Inspirational

Posted on May 11, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

On bank holiday Monday, last week, we visited Winchester. “You mustn’t visit Winchester without going to the cathedral” we were told.

It’s a truly magnificent building. I can’t even begin to describe its size and features, it’s immense. The Cathedral website is really informative if you want to take a look.

Many people will have visited the Cathedral simply to pay a visit to the last resting place of Jane Austin.

Interestingly it wasn’t until many years after she was buried that the number of people visiting her grave were noted, as her work gained popularity.

These lilies were heavenly scented, I love them.

I really like the Antony Gormley sculpture ‘Sound II’ in the Cathedral crypt.

However it was the tapestry work that really, really, caught my eye, as you shall see. I used to enjoy tapestry, but when my elbow was very painful I gave it up. Plus it was far from cool to be making tapestry cushions. Now I wish I had just taken extra painkillers, had a treble G&T and stuck my fingers up to cool. I bought most of my materials from Liberty of London, they used to have a wide selection of wool, canvas, kits and materials. They really have scaled back the selection but you can still find some nice choices. There was a postal ordering service I used to buy from also, which will now have a website but I just need to remember the company’s name…

What follows are many, many (I seem to be in a repeating the-same-word-twice-mode today, sorry. I can control this mode and hit the delete button, but choose not to, just in case you’re wondering if there’s a compulsive issue going on here) photos of tapestry work. Some are faded from use, sunlight and age, others are newer. I find all beautiful and inspirational.

Inspirational colours, designs and because of the amount of hours that they took to create.

Fuzzy, but I don’t want to delete the above. Partly close your eyes and squint to focus?

A windmill and what I think is a plough, surrounded by the fruit of the land?

I would also have stitched my initials & the year on the back too!

When we bought our entry tickets we were told they are also season tickets, so we’re planning to go back to take a tour and find out more about the history, carvings, art, sculpture etc etc of this incredible building. I have a feeling that all photographing devices will be taken from me prior to the tour; I was a long time sighing over and photographing these beauties!

I’ve always been a huge fan of Kaffe Fassett, particularly when I was first interested in tapestry. I’m going to A Life in Colour, an exhibition celebrating Kaffe’s work, with Natasja of the CrocheTime blog. I can’t wait!

Sunday

Posted on June 18, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

We had a lovely day out yesterday, to a pottery then a pub where we sat by the river in the sunshine (yes! we’ve had some more sunshine!)

Then we took some nutty oat and raisin cookies I baked on Saturday to a friend. That was quite funny. We arrived and were saying what we’d been up to for the day, but honestly it was like seeing Scooby Doo in action; the nose went up, the eyes were fixed on the tin in my hand. “Cake? Is that cake? I haven’t had CAKE for ages!”

I’ve used a gallery setting for these photos, click on the first one to view in a slideshow setting at your own pace….

English seaside

Posted on June 6, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Sorry if you’re feeling Jubileed out now, but there are only one or two Union Jacks in these I promise!

We walked miles and miles at the weekend along the sea front! The weather was very good and coming home I noticed inches of rainwater in flowerpots in the garden, seems like home has had a huge thunder storm and plenty of rain. It was a good decision to go away and escape it all. I’ve just realised how typically English I’m being typing at length about the weather, especially as it was a good few days ago. Sorry but I suppose it’s ok to conform to the national stereotype sometimes eh?!

I’ve put these in a gallery so click on whichever photo you want to begin with and then you can view all the pics in a slideshow at your own pace. If you’re a bit bored of seaside pics come back at the weekend for my latest new crochet project!

Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

Posted on June 5, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

This gallery contains 15 photos.

Over the bank holiday weekend we’ve been to the south coast to enjoy some Jubilee celebrations and see the sea. I love days at the seaside; it’s one of my all-time favourite things to do (as you might already have guessed?!) Everywhere … Continue reading →

Red White & Blue London

Posted on May 27, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Yesterday I met a group of friends to share some books, have a few drinks, some lunch and a wander by the Thames.

It was a perfectly sunny day as you’ll see, so I walked from Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes lived there you know, at least in lots of our imaginations!) grabbed some breakfast from M&S in Oxford street and walked down to Trafalgar Square to sit by a fountain to picnic and watch the world go by (and the minutes tick down to the Olympics) until a friend, G, came to meet me…

A perfect day full of laughing and fun.

Happy weekend to you all wherever you are. :-D

Come for a walk?

Posted on May 24, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

This gallery contains 35 photos.

Blenheim Palace has gorgeous grounds, with a lake to circle, a butterfly house to steam within (nice on a frosty day) and a maze to wander. Thank goodness there’s a viewing platform to climb if you need a bit of … Continue reading →

Dublin #2

Posted on April 23, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

At Kilmainham Goal I noticed some crochet. Impressive given the conditions I saw in which the prisoners would have lived. Also, it just shows how versatile those little old granny squares can be.

Sorry for the poor quality, I was rushing to join the guided tour of the original cells where the political prisioners were held, but I thought as this is technically a crochet blog you might enjoy seeing this ‘blouse’.

Walking back to the hotel later I spotted all this. Is there no bin at this person’s house?! I can picture an arm extending from a window to throw an empty out with a vague promise to self to tidy up later. I have to admit that something about this scene made me laugh as well as recoil a little. I can’t justify myself.

You’ve seen Molly Malone and her assets, Oscar reclining in the park and now here’s Phil Lynott, outside a rather nice traditional Irish pub. The Dubliners do seem to like their statues, as well as their drinking holes. I viewed a few traditional pubs, inside and out. It has to be done as part of the full holiday experience.

