Portland

I had a couple of days off with my son, and so we went to Portland to stay with my Dad.  I love Portland.  Even with bad weather the light down there is beautiful.  Dorset Art Week is happening at the moment and we managed to visit one of the studios with displays.  I'm hoping to have some of the buttons I found there in the shop soon.  Monday was spent wandering round hilltops looking at prehistory (I do like a good bronze age barrow) and climbing inside a Pliosaur in Dorchester, to inspect its digestive workings (I've included a photo below in case you don't believe me).  Dad and I had a lovely walk to Tout quarry, where they do lots of sculpture.  On Tuesday we visited Swanage, via Swanage Railway.  We travelled on a steam train, which I love.  There is something about the smell of a steam train even though I grew up with diesel.  I'd forgotten how interesting Swanage is.  The little free museum, http://www.swanagemuseum.co.uk/, was very well done and I found the most delightful lady with some gorgeous paintings.  I would recommend a visit to see her work if you're down that way.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Sew Mitred Square Blanket and the point of knitting!

Image
No Sew Mitred Square Blanket This was one of those projects that made me consider why I knit. I don't need a blanket. I spend most of my time overheating, especially at night so actually a blanket is probably the last thing I need. I did have a huge amount of fibre from my Mum's stash, which prompted the idea.  A small selection from mine and Mum's stash! I'm finding spinning very soothing at the moment, with all the crazy going on. But why a blanket? I love to knit mitred squares. They way they get smaller as you make them, the look of the stripes as they form that distinctive V. I made a jacket a couple of years ago, well more of a coat really, with the huge amount of 4ply yarns I have. That started life as a blanket, but morphed into a coat as I was working it.  Me in my Mitred Square Coat I wanted something simple to work, and no sewing, and mindless, hence the blanket. Who knows, maybe next year it will be cold enough to use it. This project did it's job though
Read more

Lyra Hat, for people with a BAHA hearing aid.

Image
As some of you may know, I have a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid). This is a fabulous piece of kit. I have a metal screw in the mastoid bone in my head (which incidently has to be tightened each year so I do occasionally have a screw loose),and my heading aid clips onto this screw. I hear through the bone rather than through my broken ear. This does, however, make it a little difficult wearing hats, as the hearing aid sits proud of my head and anything placed on top of it makes it whistle like a tea kettle on the boil! Lyra Hat is my solution so I'm sharing it here for other people like me. It would also be useful if you wear a ponytail. Lyra Hat www.beakerbutton.co.uk   ©Jen Best 2019   Skills required. This hat is worked in the round from the top down.  Working in the round. M1r increases, knit front and back increases. Ability to recognise and work knit and purl stitches as they appear in the work without the need for a written pattern. Casting on and off within the work.
Read more

Crochet cord How To

Image
I've designed a pattern which requires a crochet cord to run through the top (it's a bag and it'll be available as soon as it's tested).  Anyway, I looked at I-cords for crochet, and found some really good websites with very clear tutorials like June Gilbanks video (here) .  However, the I-cord wouldn't work for me as you have to take your stitches of the needle, which was proving problematic with the yarn I was using.  So I came up with this instead.  It's highly probable that someone else has thought of it first, but I haven't seen it yet so I thought I'd share it with you.  It's really fast, much faster than a knitted I-cord, and doesn't require you to take any stitches off the hook.  I've only taken photos of the complicated bit. Start with a foundation chain the desired length of the finished cord.  Double crochet (single crochet if your using U.S. terms) into each chain.  Make three double crochet into the end chain so you go round th
Read more