Weddings, princesses and tiaras

Wasn't the wedding beautiful! I enjoyed watching it, especially with my 2 little princesses. They work up early this morning and insisted that they needed to be princesses for the day, just like Princess Catherine! (I know, she's the Duchess of Cambridge but she'll always be Princess Catherine to me). The other thing they insisted was that they needed tiaras - pretty, sparkly ones - that needed to be made by mummy, right this minute.

So with one eye on the proceedings, I managed to whip up 2 tiaras for the princesses. One is pink and sparkly and the other is peach and sparkly. They were certainly happy with the tiaras! (The tiaras were wire wrapped beads on a metal headband - I made it up as I went along!)

What I loved about today:
- it brought everyone together. There was an amazingly large crowd who was just enjoying the day with the happy couple. Street parties are still taking place all over the UK!
- the affection between the happy couple
- the weather stayed dry. It was cool and windy, but dry!
- there was no terrorist bombing/shooting
- And the Dress - She looked beautiful.

Spring Spriteling

I love Mystery Knit-alongs. I joined the Spriteling Mystery Shawl-a-long on Ravelry. The design is by Alice and can be found here. We get a clue every 2 weeks. I cast on in early April and I'm now on clue number 2.

I'm knitting this is Dream in Color Smooshy in Wisterious. So far it looks like a heap of mess but I'm looking forward to finishing it. Can't wait!!

Little shells

One of the things I enjoy about going on holiday is the escape from mundane daily duties. And in place, having the time to knit and to enjoy my knitting. I managed to finish a project and start a few new things while on holiday.

This is Little Shells. The pattern calls for it to be knitted in DK weight yarn but I decided to knit it in fingering weight yarn. The yarn is Sunshine Yarns Classic sock in Swedish Short Snout Dragon. Due to the finer gauge, I had to make a few adjustments to the calculations. I made the stockinette section much bigger but kept the lace section the same. It was a very quick and easy knit, the hardest thing was remembering to make the correct number of yo's.

The minute I started knitting it, Keira asked if she could have it. So I said yes. She couldn't wait to wear it once I had finished it. Here it is on its first outing - unblocked and with ends still not sewn in!

More of Portugal

More conventional pics of my trip:
The cliffs at Ponta de Piedade:
One of the few family shots:

A pottery store which had the whole storefront covered in plates and bowlsEvidence that I was knitting:

Sun and fun

I've been a well-deserved break. We took a trip to Portugal - to Lagos, in the Algarve. I've never visited that part of Portugal before, so it was all exciting. The main aim was to get out of London, get some sun and have some fun. That we did! I managed to knit quite a lot, read quite a lot and ate quite a lot!

Standing over a very high cliff in Arrifana, near Aljezur on a very windy day!


On a castle built in the 13th century


Walking down the cliffs in Ponta da Piedade, near the lighthouse


At the beach in Porto Mos - sandcastles built by the kids


Walking on the river beach in Carrapateira