Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas. It's a time for hanging out with your family and friends and watching them be nuts! Just how you love them ;)

Kingston University Project with The WI!

A while ago, I applied to be part of a collaboration between Kingston University fashion students and the WI, as I am a WI member. I was accepted, and it began a couple of weeks ago.

To be introduced to this brand new partnership, we met in The Women's Institute's very own college, Denman. I have always wanted to go to Denman, but with my already busy life and not really sure which course to go on, I've never been. So this was a great experience for me.

This was my day in Denman...

The old building really looks impressive and inside it has lovely furniture and all sorts of textiles...

Each of the bedrooms is adopted by a federation and so they decorate them with wall hangings like this one, or quilts etc.

This piece is a real favourite of mine, the details are amazing.

We had a little look at the cooking department...

My photo doesn't really show it that well but it looked pretty impressive to me!

We were told all about the project and introduced to the students and other WI members we would be working with...

and then we were able to look at some of the WI's textile archive.

I love the details of these two but there were so many more.

I finished the day, as people do, by visiting the shop!

Although I didn't attend Denman for any of their courses, I would now and I would recommend them. The food we had was lovely and the people were very welcoming and friendly. I can't wait to go again!

Visit to York

I spent the weekend, or our 'weekend' Sunday and Monday, in York. It was to celebrate Ash's first Father's Day and our 2nd Wedding anniversary. 

This is us excited and waiting for our train from Huddersfield to York. 

It's a sign!

One of the things I really wanted to do was visit the National Railway Museum and after leaving the platform, this is what we saw.

I totally recommend it! So much to see and great for kids or even big kids! We took Tayler to 'Clickerty clack' which was a talk for kids about the noises on the trains. Even though he's only young, Tayler still enjoyed it.

 The first sight of York centre past the 'Wall'! 

Tour De Yorkshire?! You can't miss that it's coming soon. All over we spotted these bright yellow painted bikes and around some of the streets, we saw yellow bunting too.

From all over York centre you can see the Minster! Such amazing architecture!

We also went to the Castle Museum and the Yorkshire Museum! One ticket gets you access for the year so we will be back!

I love finding yarn shops everywhere I go and York was no different! Ramshables was a lovely little shop and I couldn't resist getting some yarn and a little mirror. 

We had a great time but I'm glad to be back home. 

Thanks for reading

Tea and Tarts WI Holiday!

We came back on Sunday from a fantastic Tea and Tarts WI Holiday in a campsite near Whitby. We stayed in a place called La Rosa, which was terrible to get to in the dark, but a very fascinating place to stay.

There were twenty of us in total and when we got there (late), everyone else had already got an amazing camp fire going and lots of food on a table in the 'Big Top'. The 'Big Top' was in a central area and did look like a circus tent.

The Big Top Sign post

We were all staying in our own caravans, and they were all different. Ours was called tinker and, yes it is on an old truck! Each caravan had it's own theme. 

Tinker

 Tinker was very much a travelers' caravan. It had a log burner and a little cooker and sink. The cooker and sink didn't work as there was no running water or electrics on the site but the wood burner did work very well, even for two novices who managed to smoke themselves out first! The decorations were interesting and sometimes very strange but defiantly well chosen for the van.

Some decorations

Our bed was raised up and behind a little red velvet curtain. I apologies for the picture as it doesn't show it all made up. The little stained glass window was a lovely surprise for our first morning (we arrived when it was already very dark), and it lit up our little bedroom very well. What you can't see is just above the foot of the bed was a little row of shelves and a cot for a baby!

Our bed!

The weather was fantastic for the whole weekend and the campsite really came into it's own at night. Miles from anywhere and without power is when you really, truly get a great view of the starry sky. Sat around the campfire with a great bunch of people was a great part of our visit there! There were trees and fields as far as you could see.

A view!

On our first full day, most of us left the campsite for a trip to Whitby. Ash and I had not been in 7 years! We went there for our very first holiday! We had a lovely walk around and found the house we stayed in and the arcade we played mini golf in and the welcome to Whitby sign that we had a picture in front of!

Whitby Abby in view

We had a lovely walk and I even found a knitting shop! The walk around was very refreshing and I think we both really enjoyed ourselves.

When at the beach, buy icecream!

Of course we had to get ice cream! And yes it was a bit windy! My hair never lies!

All in all I thank everyone who came with us and Rebecca for planning it! We also managed to, by chance, take along two very well trained chefs, so the food was fantastic! I have to point out that all cooking was done over our campfire, which everyone maintained so well that it burned for the whole time we were there! We had cooked breakfasts each morning and a fantastic feast on the Saturday night with food bought that day in Whitby! You really can't get better than that!

I wonder where we will go next year...

Knitting on the TV

I watched a very interesting programme on BBC Four the other day called 'The Fabric of Britain'. This particular episode featured knitting, in fact it was the history about knitting. It started the show in 1920s when knitting became popular with the masses and went through the ages showcasing big moments in knitwear.

You can still view it here, although it won't be there for long!

I knew this programme was due to be on TV because several months ago, I was asked to send a couple of images of my shop (Spun) to be used in the 'modern day' section of the show. 

So, as you can imagine, I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of the show waiting to see these images...

I was very happy to see my little shop at the end, but so much happier to have watched the programme all about how knitting is so amazing! Of course, I already knew that. 

I've been enjoying knitting my new yarn. Thank you Steph! I can't remember what fibres its made out of, although I can remember Steph said it had some cashmere in, and it does feel soft.

When I knit with a multi-coloured yarn, I'm always looking forward to the next colour, as they usually don't take long to reach. However with this yarn the colours are really far apart and I've yet to reach the next one. The blocks of colour are a semi solid anyway and are a pleasure to knit, so I'm not really desperate to see the next one. I'm thinking more about, 'I wonder how big I can make it before the next colour comes in'. Well, whenever the next colour comes in, I'll be ready for it!

On a non knitting topic, I went to the Huddersfield Food and Drink Festival yesterday. It's something that happens about twice a year and is fantastic for Huddersfield. It takes place in front of the train station and has about 70+ stalls. It's a great showcase of the variety of food and drink businesses in the area and is also a great gathering place for us locals! I truly recommend it if you happen to be in Huddersfield when it happens.

Bad Blogger!

I haven’t written a blog post since April. There is no excuse. I am a bad blogger.

So what has happened?

I made this baby cardigan…

Peter Pan Pattern using Sweetheart Yarn

And this bear…

My mum bought me the kit to make him from last year's Knitting and Stitching Show (Harrogate)

We expanded the workshop for better knitting classes…

Door removed, now for the door frame!

Now the whole wall is coming down!

After spending two days sanding the floor, now for the varnish.

I made this costume for my husband’s band The Pretty Machine…

(They have been dressing in Santa outfits for a few years now and wanted a slight change!)

We had to test the fur round the T-shirt on the model!

This was taken after they had played in their new stuff

I crocheted this pear from Knit Now Magazine…

I made it using BFL Aran

Now I have just cast on for a shawl using this yarn… 

This has been dyed by Steph from Mill House Designs so the colour is in large blocks for the shawl

I will try to blog more frequently and become a better blogger.

Thanks for reading xxx