A Weekend in Wiltshire and Somerset....

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend. The sun was shining here in the UK and we spent the weekend in Wiltshire and Somerset. My husband finished work on Friday lunchtime, we jumped in the car and headed to Wiltshire, this isn't a place we're familiar with but we will definitely exploring more of this beautiful part of the country. We stopped in this pretty hotel called the Old Manor House, situated on the edge of Bradford on Avon, which is a beautiful, quaint, historical town.

The hotel was bought last summer by a couple and has been lovingly restored to it's former glory. I couldn't fault it, I felt so comfortable there, the staff were very friendly and helpful and made you feel right at home.

The lounge/ bar area was very cosy with log burners and comfortable period chairs and sofa's, there were fresh flowers in all the public area's and unusual knick knacks, like old telephones and Singer sewing machines.

The outside area was just as pretty, with a walled garden where they grow their own produce, they also have beehives and chickens and their own Smoke House, where they smoke the meat and fish, they serve on their menu.

Talking about food, we had the most amazing dinner, again in a gorgeous setting, the restaurant is called The Milking Parlour and is open to non-residents, I recommend eating there if you're in the area. The chef is Matthew Briddon, formerly from The River Cafe and the Michelin star, Heathcote restaurant, the food was second to none.

Breakfast was just as good, again in the Milking Parlour, we enjoyed a substantial farmhouse breakfast. I loved how they set the breakfast table up with fresh juices, cereals, dried fruits, yoghurt, fresh crusty bread and homemade preserves. I decided to go for the smoked salmon which was hay smoked in their Smoke House and scrambled eggs, it was delicious. In fact, I could just eat it again, right now, I've gone hungry just thinking about it.

After breakfast, we spent the morning wandering around the town, it's full of independent shops including some great vintage ones, I picked up some lovely vintage buttons. There are also some great riverside walks, one that leads you to Tithe Barns, a great little shopping area for arts and crafts.

On the afternoon, we went on to Frome, another pretty town, full of artisan shops and cobbled streets.

I found a yarn store, where I picked up some locally dyed yarn, you can tell I was pleased, can't you? There is also a great haberdashery shop opposite called Millie Moon, they have some great fabric and it's free p&p for the UK.

Our hotel for the night was in Midsomer Norton, so on our way we stopped off at Wells, a small cathedral city in Somerset. This was the first time we'd been here, we didn't stay long as it was late afternoon but what we saw of it has made us want to visit again, very soon!!!!

Saturday night we stopped at the Best Western Centurion on the outskirts of Midsomer Norton, though this is a chain, it was very well appointed and looked as though it had been recently renovated, everything looked very new and clean.

The views from the restaurant.....

The garden areas......

We decided not to have dinner at the hotel but to go for a walk into the town. We were very disappointed when we got there, I expected a pretty village with lots of country pubs and restaurants, like you see on the tv programme, Midsomer Murders!!!! Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the town itself, it was a very good High Street with lots of High Street shops but not a lot of pubs or places too eat.

We were both getting hungry by this time, so we jumped into a taxi and went back to the hotel restaurant. I'm so glad we did, again the food was exceptional, they obviously used good quality produce. I had the most amazing crab and avocado starter. Sunday morning breakfast was a very enjoyable Full English in the conservatory overlooking a parkland golf course, a perfect way to starg the day.

Sunday was another beautiful, sunny day, we travelled to Bath and sat outside the Abbey, having a cup of tea, deciding on what to see and do. Again, another beautiful city but we need to go back as my husband's back was giving him a lot of pain. I could see he was struggling so suggested we come again and see the sights when he felt better.

Instead, as the weather was so nice we drove to Weston Super Mare and sat on the pier, people watching and eating chips. This was my husband's birthday treat, we both had a fabulous time and can't wait to do it again. We both want to see more of this area.

Have a great week, my lovely friends.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along.......Stripy Mitts and some Fairisle.

Hello, how was your weekend? I had a fab Saturday, I spent the day with friends having a mini spa day with afternoon tea. My friend, Di, had us all around her house and booked a beauty therapist to give us all a treatment. After our treatments we all relaxed and enjoyed afternoon tea and a glass of fizz. It was a wonderful, relaxing day with friends!!!!

In my last post, I told you about the Fairisle workshop that I attended, last Thursday, after it had finished, I went downstairs to John Lewis haberdashery department and picked up a few different colours of the Rowan Felted Tweed DK. I really enjoyed the process of Fairisle but felt as though it would be something that you need to practice, otherwise you could forget the different techniques, so over the weekend with my new yarn, I cast on a Fairisle scarf.

