Woot! Half Term

Hello all.

Time the have a bit of chill and relax, half term has arrived.

The freezing temperatures didn't turn out to be as bad as the rumours were saying (where do they start?) although some mornings this week have been crisp.

As I got in the car to go to work one day this week I looked up and saw this beautiful sky.

That doesn't mean to say it's not got cold in the evenings so I gave the woodburner a jolly good clean.  I didn't do the fire surround however as you can see, it's made from Cotswold Limestone and does tend to discolour from the soot.

A job for this week I think.

Mr Clicky Needles was surprised when he got up on Saturday morning to find it already lit.

 "Hum, you've lit the fire," he said.

"Yep," I replied, "I'm going to settle myself in and watch the rugby."

"You'll need to be hunkered down," he answered with a grin, "It's tomorrow."

I did consider staying there for a whole day but no....................

So, anyway I was back in the same position on Sunday to watch New Zealand beat France 8 -7.  A hard fought match worthy of a final.  Well done New Zealand hard luck France.

Of course watching rugby means lots of chance to knit.  I've finished the back, one front and started a sleeve of my jacket.  The cone is now a lot smaller! 

I've had a little break from the jacket however, because I've a square for the friendship blanket to get done before the month's end.  Hopefully it'll done by the end of the day and I can get it off.

Righto.  I'm off to put some washing out, which if I can get to stay on the line and not get blown all over the garden, I think will dry fairly quickly.

Have a fun week.............Clicky Needles.

Just bimbling along

Hello folks.

Hope you're all ok, things have been bimbling along as normal here.

The weekend was quite warm, so I spent a bit of time in the garden and planted some daffodils.

Seeing the sight of Josiekitten's lovely wood burner last week made me think of a cosy fire too, so I got our local woodman to drop this lot off.  This should keep us warm with all that snow that is supposed to be heading our way.

Not that you'd think it was getting colder, it was lovely on Saturday.  This balloon was taking full advantage.

As you can see I've 'made' my felt bead necklace ~ if threading a few beads on elastic can constitute  making it!!!!!

I couldn't resist starting my Aran Swing Jacket with the yarn I got from Woolfish at Ally Pally last week.  I have since discovered that it is New Lanark Aran.  

I've nearly finished the back.

Unfortunately the other jumper I was working on has been tossed into the corner and it's full steam ahead on this.  Just nice simple garter stitch.

 That's about it from me really, looking forward to next week and a bit of a break for half term.  

Wrap up well for that frost and cold that's coming.

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

Thanks for your comments about 'The Churned' last week, I knew you'd like them.

Alexandra Palace

Hello all!

Well, I had a lovely day yesterday at Ally Pally.

The entrance was bedecked with knitted bunting.

As you'd expect there were beautiful rainbows of colour.

Some work of fashion students.

Nice bit of crochet!

 As I wandered around with my pal Romain, this throw stopped me in my tracks.  It was lovely, the picture doesn't really do it justice.  The cables are massive!  As I pondered how you'd make it on straight needles (it must have been at least 15mm),  she helpfully pointed out that you could use interchangeables.  

 We ooo'd and aaah'd our way around the show stopping for a squish here and there, and talking yarn all the way.

When we came out the mist was settling over London in the distance.

Canary Wharf.

 The Gherkin.

 The Shard under construction. 

The o2 Arena.

 "What did you buy?" I hear you ask.

A Toft Alpaca pattern book.

I'm particularly pleased with this because I've been wanting to make this jumper for quite some time but it had only been available as a kit.

Green sock yarn from Texere on the cone and some felt balls to make a necklace.

I was having a real green and purple day! 

 1150g of Aran weight yarn from Woolfish.  I am going to use this to make an a-line jacket (I tried one on and it looked quite good.)   I did want to get this yarn in green too, but the voice of reason ~ Romain ~ pointed out that grey wouldn't date so much.

So, not such a huge haul but we had a super day.  

Now, if you missed X Factor on Saturday night you would have missed this excellent advert from Yeo Valley the West Country Dairy.

I wouldn't usually put a Yeo Tube thingy on the my blog but this sung by 'The Churned'  makes me laugh and laugh.

Sadly not many young farmers look like this around here, but we can enjoy these fake farmers instead.

I hope you like it too.

Righto, off to do a tension square for my jacket now. 

Have fun...........Clicky Needles.

.....and England are out.

Hello folks.

Mr CN and me were up at 6.00am this morning (I know, get me, and it's a Saturday) to watch Wales and Ireland bash out the first quarter final of the Rugby World Cup. 

It was a bit chilly at that time of the day so I snuggled under my Ripple Blanket with my lovely pyjamas on.

I finished off another square for the Phoenix Friendship Blanket :-) whilst watching. 

It was a full-on game, Wales beating Ireland 22 - 10  so a big well done to Wales who deserved the win.

England's performance against France however, was painful to watch, they had a bit of a surge at 70 minutes

but it was too little, too late.  

They lost 12 - 19.  

Well done France, you played so much better.

We shall now have to switch allegiance to Wales for the semi final match against France next Saturday.

I've not many pictures to show you right now, but I should imagine that'll change tomorrow.

Why tomorrow? I hear you cry. 

 I'm off the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace.

I didn't go last year, due to the fact I still had yarn from the year before that had not been used but that has diminished a bit so I'm letting myself go. 

 I'm very much looking forward to it.  The coach leaves at 8.00am and gets back at 8.00pm, so it'll be a long day.

I'll show you on Monday what I get.

As always, have a good weekend.

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

I've won something!

Hello all, hope you've had a good week.

Despite that horrible rain I talked about last Sunday, it has been here, 

as in most of Britain boiling.

I've spent some time in the garden in my steamer chair just enjoying it.

I've had a couple of nice surprises this week.

1.  Leah from Faith's Craft Box nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award.

Thank you!  I will post later in the week, I need a bit of time to think of the answers!

2.  I won the giveaway that Tickety Boo was running!

What a lucky girl I am!

I've watched some more Rugby World Cup (although I'm not impressed by England's performance so far) and finished my Zooming scarf.

Our South Sea Island head ~ the perfect model ~ looks quite cosy doesn't he?

As promised the pictures of my Montague Vest.  I'm sooooo pleased with it.

Made in Rowan Little Big Wool which I got in a half price sale.

I love the lace pattern and the fit is really nice.

Whilst I've been in the garden I did a bit of a crochet

 (it's not all been snoozing you know)

these are the latest 'set'.

I've become quite systematic about I how make the squares, this is the total amount I can make with red and lime green adding each one of the other nine colours for the middle.

Now, I want opinions please, you see the pink centre on the  bottom right?  What do you think about the colour?

 You can see it in my crochet bag on the left.  

I feel meh about it.

I've got my friendship squares sent.  The red is not as dark as it looks here.

A few flowers from the garden.  

Nasturtium 

 and a Marigold, both self-seeded.

Well I'm off now, no ironing tonight, I did that whilst watching the rugby this morning, so just lots of knitting.

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

September Mosaic

A bit more knitting in this one!