This was outside another bar, I love it! It reminds me of Father Ted.

Yes; I did just follow the ‘Fine Food for Feck All’ poster with cherry blossom from Trinity College. It’s my blog and I’ll be random if I want to (singing the ‘It’s my party’ song in my mind as I type that)! :-)

The Book of Kells was great and the information about how the scribes made the colours was fascinating, but the best part by far is The Long Room. If you go then take a big breath in as you enter the room. The smell is incredible. If you have no idea what the Long Room is then Google is your friend. ;-)

The Liffey and some of its many, many bridges. I wandered across the Millennium bridge, that you see in the foreground, after snapping this picture and into The Temple Bar area….

….to hear some superb live Irish music at The Quays. Sunday is a good day for relaxing with a drink in hand and a tapping foot to the music.

A few strange looks were garnered as I photographed the floor, but I liked it.

And finally here is some street poetry I passed on my way back from the live music and foot tapping.

I hope you can read it.

Dublin is great city, with so much still left unseen and undone – I’ll have to go back for a third visit one day.

And in crochet news: I’m on the last 8 or so colours of the Rainbow Granny Stripe, so expect a reveal ta-dah thingy post any time within the next few weeks. It’s slow progress compared to other stripey blanket bloggers since I am also dipping into my Rhubarb Ripple Blanket, making more Spring Flower Squares and edging some Alternative Granny Squares. Then there’s the random little other crochet makes I am side-tracked by also.

But it’s all good fun and very relaxing.

Staithes, North Yorkshire

Posted on April 10, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Hope you had a good Easter weekend. Here’s a little (ish!) record of some of mine…

A little crochet time in the Leeds Marriott in the morning on Good Friday, before heading further oop north to Staithes

We’ve reached our 18th century fisherman’s cottage, it’s great. Look at the alley you walk down to get to it; better not eat toooo many Easter Eggs or I’ll be there an extra week!

I bet I can guess what these used to be before they were coal sheds!

The houses share walls and are crammed in higgledy-piggledy into a relatively small place. You can just feel the history and layers of the past as you wander in and out of the alley ways, along past the small shops, chapels and pubs (many closed now, though there’s still three in the village.)

Super cosy

What a hill to the car!

Stepping stones

One of my favourite views, I love all the colours.

After a LOT of walking and rock clambering and that vertical walk to the car!

Seeing this in the Cook Memorial Centre in Staithes felt a bit odd; I’d forgotten I came across this cottage a long time ago in a Melbourne park. I’d been living in Australia for a year by then, and found it really unsettling and a little bizarre to see Captain Cook’s Cottage!

Easter Sunday morning we lit the fire, opened the eggs, toasted some home-made walnut & cranberry bread and snuggled for a while before venturing out.

And that is enough for now. I’ve got some great pics from Saltburn and the yarn-bombing, but it will be next week before I post them. Trip #2 is about to happen. I’ve got today to turn my laundry around and re-pack and I’m off again early in the morning. It’s a very hard life.

:-D

This morning….

Posted on April 4, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I only called Deramores yesterday lunchtime and here’s the new order!

I hadn’t mentioned that I bought another stash of the multi-pack last week, the second of the year already! I’m now the yarn Queen of the South.

Here’s the original lot. I really do recommend Deramores; superb service and fast delivery. Plus Stylecraft Special DK is £1.79 at the moment. It’s soft and nice to work with, no it’s not wool but it’s not bad at all for 100% acrylic.

I tried out a new pattern I’d seen online. This will be my Spring Flower blanket eventually. I used up oddments from the wave patttern I tried (below) but disliked after I compared it to Lucy’s ripple pattern. I hate waste and so every scrap turns into something else.

I’ve enjoyed trying out my new cream to edge the Alternative Granny Squares. It seems soothing after all the brightness!

Did you know I’m a leftie by the way? If you’re new and want a leftie recommendation of a great ‘learn to crochet book’ then click on the books! link to the right >>>>> it’s called Crochet Unravelled and has diagrams for lefties and those odd rights ;-p I still look at it sometimes when a bit befuddled.

Hmmm, well this my plan ahead for Easter project which hasn’t happened since there’s a lack of fun in the making. Fiddly. Squeaky horrid cheapo yarn. But it might still get completed since:

a) I hate not finishing something, even if I dislike it. (Mum’s the same I once bought us both a lovely tin of what turned out to be horrid sweets. Owning the lovely tin was the object though we both ate the horrid sweets; because it’s not good to throw things away or waste them. S thinks us both to be nutters. Obviously he’s wrong.)

b) It’s VERY cute when completed

c) I don’t like failing.

Away for trip #1 and trip #2 from tomorrow, I’ll share some pics on my return. :-D

Have a lovely Easter.

Flower pincushion

Posted on April 3, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I decided that I needed a new upstairs (The Little Room!) pin-cushion so made this the other day.

The floating pincushion could carry on doing sterling work downstairs. I’m umm errr darning in the ends of the little pieces I’ve made for my *cough* *cough* 3rd/4th blanket at the moment.

I know…. “Hi, I’m Rachell and I’m addicted to starting multiple projects.”

See why it’s been christened the floating pc now?! (Here’s the original blog post)

The plan for the rainbow granny stripe is to take it, and only it, away on trip #1 soon.

Maybe for trip #2 I might take the alternative granny squares, the rhubarb ripple or the new spring flowers ‘squares,’ or maybe I will have some time off crochet?! Hmmm but bad shopping things may happen if I do the latter. I am remembering this earlier in the year.