Back on the Welsh Coastal Path: A Walk on Anglesey. . .

Anglesey is an island on the north west coast of Wales.  The town of Holyhead is where you catch the ferry to Dublin as I did over twenty years ago.  I hadn't been back since, but tagged along with the Liverpud as he did a recce for an upcoming walk.

We started at Breakwater Country Park where you can quickly access the Welsh Coastal path.  Here it is quite rocky, but the views are lovely.

What I can't convey in this post is the cacophony of seabirds that you hear continuously all along the coast.  They breed on outcrops such as this one.

Not far along the walk and you get your first glimpse of South Stacks and its famous lighthouse.

But first we turned inland and climbed Holyhead Mountain.

Here's the view from the top looking east.  You can see the mysterious outlines of the Snowdonia hills in the distance.

And to the south you can see the headlands that we'll be going along towards the end of the walk.

But first it's off to South Stacks.

As you descend the steps towards the lighthouse you see lots of different breeding grounds.

And the most amazing striations of colour and texture in the cliff faces.

The lighthouse is still a working one and we got the chance to climb up to the top.

And see the light itself.  The lighthouse has been in operation since 1809.

A view of the 400 steps we'll need to climb back up.

Here are some closeups of the birds - I believe these are guillemots, though there are also puffins and razorbills nearby.

Further along the path is this look-out tower run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

I had despaired of coming across any sheep on this walk, but then we entered this field full of Black Welsh Mountain sheep.

They look a bit fierce but although curious, they quickly scampered away from us.

The last bit of the walk was along the headlands on the way back to Holyhead.  From the top of the mountain, they looked fairly tame, but there was still some spectacular cliffs and hidden coves to be seen.

And there was some beautiful moorland to walk past once we headed inland.

I enjoyed the walk, although I do think there are far more spectacular coastal walks in Wales.  Perhaps the day was dampened by having to walk several miles through rather blah and grey housing estates in Holyhead to get back to the car park.  If you are a twitcher though, you'd love this part of the coast.

Hey, I Can Now Crochet. . .

For the past few months, I've been participating in Rowan's crochet-a-long, designed by Lisa Richardson. and happily tackling each of the seven motifs as they came along. 

I was originally going for the cushion option, but when I laid them all out, I just fell in love with the colours and the wool (Jillybean Shetland for the variegated, Blacker's Shetland and Classic 4ply for the solids) and wanted to wear them around me.  And so, in the middle of a heatwave, I've finally seamed, edged and blocked my new winter scarf. 

In the end I chose the best 24 hexes (out of  28) and just seamed them in two rows of 12 as that made more than a long enough scarf. I then did the trebles edging which ties it all together.  Oooh, it is very warm and cozy but I'll be putting it away now until the winter.

This CAL has boosted my crochet confidence enormously and I'm very proud of having been able to follow all the instructions. Some of these motifs are so pretty I'm sure I'll be using them in future projects.

Celebrating British Wool at Woolfest 2015. . .

Woolfest 2015 was amazing.  I've been twice previously but both times it poured cats and dogs, and I was with the Liverpud who -  bless him -  tried to look interested and to save him from boredom, I hurried myself along and tried to do the whole show in less than two hours. You can't do it justice in that time.

But this year, the sun was shining, the Liverpud dropped me and three knitting friends off at the venue and took himself off for a walk, and we had over five glorious hours to explore the show.  All of us, Liverpud included, had a great day.

Going on Saturday made a big difference too.  It was less manic and I really got the chance to look at every booth and have longer and really interesting conversations with the vendors.  And I even got to try drop spinning which has re-awoken my desire to learn how to do it properly.

I even bought some fibre from Skybluepink Designs to induce me to watch the Craftsy course I bought,  and to get out that drop spindle lying in a box under my bed.  I just fell in love with these colours!

I may have gone slightly overbudget (well, that was a given), but I did keep to my goal of only buying British wool - not difficult when there was so much fantastic yarn on offer.  I also wanted to challenge myself by buying wool I'd not tried before so even though I love, love Titus and John Arbon, I was able to restrain myself in their booths and bring home something new instead.

My first purchase was two skeins of Susan Crawford's Excelana 4ply in this glorious limited edition colourway called Coral Lombard.  How could I resist?  The name alone had me smiling, not to mention the rich colour.

Oooh and then look at the deep purple in these skeins of aran wool from the Hebridean Islands, bought at the Sheepfold booth.  There are flecks of blue and brown in there too and I think these are destined to become winter mitts and cowls.  I have some dark brown Herdy wool in my stash that would complement it perfectly.

I've not tried any wool from the Falkand Islands before but I'm a big fan of Blacker's yarns and so these two skeins came home with me.

And then there's Jillybeans.  Sadly due to family circumstances, she wasn't able to be at Woolfest but had given a friend a lot of skeins to sell on her behalf.  I absolutely adore how she dyes her wool - all of which is 100% British, a mixture of Shetland and BFL.  Look at how rich her colours are!  No idea what I'll do with them yet, but I always like having her yarns in my stash; the right project is sure to come along.

And then I fell in love with these two beauties.  I love the colour and rustic feel of these organic skeins from Garthenor.   This will definitely become a shawl. Perhaps Lucy Hague's Taliesin or Karie Westermann's new design Mahy.

