What did I do last month?

I know its been a while - I kept saying to myself that I would blog on this day or that night, and then something would happen, and I didn't.  However I have been places and done things, so I do have plenty to share.

My last post was a couple of days before my birthday.  Now, back in the Spring, my friend, Jo, and I went to a seminar on Occupations and the first speaker was the stone carver at Lincoln Cathedral.  Jo and I were so taken with what he had to say that we decided to have a trip and see for ourselves.  So on my birthday, that is what we did.  We drove to Lincoln in the pouring rain to have a good look at the Cathedral.  I have vague memories of going there as a child and peering up at the Lincoln Imp, but certainly haven't visited for decades.

We started at the West Front, which is what remains of the original Norman building, but which has been tarted up since.  The give away is the rounded arches - later arches have pointed apexes.

Then we went inside and had a floor tour.  Basically this is a guided tour of the Cathedral at floor level.  You can go into the towers and the roof, but I have some issues with heights so we stuck to ground level.  This is the view down the nave towards the East Front.

Our main interest was in the carvings, particularly in those which the stone carver had shown us at the seminar.  A lot of them were too high up to get good pictures of, but I did manage to take a few of carvings closer to the ground.

 

The top carving is of Stephen Langton, who was Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of the Magna Carta.  The words above his head are "The English Church shall be free" which are the first words of the Magna Carta.  The skull/snake with the bag of money represents Greed and the devil/snake is on the other side of the same buttress.

We also visited the Cathedral libraries - a smaller one which is all that remains of the original medieval library with original benches, and the Wren Library which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1674 for the then Dean of the Cathedral, Michael Honywood.

We spent so long wandering round the Cathedral that we didn't get to see any other parts of Lincoln, so I really must go back soon.  However, if you haven't visited Lincoln Cathedral (either at all or for decades), then I do suggest that you go. 

The next item chronologically is a couple of finished objects.  

First up are my Marie Curie Socks.  This is a pair of vanilla socks knit cuff down using the Slightly Modified Garter-Stitch Edged Eye of Partridge Heel from the Hermione's Everyday Socks pattern by Erica Lueder.  The yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply in the limited edition Marie Curie colourway.

And secondly this is my Ribbon Cowl RAK, which is a modified version of the Ribbon Cowl pattern by Frankie Brown, where I did four extra ribbons of colour for extra length.  The yarn is King Cole Pricewise DK in the Dark Grey (29) and Candy (40) colourways.  This will go to the Friary Drop-In, which is our local charity supporting the homeless.


 And then I had another excursion - really a long weekend away.  Bakewell Wool Gathering was held on the weekend of 14 and 15 October 2017 so some knitting friends and I rented a cottage just outside the town at Over Haddon from the Friday night to the Monday morning.  We had a great time - chatting, knitting, watching DVDs, eating pizza and of course, attending the Wool Gathering.  We went on the Saturday and the weather was glorious.  I am, as I have said before, a very nesh person - someone who feels the cold - but in the early afternoon we were sat on benches by the Public Gardens eating chips and I was quite warm enough in my T-shirt and jeans!

And of course, there was yarn.  From left to right, the first two are by Coastal Colours in their 4ply sparkle.  The grey is dyed with silver birch and coal, and the blue with indigo. The middle skein was a birthday present from a friend - "Return of the Rainbow" on 75/25 merino/nylon sock yarn by All Wool That Ends Wool.  The purple sparkly skein is also sock yarn from Rosie's Moments in the "Petra" colourway in memory of a much loved friend, with 10% of the proceeds going to leukaemia research.  And the final skein is a 80/20 merino/nylon high twist 4ply in the "Fireworks over Bradwell" colourway by Peak District Yarns.

The next item is another finished object.  This is my Windshield Hat knit from a pattern by Niina Talikka, which is free on Ravelry.  I knit this as part of the Hipster KAL organised by Jaclyn of the Brooklyn Knitfolk podcast.  It is a three month KAL starting on 1 August and finishing on 31 October 2017.  You had to knit an item or items which had 10 or fewer projects listed on Ravelry at the time you joined the KAL.  Windshield is knit from Triskelion Heulwen DK (70/20/10 superwash merino/silk/cashmere) in the Upstream colourway, and the yarn is just gorgeously soft and snuggly.

And then last but not least, I had a day off work on Tuesday to take my nieces to Twycross Zoo.  Normally we have a day out together during the summer holidays but events conspired against us this year, so we had a day out in October half-term instead.  The Zoo was the girls' choice, although we have all been before.  For me it has been some time since I was last there.  It is an easy drive, about 40 minutes, and we got there as it opened.  The girls wanted to see everything so we did.  Snow leopards, Amur leopards, elephants, giraffes, gorillas, lorikeets, lemurs, chimpanzees, siamang, prairie dogs, meerkats, butterflies, tapir - you name it, if it was there, we saw it!  The weather was better than anticipated, just an occasional drizzle instead of pouring rain, and slightly chilly due to the wind factor.  We had a great day - apart from youngest niece managing to temporarily abandon the rucksack with their wet weather gear in, and me getting a sore shoulder from hauling about all the food needed for two pre-teen girls.  Youngest niece took control of my camera, so here are some Asian elephants for you to look at :-)

I'm going to leave it here - there is more, but I need to get sorted, have lunch and take Dad shopping.  Hopefully I will manage to post again much more quickly than last time.

All the best to you and yours, and may the frog steer well clear of your needles.