May meanderings

Lovely local views across to the hills beyond

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog. Thanks for coming and joining me once again.

Views of the Glenkens:

Well after a few dull and cold days up here in the Glenkens region of SW Scotland the sun has finally come back out and there is the hint of warmer days to come. Usually May and June are good months up here. Come the school holidays in July and August we all hold our breath and hope!

Alfie (the sofa surfing Collie)

I enjoyed a lovely sunny walk with my Border Collie (Alfie) today and added to a few photos I had taken over this week. I have been looking forward to sharing with you the beautiful sights of the rural countryside I am lucky enough to live in.

I live with my family right next door to a farm that has sheep (and also cows for some months).The joy of the last month has been to see the lambs and calves safely appearing thanks to the hard work and dedication of the local farmers. 

The lambs are looking quite large now

Along with all of the new life there is also the continuation of nature's floral displays that started earlier this year with snowdrops, giving way to daffodils, and now showing off the most pretty bluebells, wild garlic flowers and apple blossom. I keep meaning to look up the names of the flowers I see popping up along the road-side hedgerows. If you can name them please share!

Wild Garlic

Apple Blossom

Bluebells

Anyone?

Anyone?

My Crafting World:

So what is new in my crafting world? Well I thought I would split this section into Works In Progress (WIPs) and Finished Items (FIs). I follow a few blogs and podcasts and this seems to be the favoured way of reporting progress.

Basic Sock (pattern by Christine at https://www.winwickmum.co.uk/)

WIPs:-

It has been an aim of mine for some time now to actually knit a pair of socks. I have completed a couple of crochet ones but I have been looking longingly at many Instagram posts of cosy, beautiful socks in varied colours, textures and styles. I decided to take the plunge with the 'Basic sock' pattern by the wonderful Christine (aka Winwick Mum). She has produced several books aimed at the budding sock knitter and has tonnes of advice to offer. Not only was I starting out on my first ever knitted socks, I was trying to master using dpns (double pointed needles). I had tried before but got in a complete mess as they fell out, got twisted and were nearly thrown across the room in frustration!! Well this time I treated myself to some very nice 2.5mm KnitPro Zing needles that did not slip out of the work. As recommended by another favourite blogger of mine, Kathryn at Crafternoon Treats (http://crafternoontreats.com/blog-crafternoon-treats/), I decided to start out with Drops Fabel Berry Dreams Print yarn (shade 303). Over the course of an Easter holiday week away (travelling over 1,000 miles on the UK's busy motorways) I managed to complete virtually one whole sock. I also discovered how to use Kitchener stitch to seal the toe. I am now on 'one-sock island' awaiting time to start and complete the pair (the small issue of an Open University degree exam getting in the way for now).

'Dune' blanket (pattern by Lucy at https://attic24.typepad.com/)

Another hankering of mine has been to make one of the Attic 24 blankets (designed by the very talented Lucy). As I had been given a Christmas voucher for Wool Warehouse https://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/ (who stock yarn and pattern packs for Attic 24) I decided to treat myself and buy the 'Dune' blanket pack. 15 subtle colours in Stylecraft Special DK yarns have been organised into a lovely colour stripe sequence that is evocative of a seaside dune strewn beach. I am really enjoying the gentle rhythm of the 4 row repeat and can work away in the evenings without having to put too much concentration into it. It is a nice break from exam revision. I am now 1/4 of the way through.

FIs:-

Keps, Keps, Keps… I have just finished my third Fair Isle Fisherman's Kep (pattern by Anne Sinclair). This is a traditional, long patterned style of the warm, slouchy hat that has been keeping the good folks of Fair Isle (off the northern coast of Scotland between Orkney and Shetland) warm for generations. All proceeds of this pattern go towards the upkeep of the museum on the tiny Island of Fair Isle - including records of its textile heritage. Traditionally knitted goods were bartered with visitors for provisions for the islanders. You can find out more and order a pattern at via the Facebook group 'The Fair Isle Fisherman's Kep Page'. It is made using Fair Isle colour-work, where there is only ever one or two colours of yarn in one row at one time. Several colours can be used within a motif though. I chose to use 6 shades of Jamieson & Smith's Heritage 100% wool yarn (4 ply).

A wide tonal range works well 

The finished long Kep 

Designed to be slouchy

Previously I had used Rowan Felted Tweed DK which gave a softer and more dense fabric. Although dpns can be used I opted for a circular needle, using the 'magic loop' technique towards the apex of the kep. So far I have stuck to traditional motifs but aim to design some of my own next time.

A Kep 'in the wild' - my very first one 

My second Kep kindly modelled by my eldest daughter

It feels great to be carrying on this wonderful knitting tradition. Warning: they are addictive!


'Sharing The Love'

I am calling this next section 'Sharing The Love'. I want to grow my blog within the wonderful crafting community I have found online on Ravelry, YouTube and Instagram. I thought that each week I would share one of my favourite sites so that you can also go and visit them. To help me grow my site (and help me in my future plans to set up an online textile design business) could I ask that when you visit them you mention that I sent you their way? Thank you so much xx

Crafternoon Treats: I first discovered the wonderful and talented Kathryn by stumbling across her YouTube channel where she has a crochet podcast. She was making lovely crochet bags and talked about her adventures in crafting. She is so down-to-earth and welcoming. Kathryn has developed her love of yarn dyeing, crochet pattern making, and is developing her knitting (including striving for successful knitted socks). Kathryn also works to support ethically produced yarns spun from UK sheep breeds - some of which are on the rare breeds sheep watchlist. She is a Stylecraft 'Blogstar' and also has an Etsy shop where she sells her yarns and clever stitch markers (helping you to remember your hook size and which side of the work you are on). Well worth a visit to any of her sites.
Kathryn can be found http://crafternoontreats.com/

'Another Love'

Finally I have another couple of great loves in my life (apart from my gorgeous family). Music and Books. Life would be unimaginable without music or stories in it. I can play classical guitar (though a bit rusty now), used to play electric bass guitar, and hope to have a go at the ukulele soon. I adore so many genres of music and sometimes feel like I should have a soundtrack running along side my life. Never let me near a second-hand bookshop. I love losing myself in books and my greatest pleasure has been to teach my children to read so that they can also disappear off into new worlds.

I am going to share a favourite track and book each blog. I'll post the title and artist/ author so that you can go and find them and have a listen. WARNING: My tastes are quite varied and eclectic!! I'd love to hear any feedback and also any suggestions you have for me for great music or books I might have missed over the years.

The track for this blog is one that popped up on my Spotify list today and just felt great to walk along to in the bright sunlight:

The Promise by When in Rome 

UMG (on behalf of EMI); Kobalt Music Publishing, BMI -

The book I want to recommend is one that moves from the Edwardian to modern era, encompassing the mystery of a past love coldly cast aside and the modern day thrilling chase to determine why people are willing to commit murder to cover up a historical secret. It is a griping page turner tinged with bewildered sadness for a lost love.


Past Caring by Robert Goddard 

Corgi (30 Sept. 2010)
ISBN-10: 0552162957
ISBN-13: 978-0552162951

Thank you for joining me once again. Enjoy being creative until we meet again. 

Midge x

Please feel free to comment and also visit me on my links to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. I can also be found at Ravelry as MidgePorterDesign.