A little road trip
I enjoyed reading the comments on the last post so much, it was good to see that as a procrastinator I have some excellent company and thank you all so much for the good wishes for my venture into the world of selling. I am afraid I am terribly behind in responding to comments and this has been worrying me and, no surprise, causing me to procrastinate even more. So please accept my apologies, I am trying to get back on track and please do know how much I appreciate and am inspired by the comments I receive here.
We are still trying to find our routine and this weekend was a little thrown by my entirely self-centred decision to nip down to Wonderwool in deepest mid-Wales on Saturday. I say nip, but an almost 3 hour drive each way is hardly nipping I suppose. Given that it is pretty much a case of leaving my house and turning left then continuing along the same road for 100 miles or so, it really never seems that far in theory and I think to myself, really, it's only 100 miles, it won't take that long. It does though, because the A470, which I think I have mentioned before, is a long, winding, rollercoaster of a road. I set off bright and early as I wanted to arrive first thing and then set off home again by lunchtime in order to spend some time with The Technical Advisor, and iron his 14 or so shirts.....
I begin my journey in the Conwy valley and before long I leave the lush, Spring greens of the valley behind and begin to climb upwards. The scenery becomes sharp edged and craggy, wide open windswept spaces dotted here and there with raggedy looking sheep. My aging 4x4 takes the climb up to Blaenau Ffestiniog slowly giving me plenty of time to soak in the scenery and be thankful for the recent improvements to this part of the road which make the sheer drops a little further away! I know that many people find Blaenau a particularly depressing part of the country, a tiny town in the shadow of huge piles of slate but there is something so beautiful about this landscape, I love the way it constantly changes colour, muted shades of grey are transformed by a little rain into shining black and then the sun breaks through the clouds and they instantly begin to sparkle and glint with flashes of bronze and silver as the light bounces off them.
I manage to take a small wrong turn (I know, it's one road, how could I?) and know that I am hurtling downwards in the wrong direction as the scenery begins to change once more, lush greens let me know I am heading for the sea and as the road plunges I am thankful for my breaks and relieved when I finally reach a signposted junction which sends me climbing back upwards.
The road starts to open out now and I climb higher and higher into the mountains, the views are incredible, this is the stuff that makes you glad to be alive and sends your mind off into the past wondering about the hardy people who settled here and there and the difficult lives they must have led. Eventually I begin to leave the mountains of Snowdonia and once again the scenery becomes gentler, and I drive through thickly forrested hillsides where the light is soft and dappled. It is no longer dramatic but no less beautiful, it rolls and dips and there is colour everywhere.
And was it worth it? Did I shop? Why yes, of course. Arriving early meant I was able to browse in comfort and I did have a short list which I intended to stick to. The first requirement was a bag of roving for stuffing my little mouse toys and I found what I wanted at a good price. The only other thing on my shopping list was something for Whisper.
I fell upon this blue Alpaca, it's so soft, I am a little worried that it may not be quite right for Whisper but it was not horribly expensive so if it has to become something else then so be it.
Naturally, as always seems to happen when yarn shopping, I came back with something that was not on my list. A skein of the most buttery soft, colour saturated cashmere from Knitwitch Yarns. It's good I tell you, really good. I have no purpose for it as yet but I may even swatch this one for Whisper too and if not then it will be lace, something light and airy to wrap around my neck and feel indulged by.
I enjoyed reading the comments on the last post so much, it was good to see that as a procrastinator I have some excellent company and thank you all so much for the good wishes for my venture into the world of selling. I am afraid I am terribly behind in responding to comments and this has been worrying me and, no surprise, causing me to procrastinate even more. So please accept my apologies, I am trying to get back on track and please do know how much I appreciate and am inspired by the comments I receive here.
We are still trying to find our routine and this weekend was a little thrown by my entirely self-centred decision to nip down to Wonderwool in deepest mid-Wales on Saturday. I say nip, but an almost 3 hour drive each way is hardly nipping I suppose. Given that it is pretty much a case of leaving my house and turning left then continuing along the same road for 100 miles or so, it really never seems that far in theory and I think to myself, really, it's only 100 miles, it won't take that long. It does though, because the A470, which I think I have mentioned before, is a long, winding, rollercoaster of a road. I set off bright and early as I wanted to arrive first thing and then set off home again by lunchtime in order to spend some time with The Technical Advisor, and iron his 14 or so shirts.....
I begin my journey in the Conwy valley and before long I leave the lush, Spring greens of the valley behind and begin to climb upwards. The scenery becomes sharp edged and craggy, wide open windswept spaces dotted here and there with raggedy looking sheep. My aging 4x4 takes the climb up to Blaenau Ffestiniog slowly giving me plenty of time to soak in the scenery and be thankful for the recent improvements to this part of the road which make the sheer drops a little further away! I know that many people find Blaenau a particularly depressing part of the country, a tiny town in the shadow of huge piles of slate but there is something so beautiful about this landscape, I love the way it constantly changes colour, muted shades of grey are transformed by a little rain into shining black and then the sun breaks through the clouds and they instantly begin to sparkle and glint with flashes of bronze and silver as the light bounces off them.
I manage to take a small wrong turn (I know, it's one road, how could I?) and know that I am hurtling downwards in the wrong direction as the scenery begins to change once more, lush greens let me know I am heading for the sea and as the road plunges I am thankful for my breaks and relieved when I finally reach a signposted junction which sends me climbing back upwards.
The road starts to open out now and I climb higher and higher into the mountains, the views are incredible, this is the stuff that makes you glad to be alive and sends your mind off into the past wondering about the hardy people who settled here and there and the difficult lives they must have led. Eventually I begin to leave the mountains of Snowdonia and once again the scenery becomes gentler, and I drive through thickly forrested hillsides where the light is soft and dappled. It is no longer dramatic but no less beautiful, it rolls and dips and there is colour everywhere.
And was it worth it? Did I shop? Why yes, of course. Arriving early meant I was able to browse in comfort and I did have a short list which I intended to stick to. The first requirement was a bag of roving for stuffing my little mouse toys and I found what I wanted at a good price. The only other thing on my shopping list was something for Whisper.
I fell upon this blue Alpaca, it's so soft, I am a little worried that it may not be quite right for Whisper but it was not horribly expensive so if it has to become something else then so be it.
Naturally, as always seems to happen when yarn shopping, I came back with something that was not on my list. A skein of the most buttery soft, colour saturated cashmere from Knitwitch Yarns. It's good I tell you, really good. I have no purpose for it as yet but I may even swatch this one for Whisper too and if not then it will be lace, something light and airy to wrap around my neck and feel indulged by.
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