Summer Holidays

A couple of weeks ago I went on holiday with Rob and his family to Italy.

We were based in the town of Todi, in Umbria (Wiki page here) which was very beautiful and surrounded my stunning views.

While we were there we got a chance to go wine tasting at the Cantina Roccafiore and tried some of their delicious wines.  

It was the first time I had tried dessert wine and I quite liked it.  The scenery around the vineyard was too good to miss.

We were staying in a villa not far from there and most of our time was spent in/ around the pool with the odd trip into Todi.  

This is the website of the villa.

It was my birthday while we were away.  In the morning we went for a coffee in Todi.

Afterwards we went for a meal and everyone made me feel special.

A group of us had decided in advance that we wanted to visit Rome for a couple of days at the start of the second week of the holiday to break the trip up a bit.  Rob and I stayed in a little guest house called 'I Tre Moschettieri' or 'The Three Musketeers'.  I chose it partially based on the name - I thought Rob would like it but it was also in a great location - very close to the Trevi fountain.  The room was lovely and it was called 'la Principessa' which I liked.

The first day was spent wandering around the city.  Unfortunately the Trevi fountain was closed but we still saw a lot in our short time in Rome.  

We saw the Pantheon

The Colosseum

The Victor Emmanuel Monument

And of course - Roman ruins.

In the evening we went out for a drink in an ice bar - the first time I've been to an ice bar.

On our second day in Rome, we went to the Vatican...

Before we left Italy we had to have day in Todi and just explore the town.  The town is on a hill so you get great views.

We visited the Roman cisterns under the town

We even found some yarn bombing and a yarn shop

The snake was very impressive - we also saw crocheted owls, a bike, and toadstools attached to the trees.

We had a great holiday and really loved a chance to relax and enjoy the hot weather.  Back to sunny Sheffield for me now but it's nice to be back and see everyone again.

Easing back into it...

Recently it's been too hot to knit or crochet - it makes you want to just sit around and relax.

I made a mini collage of photos I've taken since my last blog post (far too long ago).  Most of them are from my holiday with Rob to Paris but I've also got photos from when we watched the Tour de France here in Sheffield, a teddy bears picnic, and when we went sightseeing in Oxford.

Awareness Blanket

The Ravelry swap group I'm part of has a sister group that is making awareness blankets for the various awareness months throughout the year (link to the group here).  Well, May is Stroke Awareness month and I've volunteered to be the host for this month.  The poster for the group is below.

As the host it's my job to collect the squares that people make, make them into a blanket, then donate them to raise awareness to a charity or ward.

So far I've got 13 squares - they are actually more red than this photo makes them look.

If you want to contribute to the stroke awareness blanket please email me for more information or visit the Ravelry group for details of the other awareness months

My Skiing Holiday

I've finally found a chance to sit down and blog about my holiday to Val d'Isere.  Last week at work I was so busy with training that it's been great to have a nice relaxing weekend.

The holiday was with some people from work.  Rob has been skiing since he was about 3 and I thought this would be my best chance to start learning to ski along with other beginners.

I was having beginner skiing lessons along with another of my friends so I spent most of my time on this slope:

As a beginner this slope is scary enough and I fell over a lot at first.  I did get to do some proper slopes during my week of lessons including the ones at the top of this mountain.  You can barely see me in this photo because of the contrast with the snow.

The views from here were amazing.  We got to see Mont Blanc on one of the days too but I was too busy zooming down a hill to take a photo of it.

We rode around a lot in ski lifts - here I am on the way from La Folie Douce.  Sunglasses were needed for most of the holiday because the snow was so bright.  It was also pretty warm for the whole week.

From the cable cars you could see a long way around the valley.

An apres-ski party at La Folie Douce.  It was crazy skiing towards the club with the music belting out.  But it did feel like a good reward to be there after skiing down the mountain to there.

On the last day we took the cable cars around the whole of Val d'Isere to all of the viewpoints to photograph the beautiful scenery.

Rob is hoping I'll want to go skiing again next year with him and I think I'd like to.  Although it was so tiring it was also good fun once I stopped worrying about falling over.

8-3-14 Catching Up

Last week I was away in London on a training course and had time to wander around Oxford Street and Soho with a few friends.  I had another chance to visit a cupcake shop  I went to last time I was there (The Hummingbird Bakery) and get more tasty cakes.

