Half Term Over

Hello All.

Half term in Gloucestershire has finished and it's wet and a bit miserable.  I haven't really done much, I did have plans to paint the living room, but that didn't happen.   This morning we took full advantage of BST finishing and spent the extra hour in bed with cups of tea.

Mr Clicky and me have had a trip over to France at the start of the week to work on La Petite Maison, you can read all about it here.  It was very tiring but we had lots of laughs and wine too.  We left DD at home and DS went to stay with my Mum and Dad.  A big thanks to them for having him and putting up with his incessant chatter.

I have got a few things finished. 

A One Row Lace Scarf ~ pattern here ~ made with a ball of King Cole Mirage which had been hanging around in the stash for a while.  I think it'll be a Christmas Pressie for someone.

  I've started the Olivia Jumper with the Woolyknits Aran that I got at Ally Pally.  The sleeves are an easy remembered pattern and I'm very much enjoying it.

I took my Abalone Waistcoat to knitting group yesterday, finished the collar and cast it off.  I had picked up 1 stitch for 1 row and the fronts were a bit wavy.  Romain assured me that if I gave it a good steam press it would sort out.  I tried that today and unfortunately it didn't work, so I've taken the collar off to knit it again.

That's about it from me I think, I'm not looking to going back to work but hey ho.

Bye for now, have fun...................Clicky Needles.

Ally Pally Purchases

Hello.

Me and Romain had a great time at Ally Pally on Sunday .

Straight away I bumped into somebody I went to secondary school with (what are the chances?) 

and then Romain and me went for a jolly good ferret.

A beautiful Shetland rainbow.

 The things that I bought.

Felt circles and stars and some ric-rac braid.  More on that in the weeks to come.

 Lovely bright buttons because you can never have enough.

 Woolyknits aran

 to make this jumper.  I tried it on and it was very nice.

 Another 3" big button. 

 Sublime Luxurious Wooly Merino.  Two balls of each colour for a scarf.

This is a coaster, but I've made it into a fridge magnet.

Knit Pro cable connectors, useful I thought.

A little caddy bag given to me by Romain, she got a magazine subscription and this was the freebie, but she's already got one.

 There was so much to see and some fabulous work by the fashion and textile students.  We had a super time, squishing and ooing and aaahing.  The qiviut yarn (Musk Ox) was soooooo soft, but way too pricey for us.

The knitted village.  I'm not usually into this sort of thing but it was amazing.

All in all a very tiring but enjoyable day.

Right, I need to get off now because me and Mr Clicky are off to France to La Petite Maison.  We're going with B and S, so it'll be the first time Mr Clicky will see it and the first time all of us will be there together.  I'm trying to remember all the tools we'll need, hammer, pick-axe etc, and make sure there is enough food for DD whilst we're away.  DS is going to stay with my Mum and Dad.

See you soon.

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

Knitty Update

Hello again.

I hope I didn't bore the pants off you with yesterday's post,  and as promised no mention of aircraft  at all today.

So what have I been knitting?

My Abalone waistcoat has been growing at a rate of knots.  Well it's Aran weight and 5mm needles so it has flown.

Only one slight problem.   I've completed the main body and I'm now ready to pick up for the sleeve cuffs and the front edging and I've run out of yarn.

As I mentioned before it's British Breeds Jacob Grey Aran.     I got the yarn 4 years ago and I'm not going to be able to match it, so I've gone for some light Grey Suffolk Aran in a total contrast.

I've been for a quick 'click' ;-) and it should be winging it's way to me soon.

Whilst waiting for the Grey Suffolk I think I'll take the opportunity to block it as it's rolling a lot.

When I was in Stroud the other day I popped into Shaw's the Drapers and found they had some more lime green and grey Marriner Double Knit in stock.  This is the yarn I use for making blankets; 150g and £1.70 per ball, so a bargain.  The blanket is looking ok but a zing of lime green is really going pep it up, the grey is a new colour as well.  

