Crocheted and Knitted Cushion. . .

It was a really good idea to dedicate this month to finishing up works in progress. I've dug out several projects that have been languishing and it's made me feel so productive.  I may do this for every month with 31 days although with April around the corner, I am itching to cast on something new.  Here's my latest project - a doublesided cushion.  On this side, I used up a skein of WYS Blue-Faced Leicester and the same crochet stitch that I recently used for my cowl (in fact this was the practice piece and when the skein was used up, I had a complete square, perfect for a cushion).  I really like all the natural colours in the wool.

 

 

For the back, I rummaged around my stash and found two skeins of Erika Knight Fun Wool that I'd bought ages ago on a whim. At the time, I had absolutely no idea what to make with it, but I was chuffed to find some novelty yarn that was mostly, (in this case 97%),  made up of wool instead of the acrylic.  The colour was a perfect match and I just roughly estimated the size, used 10mm needles and plain garter stitch and started knitting away. I added a button hole to one piece and found a great use for this gigantic wooden button that I got free with a magazine.  I'm really pleased with the squishy, shaggy result.  Two cushions in one and another WIP off the needles!

Not So Mellow Grellow. . .

When I received my latest Rowan Magazine 55 in the mail, I immediately fell in love with Dia by Martin Storey.  If I'd had the colours in my stash, I would have knit it exactly as it appeared.  I really like warm colours for a summer top.

However, since I'm trying to do some serious stashbusting this year, after going through my cotton, linen and hemp options this was the best colour combo I could come up with:

It is very, very bright.  Maybe too intense for me. I think using the zingy, almost neon yellow made the pattern go from a spicy Spanish/Moorish feel to a pop art geometric one,  and it seemed more appropriate to go with short sleeves, which was fairly easy to adapt.  I just measured where I wanted the sleeves to be, sewed up the sides and picked up stitches, doing six rounds of 2 x 2 rib to match the neck.

It definitely was a satisfying and fun pattern to knit and I do think the colours go well together; I'm just not sure that they really look well on me.   I wore it today when it was cloudy and gray and a bit chilly and I felt very self-conscious that I was somehow too bright.  I may change my mind on a sunny summer afternoon though - it could look nice over a flowing cotton skirt.  Someday I will knit this again in wool with the full sleeves because it would make a lovely fall sweater.

A Walk in Wales. . .

Walkers in the U.K. are usually torn between their love for the Lake District and Wales. I've not spent enough time walking in the latter to choose a favourite, so I was pleased that our walking group was heading out to North Wales yesterday.  And the weather was all set to be nice and dry.  It was a lovely drive along a coastal road past Conwy and several castles.  The morning coffee stop was in the tourist village of Betws-y-Coed which provides this interesting signpost in case you're a Canadian who needs to situate herself geographically.

 

But no time to stop and enjoy the sunshine. A fifteen minute drive away and it was gray and slightly misty when the coach dropped us off near the banks of Lake Ogwen.

We headed to the northern side and up.  I'm not sure which mountain we were climbing, but it's part of the Carneddau Range.

This part of Wales felt very bleak and stark to me. The terrain - bits of bog and tufts and stony paths - wasn't too hard underfoot, but it was fairly steep.  This is a view looking back at the lake once we'd begun our ascent.

A little bit of sunshine does wonders for the surrounding views though.

We could have kept going right to the top but it would have involved a rocky scramble and the summit was hidden in cloud anyways, so we decided getting up to this hidden tarn was good enough. It provided a suitable place to have lunch and was very peaceful.  The bleak can still be very beautiful.

We came down the same way we went up and proceeded along a lovely path to Capel Curig.  On the drive up I saw lots of meadows with newly born lambs but the terrain we were walking through was a bit too wild for them.  Fine for these hardy fellows though.



And here was our path to Capel Curig both looking ahead. . .

. . . and behind. 

 

Isn't it lovely? There's something very satisfying at the end of a day's walking, to just follow a winding and well-tread road. No worries about getting lost, just walking, chatting with your companions and enjoying the fresh air and views. It's one of the best ways to spend a Sunday.

