Back from celebrating their joint birthdays with some very good friends and their family, lots of barbecue and booze, a great time and excellent weather, travelled with the Motorhome so stopped at the Chichester site on the way home for a few days. There is a peaceful traffic free walk through Chichester Park into the town. I had a lucky find, the Marianne Kinzel book Modern Lace Knitting for sale in the Oxfam bookshop. 
Sadly there was very little yarn in the charity shops but I did find a great bit of stash storage at a boot fair a few weeks ago, a wicker stool with a lid, it will hold quite a lot of yarn so the national yarn collection can grow. I could knit a round cushion for the top? Short rowing perhaps?
I have knitted a collar as a neckwarmer when out walking. It took two 50grm balls of a wool/alpaca/acrylic mix. Knitted in garter stitch, I cast on 100 stitches to start, knitted the first ball on 4.5mm then joined the second ball, changed to 5.5mm and increased 10 stitches evenly across the row, knitted 1" increased again and then once more, cast off with double knit c/o (pick up the loop between each stitch and knit into it to cast off), it's very soft warm and cuddly and now DH and DD would like one.
I have kept the shawl I knitted for my daughter, many years ago and when I looked at it recently I saw that it was rather yellow. Washing has improved it but its still a little discoloured, does anyone have suggestions to improve this? It is over 37 years old so I want to treat it gently. It is knitted on two needles in Patons 2ply pure wool, the pattern was from a Patons leaflet. The shawl is joined when knitting is completed.
While she was with us I had time to teach youngest granddaughter, age 10, to start to spin, she did very well and wanted to use the yarn, so cut out a simple card loom which she could weave on. I think she did very well for one days work. The pink slubbed yarn to the left is the yarn she spun. I knitted her the mohair throw from various odds and ends of mohair and then did a crochet border, she choose the colours and made a colour key for the order she wanted them in.
Great fun with the granddaughters we all enjoyed ourselves and the time flew by. The first part was spent at home and going out and about then we went off with youngest grandaughter and the motorhome, met up with daughter at the Caravan and Camping Club site in Salisbury. A very good site, just below the hill on which Old Sarum sits, and an easy 1 Mile walk into town, mostly along the side of the river, lots of space for children and dogs in the public field opposite the site. We were told that Salisbury has an excellent market on Saturday and it was just that, lots of the usual stalls but also lots of local produce, organic goods, local watercress, wonderful bread meat and cheese stalls, super pies, we chose one with blue vinney and potato. We really enjoyed wandering around the town and strolled back to the Caravan site for a late and leisurely lunch, having collected a bottle of wine or two from Waitrose, which is halfway between the town and the caravan site. A wonderful sunset on our last night there. We will visit Salisbury again, the time just flew and I did not have time to look for yarn shops!!