 I haven't done much for  a while but the new yarn is spurring me on, I can't wait to get the green in.

I thought you might like to see this flower.  It's my Shoe Horn plant so named because the leaves are flat like ~ yes you've guessed it ~ a shoe horn.  The flowers really look weird. 

That's about it for today I think.

Autumn is drawing in, the leaves are turning and we've started lighting the woodburner to keep the chill off in the evening.

 I'm giddy with excitement because next Sunday is Ally Pally, Knitting and Stitching Show.  

Yaaaaay!

I can't wait.

As always have fun.

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

A Grand Day Out

Hi there.

A few weeks ago me, Mr Clicky and DS went to stay with our friends B and S in Hertfordshire.  

We decided on a day out at Duxford airfield, where the Imperial War Museum have their airplanes on display.  Now, I probably need to warn you, if you don't like planes you might want to stop reading now. 

Duxford has six h-u-g-e hangars stuffed full of aircraft as well as a reconstruction of the WW2 ops room.

There were aircraft that pop up in films.

The boys engrossed in the guidebooks in front of a Junkers JU 52.  It was used in the film "Where Eagles Dare," Clicky Needles' gang compulsive viewing for a wet Sunday afternoon.  ("Broadsword calling Danny Boy!".......)

 Boeing B17 Flying Fortress, used by the American Airforce in WW2.   This plane; the Sally B and another were used in the filming of "Memphis Belle."

 The third film star and without any doubt my favourite,  Douglas DC 3; the Dakota.  Much travelled in by India Jones and James Bond alike it is a beautiful machine.  First built in 1936 there are still some in daily use.  This one is hanging (!) in the American hangar.

 Stupidly I didn't take a picture of the hangar designed by Lord Foster, it is spectacular.   Outside the hangar is The Duxford Memorial Wall.  This is a stunning but sobering wall of glass with each of the American aircraft that flew to Europe in WW2 on operations but did not return, etched upon it.

The sun cast shadows that made it even more poignant. 

 Just look how long it was.

 When you get inside you are nose to nose with a B 52 bomber, it dwarfed the other aircraft around it.

Not the best picture but the people give you an idea of scale.

F1-11 fighter bomber in front.

U2 spy plane in the background.

The shiny rivets of a B 17 Liberator bomber.

 Huey helicopter; just for Teresa, her hubby flew them during Vietnam.

Over the top of the B52, A10 Warthog

and underneath a Mustang the American version of the Spitfire.

 Into the Battle of Britain hangar now and a Hawker Hurricane

 and ~ of course ~ Supermarine Spitfire.

A crashed Messerschmitt.

Also the Gloster Meteor; Britain's first jet aircraft, designed by Sir Frank Whittle.  I had to get a piccy of this because our family farm overlooked the airfield where this was built and where it first flew from.  The Gloster Aircraft Company built 2750 Hurricanes there during the early years of the war and then 3300 Hawker Typhoons.

In 1945 the Meteor gained a world speed record of 606 mph and it was eventually put into service by 12 nations. 

Because the farm was on higher ground there were machine gun emplacements in our fields to protect GAC from bombing.   The airfield has long since gone and it is now an industrial area, housing estate and huge Tesco, which has pictures of the Meteor etched onto it's massive windows.  The new pub is called The Whittle and the roads are named after the craft made there including Hurricane Way.  I'm really pleased the history isn't being lost.

This Harrier was in the process of being restored.

We walked through Concord in the AirSpace hangar and saw more Dakotas, a Wellington Bomber, the 'V' Force, ~ Vulcan, Victor and Valiant ~ Harriers and more aircraft than I can remember.  Unfortunately the light wasn't great and I couldn't get any photos.

All the while two Tiger Moths and a Dragon Rapide (all bi planes) were flying, making the noise that only vintage planes can.

It really was a full day out and (as you can possibly tell!) we all had a wonderful time.

Righto see you soon, with no planes mentioned at all.

Promise.

Byeeee.............Clicky Needles.

Some Knitting At Last.

Hello!