Just steps from Capel Curig is this view down another valley. If you headed in that direction, you'd eventually come to Snowden, the highest peak in Wales and definitely on my list to tackle.  But that's for another day.

First Finished Crochet Project. . .

I've finally dusted off a new year's resolution from 2013 and learned (sort of) how to crochet.  I went to a fun beginner's workshop offered by Purlesque a few weeks ago (complete with tea and cake - the best way to learn) and here is my first completed project!  The pattern is the Butter Soft Cowl by Helen Ardley from Simply Crochet magazine, issue #6. My tension is still wonky; I like a big hook and large holes to hook into so this pattern, which was a simple two row repeat, was perfect and I now have a lovely, chunky, textured cowl.  I used two skeins of the softest aran that I had in my stash - West Yorkshire Spinners Blue-Faced Leicester -  bought a while back from Baa Ram Ewe. Not only is it deliciously soft, but it smells so sheepy (in a good way).

 

 

I am still trying to perfect a granny square, i.e. actually create one that is square-shaped, but just learning a few techniques and stitches has really gotten the creative juices flowing. I can see tons of applications for crochet in knitting projects, for edgings and also as an alternative way to seam.  Yes, I'm officially hooked!

Crocheted Art. . .

Here's a brilliant idea.  Warp and Weft, a Manchester arts and craft group, have collaborated to create crocheted masks of prominent Mancunian women to place over the male busts in the town hall, all in celebration of International Women's Day.  The mask in their poster shown here is of Elizabeth Gaskell. Wish I could make the trip, but more details and photos of their work can be seen on their blog.

Also check out the Woolly Bike Trail, part of the Yorkshire Festival to celebrate the beginning of this year's Tour de France. Artist Cassandra Kilbride is crocheting/yarnbombing ten themed bikes and offering workshops around Yorkshire.

Spring Knitting. . .

Very excited about my latest project which is knitting up like a dream.  The pattern is Dia by Martin Storey from Rowan Mag 55 and it really is the perfect project for variation.  You start with a fairly easy lace pattern and before you get tired of it, you go right into the colour work which, after the first ten rows, goes very quickly as you don't have to do any extra stranding.  Using this bright pop of yellow gives it a very different feel from the warm and slightly exotic version in the magazine,(and it's quite a bold choice for me), but while I'd love to knit it in the colours of the original, I am limited to knitting from my stash this year and this resolution is leading to some interesting colour combinations.  The grey yarn is Rowan Pima Cotton DK and the yellow is the discontinued Premiere from Classic Elite which I picked up at a sale last December. This is the back; I've just cast on for the front and am really looking forward to finishing this. It just says spring to me. 

 





I Wandered Lonely As A Tourist. . .

So yesterday our walking group headed up to Grasmere and the planned walk was a circular route I'd not done before, taking in Easedale Tarn.  However, the weather intervened (again) and the leader decided on a lower and safer route going around Grasmere lake, along Loughrigg and back to the village via the so called "Coffin Route".  Now this is a lovely walk and if the weather had been nice, I'd not have hesitated to go along, but it's a route that I know quite well and have done many times before, and I always like to go/do something new on these excursions.  And did I mention, it was absolutely raining cats and dogs.  So I wimped out and decided to go and visit Dove Cottage instead, the home of William Wordsworth, his family, and his sister Dorothy from 1799 to 1808.

It was quite extraordinary to see how small, cramped and dark all the rooms were (the building had previously been a pub so there was lots of dark panelling and low ceilings). When we got to the end of the rooms, I asked the guide where Dorothy slept and the reply was essentially, wherever she could.  Fortunately she got a room of her own in the next house they moved to!

I wasn't allowed to take any photos indoors but despite its tiny size, it's well worth a visit as there are lots of fascinating objects on display and most of the furniture was owned and used by the Wordsworths if not actually at the time they lived in the cottage.  Samuel Coleridge and Thomas de Quincey were regular visitors and the "guest" bedroom is one of the nicest in the house (de Quincey's opium scales are on display too).  My favourite item was a needlepoint cushion in a plaid pattern made by Dorothy. For an item that is over two hundred years old, I was shocked to see how vibrant the colours still were and how little wear there was on the fabric; it looked as if it could have been made yesterday. There were also lovely contemporary rag rugs scattered in every room which makes me want to learn the craft. The guide mentioned how durable they were (you can imagine the number of tourists that trod on them annually); one of them was more than thirty years old.

