Shetland trip 4-5 March 2016

Had such a great weekend in Shetland: first time there, and definitely not the last!
Went for work, flew with a colleague and arrived in time to go to Jamieson & Smith for a bit of yarn shopping :

Got to meet E Gordon which was great as I have been following her blog for a long while now.

We attended the authenticity study day: such a thrill to be with like-minded people! Really thought provoking talks, which were streamed live. I had to relay the ensuing twits and emails to the speakers... an easy task thanks to Hootsuite! 

Food was fabulous and definitely seafood-themed: scallops on Friday evening at the Queen's Hotel, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on sat for breakie, seafood chowder for lunch at the Museum on sat, monkfish in Lerwick Hotel on Sat eve. Dinner was with a nice bunch of people, food was super incredible - not least the Guinness chocolate pudding...

     

Sunday F and I took a walk round the Knabb, lovely crispy and cold morning.  Found, eventually, a geocache 'the Venice of the North'

Flight home was 1/2 the time with the tail wind, and views from the plane were amazing. 

All in all a brill weekend. Can't wait to take the family there!

Xmas presies 2014

Quite a few homemade presies this year: zippy pouches and knitted mittens

Follow Your Arrow KAL

So finally took the plunge and subscribed to this KAL run by Isolda - have been meaning to join one for aaages, so about time...  I got some Old Maiden Aunt 4 ply (50% superwash Merino/50% silk) in a gorgeous purply colour, 'berry good' - photo to come once we get decent daylight!  I've just started to unwind the hank and hope to cast on tonight.

Knitted socks

I knitted some socks years ago from a magazine pattern, wore them once and ended up unravelling them because they were far too lose and slipping down on the sole of  my feet - look at that ridiculous shape!:

So I've since rekindled my liking for knitting socks and finished some ankle ones 18 months ago or so, and I love those.  Started them with the Judy's magic cast on which is a great technique.
I've now bought Toe-Up 2-At-A-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes as I was suffering from the 2nd sock syndrome - so watch this space.....  And I have a small (ish) stash of the sock yarn from the YarnYard which I got through the Small Skein Society last year, so I won't need to buy more yarn (or will I...) :-)

Knitted earrings

The talented Erica wrote a pattern for knitted wire earrings, and years ago when I was in a knitting machine phase I knitted quite a lot for presents.  Now and then I get the knitting machine from under the bed and make some more...

Spiral geese mini quilt

I'm nearly finished this spiral geese mini quilt and  it's been so fun doing some foundation piecing again: I find I can really get some precise sewing with this method - and it's been doubly fun as I've done it with my new Janome machine which my FIL purchased for me, how incredible is that!:  he just offered to buy it after I said I was saving my £2 coins to buy a new machine, and he took pity on me: how about that ladies!?
And the local Fabric Shop supplies Janome, which I have gotten used to, so I am the proud owner of a new TXL607 :-)

Baby quilt for Marc

I made this first baby quilt for my nephew Robin (in April 2012), using a charm pack I had got from the States, and my 1/4" seams are really not neat but if you don't look too close it's not shocking :-)
That was a fun quilt to make anyway!