Cotswold Stone and Something New

Hello all

I love living in the Cotswolds.  Lovely Cotswold Stone buildings clinging onto hillsides 

mullioned windows

and lots of history.

Of course all this stone has to come from somewhere and that is, all around.  Our current house is 20 years old, we bought it off-plan.  It is part of a housing estate which was built on a farm.   Over the 20 years of living here we have dug the garden and removed Cotswold Stone.  A lot of it. The first year we grew potatoes to turn it all over.   Every year we have a skip that inevitably leaves containing stone.  I am digging over the area which will be turfed for lawn (which was part of the old lawn) and can't believe that we are still digging up large rocks not just small stones.  Still.

The skip on the drive was half full of stone.

I'm going off Cotswold Stone. 

I am pleased to report that my digging, raking and levelling has finished and my turf delivery will arrive tomorrow.  Then I can unroll it and relax.  Can't be that hard to lay turf.  Right?

And onto something new.  Two weeks ago I became a Granny.  The birth was a bit tricky but everyone is fine now.  She was nearly 10lbs.  Not content with having a baby Miss Clicky and her fiancé also moved house.  Baby Monday, house move Friday, large G+T Saturday.  Wedding? oh yes, in a few weeks time.

This is my beautiful little granddaughter when she was just minutes old. 

I'd forgotten how tiny those fingers are.

Our lovely friends came to visit and brought a brilliant vest.

Of course, I have been knitting but not an awful lot.  An aran cotton car seat blanket made with Drops Love You 8.

And a little tunic made with some Drops Karisma which was gifted to me by my lovely knitting pal Romain. (Thanks)  I added the purple and went for bold stripes.

The wedding is 3 weeks away.  (eek)  I had bought a dress but when I asked Master Clicky what he thought he said it 'Looks like you are going to work on a summer's day Mum.' Not quite what I was going for, so I shall keep on looking, the above friend who bought the vest is offering to help.  Best get my skates on.

Bye for now................Clicky Needles.

Hello folks.

It's a while since my last post, I've been really busy working on our garden.  The weather was good, so I dug and cut, painted and cemented came in ate tea and collapsed.  Some nights I was even too tired to knit.  I will show you the fruits of my labours soon, but for now some foxgloves

and alliums which have been lovely.

It was our 25th wedding anniversary in May, here we are, all those years ago.













We're looking a bit older now.















In the absence of Mr Clicky (in Chicago) I celebrated with Miss Clicky and my whizzy friend who was very much instrumental in helping at our wedding.  She is already stepping up to help at Miss Clicky's wedding in just 6 weeks time.  We went out for afternoon tea at a local pub.  It was yummy, starting off with chips!

On the note of Miss Clicky's wedding we are having a 
picnic tea in hampers so I have been busy lining the hampers with pretty fabric.  I love this sort of sewing, doesn't have to be accurate and made up as you go along.  I'm on my 12th hamper so far.

Lastly I'll leave you with a picture that Miss Clicky took from the top of Bredon Hill in the neighbouring county of Worcestershire, looking towards the Malvern Hills.  Worth the walk, I think.

Have a good week.............Clicky Needles.

Making

Hello All!

Today's post is all about making. 

Before I show you my making I need to tell you what Master Clicky made.  42 runs (not out) in his cricket match on Saturday.  He is a lower order end batsman (one of the last to go in for bat), his average is 5 or 6 runs per match, he is primarily a wicket keeper and fielder.  He was on good form, and, he assures me, could have kept on, but ran out of overs.  I am pleased he has had this success because unfortunately, his temporary work contract has come to an end.  He is now looking for a new job and facing uncertain times. *sigh*

As I waiting for the kitchen floor to dry after I cleaned it the other other day (I know, cleaning!) I sat at my desk and found myself making necklaces.  I delved into a little stash of felt balls that I have  (which came from Amazon) and came up with two different ones.  The first, a mix of blues with green,

and the second, a more vibrant mix.

I have had the beaded balls for ages; for this necklace I also added small wooden beads.

Obviously, these are incredibly quick and easy to do, thread and knot, but so satisfying.

I have also made some pom pom cushions for Miss Clicky's wedding to go in the relaxed seating area.

 

I have hooked up a couple more crochet twine baskets, I love making these, quick and easy.  They are sitting on my desk with things in them now. 

When I was in the garden centre the other day, I came across some twool.  It's like twine but made from wool of Whitefaced Dartmoor Sheep and a British product.  You can read all about the company here.