In the neighbouring Wordsworth museum, another item of Dorothy's caught my eye.  Again, I couldn't take photos but here is a picture of the postcard that I bought.

It's the front of a leather postbag that Dorothy used to carry with her when she walked to Ambleside to get the mail.  There was no indication as to whether or not Dorothy did the needlework herself, but some of those colours were in the plaid cushion so I like to think that the joy of receiving letters inspired her to embellish her bag.

Both Dorothy and her brother were keen gardeners and created a hilltop garden behind the house (not looking its best at this time of year).

Here's the view of the Dove Cottage from the garden.

I then took a short walk around the town.   Here are the daffodils out in the Wordsworth Garden, not far from where William and Dorothy are buried.

There were snowdrops too.

I then went to get dry in a cafe and spent a pleasant hour knitting away on something sort of daffodil-coloured.

And then I felt guilty about having eschewed the walk. After all, I came up here for the views and fresh air, weather be damned.  Knowing that our group was coming back via the Coffin Walk (probably the only route in the Lake District I feel confident walking on without a map), I set out to meet up with them.  This was the route that Dorothy would have taken to get to Ambleside, although it's hard to imagine people carrying coffins along its ragged and stony path.  

But even in the rain, the views and colours are still lovely.

I probably didn't deserve my half-pint of shandy at the pub, having done only about two miles instead of nine but one has to be sociable.  All in all, a very satisfactory, well-rounded day out.

A February FO. . .

It's been really quite mild and sunny here in Liverpool over the last week or so, and I've been itching to start knitting spring clothes.  The latest Rowan 55 magazine has some really beautiful patterns so when a KAL started up in Ravelry that was all I needed to get started.

I wanted something relatively simple and fast to knit so Sally, designed by Lisa Richardson, appealed right away, especially the interesting construction; it's knit in one piece side to side.  I want to knit only from my stash this year so digging around turned up several skeins of dark gray Rowan Creative Linen that was perfect for this project.   My first choice for contrast colour was this shockingly bright yellow - Premiere  by Classic Elite -  that I picked up in the sales back in December.  It was just calling to me though I had no idea what to use it for.  Alas, when I paired it with the gray, it made the gray look more like navy blue and I just didn't care for it. 

Fortunately, I had a skein of muted mustard left over from a baby blanket that I knit last year. It's Sirdar Baby Bamboo and it paired up perfectly. 

And here's the finished top.  It only took me about a week to knit and I really love it. I opted to change the striping pattern from barcode to more of a pinstripe look which is very easy to do as any combination equaling 96 rows will work (I just turned some foolscap on its side and plotted away).  I think it will be a nice transition piece between the seasons.

And that neon yellow?  Maybe it will work for another project that I've just cast on.  And just in time - I'm determined that March will be devoted to finishing up all the many WIPs in my basket.

Bloomin' Marvellous. . .

One of the things I love most about living in the U.K. is that spring comes early (most Brits would disagree but they're not used to snow coming as late as April).  It really feels like spring is just around the corner here.  The camellia bush is just about to burst into all its full glory.

My daffodils will be out any day now.

And these hyacinths on my kitchen window ledge are also just about to bloom.  I love the smell of them.  And it's still only February!

Magical Latvian Mittens. . .

Ta-dah!

I am so pleased with how these Latvian mittens turned out even though I nearly gave up in exasperation. By far, they are the most fiddly and time-consuming things I've ever knitted. It took me five hours to do each thumb and trust me, there was plenty of swearing involved and one broken dpn.  But I absolutely love them. I bought the kit at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show last fall at the Hobbywool stand which was gorgeous - mittens in numerous patterns and colours hanging like bunting everywhere.

So I finished the mittens and soaked them (the wool really softens up) and then realized I didn't have any scarves or cowls to match.  Luckily, you get a very generous amount of wool in the kit and there easily was  enough to knit a cowl. I used the pattern from the cuff. 

