Misty Mountain

Morning Memories, Happy Beltaine and an Anniversary

Merry Beltaine!

So... today himself and I have been together for twenty years!  Beltaine twenty years ago.  A walk in Swithland Woods, a dinner of cheese and onion pie, jersey royal new potatoes and salad and an evening ritual in himself's front room.

This morning we got up for the sunrise and saluted it out in the garden with himself standing on the picnic table to do his pipe ceremony!  I did not stand on the picnic table, I kept my feet firmly on the ground.

Then we retreated to the big sitting room, listened to Runrig belt out Maymorning (probably the best Beltaine song ever) and realised that we were sitting in a room full of memories.

Anniversary or age?  We weren't sure but for some reason we were surrounded by ghosts.  The candle flames were absolutely still, a near miracle in a hundred and thirty year old house full of drafts and I prayed that the omens were good for another twenty years.

  It is a damp May Day here so our walking will be limited but I don't really mind that too much.  I have plenty of crochet on the hook :)  And this evening our two friends from up the road are taking us out to Sosban for dinner.

Now I think clothing might be in order then when it finally stops raining we can go out.

Have a great Beltaine all!  O. xx

Wonderwool and Happy Holidays

I am having a really good holiday!  I needed it.  Exhaustion was beginning to set in and it has been good to get a break.  The weather hasn't exactly been brilliant most of the time but it hasn't really mattered too much.  I'm just as happy sat at home with me crocheting and Miss Marple on the TV as I am out walking with himself and the dog.  I've gotten quite a lot done.  Some baby stuff finished, a couple of garments finished for me, and other stuff started on the hook already.

The magnolia has been in bloom over the last week or so...

I am no gardener but I love my magnolia tree; and my jugs of tulips.

And yes that is Miss Marple on the TV.

So... yesterday was Wonderwool!  One of the highlight days out of the year.  It has all been a bit strange actually, because usually Wonderwool Sunday kicks off my holiday, but this year it fell in the middle of it.  Also this year I took my friend and neighbour with me.  Our Stitch 'n' bitch group has grown this past year and we needed to take two cars so I invited my friend along on an impulse and then spend time worrying that she would be bored witless, I needn't have worried.  :)

It was a bit of a grey and rainy day, which is a shame because the drive is a lovely one.  We left early, as usual, and met up in Llandeilo, as usual.  There is something strangely comforting about this familiar routine, just as I love knowing that we will probably do the same thing again next year!

Wonderwool was bigger this year, they had added an extra hall and there was a truly splendid amount to see.

I indulged in my on going love affair with Alpacas...

What an utterly cute fringe!

People manage to create some of the most amazing things...

And I just absolutely loved this dragon!

There were some excellent stalls, with fabulous yarn and some amazing crafted items that I stupidly didn't take pictures of and it was good to catch up with some of my favourite suppliers.  I spent a good while hanging out with Amanda and Phil from The Natural Dye Studio and had a good chat with Jon at Easyknits and of course I bought stuff.  I was very organised this year.  I had a notebook with the yarn requirements for 5 patterns in it and I only allowed myself a couple of 'inpulse extras.'  I also wanted a couple of specific items that were not actual yarn itself, a yarn bowl and a blocking kit.  Well there were no blocking kits to be had anywhere (so I ordered one on line when I got home) but I did get a lovely yarn bowl and a rather handsome oak Yarn Pal, both of which will stop balls of yarn rolling across the carpet collecting dog hair, or being collected by the dog!

So here is the Wonderwool booty in all it's glory.

Pink silk from Willowknits, yellow blue faced leicester and silk mix from Sparkleduck, some gorgeous cream alpaca from Toft Alpacas (the ones in the picture above), my lovely yarn bowl, (already in use) and some merino silk blend from Fivemoons Yarn.

On the other side...

Some rainbow dyed silk and blue faced Leicester from The Natural Dye Studio and some fabulous pink Splendour (blue faced Leicester and silk mix) from Easyknits and of course my lovely oak yarn pal.

And finally in the middle... some really fun stuff from Tile Productions that I just loved to bits!

