Hello everyone – hope you are all well, just back from a very hot week in Spain – is raining here now just to make me feel very at home!

I have been very busy knitting- had not picked up my needles for a very long time but got back in the mood in the last couple of weeks and have finished two pairs of wristwarmers.

The first are these lilac and purple pair for Ellie, not certain what the wool was as bought it so long ago but the pattern is by Julie from Little Cotton Rabbits  and has my favourite moss stitch.The link will take you to her Ravelry site with some lovely free patterns but you ought to go and visit her blog  as well if you have not done so.

This other pair is knitted with Artesano yarn in a lovely variegated green that I bought from my friend Lydia’s shop Spun a while ago – it knitted up beautifully. The pattern is one I got from Ravelry and had been putting off trying it as it looked a bit complex but it was really easy to do. It is a freebie pattern called Inverness Diamonds  and is by a designer called Creative Yarn.

My teaching year has nearly finished and I have been saying goodbye to this year’s students. One of them gave me these gorgeous Lantern Moon needles – they are so fine and will knit really beautifully, I am determined to master sock knitting this summer so these will be very useful as well as for knitting some of Julie’s cute little Xmas stocking ornies for my tree this year.

I have just got my latest order from The Silk Mill  as well from their recent 10th anniversary sale – look at this lovely pink and blue silkiness!

I have started on some stitching for a baby gift as we have had a new addition to the family. Regular readers will know that my grandmother will be 100 in July and she has just had her eighth great-grandchild – a baby girl born to my cousins, they have named the baby Alice Evelyn as my grandmother is called  Evelyn Alice so she is very pleased about that. Big congratulations to them all.

In other exciting family news Ellie has moved to Wales to start her new job, she is now living at the castle (as befits a Princess!) – in a house in the grounds that overlooks the beautiful Italianate gardens and starts work today. I am so proud of her, she is going to have such a fantastic year and really deserves it after all her hard work at Uni. Turns out there were over 80 applicants for the post so she did brilliantly to get it. I am hoping to visit her very soon so will be able to post some pics of her new abode!

Will be back at the end of the week with some pics from Spain for you – meanwhile enjoy yourselves and thanks for visiting.