Weekending - Wonderful Wales and Wool

June 25, 2023

It is finally done! I have officially finished my law degree and now I have about 6 weeks to wait until I find out how I have done.

I knew that one day I would reach this point but honestly there were days in these last few weeks where it felt like I was trying to climb a mountain with bricks attached to my feet! The feeling was not helped with all the fantastic sunny weather that we had in May for I was stuck in my study researching and writing away while my lovely family were outdoors soaking up the sunshine.

It was with great joy that I submitting my final assignment late last week. We decided to celebrate this weekend with a visit to a National Trust property.

This is one of our most favorite things to do at the weekend and we have many happy family memories of visiting wonderful places and imagining the lives and times of the people who once lived in these grand houses.

We decided to head into Wales and visit a property called Plas Newydd. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we decided that we would slap on some sunblock, pack a picnic and enjoy an alfresco lunch in the gardens.

The house is right on the Menai Strait which is the channel that separates Anglesey from the mainland of north-western wales which means that there was a lovely cool breeze cooling things down a bit.

Apparently, there are lots of red squirrels here. I have never seen a red squirrel as the grays have done a good job of relegating them to the more northern reaches of the UK. Sadly we didn't spot any but we enjoyed our picnic in the arboretum. They have a spectacular collection of magnificent trees and we enjoyed watching a little blackbird catching insects for it's lunch as we enjoyed our own picnic.

We then took a wander through the Italian Terraced Gardens which must have been spectacular in it's day. I was a little disappointed that some of the water features were not working and the gardens looked like they could have had a bit more attention given to the planting.

Walking back to the car we walked through the the wildflower meadow which was previously the cricket oval. Imagine having your own cricket oval growing up! I always think that these places must have been incredible childhood homes. Of course, I wouldn't like to have foot the bill for such a home!

We are so lucky to live in a country that has such a rich heritage of places to visit right on your doorstep! I don't think I will every tire of exploring and discovering new places.

As most you will know, my yarns are inspired by our lives lived Under An English Sky. I draw inspiration from the childhood literature shared with my daughters while they were growing up, places we visit, the countryside, seasons and British folklore.

I recently added a few new colourways to my shop that were inspired by Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree series. As we sat on the grass in the arboretum enjoying our picnic and being surrounded by so many magnificent towering trees I said how it reminded me of those lovely stories and the children's adventures. My husband and I recalled how magical those books were to us as children and how they fueled our imaginations.

As I lay on my back on the rolling grass which was dotted with buttercups and gazed up into the branches of the trees into the blue sky beyond, my creative mind started making knitting plans for two of my colourways. Inspiration strikes at the most strangest of times but it is usually when I am surrounded by nature and feeling relaxed.

Toffee For Moonface is a lovely soft,speckled yarn full of yellow and toffee coloured tones. I thought that it might make a lovely autumnal sweater. I have the Tourist Sweater saved to my Ravelry list. I think that it would look so pretty knitted up in this yarn. I think I will cast that on at the weekend (loving all this free time I now have!).

The other yarn that I want to cast on is View From the Hayloft which was inspired by Robert Louise Stevenson's poem of the same name.

When I read the poem, I pictured exactly this sort of wildflower, grassy meadow that we walked through. I pictured it being hand-mown by scythe in Robert Louise Stevenson's day. It would all left to dry in the summer sun before being packed into the hayloft ready for the winter.

I think this would make a lovely lace shawl or perhaps these stronger colours would look nicer for the sweater pattern and use Toffee for Moonface for the shawl. That's the problem now, I have too many things I want to knit! But it's a nice problem to have. I like to knit all year round, I'm not a seasonal knitter. I want to have new knitwear ready for autumn which will come around soon enough!

Anyhoo, we had a lovely time weekending this weekend. If the weather holds through this next weekend I think we will be finding a new place to explore! We have a lot of exploring to catch up on after this year of sacrifice!

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