The "Yarn is cheaper than therapy" one is really for himself!  Just sayin'.

As usual it was a "grand day out."  I came home tired but satisfied that I had spent my money on yarn that would get used rather than just random odd skeins I might love but spend the next year wondering what to do with.

Now I must go and find a basket for all my yummy new yarn!

O. xx

 

And Finally!

Last seasonal post, on the last day of my holiday.  We have been slowly packing away Christmas over the last couple of days.  Like always once New Year celebrations are over, I was ready for it to be put away.  Surfaces need dusting and space needs to be reclaimed, but before everything is packed away into its carefully labelled boxes and put back into the loft for another year, there is one last ta-dah!

Last year I gave in to a crafty urge and made some Christmas bunting.

I loved it to bits, but much as I loved the lights hanging where the picture usually hangs, I wanted something else crafty on the wall for Christmas.  We always put the tree in the other sitting room, which tends to mean that that the "den" where we sit to watch TV in an evening always had only the cards and a few odd Christmas ornaments, which seemed a shame when we put so much effort into decorating other 'less useed' rooms of the house.  So I decided to follow Lucy's example and set about making us a crochet Christmas wreath.  I made all the various component parts after Christmas last year, but put them away, when other projects became more pressing.  But I was determined to have my wreath... So as soon as I was on holiday for Christmas this year, I got all the various bits and pieces that I'd made out of their box and carefully assembled my very own crochet Christmas wreath...

Sewing everything in place wasn't easy and there were a few rather rude words filling the air but it was so worth it.

Close up!

And then, once the rest of the Christmas trimmings were up, in situ...

Love, love, love, love, love it!  Yes, perhaps it could have done with being the next size bigger but I really wasn't going to worry about that when it turned out so beautifully.

Will I ever make another?  Could I do what Lucy has done and make a wreath for each season?  I'm not sure I really have the patience but I might decide to give it a go.  For now though, I'm content with this one as I put it away in the special round box I bought to store it in, knowing I can look forward to taking it out again next Christmas!

2014 - A New Year

I guess this is not really the first post of 2014, more like the last post of 2013.  Whilst I am not usually one for getting sentimental about the passing of the year and I can't really say that 2013 was a 'great year' or anything, I was somewhat reluctant to let it go.  There are changes due to happen immediately in 2014 that I am not really looking forward to and it was nice to have a long-ish holiday where I was, for a while at least, able to continue to live in my cosy little world.  Now with only a day and a half left of my holiday I have to emerge from my cocoon and face the reality of life.  Ah well, what will be will be, we'll cope, I guess.

So... it has been a slendid Winter Festival!  Full of "pointed setters" as they are affectionately referred to in this house.

Twigs covered in teeny tiny baubles 

I always wanted to try this and I was very happy with the results...

A pretty tree...

With pretty blue lights

Bowls full of pretty baubles...

Pretty flowers all over the house...

Lots of candles

A shiny table set, ready for good food!

And with good food on it, waiting to be eaten!

And yummy drinks just waiting to be drunk!

And lovely walks - when the dreadful weather permitted of course...

It has been a splendidly relaxing holiday, quiet and peaceful, apart from the weather of course! And I have loved every day of it.  So yesterday I finally got out my gorgeous new diary...

And started 2014.

With a new crochet project on the hook... :)

Ta-dah number 3

Probably the favourite thing I have made all year...

The pattern is Jewel by Doris Chan from her book "Everyday Crochet" and I absolutely love it.  The yarn is Splendour by Easyknits and the colourway (which I couldn't resist) is Tutti Frutti.  It really works and both the pattern and the yarn are a joy to work with.

If anyone ever wants to learn to crochet garments then Doris Chan is the way to go.  Her top down style of design means that you can try on as you work and results in clothing that fits... And she goes up to splendidly big sizes for those of us not built on the petite and skinny side.

I made a slight pattern adjustment and added a different neck band from one of the other patterns in the same book.

I wore the top for my visit to Yarndale in September and as you can see from the pictures it's been worn a fair few times since!

