Shady Grove Crochet

A few years ago, my husband’s colleague inquired about our Shady Grove Alpaca yarn. As she crochets, I really wanted to gift her some yarn to see how it works up. I had no samples and no idea what it would look like. But I procrastinated the gift until I saw her at a fiber fair this past spring. She was so delighted to try it and crocheted up this beautiful cowl.

The pattern is the free Seaside Continuous Scarf by Souma Crochet, and it sure makes the yarn show off! The yarn weight is DK in Bella (Brown) and Moonstar (cream). I might want to learn how to crochet now as I think the look is stunning! 

Thanks for a great partnership! And Happy Crocheting!!

 

Reason to Finish

In Fall 2019, arguably one of the busiest in my life, I ran to the yarn store with the false hope that I would have time to knit three children a sweater for Christmas. I did make a good start, but alas, none of the sweaters made it to the finish line before the holiday. The first vest was finished in June of 2020 and barely fit its recipient. By that time, it was obvious to me that this sweater was also going to be too small for the next intended boy. So I let the WIP molder in the closet.

Fast forward to this past summer, when the same family announced the arrival of yet another boy, Nephew #10. The sweater was finished in two afternoons of excitement! He was born on September 21, and should be getting his sweater today, just in time to dress up as a cosy little pumpkin!

And I am quite aware that I still owe Nephew #9 AND Niece #8 a little sweater. They will be a medium sized sweaters by the time I finish…

The pattern is Story Time Scholar by Lisa Cheney. Here is the ravelry link.

Enjoy Fall and stay toasty!

Orange Creamsicle Hat

After finishing the Artesian shawl and another project in short succession, I was really excited to get another project “on the needles.”

Enter: vacation yarn from Swaledale sheep! I decided to use both of my England yarns knit together. I had just knit a swatch for another project in seed stitch and thought it looked fun for a hat. I cast on an odd number (81) using size 5 needles and off I went.

When I ran out of the orange yarn, I was able to split the white yarn and knit with 1.5 thickness. It worked well. I started five decreases per round and stayed in pattern as best I could. When twelve stitches were left, I finished with the tapestry needle.

My niece was nice enough to model it, but the intended recipient was my sister-in-law. Her favorite color is orange, and she had been extra sweet last year at the holidays. 

Sadly, life shifted back to high energy busy-ness shortly after finishing, and my knitting has been taking a short hiatus in the last month. Hopefully the weather turns cooler soon, and life settles into a routine as well. Happy Back to School to all who are going back this fall!

Travel Knitting

Picking the right knitting is so important for successful travel. I was delighted to find Romi Hill’s Artesian Shawl about a week before leaving for Europe this summer. 

This particular shawl only uses one skein of sock yarn. I immediately remembered a very interesting skein that has real silver in the fiber. I was almost certain I would never use it. Small project, lots of interest.

This project would have been enough for the whole trip (especially since I did some yarn shopping; see previous post). But of course I also brought a whole sweater’s worth of yarn “just in case!”

There was lots of knitting in public. Knit In Public Day landed on my rest day in Grasmere, England. But as you might imagine, taking selfies while knitting is tricky. So instead I got caught knitting after dinner in the Aquavit on the boat on the Danube.

Most importantly, I found a happy recipient for it. My mother-in-law was admiring the knit-in-progress the entire cruise. So I gave it to her on her birthday!

Yarn Haul

Vacation yarn souvenirs are some of my favorite items to collect. I had some excellent adventures this summer, but it so happened that I was also able to sneak in an impromptu pilgrimage to a yarn store that I have admired for a few years. Let’s all dreamily stare at the front window of Stephen and Penelope Fine Yarns in Amsterdam!

More importantly, let’s admire the vast and gorgeous yarn selection! I spent several hours on two different days drooling here. Don’t worry, I swallowed the drool!

I eventually chose some skeins from this section of the store. Have I mentioned that I am a fan of orange?

I really like this wooden display holders and think I will try to make a few for the day that I start selling Shady Grove Alpaca yarn at fiber fairs…

Violá! Three coordinating skeins in orange plus a branded project knitting bag to keep them safe. Watch out for those crazy bicycles in Amsterdam!!

Prior to Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to visit England and purchased some Swaledale sheep yarn (white) and some sock yarn dyed in the same neighborhood. More on the sheep of England in an upcoming post.

