Month: August 2016

A Well-Spent #Retirement, or The Immaculate Lawn of My Lover’s Mother’s Lover. That second one sounds like a #magicalrealism novel. #summerholiday #intheNORTH #yorkshire #porkpiesforlunch #andgardentomatoes #andgardenraspberries #blueshoes #andpinkfingers

 

Postcard from the top (pretty much) of Malham Cove, where there is a top-notch limestone pavement (not pictured). What are pictured are a not-quite-knee-length pair of #socks in @westyorkshirespinners #BlueTit colourway, from the Signature #sockyarn range. Yes, my trousers were rolled this high the whole way. My outspoken grandma delights in my “bonny” (her word) calves; they are a legacy of mountain-biking in my early teenagehood, and come in pretty handy for climbing up hills. Hard to find knee-high boots to fit, but I’ve not done that for a while. ANYWAY happy Sunday evening. We are all on the right side of a fish supper from #Skipton, and rather sleepy. #handknittedsocks #wornoutconverse #malhamcove #northyorks #limestonepavement #geographygcse #lotsofsheep #stillnotsurewhatkind #needanusborneispy #summerholiday #intheNORTH

 

Unexpected treat on a stop in #Clapham, North Yorkshire — just off the #A65, transport fans — where Mr Words once went on a character-building school holiday that ended in not exactly a rescue, more of a retrieval. Anyway, we stopped there briefly, and saw this beauty of a #woolshop, @becksideyarns. Two floors of all kinds of yarns and colours, with an extensive selection of notions and accessories. Before Mr Words mounted his own retrieval mission, Child 2 and I picked out two skeins of chunky British wool from Artesano, which will be this winter’s stripey hats, and I then eyed up a great pool of self-patterning #sockyarn. But held firm. Sandra and her sister, Jenny, and I discussed the British wool industry: it hadn’t occurred to me before that so much #Britishwool is exported, and sold back to us as exotic Italian or Japanese imports, without a trace of its origin. Interesting. On another note, I feel my sheep-identification skills could be improved, and that this would introduce variety into the “look, there’s a sheep” distraction tactics. #knitter #knitting #placesyoucanbuywool #becksideyarns #lys #werenearlythere #looktheresasheep

 

Reception at the end of the garden! Big blue #Cumbrian skies, and the tiny start of a #sock, in coordinating blue & white, with a dash of #yellow, added by an enthusiastically painting child in the vicinity. The yellow will vanish in the wash, but until then it can hang out while the toe gains the rest of the sock. This pair are largely improvised, and include the famous #FishLipsKissHeel, which @vinca56 was very enthusiastic about on the train to Paris last week (doesn’t that sound cosmopolitan?) She kindly gifted me the pattern, which runs to a lot of pages but contains the most memorable heel I’ve yet knitted — and for just $1. I thought the gusset&flap style was the only sort that accommodated high insteps, but the FLK fits like a (foot)glove [Ed: don’t you mean sock?] Happy Friday, wherever/whenever you are: May yours contain your favourite kind of sky, proximity to your people and quality time with your yarn. #summersockskal #sockknitting #sockknitter #sockysocksocks #handknitsocks #handpaintedyarn #knitting #knitter #lyingonalawn #listeningtosheep #andthewindinthetrees

 

Five more hours of passengerhood left today, and this ball of The #Cryptozoologist Unicorn Sock yarn, which I think was part of a @yantantetherayarns dye club in March last year. Or maybe the year before. The colourway is Lichen Licked, with flecks of mustardy lichen among the oxidised copper. One of my art & design GCSE projects was a Hockney-esque photo montage of Pittville Pump Room, all shades of Regency stone and this #turquoise. So that’s why I bought it, whenever it was. Now it is one of those infamous secret test knits, which is getting a good crack today courtesy of the M1 and its delays. Side fact: we have been singing along to The Bends, and as we reached the chorus of Hugh & Dry, we passed a lorry with High & Dry in huge letters on it. #Coincimental. #knitter #knitting #knittersofinstagram #sockknitter #summersockskal #sockknitting #m1 #placesyoucanknit #radiohead #1995 #theNORTH #inGoTstyle

 

Fridays are Child 2 days. Less discussion of suitably invisible decreases, and high-twist BFL v merino/nylon blends, more on the difference between bird poo and fox poo, when earth becomes mud, and why three-year-olds don’t need #coffee. There’s only one more year of this before she starts school, and I will miss it like billy-o*. #child2fridays #cafelife *a lot.

 

And now, bonne nuit. Tomorrow I shall play with the new lovely things and read all your comments. Thank you for coming along on the #grandknitout –here’s to the next one! The #4plycooperative began with four of us, but like a good bit of ribbing, it stretches to fit. Eight #knitters today — will you be there next time? #knitter #10rowstogo #10toomany #thesockcanwait #zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

🎵Reasons to be cheerful: a #yellow #foot🎵 #justmysize #4plycooperativeontour #grandknitout #paris #laststopinparis #ahahahaha #marieetbenoit #grey #yellow #grellow #yellowisitmeyourelookingfor #readeriboughtit

 

Other colour yarns are available… Outside @labienaimee, with Aimee herself and @julieknitsinparis, designer of the #CosmicDandy that all three of us are sporting. Can you see how excited I am? Can you? #grandknitout #4plycooperativeontour #onesizefitsall

 

🎵People all over the world/ Join hands/ Start a #knitlove train, love train🎵 @vinca56, @little__greygirl and I have #coffee, #yarn, a #banana, and a lovely train journey ahead of us. And if that weren’t enough, we will then meet up with @ofblithespirit, @psychoknitter, @fromcinthia @boudoirstitches and @little_emmab, and commence the LYS-visiting (first stop @labienaimee and @julieknitsinparis) and traditional #Paris activities. Can’t quite believe how idle “let’s meet up in Paris” chat has evolved into reality. Step by step, stitch by stitch, #Eurostar booking by Eurostar booking. Big love to @louisetilbrookdesigns — we will be toasting you all day, and sending you useful vibes and ❤️. Happy Thursday everyone, may yours have #knitting, #friends and #dreams in it. #knitter #bananaface #shouldhavegotabendierone #4plycooperative #4plycooperativeontour #londontoparis #wooltolaine #knittotricot #knittylove #international #interknitional #grandknitout