Waterfalls!

I decided a few weeks ago that this was to be the holiday of Welsh Waterfalls.  There are quite a few of them and we have lived here too long not to have visited at least some.  So a bit of Google research and I discovered that we live within an hour of Waterfall Country on the edge of the Brecon Beacons - so that was it, our days out were decided.  Now all we needed was some half decent weather and to be able to persuade Phaolin into the new car!  Well the weather duly obliged and we have had some splended walking days... And the dog?  Well lets just say he will get in the car with a lot of encouragement from himself and I (I bought him a hammock for the back seat) and once in, he tolerates the journey as best he can.

So last week we set out on our first waterfall adventure and headed for the Waterfalls Centre at Pontneddfechan.  Our day began early as our days usually do.  Picnics are an essential part of walking with a large dog.  We can't go 'into' cafes and you can't always guarantee that there will be outdoor tables or that pubs will deign to serve food outside even if there are, so we learned early on to take picnics and cater for ourselves.  We cooked up our standard picnic fare of sausages, (pork and leek for me, vegetarian for himself) hard boiled eggs, soft bread rolls, cheese of some kind, home grown cherry tomatoes, and something sweet, on this occasion Twix for me and an Eccles cake for himself.  And we were ready to go...

There are three fairly major waterfall walks in the area around the centre and in my usual inimitable style I decided we would try the hardest one first.  So after a quick call into the centre to buy a map and a set of guides we followed the road out of the village and up the mountain and eventually (after 3 tries) found the car park we had been advised to start from.

We were following the Four Falls trail (we actually only saw two, deciding to leave two for another visit) which is described as needing a spirit of adventure to tackle!  And I would say that was accurate!

I have a balance problem and the first thing I did when we got home after this walk was order some trekking poles off Amazon!

However, it is a truly lovely walk along the river...

 Especially for inquisitive little malamutes!

It is also a very long walk when encumbered with wobbly woman and dog... but we finally made it along the initial trail to the bridge. (More about this **** bridge in the next post!)

And stopped for a drink and a brief consult with a signpost and the map.

If there is a choice of trails I can usually be guaranteed to pick the harder one and this was no exception.  The real trail wended away from the river and up, I decided to follow the lower one along the river and left us with a steep climb over rough ground to get back up on to the right path so needless to say there are no pictures as I cannot climb and take pictures without risking serious injury and himself wasn't too keen on that.

Eventually though we made it to the first waterfall.  Sgwd Clun Gwyn is an actual fall rather than a cascade into a pool below...

There are no pictures of the falls taken from further round because the viewing area isn't exactly fenced and himself was having kittens every time I went within 3 feet of the edge.  Wobbly woman remember.

By this time the path was starting to get a little busier.  Schools are back so we were walking in the company of either other professionals taking their annual vacation or small groups of retired folks who I swear were part mountain goat!

The trail wound up through the trees...

Some of which were very interesting...

It was a really glorious day, warm but not too hot for walking.

With some interesting peeks at the views that would probably be more visible on crisp winter day.

As we tramped on through the trees we decided to bypass two of the falls that required a detour off the main track that the sign said was fifteen minutes which for us would have meant half an hour each way.  So we headed directly to our final destination. Sgwd yr Eira, a rather splended waterfall with a very interesting feature.

To reach the falls you have to wind your way down the steep valley side to the river at the bottom and it is not the easiest of paths but oh so worth the effort.

On reaching the river bed this is what you see!

 To be honest, by this point we were all feeling a little wobbly so we decided that sitting on a large rock, in the warm sun, by the river was the perfect place to have lunch as we listened to the roar from the falls.

But there was something I wanted to do first, so I left himself and Phaolin in their lunch spot and headed along the river to do something I've never done before.  The water plunges over a ledge into the river.

And if you pick your way carefully over the stones towards the water you discover that the path goes all the way

behind the falls... and that was where I was headed.  It's a tricky path and a nice lady had to hold my camera for me while I clambered somewhat unsteadily over the rocks but I made it and it was really rather incredible.