Final picture of entire yarn collection, including four skeins of sock yarn that I purchased at the request of my parental unit. It’s her favorite, and it came in some lovely colors!

And finally, some fiber whimsy brought to you by local knitting and sewing artists who decorated this bridge in the town of Melk, Austria. More on that trip in a later post as well!

Stay safe and happy knitting! 🧶 

 

And So It Begins

I’m not sure how to tell this story. The Coast to Coast hike is one of the most diverse and mentally engaging hiking experiences so far, and there are many angles to the trip. 

Very close to the hotel is the marker for the beginning. The walk is not nationally recognized, which means there is no one correct path. There is also limited signage as a result. A map is crucial, and I have all the maps digitally available offline on the Gaia app. The satellite shows you exactly where you are and has saved us from making significant mistakes.

Before starting, it is the custom to dip your toe into the Irish Sea and select a small rock to carry to the North Sea. I picked a small white rock with some gray layers.

We have 190 miles to go! Since we’ve had to do a little backtracking already, I’m going wager that we will add a few extra miles to this number.

Ancient cliffs, looking back at the trail and forward on St Bees Head, the first section of the trail.

Many interesting birds live and breed on these cliffs this time of year. Most of the birds in the video are guillemots, but there were also plenty of the endangered herring gulls.

Every lighthouse should come with a set of cows! This is farm country, and livestock is seen everywhere. The next few photos show how many different types of paths the trail uses. Sometimes you walk through a field, on a country lane, through a town next to someone’s amazing gardens, actual hiking trails, logging access roads, a city walking path.

We made it to the top of the first summit, Dent. It was a pleasant climb to get started. We also had a decent view of some other cities, including Sellafield, a nuclear facility. THIS is the scarier article, if you want to go down this rabbit hole.

We met several other Coast to Coast walkers in the last section and enjoyed some good conversation. People are very friendly and there is a sense of community on the trail as our paths cross over time.

This concludes the first day’s views! I thought I would lump several days together, but it seems like this is a good place to stop. Each day ends in civilization, and I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a bed, shower, and yummy dinner waiting for you at end of each long hike!

Walk on the LEFT!

Sunday morning, 6:30 London time, I found myself stumbling off a red-eye flight and fighting against a crowd of oncoming people when I realized that the left side of the hallway was completely empty. Welcome to England, lassie! (When does one become too old to be called lassie? I’ve been called this 3x. Not sure how I feel  about this.) Just like driving, people walk on the left here. When traveling, I am often astonished how reflexive our cultural traditions are, how we don’t have to consider the rules when we are “with our people,” and how much effort it takes to become one with the new people we encounter. Since that moment, I’ve been in many other people’s way on stairways, sidewalks, going in the wrong door while others are trying leave by it, etc. I am constantly reminding myself to stay on the left.

Continuing travel to the rural countryside and ending in St Bees on the coast of the Irish Sea, I’m rediscovering that saying “hello” is specific to our location. My staid Midwestern hello, good morning, hi is greeted with an enthusiastic “Hiya!!” I quite like the excitement of the exclamation! It completely captures my mood on the trail in particular. Also, I usually don’t find the English language to be very musical, but spending time with Scottish people on the train and listening to how the English accents change from town to town, I am charmed by the lilting turns of phrase and syllables with slightly different pronunciation and emphasis from what I am accustomed to.

I am here to walk the Coast to Coast Trail. Much of the trail crosses private land, through pastures full of grazing sheep and cows. I am filled with gratitude for this tradition and the trust of the landowners to allow me and fellow hikers to walk on their land, a tradition no one back home would consider without getting somewhat uneasy. Strangely, there are many similarities to my treks in Peru (second trip still not documented on blog…) where many of the trails were covered with decaying animal dung and the temperature was a delightful 60*F.

Finally, just a little note about St. Bees, the village at the beginning of the hike. It’s a sleepy little town with a nice beach, hiking, charming houses, pubs, and B and Bs. We took a look into the church priory this afternoon, and it was a place for deep meditation and awe. It was founded around 1130 and history from every era was oozing out of every corner. The organ has 2000 pipes and was the last built by Henry Willis. Especially moving were sculptures by Josefina de Vasconcellos in the Lady’s Chapel. She also had sculptures in a garden outside of the church that was built at her request after her death.

Tomorrow we walk… on the left side of the trail!