Ar Lan y Mor (Down by the Sea)

There is one hobby I love more than fibre and that’s camping. There’s something wonderful about going back to basics, appreciating the countryside views, listening to the birds at 5am, building a fire, having to eat basic foods, meeting new likeminded people and having the time to read (and spin – of course!).

We were all invited to stay with friends in Bosherston which is close enough to pop home if the kids needed clean clothes, but far enough to make that journey a difficult one! I know I have mentioned Trefalen Farm a lot,  but it truly is a beautiful and fantastic corner of Wales.

View from the campsite. Church rock off Broad Haven Beach

Bosherston Lily Ponds.

I was trying to get a photo of the heart shaped rock…it was a bonus that the busker was there too. In fact there were 5 in all with various intruments, 4 of which were ‘next door’ to us, playing traditional English tunes. Perfect. One of those musicians, I learned later was also a spinner and weaver.

There are more photo’s here

During our holiday here, we were invited to Swansea to visit one of  Big J’s Moblogging friends, Maggie, who had a fun packed day planned for our kids at Clyne Farm

There was also archery and indoor climbing, Big J took most of those photos, if you would like to see them, they are here.

It was a fantastic and very tiring day, but wonderful to meet Maggie and her family too.

As the weather was still good, we decided to go back to the campsite, there was no reason to be stuck at home until it was time for me to be back at work and there was a catch to the camping holiday, that was to teach the owner, M, how to spin her own alpaca.

Lord Cawdor, Petrox and William.

So off I went, armed with carders, spindles, and gave her some tips on washing. Hopefully she has enough basic information now to keep going. I’m looking forward to going back when we get some nice weather (hmmmm) and see how she’s doing.

The days where it rained was filled with knitting and reading. I managed to get a whole garment finished! Ok, it’s not a large, intricate garment, but a finished one nonetheless.

Meet “Elyon” hand knitted in handspun yarns. The top half is “Smeagol” BFL from Limegreenjelly. The bottom half in “Life is a bowl of Cherries” Faux Cashmere and Silk, also Limegreenjelly.

An improvised design…and as usual I forgot to write the instructions down!

The name “Elyon” comes from the books I am reading at the moment. “The Circle Trilogy” by Ted Dekker. I thoroughly recommend them, whether you are a Christian or love fantasy stories. Perfect for both.

It’s back to work for me tomorrow, I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine now after all that fresh air and spirituality.

I have since discovered that I am not Ceoliac…and although that is good…I now have to go through a whole process of tests to find out what it is..ho hum….

Oh and I have lots of baby knitting to do as my sister has had a baby girl, named Cerys Angela, I am under strict instructions though…NO PINK!

Hope you all had a wonderful August!

There She Goes My Beautiful World…

(Nick Cave)

Well that’s that then, the Tour de Fleece is over. It was great! I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I feel my spinning has improved greatly, I have learned to navajo ply, spin fine, consistant singles and I’ve had a go at art yarn, though not very successfully I have to admit.

I’ve also written a new pattern after discovering a neat little trick.

It’s quite a strange feeling after continuously watching the Tour on TV and spinning like a very spinny thing…to nothing. I have started some socks with a merino/solk blend that I beagan spinning at the beginning of the tour.

The fibre was very kindly given to me by DeepSea Knitter.

And this one is next on the cards….

This is 50% Faux Cashmere and 50% Silk,  “Cherry Kiss” from Limegreenjelly.I’ve also got some fibre coming from HappyNeedle which I’m really excited about but I’ll have to wait a while for that, it’s coming from the states.

During the passed two weeks it suddenly dawned on me why I began blogging in the first place…this whole internet community thing can seem a little wierd at times. Especially when you have stories in the media telling us it’s bad for our health and state of mind, people are going out less and all that…where I see where they are coming from and no doubt for some people it can be a bit of an obsession…but without the internest (I quite like that typo so I’m leaving it in) I’d still be knitting in secret, I’d have never even thought about spinning my own yarn, or I would have done but I’d still be crap at it!

I’d never have been in touch with people like Jo and the LimegreenJelly group,  Anne and Kath, all the Plurksibs, The Ravelry lot, the Mobbloggers without whom Jim wouldn’t have been able to cycle 300 miles and to everyone who reads my blog and takes the time to leave a comment.

And though I have a tiny little voice, I just wanted to say, no, shout,  thank you all, all of you are wonderful and helpful and fantastic!

So what’s next?

I’m waiting for the other half to get back from London then we’re going to stay in Bosherston for a bit where I’m going to be giving some spinning lessons. I’ve got plans to give a friend of a friend some lessons on a knitting machine and no doubt I will be doing some craft sessions at some point, but those are still to be planned.

At the moment I am being tested to see if I have Coeliacs disease, which is a bit of a pain…as we’re in a pretty small town gluten free stuff is hard to come by (and if anyone out there also needs a gluten free diet and has any tips…they will be greatfully received). It also means no more Riggwelter…the beer that is, or whiskey…Do they do gluten free ale? Hmmph!

And on that bombshell (sorry I’ve just been watching Top Gear)…see you soon.