The following sequence of pictures were all taken from behind the water looking out, back along the river...

Eventually I found my way out the other side of the falls...

Once I had all the pictures I wanted I clambered my way back behind the falls and along the river to himself and Phaolin and sat down for a very very welcome lunch.  I needed the fuel for the return journey!

It was a long walk back along the trail to the car park and we were all done in by the time we got there!  Poor old Phaolin didn't even have the energy to climb into the car and had to be lifted into his back seat hammock!

We drove home tired out but very satisfied with a truly splendid day out!

Peace, quiet, relaxation and a new car!

There are fressias in my bathrooms, roses on my kitchen table, calla lillies on my mantle, and even a dinky little vase on my bedside table, crochet and knitting magazines on my couch, raspberries, balckberries and strawberries in my fridge, interesting drinks (cherry wine) in my drinks cabinet and a new crochet project already well on its way to comletion... I'm on holiday!!  \o/ Yay! Three glorious weeks free from emails, crises, conference calls, IT and all the rest of the gubbins that goes with doing a demanding full time job!

My holiday actually started last Friday.  I slept in, actually slept for 5 hours woke up and then dozed for another 2 and spent the day pottering around, ironing, cleaning, crocheting and relaxing.  I repeated the same routine on Saturday, then on Sunday I got myself in gear and went and did the holiday shopping.  That was where the raspberries and blackberries came from and of course the magazines...

I only ever buy magazines when I'm on holiday becasue I don't have time to read them any other time.   There are some good patterns in these three and some excellent yarn sites I shall be visiting.  It's thanks to a magazine that I discovered Easyknits and the lovely John, a splended source of some of the most wonderful yarn I have in my stash.

Yesterday I went to the opticians for an eye test and ordered two new pairs of glasses.  Last time I had problems finding even one set of frames that I liked, this time, platsic frames are apparently back in fashion and before I knew it I had 8 frames in my hands to pick from.  I finally managed to narrow it down to 2, a big bright one from Osiris and a wonderful quirky one from Gok Wan.  My current frames are Gok's and they have been wonderfully comfortable and very hard wearing for the last 2 years.  So that was that done, I managed some other errands in town too before driving home in my lovely new car...

My first ever brand new car!  Never had a brand new car before, I've always bought second hand or ex-demonstrators so getting a totally new car has been kinda exciting.  I got a brilliant deal from the garage, but, I was still incredibly sad to see the old car go.  It was an excellent car, a Citroen Picasso, never once let me down, but it was 10 years old and had over ninety thousand miles on the clock and to be honest, it was starting to sound terribly rattley whenever we drove it.  So I bought another Citroen, in the hopes that it will be just as reliable.  A smaller car, diesel, with zero road tax, a 'special edition' with some great features, like bluetooth so that I can make calls directly from the car and listen to music from the iPhone/iPod, cruise control and a speed limiter which, in theory, should stop me getting done for speeding on the long drives up to see the folks.  It is incredibly comfortable to drive but it just needed that little personal touch to make it entirely mine, so I set about making something...

Yes - even the car has become part of my quest to live inside my own personal rainbow!!  I'll probably make more for it, seat covers etc in the coming months, but for now I'm happy with my new steering wheel cover!

Of course being on holiday there has to be new crochet and knitting projects on the go...

I have just one sleeve to go on a new crochet top, a couple of knitted face cloths underway and in the basket above the start of the Christmas knitting.  Aren't those needles hilarious?  15mm needles, it's like knitting with a pair of pokers.  I am using the Texere yarn I got at Wonderwool shown in my Wonderwool post here and one of their novelty scarf patterns.  It's kinda fun in a wierd sort of way!

As the weather is pretty decent we are trying to get out and about this holiday and have already had a couple of outings which I will write about in the next post or so.  Meanwhile here are more of my lovely flowers...

 

 

Sunshine weekend, The Ashes, bunting triangles and a blanket

So it was another week of blisteringly hot weather!  Whilst I am not quite ready for it to be Autumn yet there were a couple of days this week when I wouldn't have minded it being a few degrees cooler.  I find the heat very draining and so good intentions to 'get stuff done' fall by the wayside in a puddle of melting ambition and depleted energy and at times a feeling of being almost ill.  I do not do well in the heat it seems.