And here it is. It went so much faster on a large circular needle without having to worry about keeping the pattern within the rib. I really enjoyed knitting this. 

The two shades of gray and the white yarn all came from the kit - and there's still a bit left! Not bad at all for only £10.   I didn't have enough of the red but had a similar shade in my stash and there was enough to knit an inner red lining to hide the strands and make the cowl extra cozy. 

Only problem - it's a touch too big.  However - see those notches at the bottom and top (also a part of the original cuff design)?  They are basically a row of yo and k2tog but came in very useful.  I crocheted a quick foundation chain, weaved it through the notches and now I can pull it tighter around my neck. 

I've been wearing them all with pride.  They go perfectly with my lightweight winter coat. 

And they match my waterproof too so I'll definitely take them hiking (as long as it's dry - there's nothing worse than soggy mittens). 

Included in the instructions are some historical facts about Latvian mittens, a tradition that is a thousand years old and apparently "endowed with magical significance". They were often a part of an unmarried girl's hope chest and knitted as gifts for wedding guests - each one in a different pattern - and dedicated to cows, sheep and horses.  My Harrogate companions also bought kits and are busy knitting and swearing away at them; as keen walkers, we certainly plan to bless the sheep when all three pairs are completed. As for magical powers, working on them has certainly given me a lot of confidence in my knitting.  They were by far the most challenging project I've ever tackled but now I feel I can knit anything!  And that's a pretty magical feeling to have.

In Which We Stroll Through History (and past some knitting). . .

I'm almost embarassed to talk about how lovely the weather was in Liverpool last Sunday ( 9 degrees and sunny) when so much of the U.K. is under water, and my friends back home in Canada are in such a deep freeze, but you have to make the best of good weather when you have it, so I told the Liverpud we were definitely going for a long walk. Mind you, he's always happy to oblige.

 

I had a specific destination in mind and wanted to go through as much green space as possible which is fairly easy to do as the city has such lovely green spaces and plenty of public footpaths. We started in one of my favourite parks - Calderstones - and stopped to pay homage to this magnificant tree, said to be a thousand years old!

 

I love looking up at its twisting knarled branches covered in such a rich green moss.  It's quite a wonder to contemplate.

 

Calderstones is truly a fantastic park and full of wide open spaces.  There's a lake in the middle of it usually populated by ducks and Canada geese, but also a heron if you are lucky enough to catch sight of it (alas not today).

 

These are the types of short public footpaths that dot so much of England. It's just so nice not to always have to walk alongside noisy traffic.

We walked through a golf course and on more footpaths.  A certain part of our journey inevitably involved a stretch of urban pavement but I'll spare you any photos of the ugly shopping mall we passed (useful though, for a quick latte however) and the boring roundabouts and roads that passed by the industrial side of John Lennon airport.  Past all that we entered this lovely wood.

And a short circular path took us to the Mersey.

And then we headed into the estate proper and here we are: Speke Hall, a Tudor mansion restored in the 19th century, now owned by the National Trust.  Apart from the bones, there's not much left that's original Tudor but the Victorian touches are just as interesting; there's original William Morris wallpaper in the library for example.

Come on in  (just duck your head as you pass through the door) and marvel at all the interior decoration. I loved all the detailed woodwork and the beautiful ceiling plaster reliefs.

I especially liked the bedrooms.   That white counterpane was handknitted probably in the late 19th century, and was donated to the house.

Gorgeous isn't it?

I also loved the crewel work on this crib coverlet.

Like most National Trust properties, there was a lovely cafe where we had a very good bowl of hearty winter vegetable soup for a late lunch, and I picked up a recipe for a local fruit cake called a "Wet Nelly" (I may try it with blueberries) that is made with bread.  I really enjoyed wandering around Speke Hall and its gardens, and inspired by the textiles, I picked up a cross-stitch kit depicting the house which I might turn into a throw cushion (even though . . . ahem. . .  I haven't done any needlework in years).  I became a National Trust member last year but this is the first historic house I've had time to visit. I'm sure it won't be the last - I'll be ticking them off, one by one.