Yes,it's true! I am finally writing the giant blog post that covers everything from Bakewell Wool Gathering in the middle of October, to today's Advent Update.
The thing about this post is that it genuinely is enormous, and I don't think that it will work in the standard format. I think it needs to be a bit more chronologically organised. However, I am still battling the evil death plague, so forgive me if this all gets a bit confusing!
Bakewell Wool Gathering
The Wool Gathering has become a standard feature in my calendar over the last few years. It's been running for 5 years, and I've been there every single year. It's my personal favourite fibre festival for a number of reasons:
- It's pretty close to home! If for any reason I can't have use of the car, and none of the others are able to drive either, then I can even get a bus to take me there, which I have done before.
- It's accessible for people with disabilities. Even if you can't park in the designated disabled car park, the main town car park is close enough and doesn't involve any stairs or steep hills. Inside the venue, the floors are smooth, the walkways are a decent width, and there is an accessible toilet.
- It's not overwhelmingly huge, Having been to some of the larger festivals I can say that they're too much for me. By the time you're half way through the stalls you're already exhausted, and you've run out of money, and you're overcome with how busy and excitable everything is. Bakewell is just big enough to offer a really good selection of stalls, but small enough that you can easily do 2 rounds before breaking for lunch, then go back after to triple check your favourites.
- It's just across the bridge from town. You're not stuck miles from anywhere and at the complete mercy of the venue. There's a great selection of tea rooms and pubs for lunch, and a number of cash machines so that you can top up your funds for the afternoon visit.
- It's not just yarn! You can buy everything from raw fleece through to completed fibre craft items, and everything in between, not to mention a full range of tools, notions, and crafting consumables, from stitch markers to weaving looms
- Bakewell itself is beautiful and well worth a visit, it has many interesting little independent shops, including of course the traditional Bakewell Pudding shop! So if you need a break from the intense concentration of yarnies, there is somewhere else to go.
I'm afraid that as usual, I utterly failed to take any photographs inside the venue! Too distracted by all the beautiful things around me.
I was feeling pretty strapped for cash this year. I'd not had any opportunity to save up, and between mid-September, and the end of November I had 2 trips to Newcastle, and 3 holidays! However, Stephen is amazing, and he gave me enough cash that I didn't feel like I was just a taxi driver for the trip!
This is what I brought home with me:
- The Official Bakewell Yarn Gathering Tote Bag. This was the first year that they produced these, so I had to have one anyway, but I was really surprised at how great the quality is for the price.
- 2 skeins from the Rosie's Moments sale bin. One Merino and Silk DK, in the colourway "Stormy Seas", and one Merino 4-ply, in the colourway "Forest Floor". I always go straight for the sale bin a Rosie's moments, there's nearly always a hidden gem or 2 in there for a bargain price.
- One skein of 3-ply Superwash merino sock yarn by All's Wool that Ends Wool, in the colourway "Windburn". I do like to try out new dyers when I can, and I'd not seen this one before, but she had some really gorgeous colours.
- A new drop spindle with a rock crystal whorl from Coastal Colours. I do feel a bit guilty about buying a drop spindle when I already have so many gorgeous ones that my dad has made, but this one was so unusual that I had to give it a try.
- A sample of Pyranean Mountain Dog fur for spinning. I've been wanting to try spinning dog fur for a while, inspired by the dog who lives next door to my dad - a long haired blond alsatian - but he won't sit still long enough for anyone to brush off a decent amount of fluff!
- Finally, there's a penguin! I spotted this little kit for a type of hook-rug made with super chunky yarn by Rebellious Rags :)
Nottingham
Barely back from Bakewell, and I was on my way to Nottingham for a very exciting moment! Yasmin ordered us both an Opal Advent Calendar from Knit Nottingham, and she'd had an email telling her that they were ready to pick up.
This was still the end of October, so we had to be very patient! I managed it, I'm not sure that Yaz did...
Of course, more details about this, and my other advent calendars, are in my advent mini-posts, starting with; Advent Day 1.
Newcastle
A couple of days back at home, then off up north again. Not just to deliver the advent calendar to Yaz, but also to take my 2 Geordie Godsons their new winter hats.
