Things that made me smile last month, and this last week! …...

……. just a round up of little things that have happened that I didn't get around to talking about at the time.
Firstly - hurray - I have finished my sweater!!!. It has been a long time coming as I had to pull it all back because I ran out of wool and needed to make a smaller size. The smaller size also worked well for me as I lost a few pounds weight when I was ill with pneumonia recently. I love the detail on the front with the pleats. The pattern is called 'Folded' by Veera Valimaki, I'm not sure where I first found it, but the pattern is on Ravelry.

 Here it is modelled by my dress making mannequin. (I must find a name for my mannequin!) The sweater has 3/4 sleeves and is knit in one piece from the bottom up, I changed the neck line slightly by finishing with a few rows of rib, and in the end wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.

 Secondly, I went back to the 'knit and natter' group in Skipton held in Coopers Coffee Bar each Friday morning. This is my first visit since being ill, so it was lovely to go back meet everyone again.

Then, both girls have been back for weekend visits - but at different times. When Clara came we went for a walk in the Lake District up Place Fell near Patterdale. Here J and I are plodding up the hill with a view back to Ullswater. There was quite deep snow on the top which the dog loved!

We had lots of lovely food, with another recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi. This time from his Jerusalem book - Chicken with caramelised onion and cardamon rice.

We also visited the house renovation project with both girls, so they could see how it is progressing. It looks more like a house now, with the extension on the side. Still a way to go, but the builders are doing really well with the weather!

This is to be my studio/workshop in the garden!!! so exciting.

This weekend we went to see the house with Molly, then went for a walk around Talkin Tarn. It was really misty and we couldn't see from one end of the tarn to the other. The tarn was also frozen around the edges so the ducks were having fun.

 There is still quite a lot of snow still lying around, which always makes a walk more interesting!

Back home, we have been growing oyster mushrooms. A friend gave us this pack as a xmas gift and this is our first crop. You just have to mist them with water twice a day, and they take a couple of weeks to grow. Success!

With being ill, I didn't do any tidying up in the garden in the autumn, so its lovely to see the snowdrops pushing up through the soil and making the garden more interesting again.

We have also had a few really cold days with temperatures of -5, but this has given us the most beautiful sunsets.

Well thats me caught up, a record for me to keep and to share with you. Hope you have had a good weekend.

Beginning and end of the week….

What else is there to talk about this week but the British weather, our national pastime! Well, we had a beautiful day here this last Monday, it was cold with no sunshine but at least no rain. It has been so wet over the past week and dull, so it was good to get out for a walk without having to put on full waterproof gear! I had to take Beanie to the vet for his annual check up and injections, and as his treat (well my treat really) for being good we walked by the river. I can't quite believe that he is 10 years old this week!

With all the rain we have had recently the river was high and flowing very fast. I could stand and watch for ages, it is quite mesmerising watching the water tumble and rush around the rocks.

There are some quite deep pools which are great for swimming when the weather is hot in the summer.

We even had some sunshine in the middle of the week. I was held up in the lane waiting for the sheep to turn into the farm. They had just been bought down from the fell.

Then on Friday we woke up to a little snow falling! It snowed on and off most of the morning, some times lovely big flakes were falling …..

the poor horses in the field behind the house came to shelter by the kitchen window

Then it cleared a little and we had some blue sky for a while. We went out for a walk late afternoon, caught a lovely sunset and then set off up the hill….

…. Beanie loved the snow, but hated the way it clumped on his paws, he had to keep stopping to try and bite it off, so we didn't go too far with him.

We saw a few sheep on the fell and lots of animal tracks in the snow, and then on the way back down again …. 

…… we saw the sheep from earlier in the week being taken back up to the fell again...

….. just as the snow started to fall again!

Hope you are keeping warm.

Fingerless gloves now finished - and other yarny projects

I managed to finish the cream coloured fingerless gloves to give to my friend as a christmas gift - but forgot in my rush to take a final photo. I bought the pattern on line from Churchmouse yarns and used alpaca dk wool and as suggested added little shell buttons on the cuffs. I did add a little extra length to the cuffs just to make sure they would tuck under the sleeves of a jacket, as I hate it if there is a little gap.

Then I continued to finished the first pair - the ones I had started when I was trying to work out the pattern. This pair were to be a birthday present for another friend!