The work week was busy as ever, and I am still getting used to not having to look over my shoulder anymore after what happened a few weeks ago. Now I just think that it's sad that a person's major contribution to other people's job satisfaction is to leave, but it is oddly satisfying when other colleagues go out of their way to tell me how much they value what I do and that it was only a matter of time before things swung around again.  I don't expect the current peace to last but it is extremely good to not be feeling on edge and worried all the time.

Life has it's ups and downs and this last few weeks have been specially down for one of my closest and oldest friends.  I can't say that other folks problems don't affect me because when it's someone I care deeply about they do.  I wish there was a way to fix everything for everyone, but sadly I have no magic wand, just an available ear, the capacity and strength to ask the hard questions and the offer of a place to run to should it become necessary.  

So it has been a contemplative week, reflective and strangely peacful here on Misty Mountain...

at the house in the trees.  I always think the contrast between our rampant over grown trees and my neighbours well manicured lawns is oddly amusing.

The weekend has actually been very restful despite the heat.  Helped of course by the start of the second test of The Ashes series on Thursday.  My enjoyment of cricket is one of the few things I share with my Father, so it is always cool fun to call him at close of play, or lunch or tea to discuss the day's cricketing events.  Helped of course by the fact that several of the current team's stars are Yorkshire men!  Saturday was truly glorious and I shared a couple of excited enthusiastic calls with Dad where we talked about Yorkshire vs Australia and the fact that Joe Root doesn't look old enough to be out of short trousers let alone scoring a hundred and eighty at Lords!

This morning we did our usual hot Sunday thing of getting up early and heading out to the beach with Phaolin so he could have a good walk before it got too hot for him to want to do any more than make a den in the shady bushes in the garden and lie in it for the rest of the day trying to keep cool.

This morning we went the other way, from the car park and along the pier to the newly painted lighthouse...

Looking very smart and rather sparkly in the morning sun.

There were a few more clouds in the view looking over the Gower this weekend. 

And a little boy who has limited patience with all this view gazing lark and who is raring to get on with HIS walk along the beach.

So we put cameras/iPhones away and headed off for a stroll in my case, run and bound in Phaolin's case along the beach.  There was much sniffing, some paddling and of course lots and lots of hole digging.  (We gave up on the garden years ago when we realised Phaolin wasn't ever going to stop digging large holes in everything he could dig holes in including lawns, flower beds, herb gardens and shrubbery.)  Malamutes are world champion diggers and the beach is the perfect place for Phaolin to get the days digging requirement out of his system!

After the beach we strolled past Shoreline, the rather grand caravan park hidden down by the beach behind the pickle factory.  Yes I do mean the pickle factory, Parsons Pickles of Burry Port to be exact.  Seriously good pickles if you like pickles, which I do.  Walking past the really quite lovely static caravans at Shoreline always makes me wonder... should we invest in one, would it be worth it. We had a caravan at Swithland Woods when we lived in Leicestershire and it made for some great memories... or would it just be another overhead I can do without in these days of tenuous job security at best?

Anyway after the beach and the dunes and the caravans we walked back across the park past the pretty coloured houses to the car.

And home for a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea for breakfast before it got too hot!  And another day of cricket watching and crocheting.

And speaking of crocheting I promised a propoer 'ta-dah' post for Tara's blanket so...

After the girl's (Tara and her girlfriend) had been home at Christmas and showed us all the pictures and plans for their new house in Brussells himself asked if I would crochet them a blanket so he could take it as a housewarming present when he went over.  Yes, I said, of course, no problem, crocheting blankets is what I do!  So I looked at the various pictures we had of the house and the new furniture and realised everything was very modern and... white... Well I could make a white blanket but the practicalities of using it and constantly washing it made it seem pointless.  The only colour I had to go on was the rusty orange of the draft stopper they had asked for for Christmas.  I thought about making something like a Flowers in the Snow blanket but that requires a variety of bright colours set off by the white border and I wasnt sure that a rainbow of bright colours was really the way to go.  Bright colours in large varieties did not really seem to be the girls thing.  So on a trip to Cardiff with a friend earlier in the year I took a punt and bought some Rowan baby merino silk dk in cantaloupe, strawberry and sunshine.  The strawberry and cantaloupe were the colours of the Christmas draft stopper. Then I decided on Lucy's Interlocking Ripple pattern and got to work.