The yarn is Rico Design Essentials Merino Prints DK, in colourway "005". The pattern is a fairly standard cable motif worked into 2 different child sized beanies.
When I was at Bakewell, and at Knit Nottingham, I was looking for a 60-80cm 2mm wooden circular needle, but I hadn't managed to find one, so of course this meant a trip to Ring-a-Rosies's. Still having to be fairly frugal, I was really quite restrained I thought, as well as the knitting needles, I only bought 2 yarns!
The West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4-ply colourway is called "Pheasant", and is one of the Country Birds collection. This particular ball is almost certainly destined to become socks for dad at some point.
The mini-skein is a 4-ply sock yarn dyed by Ring-a-Rosie, and the colourway is "Scary Sea Monster". This is definitely going to be part of the mitred square blanket.
As the first frost of the year appeared, I found this cheeky fellow in Asda too:
In case you can't tell, he has an ice scraper poking out of the back of his head, and to use it you have to put your hand up his bottom! Keeps your hand warm while you remove snow from your windscreen you see!
As well as this my brilliant daddy bought me a present:
New penguin bedding, and it's not fluffy and fleecy! It's just nice, soft cotton, so I'm less likely to overheat.
On the train home I cast on the project I needed the 2mm needles for - another pair of socks for dad:
Unfortunately I've not got much further than this, as I've been busy with other projects ever since, but hopefully I can get back to these soon.
Whitby
A few days of frantic laundry, and off I go to Whitby for our almost yearly holiday with friends to Whitby Goth Weekend.
Well, way back in the mists of time it started out as a trip to the Goth festival, but as we'd got older, and some of us have developed health issues, the holiday has become more about a fun week of food and drink with friends, and less about the dressing up in lace and corsets and dancing lots.
Before setting off on holiday I made sure that I finished Kelly's new gloves:
They're too big for me, as you can see! But that's ok, because Kelly has bigger hands than I do!
The yarns are Izzy Lane Wool 4-ply, in natural grey, and a 100% wool 4-ply in purple. Both of these yarns are pretty special, the Izzy Lane wool is a British yarn from a slaughter free flock, which is excellent for anyone concerned about both carbon footprint, and animal welfare. The purple wool ended up being the last yarn that I bought from Bobbins, which used to be a wool and haberdashery store in Whitby, but I discovered during this visit that it has now closed down.
While actually on holiday I really wanted to only be working on something a bit selfish. I decided to use some lovely yarn that I got from a Lanitium Ex Machina yarn club inspired by The Sandman comics. The only problem was that having been so busy, I wasn't sure I'd have the time to wind it from skein to cake before going away. Fortunately for me, I have lovely friends, and Heather volunteered to prepare my yarn for me while I was busy running up and down the country. I chose Dragonfly Wings, by Boo Knits as my holiday pattern, and when I realised that this pattern could be worked with beads, I had a look in my collection and found the absolute perfect beads that I'd bought without a project in mind just because they were so beautiful, but when you see them in place, you'll find it hard to believe that they weren't bought specifically for this project!
The second picture was actually taken on the train up to Newcastle after the Whitby holiday, but it's a perfect shot of most of my Whitby knitting related items together. You can also see the beginnings of a sock in this picture. Now technically I shouldn't have been working on that while on holiday, because it's a Christmas present, so not selfish, but I do enjoy knitting socks, no matter who they're for, and I needed something a bit simpler than a lace shawl to work on after the 3rd glass of wine (or gin), as Whitby does tend to involve about a third of my yearly alcohol intake in one week!
In that photo you can also see my new sock project bag, which Kelly bought for me from the Bizarre Bazaar!
I did manage to find some yarn to buy while in Whitby, a lovely green sport weight, in of all places a health food shop! Unfortunately I failed to take a photograph, so I'll try to remember to sneak it into a future post.
Nothing at all to do with yarn, knitting, or even penguins, but I love this photo. Kelly and I went for a lovely evening stroll along the west pier, and we got to watch the most glorious sunset.
