Happy Holidays

D and I are just back from a rather wonderful week in Cornwall. We were pretty lucky with the weather and although it was cold, it was clear and just about the perfect weather for wandering along deserted beaches and staring wistfully out at the sea. As you can see from the photo, my Flicca cardigan got its very first outing in public, accompanying me to St Ives where we took in the sea air and visited The Dark Monarch exhibition at the Tate Gallery. We also stuffed our faces with the most delicious pasties and I took a series of photos of the boats in the harbour and the beautiful beach. Other days out included The National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek, Sennen Cove, a trip on the King Harry Ferry to St Mawes, a visit to Boscastle and a morning wandering around the gardens of the National Trust property at Trelissick.

My absolutely favourite place to visit in Cornwall though has to be Trevaunance Cove in St Agnes. It is always beautiful and on this occasion it was just stunning. It was really quite wild while we were there and D and I wandered around the sands taking photos of the magnificent waves. Talk about mean, moody and magnificent. Very romantic, too.

While we were away, I took full use of the amenities where we were staying and swam every day we were away. I also racked up nearly 20k on the treadmill in the gym, which I thought was a pretty good effort! I optimistically took about ten books with me, but only had the time to read a couple - Small Wars by Sadies Jones and Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, which were both perfect holiday reading. I also started The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, which I'm hoping will be a grower, as I'm not loving it as much as I'd hoped.

Due to the curious length of the Cornish mile, I really got stuck into Mum's Christmas present, the Shalom cardigan. Every time we were in the car going somewhere, I whipped out the needles and notched up a couple more rows. The pattern was made for someone six feet tall, so I'm having to take out a whole bunch of rows - hopefully it's still in proportion. I shall have to have a trying on session and check that it's not ended up completely wonky!

Now that Christmas is getting closer, I've opened up my button box again and started working on some new bracelets to sell at the Walker Books Christmas Craft Fair. I invested in some new buttons from Pavi Yarns online store, which is particularly good as you can buy in much smaller quantities than some other retailers, which means I can experiment a bit more without having to invest to heavily. I'd already been comissioned for four little bracelets from Lucy at work for her nieces, and it's been really lovely making them up. Here's an example of one of the new ones that I've made up - hope you like it!

Finished Flicca

The day is finally here, and although I was beginning to think that it would never happen, I am delighted to announce that my Flicca cardigan is finally finished. It's taken just over fourteen months (in which time I have finished quite a few other projects) and I really think that it's been worth it. I still need to sew some velvet ribbon around the collar and rib to strengthen it and to tidy it up a bit, and I also need to block it. (I hope that the kitchen table is going to be big enough...) I'm really looking forward to wearing it, when the weather turns cooler. I can just picture myself curled up on the sofa in Flicca and my pyjamas with the cat and a good book!

This now means that having finished one project I can start another. I still have four balls left over from Flicca of the Sirdar Click, so I've just checked out on Ravelry what I could use them for and I think I've settled on a really interesting scarf from Knitty for my dad called Danica. I think that he'll really like it, and it looks a lot more interesting to knit up than a plain scarf.

I spent quite a lot of time yesterday looking for a new project for nine balls of Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4ply. So far, it has attempted to become Ysolda Teague's beautiful Arisaig and a very pretty lace-knit tea top by Erika Knight, which was featured in the first issue of The Knitter magazine. I think that part of the problem is that the wool is so lovely and delicate that I really want it to turn into something that I am going to love to wear. I did find a gorgeous design by Helga Isager called Olive, but I just can't track the pattern down anywhere, so I guess I'm back to the drawing board. In the meantime, I shall keep on with the blanket for my study. It's probably going to take me another fourteen months to get this one finished (and goodness only knows how much wool) but it'll be very satisfying to make something so huge, and such a great stash-burner!
Speaking of which, I've really been enjoying a couple of knitting podcasts, most notably Stash and Burn by Jenny and Nicole, which is brilliant. It's really nice to hear people talking about patterns that I'm familiar with and their easy banter makes 20 minutes on the treadmill at the gym fly by! I've also liked Cast On by Brenda Dayne which is great. It's interesting, informative and unusually, it's recorded in the UK. Number one on my iPod (joint with BBC Radio 4's The Archers) has got to be Threadbanger. It is an absolutely brilliant video podcast that makes you want to make every single project that the feature. It's on twice a week but as far as I'm concerned if it was on everyday, that would be just fine!

I'll just round up this week with a couple of reading recommendations. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is every bit as good as The Shadow of the Wind, and is an intriguing thriller, that will definitely stand up to a second reading. I also read the second title in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy The Girl Who Played with Fire which was almost as good as the first title, no mean feat as I loved the first title. One other series that I've really gotten stuck into over the last couple of weeks is the Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare, which gets a special mention for being gripping, glamorous and perfectly trashy! Brilliant!

I've Been Away...

I've just returned from a wonderful week in Tuscany, staying in a friend's stunning apartment in the hills 30k south of Pisa. It was at least 30˚c every single day and the pool was invitingly cool, although I did need to spend any time out of the water under a sun umbrella to avoid turning too pink!

