Lovely Llandudno and Beautiful Bodnant

No makes to share this week, I've been trying to get the sleeves of my jumper done and also the last in the trio of socks cast on in June, both seem slow going at the moment but, the end is in sight.  

Heritage Hall, (I'm sorry I don't know your name), commented on my last post and asked about the pattern for the corner to corner baby blanket, It's a free pattern by Lion Brand and can be found Here, I have always been asked about where to find the pattern and should have mentioned it last week. 

So, this weeks happenings.  We went on a little weekend break, from Friday to Sunday this weekend to one of my favourite places, Llandudno, in North Wales.  Bodnant Gardens has been on my list of places to visit for a while and as it's only about 6 miles from Llandudno we thought we would combine the two visits.

After all the fine hot weather of last week the forecast wasn't that good for the weekend but we were lucky, at least until we were going home on Sunday.  

We didn't arrive until around 3pm on Friday so just had a mooch around the town and later a walk along both beaches, Llandudno has two beaches, North shore is where you will find the pier and all those lovely Victorian buildings, the West shore is much quieter.  We walked down towards the West shore as the sun was going down and were treated to a wonderful sunset.

The weather was a bit unsettled on Saturday morning but the forecast said it was going to be better in the afternoon, so we explored the town some more before taking the tram up the Great Orme in the afternoon.  

We decided we would walk back down and stop to visit the mines, which are at the half way point.  These Bronze Age mines were discovered in 1987 after work was started following planning permission to build a car park.  There are around 4 miles of tunnels under this area, a small section is open to the public and the work is still on-going to discover more about the area.  It was an interesting place to visit, although Mark's not keen on confined spaces and was glad to see daylight at the end of the tunnel!

We carried on walking down, back towards Llandudno, which wasn't as bad as I thought It would be, although we did take one of the easier routes, but I can now claim to have walked the Orme :-) 

The weather was beautiful when we got up on Sunday morning, really warm and sunny and I was pleased we had decided to wait until today for our visit to Bodnant Gardens.   After breakfast we packed our bag and set straight off.  Bodnant is around 6 miles from Llandudno but we did take the scenic route along Marine Drive, around The Great Orme, so it was more miles but well worth it for the views .  I've shared photos of this route before, Here , we didn't stop to take any on Sunday.  We did stop at the church of ST Tudno to enjoy the view for a while though.

There is a beautiful Manor House in Bodnant Gardens, unfortunately it isn't open to the public, the grounds are stunning though with different walks and gardens to explore, I loved looking at all the different plants and shrubs and in the garden centre on the way out I did buy a couple of plants for our garden.

Unfortunately the good weather didn't last long enough for us to enjoy all that was on offer, the rain started and at first it looked as though it might blow over but then it quickly got heavier and we had to head into the coffee shop.  Such a shame because there were another two walks we could have done if it had stayed nice.  We will definitely be back in the area again though and will plan a future visit.

Have a good week all

-X-

Monday makes

This past week I've finished two things off my July list.  The first is this cute little bunny

I came across the free pattern months ago on the Tilda website and intended to make it to put in Bonnie's Easter bag.  I got it all cut out and half sewn together and then put it away because it was fiddly and I wasn't in the right frame of mind and I also doubted myself being able to do it.

I'm glad I made the effort, it was fiddly but I took my time and now I love her!

I gave her a little bow and sewed ric rac around the hem of her dress.

She will be added to Bonnie's birthday bag, although I am very tempted to keep her :-)

I also finished the baby blanket I was making for my friends son and his partner.  They are welcoming a baby girl in October.  I asked her if I could make something and she said she thought they would love that, I know not everyone likes knitted baby clothes so I wanted to make sure.

I opted for a simple corner to corner garter stitch blanket.  I made one of these for each of my grandchildren and the girls loved them, they were a perfect size for a new born, not too big or heavy.  

It's knitted in The Women's Institute DK Yarn from Hobbycraft , I used two 100g balls, It knits up lovely and is really soft, a little bit thicker than the usual DK, but that's ok.  I got this when It was on the 3 for 2 offer, I also had a £2.50 voucher to use so the blanket didn't cost anything.  I will knit a cardigan with the other ball and gift it to them nearer the time.

