The Zoo Story and my knitting week

On Friday I went to see a play called The Zoo Story.  It was a performance by an amateur theatre group - the Without Walls Theatre Company.

Before seeing the play I wasn't sure what to expect - from the summary on Wikipedia it sounded a bit weird but it was a great performance and I really enjoyed it.

This week I managed to finish the hat KAL for the Bankhead hat pattern - it's so quick to make and could prove quite addictive.

Ravelry project page here

I've also made lots of progress on my second sock - due to a conversation with a friend about Studio Ghibli films (mostly Spirited Away) that led us both to start a weekend film binge.  Yesterday I watched The Wind Rises, Howl's Moving Castle, and The Cat Returns so today I will watch Kiki's Delivery Service, The Castle of Cagliostro, Spirited Away, and My Neighbour Totoro (which is my favourite).  Anyway, this gave me plenty of time to knit my socks

I've just got to knit the foot now - about 30 rows before I decrease for the toe.  Ravelry project page here.

And just because my weekend would be boring without playing with the hamsters (who are sleeping as usual at the moment) here is a photo of them eating raspberry pieces.

Happy New Year and Project Update

Hello again!  Happy New Year.  Hope your 2015 is going well so far.

I'm having a very quiet day today and just sitting in my flat knitting and watching knitting podcasts.

I've managed to get lots of projects finished since my last post including this lovely jumper which I finished only this morning.  Ravelry project page here.

The pattern is Snug by Kim Hargreaves and the yarn is Sirdar Escape Chunky in colour 0197

I crocheted a tiny little monkey as a present a while ago using 2 different crochet patterns.  Ravelry project page here.

I also made a Honey Cowl using the yarn from Wild Wood Wool I bought at Yarndale.  Ravelry project page here.

The last WIP I mentioned (a long time ago) was my Age of Brass and Steam shawl which I was speeding through so finished soon after.  Ravelry project page here.

I received a request to make a knitted clanger from the old childrens TV show using the original pattern from 1972.  Ravelry project page here.

I got around to making the colourful armwarmers I had been planning to make for ages.  Ravelry project page here.

I knitted myself a toy robot using the Louie the Lovebot pattern by Rebecca Danger.  Ravelry project page here.

I am currently working on a few knitted WIPs.  The first is something I started a while ago but stopped halfway through.  My first pair of socks!  Ravelry project page here.

Yup I have second sock syndrome but I cast on the second sock on Friday

I started another Trillian shawl project which will be my handbag project as it was last time.  This time I'm using the Laalbear yarn I bought at Yarndale in the colourway Gandalf. Ravelry project page here.

My final WIP was cast on on Thursday night as part of a live knit-a-long on Instagram.  Dan from the Bakery Bears podcast decided to start a knit-a-long for the Bankhead hat pattern because he loves it and I couldn't resist joining in. Ravelry project page here.

Here's to a productive 2015 - already off to a good start!

Exhibiting an Awareness Blanket

I wrote a while ago about making squares for blankets with a Ravelry group to raise awareness for various illnesses.  I had volunteered to host 2 awareness months - stroke awareness and mental health awareness.

I had seen that there was an exhibition from the Creative Arts Support Team (CAST) coming up in Sheffield called 'Rhythms of Identity' which supported arts for mental health and my friend Hudson & General would be a part of it.

Hudson & General is an artisan crafter who makes vintage inspired and truly unique handmade timber crates. He asked the organiser if the blanket I had made with the help of the Ravelry swap group could be exhibited and she kindly agreed.

The exhibition started on Thursday so we went to set up our stand to display our work.  

Here is the finished awareness blanket - made of squares made by knitters and crocheters from all over the country.

This is our stand at the CAST 'Rhythms of Identity' exhibition - isn't the crate lovely!

It was lovely to meet the other local artists and hear the inspiring stories behind their artwork

The Yarndale Picnic and WIP Wednesday

In my last post I mentioned that my Instagram friends had agreed to meet up at Yarndale for a picnic. People were taking photos of the whole group during the picnic and someone was kind enough to send me this photo for my blog.

Unfortunately some people had left the picnic just before this photo was taken but there is still a pretty large group of people!

I also wanted to share the progress I've made on my Age of Brass and Steam shawl - because of the lovely yarn and the super-simple pattern - I've been so engrossed in knitting the shawl that I haven't worked on another project for the last 2 weeks.

I did have to rip back more than half of my shawl (twenty rows) because I had the wrong number of stitches but I've managed to catch back up and it's making good progress.

Yarndale!

Yesterday I went to Yarndale.  It's a 2 day yarn festival, organised by Lucy from Attic24 that takes place in Skipton.  As well as a great place to buy yarn, it's also a good chance to meet other crafters.

Yarndale is so colourful - as soon as you walk in you see crocheted bunting

Lots of colourful yarn - this is the Laalbear stall.

Apparently Ursula is retiring soon so we all took this chance to buy some of her beautiful colourful yarn.  This colour is called Gandalf  - I couldn't resist

I also bought this lovely green DK yarn from Wild Wood Wool

Apparently there was a theme of hand-dyed Blue Faced Leicester in the wool I bought! Here are all of the things I bought - the pinkish yarn is for my Mum

I also saw the Angora bunnies, sheep and alpacas

Before going, I saw on Instagram that a group of people were planning to meet for a picnic lunch so I decided to pack up my lunch and meet them there.  We had agreed to wear granny square badges to allow us to recognise fellow Instagrammers and it was great fun.  This is my granny square badge

I also made a name badge

I have lots of lovely new Instagram friends!  If you want to see the photos from the picnic then just search Instagram for the hashtag #yarndalemeet2014

Ole said she wanted to come with me and she really enjoyed meeting the other crafters and seeing all the yarn (yarn photos taken at Laalbear's stall again, animal photos taken from the stall of the creators of  Edward's Menagerie).  I had my fellow Instagrammers helping me take some of these photos!

The end of the day finally came around and it was time to hop on the red bus back to the station

Yarndale was a great day out - I'm still bouncing around from the excitement of it all.  Hopefully I'll go next year and meet up with everybody again.

Adventures in York

Since I've been in Sheffield I haven't really explored the surrounding areas so on Saturday I decided to take the train to York.  I haven't been to York for years so I thought it would be a nice day out.

As soon as I got to York I could see the Minster in the distance.  

The Minster is really stunning.  I didn't go inside but I walked around the outside and got lots of lovely photos.

After that, I went for a bit of a wander - I had a map from the tourist information so I knew roughly where I wanted to go.  I looked up tea shops to visit in York before I went so when it was time for a break I sought out Crumbs Cupcakery.  

Ok so I got 2 cupcakes during the day... But look at how cute everything is!

The city is surrounded by stone walls and one of my aims of the day was to walk around all of the walls.  

I managed to walk all the way around but my feet were so tired by the end of it.

York has a little old street called 'The Shambles.'

While I was wandering down there I managed to find a lovely little yarn shop called Ramshambles where I treated myself to some yarn made in Yorkshire.  This is West Yorkshire Spinners DK printed yarn and the colour is called 'Owl' - too perfect!

I couldn't resist starting knitting with it straight away so I'm making a shawl using the 'Age of Brass and Steam' pattern.

Looks like I've found my new handbag project already.  Besides, I was just getting into practice for buying wool at Yarndale next weekend.