The week was a lovely mix of day trips to Pisa, Volterra and Siena interspersed with days spent swimming and sitting by the pool, reading and soaking up the sun. Our first full day was spent in Pisa, which was much more beautiful than I was expecting. It was such a surprise to actually see the leaning tower it in all its glorious and it was simply amazing. Pisa was also the home of the tastiest ice creams, and we really did try the gelato in every town that we visited. We'd visited Volterra on our last Tuscan holiday, and it was as lovely as I remembered, and I treated myself to a copy of Stephenie Meyer's New Moon from a bookshop in the town as part of it is set in the ancient hill town. Siena was a new destination, and possibly my favourite. It's a very small town, but it is completely packed with history and culture. Siena was founded by the son of Remus and is made up of seventeen districts that compete in the two annual horse races held in Il Campo. I was particularly taken with the one which is represented by the snail, that you can see throughout that district on buildings and flags.

Non-adventuring days were spent relaxing by the pool that over looked the valley the apartment was located in. D worked very hard on his swimming techniques, and I took it easy with the wonderful reading. Claudia had very kindly sent me a box of books just before I went away, and there were some absolute gems in there. The Bride's Farewell, a sort-of re-telling of Tess of the d'Urbervilles (one of my all-time favourite books) by the ever brilliant Meg Rosoff was real treat. Threads by Sophia Bennett which is set in the world of London fashion was an absolute delight. On a more serious bent The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid was an amzing book, that will stay in my mind for a very long time. (Thank you Caroline for such a great recommendation.) Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer were books that I really should have read before now, and I enjoyed them both enormously.

In addition to the ice-cream, D and I ate very well indeed. We had bread, cheese and the sweetest Italian tomatoes for lunch every day and dined on fresh vegetables, Tuscan bread salad, and bean and pesto pasta, all procured from the local market. I think over the course of the week we also managed to drink our own body weight in Prosecco, Peroni and Chianti!

Before our travels, I had been pretty busy on the knitting front, and had finally managed to finish Corinne's little cats. I also finished the Anthropologie inspired capelet by Julia Allen in a beautiful soft green Rowan Little Big Wool bought from a lovely shop called Jolie in the village where my sister lives.

I've also brought the great grey behemoth cardigan (aka Flicca by Anna Bell) out of hibernation. It's quite cumbersome, but having finished a couple of projects, I feel inspired to finish some old projects. I've kind of set myself a one-in, one-out policy so that I only ever have two projects on the go. (Let's see how that works out...)

I think that my next big project will be Arisaig by Isolda Teague. But then again, knowing that I'm such a slow knitter, I should probably start thinking about Christmas presents already!)

Other great news is that the folks have finally returned from their travels in India! I saw them briefly when I collected them from the airport and delivered them to my sister's place, and now that we're all in the same country again, I'm really looking forward to spending some time with them and hearing all about their adventures.

Back to School

Well, September really is here, which means that I really need to get a move on with my Flicca cardigan. The scale of Flicca is ambitious and I've been making progress, but to date, I still have one sleeve and the collar to do and I really, really want to start wearing it as soon as it gets cold.

David and I went to Stourhead for the first time in a while yesterday, where we saw these beautiful hydrangeas. We had a lovely walk around the lake and saw five cygnets and our first autumnal leafdrop. Stourhead is one of may favourite places to go and I can't wait to see the place in all it's autumnal beauty.

I do love autumn. I love going for walks in the afternoon. I love it when it's cold, but the sun is shining. I love the colours out there in the world. And I love being safe and warm at home on those cold dark evenings.

An Excellent Week

I've had such a lovely week this week, starting off with my Race for Life, which took place last Sunday. I raised over £300 and managed the 5k course in just over 33 minutes. The race was pretty emotional, not to mention hot and tiring, but I was pretty proud of my time. Doing something like that gives me such an enormous sense of well-being. Not only am I achieving something for myself, but I'm also doing something, no matter how small, to help others in this world.

Another treat has been the book that I've been reading this week, Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. It's been a long time since I've read a book that I have enjoyed quite so very much. Every page included a treat- an absolute delight to read. Barbara Pym manages to make the ordinary life of a spinster in the late 1940s, really insightful, witty and frankly extraordinary. Every word is to be treasured and I now want to devour her entire backlist!

Yesterday, the boy and I went to Henley Royal Regatta care of Members Day at Henley Management College (where he is studying for his MBA). The sun shone gloriously for our trip along the race course on SS Alaska, the oldest passenger craft on the Thames, and we enjoyed a very gentle cream tea on the lawns of the college.

On the knitting front, Flicca is coming on a pace. Knitting Club at work has started up again, although I was so busy chatting, it took me six rows before I figured out that I was doing the left front, not the right... Oops! This lunchtime, I have been enjoying my regular monthly session of knitting in public at the Big Band Brunch by Centre 17 Big Band at Salisbury Arts Centre.

What I'm Up To...

Hello again!

Having finally joined Ravelry (and learned how to add links), I thought that it really was time to put fingers to keyboard and start writing again. My friend Libby is a brilliant blogger and she has something to say pretty much every week. I can't promise I'll be that prolific, but I am going to try and make a bit more of an effort...

Since I last added to Sparkleknits I did manage to finish a few projects. I made a pair of mittens for Piney, a baby jumper for Jen and Neil's gorgeous baby boy, Sam and a second one for the fabulous Oliver Rufus, who was born to Claire and Nigel in March. I have done everything except the blocking, pressing and making up of a pink cardigan for myself.

The main project that I'm working on right now is a Flicca cardigan from Anna Bell's beautiful collection of patterns to buy on My Fashionable Life. It's a slightly unseasonal project, but at the rate I knit, I might actually finish it for when this wonderful weather runs out.