Monday, 6 August 2007

Turbulence is a FO!

TURBULENCE SWEATER
from Knitting Nature Book
Pattern by Norah Gaughan
Knitted in Debbie Bliss cotton DK
Turbulence is finally off the needle and strangely, I'm going to miss it. This is one of many beautiful patterns in this stunning book - patterns based on forms and shapes found in nature, by Norah Gaughan. What a visionary and creative designer Norah is and I just wish I had a smidgen of her talent! I love the 3/4 length sleeves, the twisted ribbing and the cabling around the neck. I already have yarn to make another - though this time in the recommended yarn, Berocca Soft Twist (a lovely soft, silky yarn) I ordered from the States as could not find a seller in this country. The only modification made to the pattern was I lengthened the body by a couple of inches to save the embarrassment of unleashing my 'middle' to an unsuspecting world... My next 'must-do' from this book (and there will be more!) is Ogee ... I love it and fingers are itching to cast on!

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Tuesday, 5 June 2007

Cornwall sanity saver

Things have been hectic and pretty stressful on all fronts recently in the Blethers household. All of it had left me feeling pretty drained and sadly lacking in knitting mojo:( I'd not even managed a stitch on a pair of socks, couldn't be bothered adding to the already impressive collection of WIPs I have to my somewhat embarrassed name ...

So, during the recent bank holiday, the girls and I had a girlie getaway-from-it-all weekend to Cornwall. It was, as usual, booked at the very last minute and we stayed just outside Looe. The weather was not brilliant but didn't detract too much from the fun. We drove down on the Friday - and must admit I was extremely tempted to take a detour when I saw the signs for Bovey Tracy (there's meant to be a really good yarn store there). Howls of protest came from the growly adolescent MsB's .... 'We weren't allowed to bring a dvd player ... so NO wool therapy for you, mum'!! How could I have spawned such harsh besums:) However, I didn't realise JUST how deprived I was going to be in the knitting department (Hint for all future travels - don't let the disorganised dyslexic daughter pack the bags into the boot!). DD2 forgot, genuinely, to pack my bag with my Norah Gaughan Turbulence jumper in it!!!! Despite this, we had a great weekend.

On the Saturday, we drove over to a jewelry centre near Redruth. We spent hours in a pottery shop there - the girls spent time painting pots and then DD1 and I made silver lockets under the very patient tutelage of the store owner. What a fantastic job this lady has ... creating and helping others to create on a daily basis. I absolutely loved making the locket and was pathetically excited about how well it turned out (The girls will confirm I DID go round the shop, showing it to all the other poor shoppers there at the time!).

Sunday saw us heading off to Polperro, an absolutely beautiful ancient village right on the coast. Cars need to park just outside the village as the streets are too narrow to cope with cars. Just as I paid for the parking ticket something shot past my nose and I queried whether it was a big blob of hail (in May!). It was! The heavens opened - and in the space of 10 minutes, we'd had torrential rain ... huge hail stones ... the car park flooded ... thunder and lightening! We decided we'd wait it out for a wee while to see if the conditions improved. Temporarily they did - just for long enough for us to get out of the car! Half way down the car park, the heaven's re-opened and I was left abandoned as the girls raced back to the car for shelter! DD1 was horsing it so fast to get out of the way of the lightening that her shoe came off as she ran - and she carried on running, one shoe on and the other foot, barefoot!

We headed back to Polperro on the Monday morning before making our way home in the afternoon. Despite the weather and the knitting deprivation, we'd a fantastic time and I can't say just how much I enjoyed having undistracted time with the girls. They seemed to enjoy it enough to be planning the next girlie trip too (BUT I will make sure my knitting is securely packed before departing!)

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