Knitting in the sunshine

The heatwave continues.  As does the stash busting.  Using up small amounts of 4ply yarn to make a couple of Little Sister's Dresses.

And some purple aran to make a Baby Sophisticate cardigan.

And, I have cast on a blanket (reverse pinwheel).  Which I actually brought yarn for.  To try to justify buying yarn, well it was on offer...

Knitting blankets in this heat summer seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do!  Although I have some way to go before this blanket is covering my lap.  I've just realised when uploading these photos that I seem to be having a purple knitting phase, this is not necessarily intentional! In between the knitting, I also cycled up to Loch Lomond to have a very well deserved ice-cream.

Where this black headed gull (that really has a chocolate coloured head) very kindly posed for me.

A Mile of Mice...

There is currently a project aiming to create a mile of knitted mice to raise money for the Alzheimer's society.

You can find out more about the project on ravelry and facebook.  I've made ten for the cause.

As you can see, Mark the guinea pig was pretty unimpressed.  We are currently having a spell of glorious sunshine here in the UK.  Which is perfect for using my new sunglasses case, made by the very talented blupaisan as part of a Craftster swap.

Plus it is great weather for a cycle, and a chance to show off my new bike basket!

PS) These cute seagull chicks are on the roof opposite, they are getting bigger and stronger (and nosier) every day, and are sure to fledge soon!

Craftbomb!

If you go down to Glasgow Botanic gardens today you might just have a surprise!

This week is voluntary arts week, and to celebrate this there has been a craft explosion at the botanics.  The Arctic terns have flown in specially.

I even got reunited with my tern briefly!

There are crafted birds, carp, kites, pompoms, flowers, bugs, stars, to mention a few.  And there is my watering can, pouring over everyone who walks in to the Kibble palace!

You can see more pictures of the craftbomb over at Voluntary Arts Week.  And I'll share how I made the watering can soon.

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Doon the watter

On a very sunny Saturday we went, where millions have went before, doon the watter to the Isle of Bute.

I finished my mont-royal/Mint Royale hat the night before, and took it on the trip.  However it must be said that on the first warmish day of Spring, a 100% wool hat is probably unnecessary!

The hat is very cosy and the pattern very well written.  The yarn was some Sirdar Majestic that I had been given, as is probably older than I am.  There were a number of breaks in the yarn, which was rather annoying, but hey, it was free so nevermind.

Bute was fantastic.

We went on a tour of the extremely fancy Mount Stuart.

A wander round Rothesay castle, where we saw some herring gulls who were happy to pose for photographs.

And also a very pretty swan nest by the castle moat.

One other reason to love Bute, is that it has the best name for a local newspaper ever.

The dancing bird...

A simple strip of weaving can come alive!  

A needle woven tapestry strip on a piece of wood.  Embroidery thread detail added for a wing and eye, with green wire added for legs.  Shake the bird to start the dancing!

Owls, seals and a Milo.

Off my knitting needles, for a friend's new arrival, an owly Milo.

I like how the Milo pattern gives you different cable options to personalise the vest.  I made the three month size and fit in two owl repeats.  My only issue was that I used dpns rather than circulars, and my tension must have been a bit dodgy, as you can see a line where the needles met.  Hopefully a few washes will get rid of these marks!  I think the owls look great, maybe one day I'll get round to making myself an owls jumper.  I've also been to visit some other new arrivals, this time at the Donna Nook grey seal colony.

These seal pups are adorable!