November

Hello, 

November, what an unseasonably mild month it has been. 

November, means it really is time to crack on with Christmas crafts. This Osen stocking 

is proving a lot of fun to knit. 

I'm using Baa Ram Ewe's Titus  yarn. I also used this yarn for 

my Whitlam Cowl and maybe I just had a dud skein of Yorkstone but 

I was a little unhappy with it. The yarn had been spliced several times and I 

ended up with 4 balls of variable sizes. Not particularly satisfying.

So I bought Chevin (green), White Rose and Wesley Bob (red) with a bit of trepidation - 

but no fear! After balling each of the 3 skeins I ended up with 2 equal sized balls of each colour!

This would make a fantastic festive hat wouldn't it?

Progress has temporarily been halted while I wait for a small circular needle in the 

appropriate size to land on my door mat.

In the meantime I have just started to crochet the first of several small 

bags for Christmas gifts. 

We like to have reading material close at hand to our kitchen/dining table, something

 to fill our brains while filling our stomachs. For months these books and magazines

have sat on the end of the worktop by the table, their untidiness annoying me. But no longer! 

They are now neatly stacked in a wall-mounted magazine rack. I'm really pleased with it, 

and with my new book 'Student World Atlas', a super book full of facts, ideal for just 

dipping into for a few minutes. 

How beautiful our carillon looks through the autumn leaves.

This was built after WWI to commemorate those who gave their lives in the war. 

For the size of our town we have a very large event held here on Remembrance Sunday, 

with poppies dropped from the top of the carillon. 

And for those of you who are interested, here is a definition of a carillon from wikipedia:

A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in the bell tower (belfry) of a church or municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cup-shaped bells, which are played to produce a melody. A traditional manual carillon is played by striking a keyboard with the fists.  

A walk in the city on a Sunday morning while daughter warms up for football. 

We tend to walk the same route as we know where we can buy coffee at the end with just 

enough time while daughter warms up. I love the mix of city life and buildings we see on 

this walk: light commercial, residential, 

and even the empty buildings have some beauty.  

We could be in the middle of the country here, rather than in a city, 

with the tram line passing behind me. 

Ummm, coffee at McDonalds - oh, we know how to treat 

ourselves on a Sunday morning when it's a home match!

November, and the fair has arrived in town! 

And I mean right in the centre of town - how unusual is that!

It brings congestion, confusion, empty shops 

but also bright lights, heart-thumping music, candy floss and happy faces!

November, with a huge fireworks display at the town's University and firework

 toffee made by my husband (ideal for expanding waistlines and removing loose teeth)

 .... yes, I like November!!

xXx

Whitlam cowl

Hello

Earlier this year I bought myself a buff (this isn't a sponsored post by the way!). 

A buff is basically a tubular piece of material, with no seams, that you slip over your head and wear round your neck. There are lots of fancy things you can do with a buff, for example, make it into a head covering but I only wear it round my neck. I bought it 

initially to wear when I am cycling (not that I have done much of that just lately, 

but thereby hangs another tale!). 

Often I don't want to wear a thick scarf when I am cycling because I would get way to 

hot after I'd been cycling a while, but I want something just to keep that cool 

"wind chill factor" from going down the front of my jacket.  

Anyway I discovered that I loved my buff! 

It was so good for keeping warm, and not just when I was on my bike. And as the 

first buff I bought was mainly yellow to match my fluorescent yellow cycling jacket 

I rather naughtily forked out for 2 more buffs - one mainly red and the 

other mainly blue to match different outfits. 

Oh but my love for having a warm snuggly neck did not stop there. 

I saw this Whitlam cowl from Baa Ram Ewe and realised how much use 

I would get out of one of these. 

This cowl is thicker than a buff so would 

be useful in the cooler months but not so thick as to be cumbersome.  

I bought Baa Ram Ewe's Titus yarn (again, no sponsored link). 

Balling the yarn - this takes me back many years, helping my mum to ball yarn. 

Sadly I had no helpers so had to use the back of an old chair that had been discarded under the car port as the seat was broken (maybe I'll have to keep it now for balling yarn?)

The colour way I chose is Yorkstone - a muted, unusual choice for me as I tend to go for 

bright colours but I thought I might wear this quite often and thus I played it safe 

and chose a neutral colour.  

I carried this project around with me in one of my favourite project bags. For me 

the whole experience of knitting/cross stitching is heightened by a pleasing project bag. 

This project even came to Exeter with me for a 2 day conference - I can always manage 

to find a few minutes knitting time, even if it is on the train. 

This was quite a straight forward pattern but I am a bit frustrated because I made

 several silly mistakes which I couldn't rectify easily as it was a lacy pattern. 

I think I just wasn't in the mood for concentrating properly sometimes but 

generally the mistakes are minor and probably, as is often the case, only I can see them.  

This cowl grew quickly.  

I knitted for 44 inches. Blocking it highlighted the lace 

pattern and also softened the wool.

And here is the finished cowl, prior to joining the ends. 

You could use this as a scarf too - it has pretty scalloped ends. 

And here is the finished article in situ - note how I artfully stretch my neck 

to iron out wrinkles!!

 

 And just to prove the neutral colour was a good choice this time, 
here it is with my blue coat.....

my red coat....

and even my turquoisey coat!!

Yes, I'm very happy with it - I know I shall get a lot of wear out of this. 

And I can see me knitting this again. Now which colour yarn to choose next...

Goathland? Endeavour?

They even have one called Filey, one of my favourite seaside resorts. 

Fantastic names aren't they?

xXx