Seashore Lace Shawl

This is how I write my knitting patterns, mad or what! I have to visualise the pattern & work out the yo's to see how the pattern alters as it increases.

I have the knitted the pattern a 2nd time to check what I've typed is correct, found a couple of little mistakes but it worked.  This is the shawl once it's been blocked.

 

Visiting London

Just had a wonderful weekend in London, went to see Kristen Scott Thomas, Rufus Sewell & Lia Williams in Old Times, a Harold Pinter play, very odd to say the least!  The actors were fantastic & am so glad I saw them but the play was strange!

Anyway went to the V&A & one of my favourite rooms is the Cast Room, where they have plaster casts of famous buildings.  I just think it's absolutely amazing how they took the casts & then manage to put them together.

 Then there was a ballgown exhibition, this was a beautiful lace collar.

 The embroidery on this evening coat was so beautiful, cow parsley heads, i think.

 And then the knitted swimsuit, so practical!

The entrance to The V&A with the wonderful glass sculpture.

We had a lovely lunch at The V&A Cafe

 And then we went to Chinatown as we're having people over for dinner on Chinese New Year, so picked up some bits & pieces there.

I'm Back!!

Well I haven't been here for a while, 2012, wasn't the best of years.  So will just draw a line under it & start afresh for 2013.

And I have been busy, designing a new lace shawl.  I've called it Summer Seashore in the hope that we do get a summer this year.

It has 3 different designs, 1 that looks like a mussel's shell, then print 'o' the wave & cockleshell, all traditional Shetland designs.
 

A certain **th birthday

Some very kind friends took me out for a birthday treat, it was my 50th, which is far too awful to think about, but we went to Askham Hall for lunch & fell in love with this little piggies, 7 in all, they were so adorable.

 Anyway, after tearing ourselves away from the piglets we had a lovely drive through Lowther Castle grounds, we decided not to stop as they were emptying the portaloos from the weekends show, so was a bit smelly to say the least, so we carried on to Larch Cottge Nursery at Melkinthorpe, which is always a delight.

 Oh how I wish my borders looked like this.....

 The owner of Larch Cottage Nursery has built this all over the last few years, previously it was a scrap metal yard, he's even building a chapel, which you can see in the distance, so that he can marry his partner, now that really is true love!

Easy Peasy Lace Shawl

I knitted my Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy Lace Shawl in 2 ply lilac lambswool, with 2 beads on the picot edging, I was really pleased how this turned out, it's so lovely & soft & drapes wonderfully.

Woolfest 2012

My part of The Wool Clip stand at Woolfest.  That's my Field of Flowers Shawl on the mannequin, I sold out of kits on Friday & had to furiously make up more on Friday night.  Also nearly sold a cream beaded version of the shawl, but unfortunately because of the truly dreadful weather the card machine wasn't working well & didn't like Barclays cards & Barclaycards, so I missed out on a sale there :(

 Rest of my stand, difficult to see very well

 The Materialistics Exhibits, knitted/crocheted masterpieces

 "The Wave" was absolutely stunning

Dublin June 2012

Coming into Dublin Port, with Sandymount Towers in the background & Poolbeg lighthouse in the foreground.  Used to walk the dogs on the beach to the left for 10 years!

The new theatre at Grand Canal Quay, very impressive, the area is like something out of London.

The new Lansdowne Road rugby stadium

Trinity College

Statue of Molly Malone

Grafton Street

50th book club meeting

Inside Borris Castle, we got thrown out!  Didn't realise it wasn't open to the public & we happily wandered in & into their kitchen looking for a coffee, only to be told it was for writers only!

Borris Castle, where Hay on Wye Literary Festival was being held in Ireland for the 1st time ever.  We saw 1 brilliant talk by Ann Enwright & 1 not so good one.

Me, Olga & Sheila beside the Borris

View from the house we were staying at

Nicholas Mosse 2nd's shop in Bennettsbridge, oh I wish I'd bought something, was too mean, thinking it wasn't cheap enough, but am regretting it now!

On the way home, towers & ferry!