It wasn't as wild as when I was there last time with a friend and we went to King's Cross station and Platform 9 3/4.

With going away this week I didn't mention that I went to an indoor ski slope the week before and had my first beginner ski lesson to prepare for my ski holiday to Val d'Isere in a few weeks time.  I'm going with 2 of my closest work friends and luckily one of them is a beginner too.

The ski lesson was actually ok and helped me to relax a bit about the holiday.  

Prettifying my Desk

My desk at work was looking a bit boring - not at all pretty and colourful like my flat.  Admittedly it is mostly covered in paper when I'm working on drawings.

I decided that it needed some crochet treatment, namely a bunting because it is my favourite simple decoration and it brightens rooms up so much (I have 3 in my living room now).

After browsing Ravelry for a while I found this cute little pattern for a bunting which I modified a bit to make smaller flags.

Yesterday I attached the bunting to my computer screens (with some funny looks from my line manager) and I'm thrilled by how cute it looks.

It makes the desk feel like it's really mine now.

WIP Wednesday (and some finished projects too)

I thought it was about time I admitted to how many projects I'm working on at the moment and gave an update on my progress.

Trillian Shawl:

Still going on this one - and it feels like it'll take forever but it is growing nicely

Rob's Scarf:

I tend to take this one when I'm travelling because it's low maintenance - again growing nicely

Ripple Blanket:

This has been hibernating a bit but I've just added another colour

I've also decided to take apart the sleeves of my crocheted cardigan to make them smaller so I'm busy re-crocheting them

And now for a couple of finished objects:

Tiny Knitted Minion:

• Craft: Knitting
• Pattern: Tiny Minion by Kelly Vu
• Yarn: Stash DK
• Weight: DK
• Needle Size: 3mm
• Ravelry Project Page

Crocheted Fox:

• Craft: Crochet
• Pattern: Little Fox by Samantha J. Montgomery
• Yarn (Leaves): Stash DK
• Weight: DK
• Hook Size: 3mm
• Ravelry Project Page

FO’s 2014 = 0+2 = 2

WIP’s = Need a proper count

Queued = 17 - need to be ruthless and remove some of these

Happy New Year!

A slightly belated Happy New Year to you!

It's the time of year when I promise to get more organised and sort myself out.  Since I've been back in my flat after Christmas I have spent most of my time tidying and organising so hopefully once I'm sorted I can keep it tidy.  2013 was a good year for me so I'm hoping 2014 can be just as good.

I had a lovely Christmas with my family and I think the hamsters enjoyed all the attention and treats.   Eve got them a see-saw as a Christmas present which they like playing with.

I also managed to (finally) finish the jumper I have been knitting for Rob in time for Christmas... and then forgot to photograph it before I came back to Sheffield.

Another exciting thing I forgot to mention before Christmas was that I went to see Andre Rieu in concert at Leeds Arena.  My friend won the tickets in a draw at work and invited me as his guest.  The concert was brilliant and we both loved the waltzes.  We had a great view from our seats too.

The arena itself is amazing to look at and with the lighting it really stands out.

I'm glad to be back in Sheffield and, in a way, back at work.  I missed seeing my friends over Christmas so it's good to get into my old routine and spend time with them all.

Christmassy Fun

As I mentioned last week, I put my tree up.

I've also been to 3 different Christmas markets, 2 Christmas meals, and bought a lovely Christmas jumper...

So I'm feeling pretty excited about Christmas now!

Christmas is coming!

It's 4 weeks to Christmas today - hasn't it come around quickly!

Rob surprised me by coming to visit me for the weekend last weekend which was such a lovely surprise.  We went to the Christmas market in Sheffield which was very nice and festive and we ate roasted chestnuts and drank mulled wine.

At work we have been discussing when we are putting up our Christmas Trees - most of us agreed that this Sunday is the correct time but one of my friends wanted to put up his tree last weekend and had to be persuaded not to by his housemates.

I'm putting my tree up on Sunday and I can't wait.  My Christmas shopping is going ok so far - mostly at the planning stage but looking manageable.

The swap group I am in on Ravelry has been having a Christmas swap too - we got randomly paired with a swap partner and given a list of items we should make/ buy for them.  I've posted my parcel now and already received mine from my partner (but not yet opened it).  It's lovely to make new friends in the swap group and send each other Christmas gifts!