And then there was a booth called Riverside that was selling huge skeins for hand or machine knitting.  They didn't come with information tags, but the company write-up in the brochure said all their wool was sourced and spun in the UK.  I got this enormous 1000g skein for only £20 and since I regularly use grey as one of my "neutral" colours in knitting, I jumped at the bargain.  It took me three hours to wind it up (no, I don't have a ball winder).  It seems to be fingering weight and this is what it looks like - the biggest ball of wool I have ever wound.  Should last me quite a while.

Apart from all the yarn, I was really delighted to come upon these unusual buttons from the Wool Clip collective.  They are made from Cumbrian slate and I think they would look fantastic on a rustic wool cardigan.  I am so, so pleased with all of my purchases.  That should tie me over at any rate until Yarndale!

A Colourful Handmade Wardrobe in the Works. . .

I'm working on so many projects right now and enjoying every minute of it.  I'm in love with the yarns that I'm using, the designs are fun and challenging, and I'm excited about having all these new, colourful additions to my wardrobe.  Next month I'll be off on holiday and I want to bring ten knitted items with me and wear a different piece each day (this is predicated on actually finishing some of the pieces in this post, but I live in hope. . . )

First up though is something I have finished.  Here's what I'm calling my Hap for Springtime, based on Kate Davies' Hap for Harriet.   

I used two skeins of Blacker's Blue-faced Leicester laceweight in this gorgeous moss green colourway.  I saw this colour everywhere the last few months as I was knitting this and walking through the countryside - the colour just glows in the sunshine.  It was in all the new growth of leaves, among the mosses in deep woods and on the moorlands, and in the fresh grass of country meadows.

This is the perfect summer shawl, lightweight but really warm for chilly evenings.  I love it!

I'm also digging out projects that have been languishing for ages.  I loved this rich magenta wool when I saw it in the skein about five years ago.  I bought enough for a cardigan, knitted most of the pieces and now it's just waiting for a bit of blocking and seaming.   I am so, so close to finishing this.

The minute I finished my hap, I cast on for another top with some of my Rowan Summer Tweed.  This is Scout, designed by Julia Frank.  It has an interesting construction; you increase at each end and as you work from the bottom up on the back and fronts, you are also creating the sleeves.

And here's another summer top in the works.  I'm not sure this self-striping yarn is going to work with the pattern so the project has stalled a bit, but I'm still committed to knitting some more on it and seeing how it goes. 

Not forgetting my Bowland cardigan though, designed by Susan Crawford. I've done one full repeat and love my choice of colours. This may well be the project that I take with me on holiday.

And remember all those crocheted hexagons I was creating as part of the Rowan Crochet-a-long? I've finally decided what to do with them all and am seaming them together today.  Lots of ends to weave in, but this pile will hopefully become something nice soon.

Woolfest this weekend!  I am so excited. I'm going up with three friends and there is bound to be lots of laughs, lots of knitting time, lots of lattes and with any luck some very restrained wool buying!

Three Years. . . .

So yesterday was the summer solstice which always prompts me to ponder my new life in the UK as it's also the anniversary of moving over here.  Three years already!  And things are very good.  I love my new more laid-back lifestyle; lots of hiking, crafting, walking to work, gardening, and cooking. Work is much more interesting and fulfilling in my new job, not to mention I got a pay raise with the new position and it allows me to continue to work part-time, cover all my living costs and still save for holidays,  wool festivals and retirement.

With the more simple lifestyle, my consumerism is also way, way down from what it used to be and I'm much more thoughtful about what I buy, where it comes from, what it's made from and whether I really, really need it. While my yarn diet this year has been completely blown, I have managed to keep to my resolution of not buying any new clothes and I've even been purging the wardrobe and paring it down to items that I really like wearing.

People were the hardest thing to leave behind in Toronto but friends have kept in touch, and have come to visit, and I have managed to find a core group of like-minded hikers and knitters to hang out with who are interesting and inspiring and barmy in the best possible English way.  The Liverpud is my best friend and we continue to laugh and build a life together. And Mum will be coming over for two months and I look forward to taking her to some of my favourite places.

This is a little bit of what living in Britain is all about for me.

My first English rose!  This is Wildfire - a gorgeous, vibrant orange colour and it's in full bloom in my front yard.  I could never have grown roses in my tiny flat in Toronto.

And here is how I spent the solstice Sunday.  Our walking group went to Abersoch, a popular seaside town,  and I went walking along several miles of the Welsh Coastal Path around parts of the Llyn Pennisula.  The coastal path is marvellous - very well signposted and maintained.

Nothing but sky and sea and sheep.

Islands in one direction. . .

. . . and mountains in the other.

And back for an ice cream in Abersoch during low tide.

An anniversary needs a cake and this is a Dorset Apple Cake from Paul Hollywood's British Baking book.  I love this recipe; it is much less sweet than many British cakes, the flavour coming from cinnamon and Bramley apples which are left in slices throughout the cake.

Absolutely delicious.  Just like my life for which I am profoundly grateful.  I'll always be a proud Canadian, but the UK is definitely my home now.