I am still here, in one piece.  

Life seems to have been rushing along at a pace, one blink of the eye and it's nearly the end of September.  Things have been hectic at school and the only thing I'm fit for in the evenings is a gin and tonic. 

I have finished my Reversible Sock Yarn Hat.

It was cast on provisionally, one side completed and then the other.

I had chosen the maroon yarn for the second side to complement the first and intended to make it plain.  The second side however was boring me silly so I added the blue stripey oddment.

Strange how stripes seem to make knitting go quicker, before I knew it I was done.

I've also finished the crochet 'Lucy Bag'.

 I went the whole hog and added buttons to the flowers.  It's not lined yet, I need to find some fabric.

 With these projects finished off, I was looking for the next challenge.  

I had lovely array of Rowan Felted Tweed, which came to me 

via my friend Romain's sort out.

I could picture what I wanted to make, a stripey cardi.   "Ooooooo" my work colleagues would say, as I swanned around, "that's beautiful."  I would smile smugly  and reply "It's Merino and Alpaca." My little knitty world would be happy.

Unfortunately I have been unable to find the perfect pattern.  

I can see it in my head.

A 'flappy' cardi, no buttons, maybe some pockets, but despite much prevaricating and searching through Ravelry and the like, I still can't find it.

So, the Felted Tweed has gone back into the stash.

I've had two more failed cast-ons (tension, bah!) but, finally I'm going for Abalone which is a waistcoat.

It's knitted in one piece and then grafted together on the shoulders.

For this I'm using some British Breeds Jacob Grey Aran. Possibly not as luxurious as the Silk/Merino yarn which the pattern suggests, but this yarn has been in my stash for nearly 4 years, so I'm pleased to be using it.

The aran has a pleasantly 'sheepy' smell and although it is a little course, I think it's going to be really warm, so useful in the Autumn days we're currently experiencing. 

So all in all Happy Days. 

 My ankle is still hurting but at least I can get shoes on now and looking on the bright side, it's only 3 weeks until half term.   Woot!

As always, have fun and keep smiling.

Byee...............Clicky Needles.

Pete Reed, Olympic Hero

Hello there!

I'm giddy with excitement right now because Mr Clicky, me and DS have just been into Stroud to see Pete Reed the gold winning Olympian.  He was in the Coxless Fours Rowing Team and won gold.

He came out of The Subscription Rooms

 and got onto the open top bus, complete with outriders and a samba band.

 I cheered loudly, much to DS' embarrassment.  His Mum and girlfriend sat down next to him looked very proud.

I really enjoyed the Paralympics and Olympics, the athletes were so inspiring.  I watched whenever I could, so to see Pete and his medal was fabulous.

Back to school last week, it was lovely to see the kids again  ~ but how tiring!  We went on a trip to the Black Country Living Museum as our 'Wow' which gets our Victorians topic rolling.  

The sunrise that morning was beautiful. 

The children had a great time learning about life 'in the olden days' and went into houses, down the mine and experienced what a school would have been like.  I however, had a less fun as I fell off a kerb and twisted my ankle. Ouch! 

I got it x-rayed the next day, luckily it wasn't broken.  The advice was 'to elevate' which was just what I did.  I elevated my foot on my steamer chair in the sunshine.  I've been hobbling around ever since, but the swelling is going down now.

My knitting mojo seems to have deserted me a bit but I have got my squares finished and sent for August.

My gardening mojo has also evaporated but I think has a lot to do with the weather.  The red germaniums in my lovely stone trough are about the only thing looking good at the moment.    

Unfortunately you can't see them right now as they have a fridge freezer plonked in front of them waiting for collection.  Yes, our fridge freezer decided to pack up on Saturday night. *Sigh*  Luckily we didn't have to go on a mad eating fest, we do have another freezer in the garage.    Mr Clicky and me went after work one night and bought another one to be delivered tomorrow, thank goodness.

So that's about it for now I think, I've got lots of blogs to catch on so I'll settle down with a cup of tea.

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