A return from holiday always provokes a downward slump in my mood; the return to work; the commuting; the heat and stickiness of London in August gets to me every time.
This last week has been very difficult due to all sorts of things at work which have left me sad, angry and frustrated.
It's not all been bad news, there has been some wonderful post with very thoughtful and creative gifts - my feet will be very happy this winter!
The tedious commuting saw me finish the tedious knitting of the Clapotis. I got bored long before the end of the 2nd ball so quit as soon as I thought it would be long enough to go around me. The Zauberball yarn has a slight halo which meant that the dropped stitches didn't ladder easily. Helping to pull them down was a very theraputic experience which suited my destructive mood on Friday night. I've decided I like the look of this unblocked -we'll see if time changes my mind.
The current knitting on the needles is a secret being knit to a very tight deadline - hope I'll make it in time.
Here's a few photos of recently finished items:
Milkweed
knitted in a dk weight yarn to make it slightly larger- I'm happy with the way this turned out.
Variation on Scroll Lace
this is the one where I got carried away thinking I had the lace pattern memorised and knitted it all in stocking stitch rather than garter stitch! By the time I realised this I had finished the knitting so it is staying as it is!!
The highlight of the week though was getting these
apparantly Imogen prefers the softness of Great Auntie Von's shawl to other blankets! Nice to know your work is appreciated!!
Matt and I have just had a wonderful week in Devon. We left it until almost the last minute to book as I waited to learn the revised start date for the new work project - it has been delayed so I was able to take the whole week off.
We knew roughly where we wanted to be - it was the Sidmouth Folk week where we hoped to catch up with friends; my godparents live in the area and I wanted to visit them; we wanted to explore some of the National Trust and English Heritage properties and most of all we wanted some quiet time together. Leaving it late meant we couldn't get into our usual stopping places so were delighted to find Chi Restaurant with rooms . They made us very welcome and provided everything we needed including great breakfasts - Matt really enjoyed trying all of the Dim Sum variations.
The weather was unkind for the first few days and put a bit of a dampner on the free performances at Sidmouth but I did enjoy walking along the seafront in the fog and rain with the waves crashing on the beach.
On Monday, We went to Bovey Tracey to help Spin a Yarn move to new premises and were pleased to meet up with Tutley Mutley. There was only one ball of yarn lost on the trek up the hill, it was retrieved and promptly used as a demo on how to kill acrylic!
We then went off to explore Dartmouth and the surrounding areas.
Matt drove us out on to the edge of the moors for my birthday dinner at a fantastic old pub - I think he would have been quite happy to have stayed there forever.
Tuesday saw us roaming the Jurassic coast, dodging the rain, drinking coffee and visiting the godparents and me knitting!
On Wednesday the sun began to shine so went exploring the NT coastline at Branscombe.
I sat on the beach for an hour whilst Matt went off exploring the cliff paths. Whilst he was gone I managed to run out of yarn 6 rows before the end of Milkweed.
At the same time I didn't realise how hot the sun had got - it was only later in the evening when I turned dayglo pink that I realised I'd got a bad case of sun burn (despite wearing factor 15 sunscreen) . We spent the evening crawling around Dawlish and Teighnmouth.
Thursday started with another trip to Spin a Yarn as I'd spotted they had the same yarn that I needed to finish the shawl. We then headed up onto Dartmoor where Matt collected a number of admirers.
After a late lunch at the Dartington Cider Press we went to visit Berry Pomeroy castle and had a great time clambering around the ruins.
My Aunt and Uncle joined us for dinner on Thursday night at Chi and we all ate far too much!
Friday saw us set off for home taking time to visit Lyme Regis, Langport and other areas of Somerset that Matt used to visit as a child. Neither of us could face the motorways so Matt set the tomtom to bring us home by the scenic route and we found some lovely villages and areas to go back and visit in future.