Day trip in the Cotswolds

This weekend I decided instead of just staying home and doing the usual dog walk around where I live and then sit in the garden I would take myself off for a day trip around a very small area of the Cotswolds.

There are so many places to visit and after this lovely day I intend to do more of it.  I used to go out alot when my son was young taking him to lots of places. But now he is a teenager and my partner is not really in to visiting a place more than once.  But I am quite happy to re visit places and I always have my knitting for company!

Thanks to the joy of social media I decided my first place to visit would be Cotswold Lavender Farm. 

The farm is only 17 miles from my home and such a lovely drive through the countryside to get there.  I have visited the farm before, but last time we only made it to the tea rooms which is well worth a visit.

But this time I decided to walk in the fields and just have a couple of hours enjoying the scenery.

It is only £4 for adults and £2 for children so I think well worth the money.

 

To start with I had a wonder around the wildflower meadow that they have created.  The amount of butterflies was amazing and the beautiful flowers.  They have also provided information boards around the site to share information which is really interesting.

This field is one that is now "redundant" as the Lavender is not flowering, but I just love the shades of green that this image shows.

 

 As the weather was so warm I decided to find a little shady spot under a tree and just sit for half an hour and knit and watch the visitors as they gathered around the main Lavender area and take many many selfies.  

People watching is such a great pass time.

My next design in the making.

The Lavender just sets the natural colour of the yarn off perfectly.

I didn't buy and chocolate as I prefer dark, but I am sure this taste lovely.

Next on my trip was Broadway.

This is a quintessential Cotswold town with a lovely village green, a main high street and hotels and tea rooms line it along with a real mixture of shops.

They had a craft shop (which I used to work at before it changed hands) so it was nice to pop in and see what was for sale.

This building houses Trinity House Art Gallery who are based in London, New York, San Fransisco and Broadway.

The current exhibition is by a local artist P J Crook. 
Her work has been exhibited international and she has an MBE for her services to art.

Before I left Broadway for my next leg of my journey I had the most delicious ice cream, will definitely have another when I visit again!

My final stop before heading home was a favourite place of mine Winchcombe.

I have been visiting this town for many many years and have enjoyed some lovely walks around Sudley Castle surrounding countryside.

 

If you like a light hearted "romantic" read like me then Katie Fforde writes books often based on the Cotswolds.

I do hope you enjoyed this little trip I took.  

With so many more places on the map I will be back.

Here's to the next time.

#knitwhileyouwalk

Having been inspired to start walking alot after my recent trip to Woolacombe here is the blog post.  I decided it would be good to start walking to and from work as it is only just over three miles a day.

But instead of just walking to work, I thought why not knit while I walk to produce some socks, this way benefiting from the exercise and producing something at the same time.

So I started on 4th of June and everyday that I walk I do a little more of my sock.

I thought it would be nice to keep a record for myself to see the progress and places I go whilst walking.

With Sock one I am using West Yorkshire Spinner's colourway Kingfisher.  I would personal call it "Beach" as it reminds me of the sand and the different colours of the sea and sky.

The journey this sock has been on are,

• a trip to collect tickets for a great trip to Bath, many trips to and from work.  
• A journey on the train with my son to Bristol on a great day out.  
• A great walk in the country lanes to my local garden centre.
• A train journey to Bath for Karie Westermann Design your own lace shawl 
• A bus journey with my son who wil be 17 in July and is starting College, so we did the "check the bus route" trip.
• The final stitches were made on 20th June.

Here's to the next pair and many many more #knitwhileyouwalksocks.

Karie Westermann "Design your own lace Shawl" workshop.

When I told my friend that I had done a  workshop to design a Lace shawl, she said "I suppose you just design one lace repeat and go from there" . This is a very valid perception of what would be involved, but Karie opens your eyes to the idea in a whole new way.

I started on my design journey in knitwear many years ago when I graduated with a degree in Knitwear Design back in 1997. Oh my goodness how things have progress in terms of acceptability to a whole new resource now with the internet and incredible tools such as Ravelry.

