Modest gains at Woolfest!

Just back from Woolfest & thought I should report in! I think I was fairly restrained. I went with some specific 'wants' & that helped to rein me in! I bought pattern & yarn for Cranford Mitts from the Yarn Yard. Here I also found some merino lace weight in a great cerise pink (shopping for my sister). Next door to the Yarn Yard was KraftyKoala. Here were some super sock yarns, which I didn't need but couldn't resist one (the stripy pink in the picture) & some lovely DK Bluefaced Leicester (Blue as it happens). This was a great find & I shall be stalking her website until she recovers from Woolfest! Sister also requested black yarn, so lovely merino black 4 ply from Coldharbour Mills was found! I also found some DK sock yarn from Regia in fairly mad colours for £2 a ball so that came home too. That's it! I think if I had been a spinner or dyer I would have come home heavily laden. The alpaca, sheep & goats were lovely too! It was an interesting morning & whilst I was stalking around Woolfest, Mr J & Moss stalked the hills - 20k in about 4hours, including Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head & Crag Hill. Moss was pleased to see the truck in Braithwaite! The back of the truck gives many comfy options for a slightly paw sore Border Collie!It was more about exercise than views as the clag was fairly low! We drove home down through the Lakes & called at Low Sizergh Barn for 'afternoon tea' & stocked up in the lovely farm shop for tonight's tea! Luna Moth is finished & blocked! Hope Mum likes it! On the needles at the moment are my Stulpen fingerless mitts & a 'design your own' sock (SKA challenge). It was a 'last minute' decision to 'design' some 'clog socks'. I am a dedicated clog wearer (mainly Birkenstock Boston's) & so decided to use some Opal silk sock yarn to knit a plain fronted, pretty back & heeled 'clog socks'. Beyond that I cannot say because I am still on ankle one! So far so good I think! The yarn is pretty nice anyway.

What a week!

Last Sunday Mr J & Mr J the Younger, sister & BiL did 'Jane's Run' -The Leeds 10K, started by & in memory of the wonderful Jane Tomlinson. 12,000 runners took to the streets of Leeds. Mr J was running for Jane's Appeal & Mr J the Younger for Martin House Children's Hospice in Boston Spa. Not that they are competitive or anything but they came in 207 & 209! Mr J was 17th in his 'age group' (over 50's!). Their time was around 47 minutes. They are the two in bright blue shirts. The winner (an Ethiopian Olympic hopeful) did it in 30 minutes!!!!! It was a fantastic morning, quite emotional & I have committed to taking part next year!!!!!!! Yes, you read it here. No backing out allowed!

Last week our village church had its 125th birthday celebration. As part of it there was a 'scarecrow' competition. The theme was 'Gates' or 'Yates'. The village is called Burnt Yates & is believed to have got its name from the burning of the toll gate. There were some great entries!

Tomorrow is Woolfest!!!!! Mr J & Moss are going for a hill walk & I am going to be let loose at Woolfest. My first real fibre festival! I am quite excited!!!!!! I am particularly looking for gorgeous dk/ worsted weight yarn, something from 'The Yarn Yard', possibly some lace weight & a pretty spindle! I have run-off the catalogue, highlighted 'musts', & printed a couple of 'find me on Ravelry...' badges! Mr J & Moss have packed maps, compass, waterproofs! I will report on Sunday!

Mittens in June

Just a quick post to show some recent knitting activity. I knit a lot of socks so have quite an accumulation of small balls of sock yarn. Mr J requested some fingerless mitts. This is the result:Four different Opal fingering weight sock yarns used & 2.25mm needles to give a fine, dense fabric. The pattern is a kind of hybrid, heavily based on mitts in Folk Knitting in Estonia. I wanted some fingerless Mitts too, so I have cast on 'Stulpen' in King Cole Merino mix & again using 2.25mm needles. I have used a little Trekking XXL for a stripe in the cuff. This is progress so far:
Mama's Luna Moth is growing nicely, but no pictures at the moment.

A lovely day 'On the Hill'

We have spent the day in the garden, enjoying the June sunshine & catching up with gardening chores. The heavy rain of the last week, combined with spells of warm June sunshine have really helped the garden to look pretty easy on the eye. Just what the doctor ordered after a hectic week of exams (son & heir + the two teachers that make up this family) & for me, primary school transition visits. Mr J is making headway on his school's timetable.

The week started with huge excitement. I won a wonderful shawl, knitted by Clarebelle, as an initiative on her blog to raise money for the MS Society. It arrived on Wednesday, along with a box of chocs that helped with last minute revision & some treats for Moss. Did I mention that the shawl is wonderful, gorgeous, scrumptious perhaps? Thank you again Clare. Here she is, Laminaria, knitted in Laughing Rat Studio Laceweight Merino:

I have to take her along to Knit Night on Tuesday to be fondled & patted! I am not going to submitted any pictures of MY knitting alongside such wonderful work, however if you have noted my struggles with Luna Moth then the update is that she was frogged & I started again, armed with a mountain of lockable stitch markers. I don't know what I was making such a fuss about. I am back to row 61 & all is going smoothly as long as I mark the start of each pattern set with markers every 10 stitches! For simple knitting I am knitting Mr J a pair of fingerless mitts on 2.25 needles using up leftovers of fingering weight sock yarn. These were requested to fit under a heavier pair of ski gloves or on their own, 'cos he gets cold hands. Picture to follow. The first one is done & they look pretty good. Infact I will use up more sock yarn to knit a pair for me. There is no shortage of sock yarn around here!

The swallows are back making a home in the entrance to the bothy woodstore.

Must be onto soft furnishings! Other neighbours include.....

These young heifers were showing a keen interest when we took Moss for his evening walk earlier in the week & managed to capture a picture of a lovely summer sunset.