I'd seen a pattern called Leftover Cowl by Wendy D. Johnson, it's a large cowl using leftover sock yarn. I loved the Fairisle pattern but didn't want a large cowl so I decided to use the chart for a Fairisle Scarf, instead.

I'm knitting it in the round using magic loop, knitting Fairisle in the round is so much easier as you don't have to purl, I'm really caggy handed holding the two yarns and purling, so this is a good option for me. It's a 12 stitch repeat pattern but because I'm knitting it in the round, it's two sided you need to cast on multiples of 24. I cast on a total of 144 stitches which gives me a width of 27cm, each pattern uses two colours which I'm randomly choosing from my ten colours. I'm loving this project and find Fairisle very relaxing, this will be a long term project and I might even buy another couple of colours to add to my rainbow of colours.

I've finished the sleeves on my Aureus, I just need to set the sleeves into the armholes, knit the button band and I'll have a finished garment to show you, hopefully by next Friday.

I've also started another new project, I'm joining in with Jane Richmond's Linden Mitts KAL, this will be a fairly quick project as it only uses 50g of Knit Picks Felici or any other self striping yarn.

The pattern gives you the option of 4ply or sport weight yarn, I've had to go down to a 2.25mm needle as the 2.75mm knit up too big for me, I prefer a tighter fitting mitten. Even though the pattern was written especially for self-striping, I think it would work just as well with a variegated yarn. I love the Knit Picks Felici but it's hard to find in the UK, I managed to get this one ball from Great British Yarns but it looks like they aren't stocking it anymore.

This week, I've started reading The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield, I can't tell you too much about it yet, as I've only just started it but it's a fictional diary about a 1930's lady and her family life. I like to collect classic books with limited edition covers and I love this one designed by Cath Kidston, isn't it pretty? Check out more knitting projects and reads over at Ginny's Yarn Along, also pop over to Tami's blog for more WIP's.

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate the time you take reading and leaving me such lovely comments.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Stitching Sunday......Once upon A Time Sampler.

 

Good morning my friends, on this beautiful sunny day, I'm loving this weather at the moment!!!!! It's been a while since I've wrote one but I'm back today with a Stitching Sunday post.

I'm still working on January's chart on my Once Upon a Time Sampler by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, I've now received the March chart, The Three Little Pigs. I haven't got very far and I'm obviously way behind but I really enjoy picking it up every now again and taking a break from my knitting.

In fact, it's become a joint project as my daughter has been working on it too, she seems to really like cross stitch so if she carries on, between us we might eventually catch up. Check out Chrissie's blog for more Stitching Sunday projects.

Friday was another beautiful, sunny day, I was babysitting again and When I asked Olivia if she wanted to go for a walk, she asked if we could take a picnic. Of course I said "yes", I love picnics, I packed some sandwiches, crisps, yoghurt and fruit, grabbed the picnic blanket and set off down the canal.

It's still very muddy on the canal path which Olivia loved, she thinks she's Peppa Pig so was jumping in all the muddy puddles, just like Peppa would!!!! We eventually came to some benches where Paige, Emily and I could sit, I laid out the blanket for Olivia, she was so happy we were having a picnic and told me it was "a perfect picnic", bless her, I love this little girl!!!!

On the walk back home, with crusts in hands, we fed the ducks, Olivia thinks she can speak duck language and was calling them to her, they came so maybe she can speak "duck".

When we got home, the sun was still shining and my back garden was a little sun trap, so we all sat outside. I laid out a blanket for baby Adam, put some music on and brought my knitting outside with me. Olivia, was dancing and said this is so much fun, in fact when her Mommy turned up, she asked if she could come back tomorrow and pick her up!!!!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great Sunday, I'll be back soon.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Frangipani Shawl......FO Friday.

How are you my friends? I hope you've all had a good week, I'm back today, to show you my finished, Frangipani Shawl, I absolutely love how it's turned out.

I used The Natural Dye Studio 4ply in 100% Silk, I've never knit in silk before, but would definitely use it again, the shawl is going to be perfect for the summer to drape over my shoulders on cooler evenings.

The pattern is a dream to knit, very easy to follow, I love that Helen gives you the percentage of how far you've knit, it really spurs you on and makes you want to knit to the next mile stone. I think this would make a great lace pattern for a beginner but there's enough to hold your attention, if you are a more experienced lace knitter.