It very much appealed to me and I have been making more little baskets.

These are about 10cm in diameter, and I have made them for my face scrubbies to go in.

Speaking of face scrubbies, I have tried a different pattern to my original batch which were made with trebles and a bit holey.  I have made some using double crochet the same as the bottom of the little baskets, which I find better to use, no poking your finger through when trying the cleanse! 

I am also forging ahead with the Climb Every Mountain jumper, I have split the sleeves off and carrying on with the main body which is just as well because the stitch count had got to 400 odd per row and taking a long time.

So that's me and my making, what have you been up to?

Bye for now.......Clicky Needles.

Two Go To Wonderwool

Hello folks.

Yes, Wonderwool has come around again.  Me and Romain had a lovely time ~ as always.  It really is inspiring to go to a yarny or wooly festival even if you don't buy anything.  

I'm always a sucker for a rainbow of yarn, these were two of many.

There were some rather splendid seagulls that had popped up from Bristol.

 The stalls had all sorts of inspiration, these gorgeous blankets were by Jane Crowfoot

I loved this crochet dress on the Inside Crochet Magazine stand. 

There were many more sheep than just these two, and goats and kids as well.

We had a brilliant day despite the cold and the damp.  

Here's what I bought.  Two Jane Crowfoot patterns, a cute little tin with puffins in FairIsle jumpers on the lid, a poster which says it all and two skeins of Weavers Loft yarn.  Quite restrained I think.

That's me for now,  I am making use of the sunshine of this week and getting to grips with the garden.   Hope the sun shines were you are. 
Bye for now.............Clicky Needles.

Back Safe and Sound.

Hello All.

Well I arrived back in the UK safely, and this flight was only a little late.  I came back on an A380, the world's largest passenger plane, with roughly only a third of the passengers.  

We boarded and the cabin staff made an announcement telling us we could sit wherever we fancied as there was a lack of passengers.

 I didn't need to move because I already had a row to myself, the next seat proved to be useful as a drinks tray.  Can I point out here I only asked for a Gin and Tonic, but was given more. 

Sadly though, even with my seat fully reclined, sleep on this night flight, proved elusive.  It took a week to get back into the correct kilter, I was definitely off.

In my last post I promised some knitting news.  With all the airport waiting/flying/not sleeping I finished off my Pink Guacamole socks.  

I love that I have got two pairs of socks from 100g of yarn.  I also think I like these mash-ups more than the original.

That lovely stripy Drops cardigan took a turn for the worst.  

The sleeves were far too tight, I thought it might turn out ok when I joined them to body ~ bottom up pattern ~ but unfortunately it didn't.  The next size up was only two more stitches on the sleeve, not much in 4ply, so it has been frogged.  

Instead I have found a new pattern called Climb Every Mountain by Heidi Kirrmaler.  It's a kind of poncho/jumper thing.

Progress on that is a bit slow because I visited my lovely knitting pal Romain the other day.  We had tried to meet up before I went went away but she has had flu and is still feeling a bit rubbish.  She had, however, started a Diagonapples scarf, the pattern calls for Appletons Tapestry Wool.  It is a garter stitch scarf knit on the bias using lots of different colours.   When I saw her's I was hooked; we are both using 4ply mini skeins rather than tapestry wool.  

My mini skeins came from the Wrigglefingers stall at Wonderwool, last year,

and the year before.

It's going to be bright, that's for sure.

Romain gave me little present too, a key ring with a some mini crochet hooks on 'in case of emergency.'  How cute!  I'm putting my car keys on it.

I was looking randomly through Pinterest the other day and was led to some cord (I can't remember how I ended up there, but that's Pinterest for you.)  This came from Amazon, there are some lovely colours there, I was planning to use it to re-thread some old necklaces that had broken.

Whilst I was looking for said broken necklaces, I came across some little wooden beads that I had.

I spent the next twenty minutes or so making a new jolly necklace, which I'm wearing now.  The broken necklaces?  Not sure where they are.

The last thing to show you are these lovely wooden cotton reels I picked up the other day in Stroud.

They are sitting on my desk, I'm not sure I will use the cotton but for now I'm just enjoying them.

Well, that's me for now, I'm sure there's a whole lot of things that I should be doing...........

Bye for now...................Clicky Needles.

P.S.  As I was finishing this post I received this picture from Mr Clicky from our apartment just outside Chicago. 

A few weeks ago I was sitting on the balcony in the sunshine. It had been warming up nicely.  He's not happy.