Cooling Off

Where we are in the North of England, the summer hasn't really ever arrived. This week though, I'm away in the South of England and the skirt has come out to play! This morning I sat at the side of an outdoor pool and spotted these two mini lizards - one taking a swim and one cheering him on from the side:

Spectating

Drying off

So cute!

Exploring: Arnside Tower

One of the things I love about geocaching is the encouragement it gives to get out and see places you never knew. This week it was Arnside tower:

It was a beautiful day out.

And I found the cache too!

Postcard from China

It's been quiet for a while, I'm on my second big trip of the month:

From top left, clockwise:

1. Lights in Yuanmingyuan park
   
2. The Great Wall of China
3. View of the Marble Boat from Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace
4. Close up of characters on an arch/bridge in Yuanmingyuan park

Kite Festival

This weekend (in a that's-quite-enough-decorating-for-this-week moment) we took a trip out to 'Catch the Wind' a kite festival in Morecambe:

Lots of kites in all sorts of sizes, shapes and colours, in the above picture you can see two octopi (one green, one multicoloured), a clownfish, a blue fish, a set of dogs and a whole bunch of colourful shapes. (Also some sunbathers, the weather was pretty good actually).

Here's the blue fish closer up with a bunch of other animals:

Another close-up (ish) the blue fish, the dogs and an octopus:

We also liked this magic hoop thing:

Lots of colourful wind socks:

Walace and Gromit:

And, perhaps a favourite of mine, the humble butterfly (and a seagull):

Appropriate

For quite a long time now I have bought clothes I loved and then never worn them because I felt them to be appropriate to some particular time or occasion that I simply never encountered.

As I've got older (most noticeably in the last year or so) I've somehow started to realise that (as long as the clothes aren't wholly inappropriate) its ok to wear them in my normal everyday circumstances and that, shock horror, noone else will notice or care.

Today I'm wearing a perfect-for-summer-barbeques-with-friends-who-have-nice-big-gardens skirt, it's fab!

Inside*	Outside*

* The skirt is actually reversible - this is today's inside and outside.

PS - This is not the post I was planning to make today. Come back tomorrow for some sock-update photos.

In Celebration of Green

I love greens. This is the first of my July Sockdown socks (project online at Ravelry.). The pattern is Wendy Johnson's Ribbed Ribbon Socks from Socks from the Toe Up. I've had this book for a while now and not knit anything from it so was glad to have an extra kick of motivation. I normally don't go for lace on socks but I liked the way this one looked and figured it was worth a go. As it is, I think it's a great yarn/pattern combo. The pattern is fairly straightforward and is charted (24 rows of 10 stitches) and only takes up two sides of paper which makes a nice change from some of the trees I've been knitting from recently (long patterns have their place but it's nice to have something so straightforward).

The yarn is CraftsMeow Soft Serve in flavour (colourway) Granny Smith. I absolutely love the way the colour is working out, it's fabulous.

The project bag is also new and comes from The Laal Bear - I bought it at this year's Woolfest (my first, probably not my last :)). I like the fact that as well as having drawstrings this bag has a little handle (not pictured) which for me seems to mean that I can knit and walk much more easily with the yarn rather less likely to twist up around the drawstrings.

There were other Woolfest purchases, they may come out and talk to you another day.

View From the Ball-Pool

Last week I had a bead-purging session in the attic (land of all crafts) and Hobnob took some photos:

This is the new box of 'Brownie' beads - I did have Brownie beads sorted by colour but they get mixed up every time and I needed to let go of that particular obsession.

Now I just need to find some good crafty projects for the beads I've hung on to!

"Not the most salubrious spot on the Lune"

When I'm not knitting, working or Guiding, I occasionally go looking for a Geocache or two. Geocaches are containers that are hidden at a particular set of coordinates. They typically contain some sort of log book and may also contain some small toys or other goodies. At the moment, I'm not doing much in the way of finding, but I do maintain six of my own geocaches including one next to the River Lune in Lancaster.

I've had a few logs, noting that the location is perhaps less than beautiful. I disagree...

Lions and.... Oh My! That's super cute!

Found via Ruffled Feathers:

(Image by ElizabethD: blog/flickr)

There are few things for which I would say this (and even then, undoubtedly only online), but... OMW (oh my wow) that's cute!

Spring is Sprung

Or so these snowdrops in Hightown, Formby think...

Knitted Graffiti: IRL

Following my celebration of yarn-bombing/knitted graffiti/urban knitting last year, I've finally actually spotted some in England, in real life!


Spotted in amongst the Manchester University campus whilst tracking down a nearby Earthcache with a friend.

FO: I Do

The shrug made for Dom & Elisabeth's wedding:

And just the sleeves:


Sadly none of the ones taken on the day itself seem to have much of the shrug in them - have we remembered to take a camera to any of the weddings we've been to in the last year or two?

Pattern: I Do by Jody Prival.
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn in Black and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in Steelers Pride.
Project: online at Ravelry.

FO: Wrenna

Finally got round to photographing:



I really wish this fit me in a way that meant I could actually wear it. :(

Pattern: Wrenna: Leather-laced cardigan by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes
Yarn: Brown Sheep Burly Spun in colour BS191 - Kiwi.
Project: online at Ravelry.

Why considerate parking is a must:

See here.

Via mental_floss which has some gems today.

Walking Alone

Sometimes it's just good to get away from everyone:



Apparently the shaft of this sculpture on the CMU campus vibrates in a way that was never anticipated. As a result, men with a big crane came and took almost all the people away. The people will be cleaned whilst the shaft is replaced and then they will be reinstalled. Not sure why she's been left behind.

In Pictures: Homestead/The Waterfront

Homestead seemed to have a curious array of buildings, particularly religious (or so I assume) ones:

And on the other side of the road - this is America after all:


Just after a quick downpour, switched back to lovely weather as I explored Homestead cemetery:


Headless memorial - I spotted one or two of these. I remember Hobnob telling me the memorials without heads in the yard of Lancaster Priory were the result of the reformation. Did similar things happen over here?


For Hobnob. This really is a good place for trains - as long as you like goods anyway. You can see the weather coming back around again too :):

Best Bathroom Ever

Trader Joe's in the strip mall with Natural Stitches. Nipped in for some bread and some relief! How cool is this?

Finished Object!

Been a while since I finished knitting in any way other than ripping it back and pretending I'd never started! Here, though are the summer gauntlets knitted up to keep my hands warm in the rather cool CMU office:


Uber quick knit, portable and memorable. I think they only used about half a skein, was considering adapting lace pattern to a hat for the remainder of the skein but I suspect I'd never wear it. I like bucket hats - I keep meaning to learn to crochet and it will mostly be so I can make myself a bucket hat - they're not cool enough to be in the shops any more and I always lose the ones I have (currently only one left).

Geocaching Goodies!

Arrived today in the post. Looks pretty cool, the nanos are even smaller than those I have done before I think. Shall send them home with Hobnob when he visits :)


I had hoped to get the cache in Natural Stitches car park today and yet somehow this one still foils me. I was convinced it would turn out to be a galvanised plate but somehow this didn't seem the case - the thing seemed pretty firmly attached. Perhaps next time...

First Handspun!

Did the 'Beginning Spinning: The Spindle' class at Natural Stitches this afternoon and so here's my first ever handspun yarn. Foreground is the one I did in the class: lumpy, bumpy and unbalanced :) Background is the little bit I did this evening sat on my spindle it looks a little bit cleaner so far.

Very cool. And I even managed a little bit of knitting afterwards! (I'd banned myself from knitting this week until I'd forgotten the annoyance of last Sunday - or at least until it hurt a bit less).