Yesterday, I went to a Rowan, Introduction to Fairisle and Intarsia Workshop with Vicki Walker. It was at John Lewis in Solihull and I had an absolutely fabulous day. There was nine of us altogether and everyone was very chatty and friendly, I think you always find that with fellow knitters. We were all given a bag with five small balls of Rowan Felted Tweed DK in various colours and written instructions with charts.

Vicki was a brilliant teacher with a great way about her, she made something that looks complicated, very easy to learn. I had tried to do Fairisle before but it didn't turn out great, the tension was far too tight and pulled. Traditionally, Fairisle only uses two colours in any one row, Vicki taught us how to hold the two strands of yarn, one in each hand and how to carry them across which helps with getting the correct tension. She also showed us how to weave in the ends as you went along, which is a good thing to know, I wouldn't fancy sewing in all those ends when you'd finished your project!!!!!! I knit ten rows before lunch, it was slow going at first but once I'd done the first few rows, I definitely got quicker.

After lunch, which was included in the price and was very nice, we cracked on with our Fairisle square, I think most of us got it finished. I'm really pleased with how mine turned out, next up was learning how to do Intarsia, properly. This was a to easier to pick up than the Fairisle and I only had a couple more rows to finish off at home.

I now have my two finished squares, which i would like to make into a zipper purse but I need to learn how to add a zip!!!! It will probably end up as a lavender square or a pun cushion!!!! I can't believe how easy I picked it up, which was mostly down to Vicki's, teaching skills. I would highly recommend one of her workshops, you can find out where she is here. I'm linking this post to Tami's, FO Friday.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along......two WIP's on the needles.

Good morning, I'm back today with this week's WIP's, I have got three WIP's on the go but have only worked on two this week.

The main one I've been knitting on is my Aureus cardigan using Rowan Felted Tweed DK, after soaking and blocking, this yarn really plumps and softens up, I really like it and will definitely buy it again.

I've finished the back, left and front side, blocked and joined them together. I'm now working on the sleeves. I really want this finished by the end of the month, as I've joined in with The Sock Bunny Sweater-A-Long, which ends on the 31st March.

I've decided to knit both sleeves at the same time, this is the first time I've attempted it and wasn't sure how it would work out. I'm using circular needles with a long cables and two balls of yarn, so far, so good, no mistakes and no tangles. It's probably no quicker by doing this but I don't know about you but once the first sleeve is finished, I just want the second one finished as I know I'm close to completing the garment.

The other WIP are my First Time for Everything, stripy socks using Twisted Limone, self striping yarn in Find the River.

I'm attempting an Afterthought Heel for the first time and have just knit the waste yarn, where the heel will go, I'm going to be very nervous when I come to undo it and put them back on my needles!!!!!

This week, I'm reading Unraveled by Maggie Sefton, a murder mystery set around a yarn shop, I think I might be a bit obsessed with all things yarny!!!!!! I'm linking up wth Ginny's Yarn Along and Tami's WIP Wednesday.

Tomorrow, I'm going to a Rowan Fairisle workshop, this is something I've wanted to learn properly for a while now. I had booked onto a different Fairisle workshop, last year but it was cancelled so when I saw Rowan was doing one, locally to me, I booked myself on it. I'll let you know how I get on, I will hopefully be knitting a Fairisle jumper before long.

Thank you for stopping by, have a good day.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

A Walk Along the Canal....

Hello there, my friends, how was your weekend? We are now in March, the beginning of Spring and after all the weeks of rain we've had in the UK, we actually had some sunshine on Saturday.

 

We couldn't ignore this change in the weather, so we pulled on our boots, grabbed our coats and went for a walk along the canal.

We have the best of both worlds where we live, turn right out of our road and we have the village, we are close to many great towns and just half hour from Birmingham. If we turn left we are on green belt, where we have miles of fields, woods and Highgate Common.

We are also only five minutes walk from the canal, this is one of my favorite walks. There is always wildlife to be seen, there is also a large community of people living on their barges, so there is always a friendly "hello" as you walk past.

At the end of the tow path, there is a fabulous canal side pub called The Navigation, it's recently been refurbished and has a great country pub ambiance.

It was a little sun trap on the patio, so we took our drinks and sat outside overlooking the canal, where we watched the world go by and took squinty "selfies", the sun really was bright but doesn't a bit of sunshine, make you feel so much better.

Today, I had the early morning, babysitting shift for these little monkeys, we sat in bed for a while, watching Barbie, it's been a while since I've done that!!!!!

My mom picked them up this afternoon, so I think it's time for a tea break, peppermint tea and the new issue of Country Living. Don't mind if I do !!!!!!!

Have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx