Manchester Mega Mela

 

 I took all these pictures in June at Manchester Mega Mela, as I didn't get around to sharing anything at all in June I thought I'd show these now.
I really like any sort of community celebrations, Melas in particular are a favourite of mine. There's music and dancing and lots of great food, bright decorations, crafts and celebrations of local groups. All the essentials for a great day out.

Bits and pieces

It's been a very long time since I've written anything here, there are several things I'd like to share but as I've just competed in a triathlon today I'm fairly weary so here are some oddments from the last few weeks.

Bonus picture of my tri team after we'd finished and got our medals!

Le Tour de France, Yorkshire edition

I've just got back from seeing le Grand Depart in Leeds (we'd hoped to get to Harrogate too but massive queues and overcrowding on trains scuppered that plan). I was really nice to see so many people excited but also made parts of Leeds impassable!
Looking through my pictures the cyclists mostly seem to be smiling and enjoying the sunshine, I'm very tickled to have so many pictures of cyclists looking directly at me! With all the people watching I feel very special.

These last two pictures are really making me laugh! It looks like they've just turned to look straight at me.

Quick crochet shawl

 

I've had this solitary ball of variegated yarn for a while, just hanging about. I'm not really sure why I bought it, there's not much that's possible with just one ball and though I like the colours, they're not my colours. I'm much more into blues and greens and purples and cheerful rainbow brights.

Seeking something simple and quick I picked up a large hook. The yarn band called for 4mm; I used 7mm. I'm crocheting a granny triangle. I've enough yarn to make a small shawl, not for winter but for nights camping in August when there's enough chill to want something comforting.

These pictures were taken last week and I've nearly finished now.

colourful granny square blanket

 Last year I made lots and lots of little granny squares with scraps of yarn leftover from making my ripple blanket. I've been working on joining them all together now for a little while. It's a lot of fun deciding which colours to join together.

Flowers all over the place

It's been a damp, grey May so far, these flowers are almost making up for it.

Beaded crochet necklace

I made this necklace for my mum for Mothering Sunday a few weeks a go and thought I'd share it here too.
I used a beautiful, sparkly embroidery thread made by anchor that I bought ages ago with no real purpose because it was so pretty.
To make the necklace, I tied the thread to the button I used for the fastening and then threaded all the beads, I wanted to have a variety of sizes and colours of beads so I used lots of different types. There are lots of different glass beads, some I bought in Prague on holiday in 2004, some came from a necklace that broke. There are some fimo beads that I made myself and some shells that came from a broken bracelet. This necklace has been a long time in the making!

I simply chain stitched along, adding beads when I felt like it until I got to what felt like the right length, then I created a loop by crocheting into a previous stitch and then crocheting into the hole- I don't think my explanation particularly makes sense but it's easy enough to do.

I went back and forth between the button and the loop to create separate beaded strands. I really like the finished necklace and I think my mum does too.

Brighton with Pinterest UK and Lomography

I've had such a lovely weekend away. On Friday my brother and I made our way down south to Brighton. Daniel had never been before and I'd only been once last year the day after Worthing Birdman so I hadn't really been fit for much exploring. We were pleasantly surprised that it only took around three and a half hours to get form Stockport to the south coast by train, makes the country seem much smaller.

We were staying at the Holiday Inn right on the seafront so after checking in and leaving our bags we were off for a wander around Brighton.

We met with people from Pinterest on Saturday morning at The Marwood, a rather nice cafe that served fantastic cakes. Two women, Ferren and Rose from Lomography gave a short talk about the history of the cameras and then passed these La Sardinas around. (I'd got in my head they were called Sardinia like the country but it's Sardina like a tine of sardines)

I got this cute "Virginia is for lovers" camera. After loading our film and being talked through how to use the cameras we all headed for the seafront and were let loose snapping pictures. 

I haven't really used a film camera for a couple of years so I'm really excited to see how they turn out. 

These are some of the pictures I took with my DSLR, it was such a lovely bright morning. I really liked seeing people enjoying the sea in so many ways

 

 After all the snapping we went to the Palm Court on the pier for fish and chips so it was pretty much a perfect morning adventure!

University Gospel Choir of the Year

Today I'm off down to London with my choir for gospel choir of the year competition. The past couple of weeks have been a fairly intense round of rehearsals and practices and it's finally all culminating today! Here's a rehearsal from a few weeks ago, (I'm not sure what's happened to the quality when I uploaded it) this is the first part of our set.

We've won for the last two years, so politically we think we probably won't win three years in a row but I'm really looking forward to seeing all the other choirs and doing lots of singing.

Very easy knitted cowl

 A month or so ago, when it was freezing and every evening I'd be shivering waiting for my train I decided to make a cowl. I started with this beautiful Noro yarn and crocheted my way happily for a little while until I realised it just wasn't right. I needed something big and stretchy and cosy. The crocheted one only just fit over my head and wasn't very quick to make. This however was a quick and necessary knit.

 I cast on a multiple of 6 (+2 for turning) and quickly knitted 3 and purled 3 till I reached my desired height. It's very warm and snuggly and was super quick to make, it's been fairly essential since I've made it. Just what I wanted.