We are in the middle of a heatwave here in the UK, according to the news The Midlands has been issued it's first ever red warning for extreme heat.  Over the next couple of days they have predicted the temperatures to be around 38°, it's 27° indoors at the moment so I can imagine it would be high 30's outside, It might not seem very high temperatures to some but houses in the UK are built to keep the heat IN and we don't have A/C in our homes, you might find it in places of work but there is just no call for it in our homes.  I've got all the curtains and blinds closed, windows and doors open and the fan going, circulating the warm air, lol.  The poor cats don't know where to lie, even Molly, who is a sun worshiper, is spending more time in the shade.  

It looks as though It's set to break by Wednesday though, I can grin and bear it for a few days.

I'll leave you with just a couple of photos from my garden, the hydrangeas are flowering now, although wilting a bit in today's heat, the pink one has less flowers open at the moment.  The wildflowers are flowering at last and are so tall, I'm really pleased I sowed these.

 Take care

-X-

More socks

I finished another pair of socks last week.  These are one of the three pairs I cast on in June, they were already knitted to the heel so didn't take too long to complete, I have one more pair of that June trio to finish and then I'd like to start on the Christmas socks for family.

The yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply in the colourway Robin, the contrast cuffs heels and toes are also WYS, in the colourway Turmeric.

For this pair I cast on 72 stitches and decreased to 68 stitches once I'd knit the rib, they seem to fit fine but I definitely need the extra stitches on the ribbing.

Yesterday I was working in the garden until mid afternoon so everything is looking tidy and I was able to sit and enjoy some time outside and admire my hard work.

I think this fleabane is my favourite plant in the garden at the moment, I bought it as a small plant from a National Trust place last year, I've not seen it for sale anywhere else but I'd love to get some more If I come across it.

I hope you have a lovely week, the weather is supposed to be lovely all week so enjoy.

-X-

Hello July

I finished the socks I was working on last week.  Absolutely love this colourway, the yarn is by Tea Cup Yarns in the colourway Beach Ball.  In hindsight I should have knitted the heels toes and cuffs in a contrast yarn, It would have highlighted the lovely colours more I think.   There is enough yarn left over to knit a shorty pair so perhaps I could make some and try that out.

As with other socks, I knitted the heel from the tutorial by Crafthouse magic on Youtube, as I've done this heel a few times I can now knit it without referring to the tutorial.

I tried a different toe, from a Kay Jones pattern this time.  It leaves more stitches to kitchener but I don't mind that, and as with the heel, I can now kitchener without having to look it up, so I'm happy to have learned a couple of useful techniques so far in my sock knitting journey.

I like the little detail this toe produces.

The other thing I've done this past week is to make a liner for a wicker basket.

The basket had been in the garage for a while, I bought It from a charity shop a couple of years ago to keep my advent minis in, It was just a plain basket but to brighten it up I painted it white.

With the help of Youtube I made a liner for it, It was far easier than I imagined it would be and now I have cute storage to keep my sock project in, and my yarn doesn't keep rolling around the floor, bonus!

Plans for July - I had thought about taking part in Christmas in July but have now changed my mind.  Instead I'm going to focus on getting a few things completed, starting with those socks in the basket above.

Once those are off the needles I will work through my list and see how many I can get crossed off by the end of July.  My aim this year was not to carry any projects over from 2022 so I need to be mindful of finishing projects now that we are into the second half of the year.

1.   Another pair of socks - (already knitted down to the heel)
2.   Baby blanket - (already over half way)
3.   Fully finish Prairie Schooler Santas stitched last year
4.   Whitmoor jumper - (just the sleeves to knit)
5.   Wildflower stitching - (this is in time-out, I have to unpick a section I miscounted)
6.   Bonnie's birthday bunny - (needs sewing together and dress making)
7.   Take at least 2 finished stitched pieces to be framed - (on it, one already taken in on Friday)

What do you think? I think everything on my list except for the Wildflower stitching is doable.  I need to be in the right frame of mind to unpick the stitches I miscounted and put the piece in a scroll frame, I was using a snap frame and it wasn't holding the fabric tight enough for me.  I do love the piece and would like to get it finished this year If I can.  I'd love to hear about your crafting plans for July, If you have any.

-X-