Zeens and Roger

Ok, a few pics of this year’s Tar barrels in Ottery St Mary. I took them on my phone so they’re not fabulous but I couldn’t let it pass without saying something about the weekend. It’s unique and special, it has to be done. I’m not writing a proper article but do check out  2016 here and 2015 here. Those posts have more info.

You can’t see well but that’s the massive bonfire next to the river, which in turn is next to the fairground. Over to the left somewhere is where I stung my arse on nettles. Someone might have seen but there were a lot of bushes to hide in and I needed a wee. It’s a pity that it was too dark to spot the stingers.

A bonfire is mesmerising. We stood and watched in revery for a while before going off to find a few burning barrels. As usual, the kids went home after the bonfire. Well, we found a safe spot for them to witness one barrel and then they had to go home. Too dangerous for little guys.

The square was packed with people. Although I’m pretty sure it was relatively “quiet” for a Saturday. I didn’t get proper pictures of the barrel being carried. I did a ten second burst as one went by and then put my phone in my pocket for the most of it. I wanted to enjoy it with my eyes. Last year I was too focussed on getting a good picture (not that I achieved it). I’ll leave that to the professionals. If you google the event you can find some terrific footage. You’ll then be able to see that the barrels really are in the crowd.  No safety barrier. No illusions.

Once midnight passes the crowds have thinned, with everyone staggering home. I stayed on hoping some magic would happen. It didn’t. Just a lot of trash and a strange quiet. At that point I felt I’d out-stayed my welcome so I dragged myself away to my bed. Roll on next year.

 

Off Your Rocker – A Crochet Shawl

I am very pleased to say that I have a new crochet shawl design up on Ravelry! It’s a simple pattern for a pretty crochet shawl. It has been tested by some truly wonderful people, and I’ve had really lovely (and super useful) feedback.

The reason for the name? Well, after much chat on my Crochet podcast, between myself and fab viewers, lots of folks thought the stitch pattern looked like rattan or wicker chairs. Specifically, rocking chairs that had been made with rattan-style stuff. It’s fun and says what it is. Sort of!

So, it’s a triangle crochet shawl pattern, worked by increasing on one side. Just super simple crochet stitches. Every few rows, we have eyelet sections, the ones that look like rattan!

I made this Off Your Rocket in a sport weight yarn, but you could make it in any yarn weight you like.

Bonus Baby Blanket

Not only is this a crochet shawl pattern, but I have also included bonus information about how to make a crochet baby blanket using the same stitch pattern! I’m really excited about it. I’m just so pleased with how it turned out. What do you reckon?! Keep scrolling for more pics!

Please pop over to Ravelry to check out more details.

  Thank you. x

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Imagine stumbling upon a farmhouse where the owner spins, dyes, and knits yarn that’s from the fleece of their very own sheep?! I couldn’t believe my luck.

It’s been just over a week since we got back from our holiday Up North! It already feels like it was a million years ago. Part 1 of my holiday adventures lives Here. It’s full of pretty pictures about what we got up to when we ventured away from the farm we stayed at. This post is all about our holiday accommodation and why it was right up my street!

Higher Gills Farm in Clitheroe

A long lane takes you to Higher Gills farm in Clitheroe, Lancashire.  The sheep and surrounding fields you can see are all part of the farm, and the hill in the distance is every witch’s and Quaker’s favourite: Pendle (see part 1 for that).

The easiest thing for me to do is link to the farm’s website so you can read in more detail about the farm/accommodation/yarn shop. Freda and Darrell run the woolly/yarny side of things as well as the holiday lets, with other family members in charge of the farm management.

In previous years, they’ve had a stall at Yarndale as well as other yarn festivals, but are now winding down. They’re still selling hand-dyed, home-spun yarn online, and the holiday accommodation will continue. But they’re retiring from the yarn events. I liked Freda and Darrell very much. They were both chatty and friendly, but also knew when to leave us to it.

Our accommodation was one of two apartments converted from an old stable. It was described as rustic, which I’d agree with, and pretty much had everything we needed (I was fully prepared for sub-par wifi, but we streamed Game of Thrones with no glitches –  super important in my book). My biggest gripe of the week was the too-small frying pan that wasn’t non-stick. I let that go.

