Having a break

After over 6 years of posting most weeks I feel the need for a break from my blog.  I'm fine, just having a rest.

Three on a walk on Thursday

Joining Mary Lou with a trio of photos with a theme - this week my theme is simply that I took them all on the same walk - which was between vibrant yellow fields so they all feature yellow too

It was a very overcast day so the yellow was a welcome contrast to the foggy grey sky

This dog kept looking back as if to check on my whereabouts - her name is Bella although she paid no attention each time her man called her

Memorandum Monday bursting with creativity

A big wave to you all as we welcome in the month of May. 

I've had a lovely creative time this weekend - actually since Thursday - at the Edinburgh Knitting and Stitching show.  Our crochet, knit, chat, eat cake group was asked to be part of the Creativity in Action (CIA !!!) section where each stall had people doing their craft and ready to chat and answer questions.  In exchange we got a free pass to the show.  So I spent a lot of the time, over 4 days here

doing easy bits of crochet and talking all things crochet and knitting to lots of people.  I was delighted to hear how many people go to a social crochet and knitting group and how many of those groups do some charity work.

I also went to some workshops - not that I have time for any new crafts but I do enjoy trying new things. 

I loved the wet felting and sculpting of a flower - we used a process which has a fine silk layer under the wool which means the fabric you make can be very thin and fine - and it is also easy and quick to do. The green in my flower is the silk.

I bought some of the silk used and my sister already has some felting wool so we will be making more of these.

I was intrigued by a workshop for stick weaving - I've tried many types of weaving but never heard of this - I was relieved to discover the sticks are the loom, not the material being woven.  It is a very old and practical way to weave

you wind the wool around the two sticks - and then slide it down onto attached yarn and create a long woven strip - which you can then sew into something - we spiraled ours to make a mat

It its a very relaxing process once you get started and I will do some more, trying out using different yarns and fabric strips. I think it will be a great way to make handles for the bag I'm planning to crochet (I bought some t-shirt yarn at the show for this project - I'll report as it takes shape).

The show was a great mix of shops and displays - lots of lovely quilts and embroidery and yarn items to admire and try to work out how they were done and note down ideas to try at home. One of the displays was garments knitted using Kaffe Fassett designs - he was the big think in knitting in the late 1970s / early 1980s and I still have his books.  He does wonderful things with colour and creating intricate designs that are easy to work.  On the last day I wore a jacket I made over 20 years ago from a pattern in his first book - and of course I had to have a photo of me in the midst of the display.

Back to crocheting by myself today but still feeling full of creative buzz and ideas.

Hope you all have a good week and time for some creativity,

Three on Thursday - quick on the draw with the camera

I'm joining Mary Lou is sharing 3 photos on a theme. 

At this time of year the swans on the river seem to fly about a lot - just a short way up and down the river - and I can never resist whipping out my phone to try to capture a shot.  It really does remind me of the quick draw scenes in traditional western movies. 

Often I don't get my camera active in time, and sometimes I manage a photo but the swan is not in focus.  This week I've been concentrating on capturing them landing and here are 3 that I managed