Pretty in Forest Green - Design LF433

I dug out another of the project bags that I made up when I went through my Twilley's Goldfingering working out what I had enough of in various colours to be able to make more of the 1970's style fringed motif shawls that I made earlier this year.

This time I am using lime green, pale gold and forest green.  80% Viscose, 20% Metallised Polyester.

I made a start on this on 19th April, working on it in the downtime between picking the kids up from school and having to start cooking whatever they decide they want to eat.  During the day I was making chunky shawls in a whole range of colours.

I took this project away with us on holiday, camping again but this time on Wookey Farm, a dairy goat farm with a low-impact eco campsite in Somerset.  The pitches are massive, which is good because our tent is a monster and we need a big one with two adults, two kids and a dog where the youngest child has quite severe ASD and needs a lot of room as she sprawls out, twirls about and generally acts like a "fairy on a gob of lard" as my late dad used to say, which is an old local Brummie saying which means "clumsy and all over the place".

We had lovely weather whilst we were there and got out and about to visit local places such as Glastonbury, Glastonbury Tor, Wells where Hot Fuzz was filmed and Cheddar Gorge.  I did manage to get a bit of crochet time, sitting out in the sunshine on the bench provided by the campsite for each pitch.  I was being blinded by the radiance coming from my little pile of flowers as I made them and took this photograph of how the sun catches on Goldfingering.  So beautiful and sparkly.

I didn't take any additional work-in-progress photographs, finishing it on 18th June 2016, but I'm very happy with the finished item.

Corriedale & Tussah Silk - Mink & White

I have been working so hard, concentrating on working on all the lovely fleece that I have, that I completely forgot about the spinning fibres that I have brought in over the last couple of years.

I got this Corriedale Wool and Tussah Silk blend from Bramble Path in January 2013 but I think the business may have closed down or changed names since as I can't find them online any more.

I didn't take any work-in-progress photos and it only took me 2 days to spin, starting on 7th June and finishing on 9th June 2016.  I made a 2-ply fingering weight yarn that is beautifully soft and is 106g/306m.

Camping in Somerset part IV

On our last full day of our holiday we decided to head off to Cheddar Gorge.  The weather was slightly overcast but you don't want it blazing hot when you are walking in the hills.  You have to drive up the steep winding road that cuts through the hillside above the town of Cheddar.  The roads are busy and narrow and there are tourists everywhere.  Its lovely walking through the town but a bit scary if I'm honest. 

There are a few attractions in Cheddar but we found them to be really expensive and walked away from them, as did a lot of other people who enquired about the prices so we decided to do the free hill walk instead.

We found the start of the hill walk in the town and made our way up and boy is it steep to begin with.  Its not for the faint-hearted and I must admit to having to stop several times on the way up but once you are up to the top it opens out to lots of space.

There is a large rock that sits just above the town that looks like a lion sitting there looking out over the Savannah.  It really is a long way up to the top.

There are wild goats living in the hills.  I have no idea what kind of goats these are but they are just walking around up there without a care in the world.  The black one was really nosy, it kept watching us.

When we got back to the town, where we had parked the car, we had fancy flavoured ice-creams before the drive back to the campsite and our last night of our stay.

Camping in Somerset part III

Being Pagan's we cannot come down here and not visit Glastonbury and Glastonbury Tor when we are camping so close to it.  Its a bit of a drive from where we are camping and parking, well yes, parking was a bit of a nightmare but it had to be done.

Obviously I didn't walk around Glastonbury itself taking photos of shops but WOW, the shops.  Unfortunately we are on a tight budget, isn't nearly everybody at the moment, so I couldn't go buying lovely goodies but I did admire lots of lovely things for sale.  We vowed to come back at sometime in the future when we do have some money to spend because it is a Pagan and Wiccan shopper's delight.

We did want to visit the Chalice Well and Garden but dogs are not allowed so we had to walk on by and carry on up to Glastonbury Tor and St Michaels Tower.  OMG I am so unfit.  It is one hell of climb up.  You might look at the photos and think "a gentle incline".  Try getting up there, its not that easy but the views are stunning.

It is really windy up on the top and it takes away that last bit of breath that you have after climbing up that hill to get there!

St Michaels Tower is roofless but amazingly enchanting and a little haunting but you just want to stay there and look up, its a weird feeling.

I don't need to write anything, you can read the plaque for yourself.

We went back to the tent and collapsed in a heap.  We were all exhausted and all had to lie down for a while and recover before having our evening meal.  Come and join me in Part IV.