The views were pretty good. Directly in front of us was this. Not bad. And there’s a public right of way through the farm so you can walk through the fields and find more beautiful views.

The farm has sheep and cows, some rare breeds. I didn’t see many cows, just these cute babies. To be honest, I was more enamoured with the stone walls. I was supposed to ask what the jutty-out stones were, but didn’t get around to it. Whatever, none of this was the biggest attraction for me, oh no. Before we’d even fully unpacked, I was in there with the wool questions. Freda invited me over to her farmhouse on the Monday morning so I could get answers.

Freda’s Yarn

I absolutely loved Freda’s home. It was cosy with an eclectic mix of Stuff. I had a little tour and ended up in her craft room, where we stayed chatting for about an hour and a half. I was allowed to have a rummage through countless tubs of yarn skeins, all of which were made from Freda’s Teeswater sheep fleece.  I bought a few skeins because I’ve learned over the last few holidays that yarn makes a great souvenir.

Freda’s craft room was full of creative experiments and projects. There was a loom next to a spinning wheel next to a table of trinkets and works in progress. What’s not to like?! I could have rifled through it all for ages. It was wonderful to see another person’s creative processes; it made me feel better about my own little corner of crochet “shame”. Non-crafty people tend to think we’re messy. It’s not a mess, it’s art!

From Fleece To Skein

Here’s the Teeswater fleece in its raw form. I don’t know how Darrell does it, but he sat there for hours, painstakingly separating the very best tendrils from the unsalvageable ones. You can buy it like this, too; they send the locks all over the world.

The long fibres are one of the reasons the yarn is so soft. No short poky strands to itch you. Being worsted spun, as opposed to woollen spun, is also the reason it’s a lot softer than other pure wools. The fibres stream in the same direction rather than criss-crossing, which creates a smoother yarn. Mostly, they send away the raw fleece to mills to get spun and don’t make it into skeins themselves. Freda dyes the yarn once it has returned home.

Here are my yarn souvenirs! I haven’t decided what to do with them yet, but I’d love to design a crochet shawl with three of them. I think I’d like the red one to be a cowl with lacy stitches, like one I saw Freda knitting in the same colour. It was almost enough to tempt me into learning more advanced knitting, but I’m wondering if I can come up with some pretty crochet stitches instead.

What a wonderful discovery for a yarn enthusiast! I learned new things and experienced a very different kind of yarn from what I’m used to. This is the real deal as far as I’m concerned, and it’s fascinating. I can’t wait to use it.

 

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I’ve wanted to have a holiday in Lancashire for a few years. When I was little, we would go and stay with my Gran, who lived in Colne. I have recently diagnosed myself with a fairly reasonable case of Nostalgia, and the need for this week away was a symptom.

I found a farm in Clitheroe with a converted stable for holiday accommodation (My post about the farm is Here, it’s yarn related! Oh, and there’s a seriously superduper yarn-related surprise at the bottom of this post too).

What I wanted to do was visit places I’d been to as a child and show my own kids a part of their heritage. A lot of memories about going up north relate to my fascination with the Pendle witches. I think it’s fair to say that I was obsessed with the stories from 400 years ago.

When I was about eleven, I even wrote a little history book about the witches of Pendle, complete with illustrations! The story of these people was told to me by Gran as we looked out of the back room window of her terraced house. She’d ask me if I could see the witch of Pendle Hill, for that was the view we had.

Visiting Pendle

This time round, I think it was pretty much a done deal that we should do a mini tour of the Pendle area, including walking up Pendle Hill. As a child, I was told that I wouldn’t enjoy clambering up the steep sides and therefore had never been further than the foot of it. Last week I achieved a small but keen lifetime ambition and went to the top!

Witches Galore in Newchurch

First stop of the Pendle tour: Witches Galore in Newchurch! It was, quite possibly, my favourite shop when I was little. I think the anticipation of going back was more exciting than actually stepping foot inside. The animatronic display in the little far right window was also a lure. Put 10p in the slot, and a witch would stir her bubbling cauldron whilst her familiars got up to mischief behind her (something like that anyway).

