Going for a walk - fancy coming along?

Today at work was hectic - in a good way - but by lunch time I was desperate for some time out. Want to come along with me?

Well, firstly, after walking through some really narrow twiddly lanes through old Settle town, I popped in for a bit of culture - at the Gallery on the Green, where there is an exhibition of Chinese brushwork by Chris Newson.

I spent a very happy 10 minutes watching the powerpoint slide show of work and had a good look at the art work on display.
I've visited this little gallery before and blogged about it in my previous blog  -  this little gallery is a phone box!

The art work is changed regularly and is sourced from local artists - it is such a quirky and fun way to interact with art in a small and personal way.

Having sated my curiosity, I set off again. Heading for Brockhole Lane - known locally as watery lane.

I paused briefly to admire the allotments on the lane and to smile at its name.

The sky was heavy all round, threatening rain but I was lucky and walked in brilliant sunshine

The further I went, the wetter the track - the lane lives up to its pet name.

 

As I reached a bend in the lane, the water had stopped being puddles and started to be a little stream

Then the stream turned into a river - Brockhole (watery) lane shares a short stretch with a brisk bubbling beck. Only passable in a car or on horse back and for those on foot, a raised stony path next to the wall is just about the driest route.

Water gushes out from beneath the large slab - I peered over the wall to see where the stream was coming from. All I saw was grass! No sign of the source, it must come from deep beneath the earth,

The river then suddenly turned off the lane through a special 'smoot' and disappeared into the field. Gone.

I walked along the raised stony path to the end of the ford and turned to take more pictures.

How lucky am I? 

I work in that huddle of buildings at the base of those hills. 

 Time to return to work - feeling refreshed and fully charged for the afternoon.

Tomorrow I start my annual Heart-a-thon! Curious? Well pop back and see what goes on :) Join if you fancy.

Friday tomorrow - Woo hoo!!

knitting and frogging

Remember this?

Well, it became this..............

Why? well, I followed the instructions to the T. The width of the scarf when I cast on seemed a bit - well too wide, but once the cabelling kicked in - it became - well - too narrow. Very, very, very narrow. And HARD. Such a 'strong' fabric that it could stand up for itself!!  

So, frogging number one happened. Larger needles. Almost identical ending, only STRONGER!

SO - frogging no. 2 occurred.

Same needles, with an additional 12 stitches to make an whole cable patten extra. This should have worked. But didn't.

Not only do you have to cable the knitting but the entire scarf is also knit with a K1 P1 repetition to make the scarf have two 'fronts'. And for some reason, I could not make it work with the additional 12 stitches.

Yup - you guessed it - 

Frogging no. 3.

So....New pattern, new needle size, double the ply. Try again. And?

Yup...frogging no 4.


Now, new needles, reduce the ply and...and...and?
sssshhh - so far so good..............but time will tell :)

PS...edited to add - I have since frogged that back too........COMPLETE change of mind and design.....trying something else (AGAIN!)

Box of delight (a prickly one)

Still on the quest to reduce and declutter, I brought a box home to start putting in things to take to the charity shop.

Except someone small and grumpy (coz I kept lifting her out of the box) decided that the box is HERS! 

Her look says it all - remove me at your peril................

In which one more layer of clothing would not have gone amiss....

Himself decided that, as this was possibly the last bit of decent snow of the season, we should set off over the fields and hills for walk up on the moors on Saturday.

The lanes were filled to the brim with drifting snow, thick and deep. We watched a while as a tractor excavated a way down to the village.

We met some sheep that had just been fed - they were not about to give up their meal, so I was able to get some lovely close faces.

 We continued up a track through a farm we know - the depth of the snow in their lane amazed the boys but in reality it must have been quite isolated up there for a day or two.

 I love the monochrome contrasts that water and snow create.

Something small that made me smile :) We have been walking this route on and off since 1989, but this was the first time we noticed this latch. Was it recently added? Or has it always been there and we have been blind to it's charm and quirky use? 

Who knows.

As beautiful as it was, I was very cold. Youngest and I both got wet feet (the snow was slushy and we dropped into a hidden stream, soaking through our boots) and the last bit of our walk was a bit of a struggle.