I have designed socks and a handful of garments but only one shawl.   I have a passion to continue to learn and develop within my knitting (oh how I would love to do my degree again!)

So when the opportunity arose to take such a great course run by such a prestigious designer as Karie who has been teaching for over ten years and has produced exception work which can be viewed here I couldn't say no.

When you think of a shawl all my non knitting friends would say "it is something your Gran would wear". But knitting now is not just for "your Gran" to do. With the help of incredibly talented Indie yarn dyers and a whole new era of knitters. Along with the realisation that knitting has the ability to help with mindfulness and relaxation their is a whole new group of people who just love to knit.

Shawls have a fascinating history from the traditional Shetland Shawl to the elaborate work of Stephen West who's eleborate use of colour and shape breaks many rules.

As part of the course Karie asked where do I get my inspiration for design. For me it is thinking of what I want, be it socks or a garment.

These are my latest two design's

One is a sleeveless top and the second a long sleeve Boxy shaped jumper and I am working on a long sleeve cardigan in my collection I have called "The Road to Happiness".

I love swatching as you can gadge how the fabric will drape, the important stitch and row count and if you like how the fabric looks.

But Karie opened my eyes to so much more in terms of thinking of a story and drawing inspiration, aswell as yarn choices, needle size, the shape and item you want to create.

If you are ever in Bath and want to visit a ln inspiring shop you can not fail with A Yarn Story.

I could not resist Townhouse Yarns based in Dublin, Ireland.

These will definitely be turning into my very own shawl design.

So if you get a chance to go to a
Karie workshop, I highly recommend it.  I found her to be the most patient and inspiring person and her knowledge and teaching is impeccable

A Yarn Story interviewed Karie prior to her workshop, here is the interview.

Walking and Woolacombe.

 

Ever since I was a child I have always walked. Growing up my Dad always loved taking us out. His job was an Ordenance Surveyor so he know how to read maps and had an incredible collection of maps that showed footpaths.  We visited many many places over the years as a family and me and Dad also used to go cycling and swimming.

I have very few pictures of me when I was young.  I am the one in the middle, sister to the right and my handsome Dad.

Then when I was at University in Leicester many years later I walked everywhere as it was so much easier than driving.

So for me walking is a great way to excercise.  In today's society we are alot more away of Mindfulness. For me both knitting which I do every single day, but walking is also a great way to help with mindfulness. 

My Dad passed away four years ago, but he is always in my heart and he is with me when I go walking and if I start to find the walk hard, he is there in spirit willing me on.

So I know Dad was definitely with me when me and my wife set off on our first walk on our amazing holiday to Woolacombe this year.

South West Coastal Path is a brilliant information guide to walks that can be downloaded onto a mobile and one I have ready for next year!

Our first walk was route 116 taking us along the coastal path from Woolacombe around the coastal edge and then back in a circular route through Mortehoe village.

These are some of the many beaches that you pass on the walk.

 

Not long into the walk you pass Watersmeet Hotel

which looks a lovely place to have a meal, stay or just admire.

One of my favourite animals are sheep, so it was so lovely to walk along and see so many just chilling.

The scenary was truely spectacular, this is the view looking back towards Woolacombe bay.

The obligatory "shadow" shot by me and my wife.

Near the end of the walk we came across this great painted stone, that you picked up and moved to another spot for some one else to enjoy.

By now my legs were getting very tired and these steps may not look steep, but they definately seemed it at the time!

You could no longer see Woolacombe by this point and I was so proud to have walked along this whole coast line.

The lighthouse was rather a disapointment as you could not go in as it was all enclosed and the buildings at the front were owned by a trust who rented them out as holiday cottages.

But we made it which was the main thing.

The cliff edges and general geological formations just took my breath away.

This was the view on the homeward stretch, isn't it spectacular!!

Not a bad mornings excercise.

That evening I took in the beautiful sunset and just sat and watched and captured this beautiful shot of a stunning part of the UK.