemon curd, biccies, a huge pork pie with chicken in the middle and cranberry sauce on the top, yum! to name but a few. The food was under cover which was good as the rain continued to fall, we only had to get wet on the way back via a few food tents (organic rare breed pork burger with mustard and hog roast barm, tasty) and pick up the bargain fleece for a mere £4! It has been washed, lovely soft shearling but obscene amounts of veg, straw and grass, I spent hours picking the worst of it out and it'll still need careful picking through but nice all the same.

In the same day, when we got back we went for a walk along the riverside. At the turning point (it was still wet and yucky so we didn't go far), we watched a group cross the river vie stepping stones...at least one of the party had wet feet!

Still, the extra water made the weir pretty fierce close to where the walk began and ended. Pretty, even in the wet.