Once home there was nothing like a steaming pot of tea and home made sticky toffee ginger cake to make things better, aah - yum xx

Donkeys, pagan mama and knitting - what more could I ask for?!

Thank you so much you lovely kind people for your wonderful feedback about my ever-so-favourite-ever-ever hat! It is so delicious and warm and snug and it is definately proving its worth as I took it out walking again at lunch time and I had such roasty toasty head :)

Andria and Ju24 I definitely recommend making it, it was super easy. I did start off using dpns but the yarn I was knitting with is heavy so the stitches kept slipping off the needles. I changed to a circular needle until I was doing the decreasing then returned to the dpns. Well worth it.

Threads through my life - I certainly think this one is right up your street and if you promise not to 'adopt' it, you can try it on!

Jak, Angela, Amanda and Thursday - thank you very much!

I was invited by a work colleague to join her in a lunch time walk, so we wrapped up warmly and set off out into the snow - and it was worth it! A short brisk walk through the town and out the other side in a matter of minutes and straight up an old drovers track. We stopped off to chat to two donkeys, I loved their coats, especially the spotty one.

We carried on up the lane where chatted to a farmer who'd struggled up the same lane to feed his sheep.

And at the top - we stopped to puff and pant and almost instantly - we made a snow-wo-man! A powerful symbol - a sort of cross between a pagan mama, Boudicca and the queen - and we laughed and laughed and our hands went slapped lobster pink and stung painfully with the cold, but it was so much fun.

We only just got back to work in time, the return journey was a little slippery and a delightful shop called Serendipity called us in and..... oh what a delightful little treasure trove this turned out to be :) !

Final bit of waffle - I'm knitting again....................

Happy?
Yup.

Super Wurm!

Oh beloved new hat of mine,
you are so snug and warm.♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

You caress my head and keep it oh so roasty-toasty.

You sit heavily and snuggly on my brow and back of neck, like a duvet.

The bitterly cold wind whipped around yet I felt deep and cosy in your yarny embrace

I am sure I heard you purring (or was that me)♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 But coz I know you ask....

Yarn - Silenzio Color 4 x 50gm (4 x 60m)
Needle size - 4mm
Love? Oh totally and utterly!
Details and pattern HERE

What's a cat gotta do?

What does a catling do when she is feeling a little catatonic?

When the weather is catastrophically cold?

When being imprisoned in a house serves as a catalyst to create a severe dose of couch 'catato-ism'?

Well, it means that being chief felis domestica (with four full time staff members) you get to use the laptop with your own personally heated seat and a self driven mouse.......

Oh what it is to be the top cat. Bliss.

Lunch time walk

A walk in a few words

A snowy seat - facing a lovely view - too cold to stop for long

A brave push for spring - a bit too early

Flowers, for someone gone but not forgotten

A slippery lane - perfect for a lunch break walk

Young blue faced Leicesters watching me watching them

How long had this gate lingered here?

Time to turn around - got to get back to work, the weather is turning and I am bitterly cold

the lane back to Settle

 Wonderful.

And I wore my new knitted hat - it is super warm and I am super happy with it - just need to get some photos to show. More snow is predicted this weekend so I shall certainly taking my hat for a walk.

A gift for myself (and my sister in law!)

With chrimbly time, school hols and new job, I never got round to show and share this glorious book I bought myself and my fav sis-in-law. It arrived with a thud through the post box mid December and I had such a terrible time keeping it secret and I did so want to show my sister-in-law but I had to keep the suspense until I was able to watch her unwrap her own copy.

Written by this wonderful and creative lady - Kate Davies, her blog Needled I have followed for a few months now and without fail she makes me yearn to knit as beautifully as she. Then she produced this:

 

A beautiful book, full of inspirational images and patterns, stories and charts and I just had to buy one two.

I am yet to start anything from it but never fear - I will, I most definitely will!

Knitting

Green hat - still growing - but been put aside................

For this.......

A baby hat for a colleague about to go on maternity leave. Where I am working now, there has been a severe outbreak of pregnancy..... two off already, one more about to go, a further 2 ready to pop in the next couple of months and a 6th collegue, still slim and trim but actively producing another member of the next generation!

Good practice for my knitting skills :)

PS Edited to add - I've finished the little hat, surprised myself somewhat that it actually looks like what it was supposed to do! phew..