Spring: Ravelry swap, travelling and Derbyshire Open Arts

I'm  a bit of a sucker for the occasional swap.
This was a fun exchange with a theme reflecting the excitement of springtime.
My swap partner got it just right for me.
There was plenty of purple, including seeds for me to plant and gardening gloves.
I now have the most deluxe lemon squeezer I've ever seen.
Note to self: time to make lemonade rather than teas.

I hope to get back into blogging now I seem to have conquered the photo programme on our computer.
It had been refusing to download my images for a while.

April was a busy month, starting with a trip to Morecambe and ending up over Easter in New York.

May has dashed past again with much to do in the garden, much of which is still to be done.

This weekend it is time for Derbyshire Open Arts, and I will be amongst the artists exhibiting at Long Eaton Art Room.
Just a few days more to make frantic preparations for it!
My last minute ceramics will be fired tomorrow, so much to anticipate.

Birthday treats

Birthdays often pass me by, but this year I celebrated many times.
On my birthday we were on holiday in Ontario. We arrived the night before, and stayed with friends in Toronto.

On the day we went with friends firstly to visit a winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and then on to lunch at the Skylon in Niagara Falls. See the view from our table below. At the end of the meal a slice of cake with a candle on it appeared. (Birthday cake no1.)

A week later, once more with Elle and Mart, we visited Pia, Tom and family. They live on the edge of a lake near Barry's Bay.

It was so relaxing, we wished we could have stayed with them for more than two nights. Their daughters made a fantastic cheesecake with grated Toblerone on the top. I should have asked for the recipe. (Birthday cake no2.)

Because we were away, I asked my Ravelry birthday swap partner KnitsOnVerandas to delay sending her parcel to me. So, last week it turned up, and it was well worth waiting for.

The yarn,  Fundy Footsee in the Warning Sky colourway is exquisite, just my colours. I've already started off some socks using it with another yarn in single row stripes. I wore the bracelet  all the rest of the day, despite wearing clothing that didn't go with it.

Back to birthday cake - last night at our Woolly Wednesday session at the Art Room, I was surprised to be given another cake. This time it was a ginger cake with lemon icing. I shared some with others at the studio, then cycled home in the rain carrying the remainders. (Birthday cake no. 3)

More from SP11, and a new friend

My upstream Secret Pal has spoiled me again.
I found this lot waiting for me when I got in from Nottingham this afternoon.
It was getting dark, and even with flash this picture doesn't do my latest goodies justice.

There are two hanks of merino for felting (or spinning) in a fantastic cerise shade; two lots of dark chocolate; PURPLE sock needles and the cutest little sheep keyring.

What a pity that I have too much going on at the moment to try out the merino.
There are too many deadlines looming for the end of the month in various parts of my life.

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Today I had a great time in Nottingham after the ceramics class.
I didn't need to rush back home to Long Eaton, and despite the half-term crowds was able to do some shopping. Popping in to the John Lewis store in the Victoria Centre for some glass headed pins, I paused in the knitting section. I was hoping to chat with Helen (the Rowan rep) .

While waiting for her to be free I got into conversation with a girl working on some lace knitting.
Jazz turned out to be having problems making sense of some of the instructions at the start of a shawl. I took a look, and talked it through with her. So now she is going to start afresh with different needles as the ones she had with her were pulling on the yarn too much.

I've checked out her blog and Ravelry entries, and hope to get together with her again soon.
That might be a bit hard with all I've got on, but it was so much fun talking knitting.
Eventually, I had a brief chat with Helen before making my way to Primark for tights on the way back to the station.

Last night I went "shopping" for yarn in the loft, and have a project in mind.
First I have to do some sampling, and then settle on a sweater shape.