We’ve just had two weeks off of work. We have the kind of holiday days which are use-them-or-lose-them, and our holiday calendar starts at the beginning of October every year. We had holiday days accumulated because, well…. Covid. We needed a break and had to take it now. Unfortunately, neither Doug nor I were feeling comfortable with travelling internationally (and in particular, didn’t want to ruin the blissed out glow of a week spent lazing in the sun by coming back through Heathrow in its current crazy chaos). Additionally, Doug had some major mouth surgery just before the start of the holiday, and he looked like he found the wrong end of a bar fight, in addition to having a mouth full of stitches that needed removing, and, oh yeah, a lot of pain. So we decided to have what the British are so sweetly calling a “staycation”. In other words, have a holiday here in the UK.

What we failed to take into account is that some people actually plan a holiday in advance! They make bookings! For September even, when the schools are back in session. The nerve! I could tell you a long, pointless, and ultimately boring story about how we tried to find a place to stay, but I won’t. The point is that we did not plan in advance, and thus we stayed at home.

That is not to say we did nothing. We read, we cooked, and we took a lot of nice walks. I knitted. (“Aha!”, you think, “finally some knitting content.” If this is you, skip to the bottom of the post and I promise I will talk knitting.)

We took a number of walks locally along the Thames. I liked this spot, near Pangbourne, where on an unexpectedly hot afternoon, the locals gathered to swim. I wonder who was more surprised: the cows or the people?

We spent a lovely day at Kew Gardens, which was lush and green and peaceful. Doug even convinced me to take the areal walk, which is 9 flights of stairs up in the treetops:

I am afraid of heights, so I tried (not quite successfully) to relax my clenched teeth enough to get this photo showing me up in the treetops:

Kew is beautiful and I heartily recommend a visit there. We are members, but still don’t spend as much time there as I would like.

(It was unfortunately on the way back from Kew, that our car broke down, as mentioned in my last post.)

We spent a day hiking around Hughenden Manor, the home of Benjamin Disraeli. It is now a National Trust property and has some pretty gardens and attached parkland. They also have great beach chairs scattered around, which almost makes it like a beach holiday (only without the water, or the sand, or the gin & tonic).

We spent an absolutely glorious morning at the West Green House Gardens. This is a private house with the most beautiful gardens. It was truly lovely and we hit it on a magical day.

We also celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary last week. Here, just for fun, is a photo of us 30 years ago:

Lastly, some knitting to report. I have mostly been working on Caravay, a Linda Marveng design. This oversized pullover is knitted in a very cool textural stitch which has a lot of depth, made even more rich by the beautiful burgundy yarn (Tinde pelsullgarn by Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk). I took innumerable photos of the work in progress, but find it is almost impossible to capture both the colour and the texture properly. Here are two different shots, which hopefully give an idea of the richness:

I also did some swatching for a mystery pullover, in this pretty pink DK wool from the Wool Barn. (Note that this is a mystery for you, not for me. As I have noted before in response to the craze for Mystery Knit-a-longs: “I like to know what I am knitting”.)

And I cast on for the Gresham Shawl. If you recall, I received a kit for this shawl on my birthday a few weeks ago. This is knit with worsted weight wool so it flies off the needles:

Tomorrow we go back to work. I am not convinced I feel entirely rested, but I will admit that I don’t feel nearly as crushed as I did beforehand. The trees are starting to turn, and my inbox is filled with knitting pretties, and new autumn patterns are appearing. Sweater weather is here, and with it, the usual boost to my knitting mojo and the re-charging of my creative muscles. Do you have new projects on your needles? Curious minds want to know.

Dear Miss Fashion Smarty-pants,

What should the fashion-conscious motorist wear to get a puncture on the M4?

Signed, Sartorially Challenged

Dear Sartorially Challenged,

In our opinion, if one is to spend two hours on the hard shoulder of the M4 during rush hour, awaiting a tow, the well-dressed motorist would be best advised to wear a hand-knitted garment. Or perhaps two.

With best wishes, Miss Fashion Smarty-pants

I turned 60 this week. It is going to take a while for that to sink in. I had a nice day – Doug cooked me a great meal, I chatted with the girls and with lots of old friends, I received some lovely gifts. You may not be surprised to hear that there was yarn.

Below is a great big pile of yarn which I received from the girls:

This is the bouncy, soft, 100% wool, Woolstok Worsted from Blue Sky Fibers, in 8 shades; it was purchased as a kit from Tribe Yarns, to make this extra large shawl, the Gresham Wrap by Michael Vloedman:

Blue Sky Fibers make really nice yarn (I knitted my Cool Boots Neutral Shawl in Blue Sky Metalico) and this yarn is so lovely and sunny and cheerful. I will enjoy knitting with it, but also am enjoying just looking at all the beautiful shades.

I also received this fantastic yarn from The Uncommon Thread, Linum in the colour Pontus. This hand-dyed yarn is 50% baby alpaca, 25% silk, and 25% linen.

I have wanted to try this yarn for a while, and have something in mind for it, but as it is a summery thing, I will put it aside for awhile. The Uncommon Thread makes absolutely gorgeous yarn, and I have used it for many projects, such as Mignon, Skelter, Laelia, and Livvy (links are to blog posts I wrote about each project).

I am calling this a magical mystery birthday gift. How can you get a magical mystery birthday gift, too? It is easy, just follow these simple steps:

1. Pre-order some great yarn from an independent dyer.
2. Forget all about it.

Having it arrive in time for your birthday is a bit trickier, but I am certain that you enterprising knitters can figure that one out.

I have not done lots of knitting the past few weeks, but I have started the Caravay sweater by designer Linda Marveng. The yarn is fantastic and I am so happy we picked this gorgeous shade of Burgundy (the yarn and pattern were won in a prize and you can see details in this post). The stitch pattern is quite interesting – not difficult or in-your-face, but pleasingly textual.

And, as a last nod to a knitting birthday, I received my copy of the new Confident Knitting book. It happened to arrive on my birthday, which I am sure was intricately coordinated by Jen and Jim (the editors). It is a lovely book and I have been happily reading it this morning. It is part of the Confident Knitting club from Arnall-Culliford Knitting, which I heartily recommend you check out. They make fantastic instructional videos, and work with an array of diverse, independent, and talented designers and dyers. And they are very nice to boot!

Doug had a birthday last week too. He received lovely gifts, but no yarn. Poor Doug! Birthdays are always better with yarn.