Tosca from NY and Habit of Art from NT.

This is what we saw last night.Tosca beamed from New York,live,to our local Film Theatre(part of Theatr Clwyd).It was amazing.I have only ever been to one opera before and that was twenty years ago.Friends asked us to go with them last night and I have to admit that neither C or I was keen.You really felt you were there and part of it.In December they are doing Falstaff, again from the Metropolitan Opera in NY.More are being done in the New Year.As well they are beaming in Corialanus from the RSC plus other Shakespeare plays.I f you have never been to anything like this I urge you to give it a go.It will be on at a film theatre near you I am sure.

Last Thursday saw us at the Film Theatre to see Habit of Art by Alan Bennet.This was a beamed in live production of this from a couple of years ago.Again ,excellent.

Next Wednesday sees us at the theatre again to see Mansfield Park.This is in the main theatre and is a visiting company.Theatre Royal from Bury St EdmundsA really cultural week for us.We are so lucky that in our small market town of 10,000 people we have this amazing theatre,just a five minute drive from our house and with free parking!!.

Hexagon blanket.

 Having completed the blankets(well almost!) for my two grandsons I have started one for my granddaughter,Ella,who is 14.She has chosen the colours from the Stylecraft Special DK range.The photo doesn't really show the colours off too well.They are turquoise,purple,mauve,teal,lilac etc.I can do a hexagon in 15 minutes and I can get 14 out of a 100g ball.They measure 5in or 12cm across so I can work out how many I need.

 Should I arrange them in rows

                                         or in flower shapes

                                          or randomly?

                                   Which do you think looks best?

One finished fox and some WIPs!

 Meet Fenella Fox.Sometime ago my daughter asked me to knit two rabbits,one boy ,one girl (from Little Cotton Rabbits) for a colleague who is expecting twins,one girl and one boy.I have shown you photos of the rabbits before.However this friend has also a 5 yr old and I didn't want her to feel left out so I made her Fenella.I hope she likes her.They are very fiddly to make but worth the effort!

 This is blanket number two.One for each of my grandsons.They are both finished apart from the edging(boo-I hate doing edging).These are something mindless to do while watching TV.

 This is another almost finished project-socks for C.This is the second one so almost there.Again another thing to do while telly watching.

Now these next two projects require a little more concentration.

 This is a scarf I am knitting for my sister in law for Xmas.The yarn is Posh Yarn Eva 50% silk,50 % merino lace weight.The pattern is Leaf Lace by Cayli Harris.Free on ravelry.The pattern isn't very clear here but it  looks good.

 Another lace project.This laceweight cashmere(bought at Yarndale for £10-bargain).This is going to be Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail shawl.This should be done on a circular needle but I prefer straight until it gets too big.

Lastly, my first attempt at felting.A poppy brooch.
Do you have lots of projects on the go or just do one at a time?

Anyone else having trouble with Blogger

Every time I want to sign in ,it says it doesn't recognise my password.So,I change my password and the same thing happens again!I can't be changing my password every time I log in.HELP ,please.

Cambridge then France

L

 Last weekend we went down to Cambridge to see the family.Cambridge is such a beautiful city with so many wonderful and historic buildingsAbove is Kings College.

 This is Gonville and Caius College.

 I think this is Trinity or St Johns ,not quite sure.

 Interesting little side streets.When we go it is to see the family and we never really get to see the sights so these photos were a bit rushed in a quick dash into town.

This is Ella,on the right,our 14 year old granddaughter who is into rowing.She was in a race on the River Cam.The training is really rigorous.A schedule for every day of the week.It requires a lot of dedication.

 Grandpa with Angus and Finlay waiting for Ella to row by.
 Then on monday morning it was off toFrance.It is only two hours from Cambridge to Dover so seemed silly not to snatch a few days in France.We got a return ferry ticket for £40-bargain!

 From Calais we decided to drive down the coast towards Boulogne.This the view from cap Blanc Nez.From there we drove to our hotel in St Omer.We stayed at the Ibis which is right in the centre with loads of restaurants(even in October) which we could walk to.
The first day we drove through lovely countryside on back roads to Le Touquet which was dead,very quiet.On the way back we stopped at La Coupole-below.

 This is a huge concrete dome which you can just see in the middle and the entrance bottom left.In WW2 the Germans were building this facility to launch V2 rockets on London.it never got to be used because the war ended.Now it is a fascinating museum of WW2.A must visit place if you are in the area.

 At the back of St Omer is a marshy area.Monks dug waterways in the Middle Ages.It is now a country park with lots of pathways.Sorry there are no actual photos of St Omer.As you can see we had blue skies all the time.What a bonus as Autumn has now arrived.

I will leave you with a photo of a starter at one of our meals out.The French do it so well.We ate three wonderful meals on the three nights we were there including snails,frogs' legs and rabbit.
We had a wonderful break in Cambridge and France.The downside was a 5 and a half hour drive from Dover back home to North Wales.

Yarndale.what a wonderful day.

 The entrance hall was decked with bunting that Attic24's Lucy had asked people to make.She ended up with 6,000 triangles!They came from all over the world.

 Look at all this yummy knitted foodThe strawberry cake was amazing.

 I had taken my daughter with me and she managed to snap me having a word with Lucy.What a lovely,talented lady.My hand knitted lacy shawl was greatly admired by many.Quite an ego boost!

 Some of the things I bought.Angora,alpaca,sock yarn,a Learn to Spin kit,some needles and this kit.

 this is something I have never seen before and I can't wait to give it a go.this kit makes a unique bracelet.

Felting was a big thing at Yarndale and I bought the above to give me some practise.The Poppy kit makes two brooches and a purse kit.
I also bought my daughter some yarn to knit a scarf.I spent a fortune but have activities to keep me going for months.There was so much talent and creativity at Yarndale.Sarah and I kept saying "look at that.Amazing.".It was lovely to have a day out with my daughter(Daddy took the girls to Chester Zoo).Thank you Lucy from Attic24 for organising it.
P.S.Annie.did you know you were mentioned in the programme.

Yarndale

Anyone going to Yarndale in Skipton on Saturday?