Here is the result!

I was so happy with the way this came out.  Here it is on our bed!

And a close up of the white border.

Himself took the blanket with him when he went to Belgium at the start of the month.  I will admit that I was vrey nervous as to how it would be received.  I am very aware that not everyone likes hand made things, many people consider them a cheap alternative when you can't affford to buy something rather than the labour of love they actually are. So I was really chuffed to receive a very enthusiastic thank-you phone call after he had handed it over, pointing out that the colours I had been so concerned about toned in perfectly with the natural wooden floors throughout the house.  But what really had me dancing with glee was when the girls called the other week and talked about how lovely it was to sit side by side on their new couch late in the evening watching TV snuggled together under their handmade blanket!  I was just so pleased!!  I have since received a lovely thank-you card so I am pretty sure my work is well appreciated.  It's kind of a good thing seeing as I have already made their Christmas presents for this year!

And one final picture of the blanket all folded up ready to head to its new and very appreciateve home.

The other thing I managed to get done was my Yarndale bunting.  I only did a few triangles because I had real problems with the tension but I was rather pleased with how they came out.

I need to get them in the post this week now there is an address to send them to.  Not going to bother to try and personalise them. I am sure I'll have better things to do that weekend than spend time trying to spot one of my triangles amidst the thousands that will be fluttering at the Yarndale venue.  I am strangely looking forward to my solo visit back to the Dales.  It's been years!  I will stop off at the folks on the way and then head off to Skipton on the Friday.  I'm staying at the the Woolly Sheep.  I really couldn't resist, although its actually a pub and I'm a bit concerned about how good the accomodation will actually be, but I figured I'm going for the event and to see the Dales again not to spend hours in my room!

Well the weekend is nearly over so I'm going finish off my weekend jug of Pimms.

And settle down for a bit more hooky time before bed.  So I'll leave you with another picture from our morning walk.

 O. xx

Nothing but blue skies...

What glorious weather!!  So much to post about and yet so little time to actually post about it all. Splendid weekend, England going okay in the Ashes and something happened at work a week ago that has made life much improved, for now anyway and I finally finished Tara's blanket but I think it deserves a post all to itself because I really am very please with the way it came out.

The above was taken yesterday morning on our walk.  We left it too late, my fault entirely, and by the time we were halfway along our usual walk on the coastal path it was far too hot for Phaolin so we turned around and came back.

A very hot dog, just before we turned around and headed back.

Needless to say I spent the rest of the day with my lovely crochet, in front of the Ashes.  Got a bit worried there for a while but the latter end of the day picked up tremendously.

And so, not wanting to make the same mistake as yesteday we were up at 6am today and by 7 we were on our way to the sea for an early morning walk in the cool(er) part of the day.

We parked the car and headed towards the marina... I didn't have my camera with me so these pictures were all taken with my iPhone!

Which looked really lovely and sparkly in the early morning sun.

Round the marina and down on to the beach where Phaolin wasted no time in finding a 'paddling pool' to cool his hot doggy paws.

The tide was out so we didn't go right down to the sea, it wasn't really necessary when there were plenty of pools and channels for Phaolin to play in.

Because it was so early we had the beach mainly to ourselves...

It really was a beautiful morning...

The view across the bay to the Gower Peninsula...

Back towards the lighthouse and pier at Burry Port...

And further round you can just see the taller masts from the marina...

Finally it was time for a drink and to turn round and head back along the coastal path towards the car.

A quick look back towards the Gower...

And then it was back to the car and home for breakfast in the garden with an early treat of one of the classic tastes of Summer...

