Wednesday 4 April 2018

Cast Ons, WIPs and Finished Objects

I've said it before, but this time I am determined to do it!  That is to whittle down the amount of works in progress that I have.  So far this year I have completed four projects and only cast on one new one.
Firstly I finished my 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Socks by my lovely friend Dani.  I'm rather pleased with these as they are my first pair of hand knit socks and they fit perfectly.  They are knit in A Homespun House yarn.
Next I completed my Land of Sweets Cowl by the talented Helen Stewart.

I designed my own Gingerbread Mitts to match, based on the cowl pattern.  The cowl and mitts are knit in Norah George Advent yarns.
My fourth finished object is my Surprise Party Shawl, also designed by Helen and knit in Skein Queen Enchant.

A current WIP that I am working on, or more correctly have restarted, is my Find Your Fade by Andrea Mowry.
I restarted this wrap as I wasn't happy with my original choice of colours.  All yarns are LITLG.
My only cast on, so far, is Helen's Impressionists MKAL.  I've completed clue one and I'm eagerly awaiting the second clue.
I also have the pattern and yarn for Joji Locatelli's Suburban Wrap, which I will also be casting on soon.  I will have to finish some more WIPs before starting anything else though! :)

Snow in March

Back home from our Scottish holiday and the snow was still on the ground, so I went out for a walk before the rain washed it away.


We don't usually get snow here in March, so I wasn't expecting my monthly photo of the oak tree to contain snow.
The branches are still in bud, possibly arrested by the cold snap.
Still holding on from last year!

The silvery buds of the pussy willow lined the hedgerows.
The wild plum and cherry trees were in bloom.

Hard to believe that these woods will soon be carpeted in bluebells!



Our plum tree was also in blossom.


Blowing Away the Yarn Fumes!

On our last full day in Scotland, my husband and I headed to the coast. Our destination was Seacliff Beach, number 8 in our Thirty in Thirty series.
Tantallon Castle and Bass Rock.

It was a fabulous place to visit, with a lot of history.
St Baldred's Cross
We seemed to experience every season whilst on the beach!  Sun, wind and even snow!
The yarn fumes of the past two days were definitely blown away!
These photos show just how changeable the weather was.


The tide was coming in, so we couldn't venture any further in this direction.

There was a tiny harbour cut into the rock.



The sea was very dramatic, with the waves crashing onto the rocks.



After being chilled by the blizzard, we headed to nearby North Berwick for lunch at Tiffany's.


Accompanied by a warming pot of tea.
It didn't take me long to sniff out a local yarn shop!


This Shetland/Alpaca blend was too soft to resist.
We walked around the town and it started snowing again.

Time to head back to our Airbnb for one final night.  The next morning we awoke to snow for our journey home.

It was quite beautiful when the sun came out!







Good-bye Scotland you were amazing!
After a long drive we arrived home to find that we had had just as much snow here!