NOT MUCH STITCHING HAPPENING

Since my last post I haven't really done much stitching although I did complete a block and have started some more crochet. Inspired by  Lucy's Summer Harmony blanket at Attic 24 where she used all her left over yarns , I decided to use up my left over yarns from the blanket I had crocheted. I am doing a much smaller version of this blanket, more like a knee rug. It is made up of lovely granny squares. Did you know there are many different granny square designs? I didn't ! So, I have been crocheting the first rounds in different colours and have added the 2nd round to some. I am limited with colours so I am making quite a few repeat first rounds and alternating the rest. Does that make sense?

 


I have finished stitching Jenny's free July BOM but I have not done it justice. Unfortunately, I had to trace the design with a Micron black pen as I ran out of my brown ones and I can't seem to find the brown ones anywhere. The problem is that I chose pale colours for this design and it was really difficult to cover the black lines. I have also had trouble with my eyes when using pale coloured threads so the stitches are varied in size. I did unpick some a few times but gave up in the end. In hindsight I should have used 3 strands of thread instead of 2. I am looking forward to the next block in August.

 

 

So, with little else to show you right now I shall continue with my travel exploits.  On the 17th June 2015  it was a 6-00am start as we were departing Edinburgh heading for Cardiff, Wales. After pre booking our taxi and paying the hotel bill the night before we hopped in a taxi to the airport. We had to check in our own luggage using an automated system but we required the assistance of a very helpful staff member . After having a toasted sandwich and coffee, ( breakfast) ,at the airport café we went to the boarding gate. Walking through security I was stopped because the machine beeped and I had to go through a body scanner. Oh my! That must have scared some poor staff member!

 

We arrived at Cardiff 10 minutes early and then had to order a taxi to take us to our hotel. What a disappointment! The floating floor boards were sticky under foot and dust was all over the furniture. Thank goodness we were only staying for 1 night. After settling in we ventured out to explore Cardiff on a very cold day, colder than the Scottish Highlands were.  We ended up at the Dr Who exhibition but I sat it out while my daughter went in as I was extremely tired and my muscles were aching. I don't know how I walked all the way back. My daughter was an avid " Torchwood" fan so we found the site where the "Torchwood staff" stood on the paving stone and descended down into their place of work. She was happy! Since then I have watched all the seasons of Torchwood on Netflix and I loved it.

 

 

 

 

The main reason we stopped in Cardiff was to hire a car to drive to Chippenham, Wiltshire and then on to Penzance in Cornwall. The next morning we had breakfast after trying to calm down a very distressed waitress who was having a break down due to lack of staff. We hopped in another taxi (the taxi services in Europe certainly got a lot of work from us! ), headed for the Hertz Car Hire place where it had been arranged for me to pick up the car. Now, I have to tell you that I never drive very far and hyperventilate at the thought of city traffic and having to negotiate any more than 2 lanes of traffic let alone trying to navigate my way around a different country!  As they drive on the same side of the road and I mainly had to drive on a motorway I was brave enough to try. After all, I would have a map or a GPS right? WRONG!!!! No such thing as a paper map anymore . No GPS either. So, the Hertz guy printed me up a basic map to Chippenham and I do mean "basic". We got lost as soon as we turned out of that street. The indicators were on the left side and the wipers were on the right side- the complete opposite to my car. So, picture me flicking the wipers on every time I went to indicate. I reckon I got used to it on the last day of the car hire . And you guessed it, I was back to front when I got home in my own car. Eventually we managed to find our way to the motorway .

 

 I shall continue this journey next time when we finally arrive in Chippenham, my grandfather's birthplace where he lived until he came over here to live and work,  alone at the age of 20. Brave fella!

 

Thanks for sharing my journey with me.

 

Angel Blessings.