I have another knitting project to complete - the jumper that I started last year, but had to pull back and start again as I just didn't have enough yarn to finish the very last few rows. I would like to get this finished now before I start anything else. 

Then I have a couple of exciting projects to start! I had two lovely yarny gifts from the girls for Christmas. The 'Cottage ripple blanket' pack by Lucy from Attic 24 - I can't wait to get started on this! but I think it will be a bit of a longer term project …...

….. and also something quite different for me - some lovely fluffy Sidar Snuggly yarn and a pattern to knit a teddy bear. I think this will test my concentration, but the idea is that it will be a gift for a new baby due around easter time to my nephew and his partner. 

So I'd better get a move on!!

Interesting train travel!

Normally when Clara comes home on the train we pick her up from local mainline stations at Lancaster or Kendal - but being an enterprising student again she managed to get a ticket from London to the nearest station to us for just £10!!! As the crow flies the distance to this station at Dent is only about 5 miles - but as its a bit up hill and down dale to get there it takes a while. We arrived to collect her in mist - I think we were actually in the cloud! and waited a few minutes for the train to arrive. We had actually never been to the station before and it seems quite an interesting place - it is on the Settle to Carlisle Railway and in the Yorkshire Dales National Park - and I didn't realise that it was the highest mainline station in England - what a claim to fame!

End of the holiday now and Clara is back in London for Uni again. She didn't return from Dent - but from another small local station at Wennington, which is on the Morecambe to Leeds line. I'm glad she is doing her bit to keep the small stations open!

Christmas and New Year

A very happy time was had by all. The star of our day was Beanie - such a photogenic and happy dog! With his new collar and a new toy - he was kept amused all day.

New Years Eve was very quiet this year. Molly had travelled back home during the day, and Clara and a couple of her friends came over to our house to cook and see in the New Year. They made fresh linguine pasta with a lovely aubergine sauce - trying out a recipe from the Yotam Ottolenghi book 'Plenty More'. Clara's friend had made chocolate and pistachio semi-freddo - so they were well fed!

J and I were invited out for a meal with our dearest friends and we had a lovely evening together. Good food and conversation - the best end to 2014 - and a great start to the new year!

Wishing you all the very best for 2015.

Things that made me smile last week…...

…… finishing a patch work play mat for my niece's new baby. I made one for her sister when she was born which has been very well loved - see here

…… waking up to see the first snow of winter on the hills - it was such a lovely clear cold day - this is my favourite view from our house.

…… more snow later in the week - I ventured out with the dog in the late afternoon. One of my first dog walks since being ill - I'm now feeling so much better.

…… trying out a new pattern. My first attempt at fingerless gloves - with a thumb. The pattern sounded so complicated that I thought I needed to make one up using some odd yarn …...

…. before making another with some beautiful soft alpaca yarn.  Once I got going the pattern wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, it seems to make more sense once you actually start knitting!  ….I just need to make the other one now and get some little buttons to stitch to the cuffs.

…… making leek and potato soup for lunch with home made bread - yum!

….. using my lino cut to stamp out more Christmas cards - I need to add some green olive branches yet.

The girls will soon be home for the holidays so we need to tidy the house and get the Christmas decorations up - the celebrations will soon be upon us! 

At last, I'm able to finish a couple of 'work in progress' projects

A little more creative energy this week - thank goodness! I am beginning to feel a little better now and have taken an interest in doing things again as I get stronger.

I bought this fabric last year, it is a furnishing fabric called Rooster. (not sure who the designer is) I intended to make my friend a tote bag with it as she has chickens and has lots of 'chickeny' things around her home. I ran out of time….

…… but have come across the fabric again, so matched it up with some red gingham, and some fabric I had which looks like little eggs.

I have now made her a tote bag with a gingham lining and internal pocket, with a red trim around the  inside and on the over the shoulder handles. Work in progress 1 completed!

Next, I started knitting these socks way back in February. They have been sitting in my knitting bag for ages just waiting for me to graft the toes using the Kitchener stitch. I always need to concentrate when doing this stitch, so tend to wait till I have have finished both socks and can sit quietly, with my crib sheet next to me, and work through the last stitches.

I bought this yarn at Woolfest 2013, I can't find the yarn band now so have no idea where the yarn came from - but I love the way the colours fade into each other.

Cosy socks for Christmas - work in progress 2 completed!

However, I still have a few more WIP's  to finish - hope the energy keeps coming…..