Newcastle Again
I had what seemed to be a great idea at the time just before this trip. I decided that it would be fun to make advent calendars for the kids. At least I was sensible enough to decide that I would make only 2 this year, rather than attempt to make all 6 in less than a month! I started work on a prototype using stash yarn, just to check that my idea would work first:
Having established that it would work, as soon as I got up north I went to the Wool Works in Wallsend and stocked up on sparkly Christmas colours. I chose Wool Works for this project because they're far more likely to have the bright, sparkly acrylics than Ring-a-Rosie's. It also has the advantage of being only 2 minutes away from the coffee shop where dad, Davie, and I usually meet up for a chat!
I, err, might have snuck in a little something selfish for myself with that lot too...
I wasted no time in getting started on these, because I had less than 3 weeks to get them finished:
So here's where I go on a tangent from the knitting and penguins, and give you all a bit of news about my family. You see from this photo that I was staying with Davie rather than my dad. This was because he went in for another cardioversion in an attempt to correct his irregular heartbeat, which required a general anaesthetic, and therefore 24 hour company afterwards. So far, it seems to have been successful, and he's finding it much easier to get around without feeling uncomfortable and out of breath.
As well as this, dad had another CT scan while I was up for this visit, and we've since had the results back - his cancer has continued to shrink even after his last chemo, so he won't be needing any more chemo during the worst of the winter months! I'm sure you can imagine just how relieved and happy we are about this! It means that dad finally has a chance to have the dental work done that he's wanted for ages, and hopefully even the relatively minor surgery to correct a hernia that was caused by his previous large surgery. Obviously neither of these things could be done while his immune system was compromised by the chemo. Best of all though, he gets a good few months without the side-effects of chemo, and the hassle of weekly hospital visits, so he can just get on with enjoying his life, and doing the things that he loves.
I'm getting confused about exactly which trip to Newcastle things happened during now, so it's very possible that these were bought before Whitby. Whatever the case, I bought these from Spoilt for Choice when I went to get my holiday nails done because Stephen and I had booked back into the lovely hotel with the amazingly huge baths for his birthday celebration. I bet you can guess which one is for me!
For reasons involving me being completely skint, and my bank having awful timing in applying charges, the direct debit for my subscription to The Knitter bounced this month, and instead of making another attempt a few days later as I'd expected, or contacting me in some way, the company simply cancelled my subscription. Which resulted in me spending all week up in Newcastle hunting for a copy of the November issue, until eventually I found it in a newsagent on the train station. I also found a half-price cuddly penguin and he needed to be brought home to the Colony.
As an unexpected bonus, the next week I found an advert for magazine subscriptions that allowed me to re-subscribe and pay just £5 for the first 3 months, saving me nearly £13!
Sheffield
Again, I'm not entirely sure that I've got the timing right on this, mostly because I'm pretty sure that I bought that mug before Whitby, but maybe I just didn't photograph it at the time. Anyway, at some point, I returned home to find this sat on my kitchen bench! There was no explanation for it's presence. A little investigation revealed that long time friend, next door neighbour, and Stephen's boss, Kate had spotted it and decided that a penguin full of penguins belonged in my house!
Christmas presents! Well, the one at the back is actually last year's Christmas present from Tony, and I've introduced you to him before.
The one in the box is allegedly not a Christmas present, it's an I-saw-this-and-thought-of-you present, also from Tony, because craft and geekery are so my thing :)
The little chap with the flowers is an early Christmas present from my sister and her family. She gave it to me early so that I would have the chance to see the flowers in full bloom, and I'm glad she did, because they're already starting to fade a bit, even though I have been watering them (sparingly, because it's some kind of succulent), but I'm not known for my green fingers.
The wrapped up present was sent all the way from America, from Sally, one of my online knitter friends. I like to have surprises, so I'm not unwrapping it until Christmas day!
Progress has been made on Gemma's socks (she knows she's getting them, so I don't feel concerned about sharing them on here!) They're currently my portable project, so they only get worked on when I'm out and about. In this case having enforced tea and biscuits (at least 2 the nurse instructed me!) in the recovery room after a minor outpatient procedure in hospital.
After the procedure I was left feeling rather wrung out and sorry for myself, but then Krissy showed up on my doorstep with this amazing care package including Russian doll style chocolate penguins! See just how great my friends are!
