What I did on my holiday......

We have just returned from a lovely holiday in Weymouth. Why Weymouth? Well, when I was a small child my grandparents owned a couple of caravans on a permanent campsite just on the outskirts of the town. Each year we went for one week of the school holidays and this continued until I was about ten or so. The caravans were terribly old-fashioned and had gas lights, no washing facilities and very lumpy mattresses. They were extremely small and the five of us would squash in and hope the weather would be good so we could play outside. My artist sister in law, Kerry Phippen also used to stay in the same make of caravan - this time at the Isle of Skye and she has painted this fabulous picture of them:

Sorry the photo is so small, Kerry has some clever anti-copying device on her website! Anyway, back to the point. We wanted to have a holiday in Dorset and I thought my parents might like to revisit Weymouth after probably 30+ years. So that's what we did. The weather was great, Dorset was beautiful and we all had a great time.

So, now we are back at work and in the words of my mother 'it's all a distant memory'. Well, not quite, but I know what she means.

Lace Knitting - It's Easy .......

when you've finished........ I have to say that in 30 odd years of knitting I have never been so pleased with an article. So, without further ado, here is Lucy's shawl:

As you can see it is being blocked on some polystyrene tiles that Ian had in the loft - don't know why. This was an extremely good blocking material. Ian, who is very neat, helped me set it out and it took next to no time to dry. We had one nasty moment when our labrador walked over it, but apart from that it all went very smoothly. I parcelled it up, posted to Lucy and she received it this morning. She is absolutely delighted and has promised photos of herself wearing it next week.
Here is a close up:

So, what to do next? I think the Alice Starmore hat kit is beckoning. However, I have also purchased a copy of Alice & Jade Starmore's the Children's Collection and there are many projects in this I want to knit. I have also just had a little go at a lovely aran cardigan for a toddler in baby cashmere/cotton. Then there are the gloves, mittens, socks, nasty chenille sweater, handknit cotton baby jumper, fair isle baby cardigan, toy donkey, nasty mohair cardigan (a story for another day), that require finishing - and these are just the ones I remember...... I also thought I might have a go at another lace shawl, the myrtle leaf one in Victorian Lace looks good. Watch this space!

Anything to Report?

I am very very sorry that I haven't written much or in fact, anything recently. This is for three reasons. The first is that I haven't done anything except work and knit. The second is that I am struggling along with Lucy's shawl with the fabulous help of Cathairinmyknitting. And thirdly, well, there isn't a particularly firm third reason, it's just that I always have to have one.

This started when Lucy was a small child - and a very persistent one. If she was ever refused something (often, you should have heard her demands) she always demanded a number of reasons and 'because I said so' didn't count. So, I became very skilled at thinking of three different reasons in a very short space of time. As she has now been living away from home for quite a while now, I find that I don't have to justify myself so often, hence the slacking of the brain.

I have, however spent an enormous amount of time overhauling Great British Yarns and I am very pleased with the way it looks. Have a look yourself if you have time. Hopefully I will be back later this week with a photo of the finished shawl.