Holiday news (belated as always)

We've just spent a glorious week at Carsington Water (Derbyshire), where we rented a cottage/barn with 4 other friends, and then proceeded to spend the week eating, drinking, playing games, reading and knitting. Some of us even went sailing on the reservoir while the rest watched and chuckled (for sailing read swimming - photos withheld due to embarrassment potential).

Oh, and the men went all prehistoric on us and spent the week plotting against the resident mice with modified mousetraps (score when we left: mice 2 (pieces of chocolate bait), humans 6 (rather messily it has to be said)).

On the crafty front, I finished my second BSJ, with modifications from the [knit wiki] making it look more symmetrical:

So now I have to find some buttons and the first mayou baby pressie will be finished.

I also finished one of these:
Fetching from knitty.com

Which turned into a pair over the weekend and are currently keeping my paws nice and cozy while I type.

Stash and thrift wise, we visited the amazing Cromford Mill, built by Arkwright (he of water powered cotton spinning mill fame). And totally by chance (honest!) this was the home of Quiltessential, a gorgeous quilt fabric shop run by a very friendly and helpful lady. We could have spent all day there (if it wasn't for the disapproving looks from all 3 other halves) but I satisfied myself with a selection of fat quarters for my stash:

And these beaties that may turn into a lap quilt now the nights are drawing in.
I'll drop in this photo too, for remembrance. These are stunning artisan cotton lawn fabrics, and the nice lady let me take a photo of them as I was dithering and couldn't really justify another expenditure at the time.
But with hindsight, I'm thinking handbag ...

Finally, a picture of the happy holidaymakers:
Dove Caves, Dovedale, after a trek through a jungle like ravine. We thought ahead and brought cake.

New craft - well, kind of

I have a bit of a penchant for close up photography, so while husband was playing hide and seek on the beach on a recent camping holiday:

I happened to spot a small stone, firmly wedged in a hole in the groyne (sea defence). So I took a photo of it. Then I spotted another, and another and another, and before I knew it, I had lots of photos of small stones stuck in holes.



There is something rather beautiful about these dull little pebbles, forced by the sea into the holes and wedged there until the next storm takes them on their way.