And a brand new crochet project - well 2 actually... aren't those colours absolutely yummy!

O. xx

Wonderwool Wales 2013

What a splendid day!  I guess it really is an annual highlight, a day I always look forward to and manage to enjoy regardless of the weather, or anything else.  Well after the freezing temperatures and incessant rain of last year this year's Wonderwool was very pleasant.  We had an early start.  I left home at 8am to meet my 'Stitch 'n' Bitch friends at Llandeilo wearing my new cardigan, featured at the end of the previous post, and a newish made Harmony Shawl.  I had been to the Post Office on Friday to get some cash to spend, but decided once I arrived in Llandeilo that I might need more so I stopped off at the cashpoint and my instincts proved to be correct.

We all piled into one car and continued on our merry way chattering and laughing as usual and arrived early.  There was a queue to get in!  It didn't hamper a speedy entrance but we had never managed to be quite so early before.  Anyway, we started with a cup of coffee, arranged where we would meet up for lumch and then off we went on our separate ways to look, and talk and of course spend.

So... here it is... my Wonderwool booty laid out on the bed in all it's glory!

I had gone determined to be disciplined this year.  In previous years I have bought gorgeous yarn, but often only one or two skeins and there is a limit to the number of hats, scarves, gloves and small shawls anyone needs.  So this year I was determined to buy at least some yarn in sufficient quantity to make garments with and I'm a big girl so I need a lot of yarn!

So starting from left to right...

2 lovely skeins from Willow Knits, so soft and silky

Recycled sari silk for making bags and some Opal sock yarn because it was pink!

The usual rainbow of mohair from Mobear and down at the front some sock yarn from Sparkleduck which I love, some lovely soft alpaca in blue and a pink/grey brown mix from Alexandria Alpacas and in the middle of this picture two piles of gorgeous yarn from Jon at Easyknits.  I will admit that this latter was one of the items I had gone specifically to get.  That pink is truly fabulous and I wish I had bought the plain peachy shade to match the variegated Splendour silk mix.  In fact I may just go check out the website and see if they have any...  Finally some more of those fabulous buttons I discovered last year on the far left of the pic.  Jon's partner also let me have a load of their fabulous patterns.  I was a very lucky lady!

Next...

Some Jester yarn with it's added random pom poms, no idea what I'm going to make with it but it just completely intrigued me!  Some more sock yarn, because I liked the colours and a pattern for a domino knitted cardigan that I will have to adapt and then some to get it to fit me (I think the biggest size is 42" bust which a good 6 inches too small, I did say I was a big girl.) but I already have a lot of Opal Say it with Flowers sock yarn to use on it and as it's modular it should be adaptable if I can just be patient enough to knit all the darn squares!  Below that is some fabulous cotton in a vivid peachy pink from Bulldog Crafts.  I have been wanting to make myself Jewel by Doris Chan for some time now, but I want it to be a top and not come out as a sweater so finding the right cotton yarn is vitial for it to have the right drape and be something that I can wear next to my skin and this cotton is exactly right!  I will probably have to do some serious swatching to get the right guage but I can handle that if the top comes out okay.  I am also going to try the same top in the bright pink merino I got from Easyknits.  In the middle is the bargain mohair I got from Texere Yarns.  10 balls for £20 for making christmas scarves with. 

Next...

The Natural Dye Studio on the right, patterns and some aran and dk and finally some fabulous yarn from The Old Piggery and Alpaca/Cashmere/Silk blend that is incredibly soft and for which I have plans for a knitted shawl and couple of fingerless glove kits that I bought for the patterns because I loved them.

Finally...

I simply couldn't resist this!  He's so soft and gorgeous and I love him to bits and I've decided to call him Aloysius.  Aloysius Alpaca!

It really was a splendid day.  Lovely to meet up with all the folks who's yarn I buy avidly on line, especially Jon and his partner from Easyknits and Amanda and Phil from the Natural Dye Studio. 

Well I guess I'd better go get on with some crochet.  Need to finish one or two projects so that I can start using my lovely new yarn.

Love O. xx