Back to my main project at this time, and here's how the advent calendars currently look. Both of them are at this stage, but I only have photos of the red one. Yes, they're not completely finished, they need the rest of the numbers embroidering on, and they need to be steam blocked to help them hang flat. Yes, I'm annoyed that it's now 11th December, and the gifts that I wanted to be ready before the 1st aren't ready. Part of this is my own fault, for setting a target that was challenging to say the least, but part of it is my health interfering, and not just in the usual EDS way, but also this stupid cold, which is far worse than I expected :( Fortunately Gemma is very understanding!
I had planned to have these finished and posted before Stephen and I went on holiday, then I could concentrate on knitting Christmas present socks while I was away, which would have had the added benefit of less to carry! Unfortunately that was too ambitious :(
Scarborough
Despite the stress of the advent calendars, and one day of energy crash, Stephen and I had a brilliant holiday at Wrea Head Hall. I'm so pleased. With the absolute hell that was last year we couldn't celebrate his 40th then, so we postponed it and celebrated it this year instead, with good news about dad and Davie before we went away, we could genuinely enjoy a bit of indulgence. For the first time in years Stephen got to spend his birthday doing exactly what he wanted to do (which was mostly eating! Full English breakfast, Fish and chips for lunch up the road at Whitby, along with an exceptionally windswept walk along the harbour front, then roast venison for dinner!)
As an added bonus, due to some confusion with our original booking, we were upgraded for free to the best suite in the hotel! Yes, that is a solid wood 4-poster bed in our room, and what you can't see is that it was so big it practically crossed time zones!
The view through that huge bay window, even on a cloudy November morning, was this:
Which I'm sure you can agree is beautiful.
But then look at what we woke up to on day 3:
Just the most brilliant holiday we could have hoped for.
On the final day we went to Bridlington, where I found the opportunity to buy my traditional holiday souvenir yarn at a little LYS called In Stitches. It doesn't need to be exciting yarn, just something that when I knit it up later will remind me of this trip. In this case it was 2 balls of King Cole ZigZag.
There was something penguin related from this holiday too, but I forgot to photograph it, so it will have to join the green wool in a future post.
Upon returning home we went straight to the supermarket to stock up on groceries. And penguins. Well, one penguin. It's a tradition for me now to buy myself a new penguin mug each winter, so this needed to be done (we can forget I already bought one back in October, right? October isn't winter!)
Advent days 9 & 10
Another Festive Cocktail candle, I think this is my favourite, or maybe All is Bright, but right now I'm especially liking this because I can smell it even with my snotty coldy nose.
The day 9 tea was actual tea. The blend is called "Christmas cake", and is made up of black tea, orange, apple, peach, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. I think I over brewed it and lost a fair bit of the subtle fruity flavour, but even with that the black tea wasn't overpowering, and it could just be that this damn cold is spoiling my ability to taste properly.
I love monochrome colourways, so I really love day 9's yarn too.
Another Christmas Cookie candle, not my favourite, but oddly I can smell the vanilla a bit more with the cold, maybe the snot filters out the excessive sweetness?
Another actual tea, called "Coconut Chai", which is a blend of black tea, ginger cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, and coconut. I'm saving this until I have more of my sense of taste back because it sounds so lovely!
Just look at that yarn! Beautiful bright turquoise and pink with little dark spots. I saw this colourway on someone else's instagram feed yesterday - #opaladventcalendar so I was really hoping it would come up in mine soon too!
The mitred squares blanket is starting to come together! It's actually kind of addictive. Although I've been wanting to make one of these for quite a while, I was concerned that it would suffer from Blanket Squares Ennui, where at some point during the process of knitting squares you just get bored of it. But I think that the way each square joins directly onto the others is helping to avoid this, as it just tessellates up so beautifully.
Wow! that took some doing! 5:20am... Err... 06:07 after edits! but now I can go to bed knowing that it's done. I wouldn't have slept anyway, due to a combination of my own increasing stress about things not done, and a poorly, snoring, coughing, gurgling Stephen lying next to me making me 70% worried about him, and 30% wishing he would shut up! I think I will actually sleep better having achieved something that needed to be done!
Night Night my dears!
