On the road again..... Part One - Staffordshire

Our friends in the north when they heard we were heading their way immediately booked a holiday in Turkey - no not really, but I had jokingly said when we decided to go to Yorkshire for the last two weeks in September, I bet they will be away - and they were!  This didn't prevent us from having a fabulous woolly time - firstly in Staffordshire and then in Yorkshire, think Yorkshire, think, World of Wool, Yarndale and The Masham Sheep Fair for starters.............

Before we could even leave there were problems - the mover on our caravan wouldn't come off one of the wheels - here I have to say that the suppliers of the mover were fantastic - talked Mr S through taking the offending bit off, then waited for us to drive up the M5 to the Tewkesbury junction where they fitted a new bit and all under warranty!  This did make us a little late arriving at our first stop - Blackshaw Moor just outside Leek, but we did make well before the gates were locked for the night.  The delay did mean that I had plenty of knitting time

This is my Clarice Shawl Again which I knitted in the car while Mr S drove up the M5 etc, so called because I started it way back and it had languished unloved because I had been dyeing and spinning silk, even coming off the needles - so I started again...  Here it isn't blocked so the lace doesn't show that well.


The next day (Thursday) it rained (this was the only time it rained in the whole two weeks) but as we were having the car serviced it didn't really matter especially as The Threshing Barn is just outside Leek - had a lovely afternoon talking about all things woolly with Janet, plus I acquired a few woolly fibre items for the SDW raffle. 


Most memorable was the afternoon we decided to 'walk' around Tittesworth Reservoir. Not for us a gentle stroll around the 1.5mile suggested route - no we decided to do the full 5 mile circular route right around the reservoir, despite the warnings of steep gradients and a sign saying no mobility scooters pass this point!  What it didn't say was that there were steps - by this time we were over half way round, long past the point of no return - so I went up on my bum, one step at a time and quite slowly - but I did it and from there on it was a breeze..........

This is the view from the top of the dam - just to prove that we really did get there - daft, stupid, crazy or what?

Saturday was the beginning of Spin in Public week and I did, spin in public that is, several times and in different locations.  I did attracted quite a lot of attention, especially from a German lady who had no English (my German is equally lacking) but we managed to communicate with hand signals and chatted away so quite a while.  It still amazes me that it is the men that are more interested than their wives! 

Tuesday we left Staffordshire and drove up the M6, M60 and M62 to Yorkshire and the Caravan Club Site at Mitholmroyd.  This site is an absolute gem, completely hidden from the world, and surrounded by the most glorious countryside despite being only a few miles from Bradford, Leeds, Halifax and Huddersfield.  It is also near the bottom of the longest gradient rise in the UK and one of the climbs in next year's Tour de France...............hopefully we will be there!!
















With the weather warm and sunny I managed quite a lot of spinning, first up Toasted Teacakes

This is Perendale fibre, a New Zealand Sheep created by crossing a Romney with a Cheviot - interesting spin, but not the softest of yarn from Southern Cross Fibres

I also spun up some some more natural dye samples - this one is from Rowan Berries - not what you would expect from such a vibrant red berry - light tan.