Sadly, it’s not there anymore. I asked. It’s been gone for nearly ten years. Last week I bought a mug and a fridge magnet as souvenirs, which tickles me for some reason!

Alice Nutter Statue in Roughlee

In the village of Roughlee is a statue of Alice Nutter, one of the women accused of witchcraft. The statue was designed by a local artist, and it was put in place in 2012 to mark the 400th anniversary of her death, well, all of their deaths; their hangings.

We also went to the Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford to learn more about the history of the area.

 

Interestingly, Pendle Hill is also where the Quaker movement was founded, so moved was the guy who founded it, when he went to the top. Lancashire has a history heavily steeped in religion, which is maybe one of the reasons why witchcraft was more prevalent here than in other places.  Also, I’m sure the fact that the Lancashire witch trials were recorded in great detail has something to do with it.

Malham

Another day, another trip down memory lane. I see this as Postman Pat country. The lanes are so reminiscent of one of my favourite programmes as a kid (I even had the Postman Pat lunch box. I remember picking at the picture on the front whilst I waited for my mum to come and pick me up from school when I had a toothache). OK, this Nostalgia case is worse than I first thought.

Anyway, this is Malham, a village across the border and into the Yorkshire Dales. For years, I thought I’d dreamed this place up. I must have been pretty young when we went for me to think I’d invented it. Revisiting, I have to say that it is completely within the realms of possibility that this place is a figment of someone’s imagination. Aside from the hordes of tourists that bring you back to earth, Malham Cove is an absolute stunner.

I think I’ve done pretty well in managing not to capture too many of the other human visitors. The kids likened the place to the world of Zelda, and I know exactly what they mean. It’s a fantasy land. I can’t see any reason why a faery or two wouldn’t want to live here. Just look at it!!

 Anyone else get Picnic At Hanging Rock vibes? Ethereal is a good word to describe it. This pic, by the way, is the bottom of that big cliff face. The water comes from somewhere underneath. That’s another kind of wizardry. Nature is awesome!

Lake Windermere in August

Mum told us we were foolish to try Lake Windermere in August. She was right, it was heaving with people. Traffic was hideous, and I couldn’t quite believe how all of us people had turned somewhere so beautiful into something ugly.

We did no research, just thought we were close enough that we shouldn’t miss out on a quick look. Sat in a traffic jam, hastily googling on my phone, and I found lots of places that would have been much better, but by then it was too late. We were idiots. Regardless, the views were breathtaking.

A Holiday With Yarn Included!

Coming in Part Two on my holiday Up North, I want to tell you all about the holiday accommodation and the story behind Freda and Darrell’s farm in Clitheroe. I think you’ll like it. I couldn’t quite believe my luck that we’d found somewhere that had its own wool to spin and dye! More on that another day soon.

And More Yarny Shenanigans

But wait, that’s not all. A couple of weeks before the holiday, I happened to see on Facebook that Lucy of Attic 24 had put out an open invitation for a knit & natter group in Skipton. We were twenty five minutes from Skipton! It was an opportunity I really couldn’t miss. It was our last day, and I thought why the hell not?! I’d regret it if I chickened out.

Steeling myself, I stepped into Cooper’s Cafe and joined a group of very lovely and welcoming people. Crikey, I was nervous. I don’t know how I came across, no idea at all. It’s all a bit of a blur, really. I don’t think I made a twonk of myself, but you never know! I had one moment where I thought “I wish I hadn’t said that” (I’ve got no filter), but mostly I think I was well behaved. It was a bit of a worry that I’d come across as a crazy stalker, but thankfully, there were other newbies there too, so I didn’t feel alone.

It turned out that they were normal; fingers crossed, I was too. And I know that I’m not a weirdo stalker, so there’s that.  I loved that everyone was equally enthusiastic about each other’s projects. I loved that we were all asking questions and sharing knowledge. I loved how relaxing it was. It was wonderful to join in, and I left full of inspiration about starting a group in my own town. I’m extremely glad that I’ve started making myself do “brave” things. I know I wouldn’t have gone otherwise.

 

 

 

 

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