knitting – Narrowboat Firecrest

The New Plan A

It was a ridiculous sense of relief to have, having finally given up on the East Anglian Adventure. We were back on the Grand Union and had a plan, not one we were going to allocate to the second half of the alphabet, this is the New Plan A. We are now heading towards Gloucester and Sharpness. We will enjoy the journey and embrace all the new opportunities it throws at us. The DIY tweaks and improvements intended to be done whilst close to home (and Eric’s much missed workshop) will get tackled another time. We’re heading west, towards the sunset.

As we’d only just come down the Grand Union, we decided not to dwardle on this section of our journey. Although we did take time to pay hommage to our two service heros deep in thought at bridge 21. I dont know if they have official names but we call them Tim and Prue, always impeccably turned out, although missing a large glass of red today.

Tim and Prue marking the 80th anniversary of D Day at Bridge 21

We struck lucky at the bottom of the Buckby flight by meeting a lovely couple renovating an old boat. They had minimal boat handling experience but were happy to follow our routine.

Experienced or not it still makes double locks easier if you can share the load. As we gazed longingly at the lovely cottage a at Norton Junction a familiar face approached us, well familiar to me, unless he can magically see out of the TV not my face to him as it was Robbie Cummings from the Canal Diaries tv show.

We didn’t stop to exchange autographs although I thanked him for an entertaining show. The storm clouds were gathering so we opted for a good nights sleep before doing the Braunston tunnel and flight. As luck is now on our side we buddied up again for the locks into Braunston

And found a mooring before the next storm clouds hit

We’ve spent many an hour mooching around Braunston, it’s got history, culture and butcher who sells the Best Braunston Bangers.

However, we might be in good spirits but what had happened to summer.

Somewhere around Bridge 100, the meeting point for many marina dwellers over a weekend G&T

But when dark clouds amass, the only thing to do is get the knitting out and try a bit of reverse psychology. Having knitted a boat chicken for Firecrest,

Meet Nen the Hen, knitted in Northampton where the Nene is known as the Nen

It was time to finish a wooly jumper for me in case the weather never improved

But you know what they say, it only rains when you forget your umbrella. Let’s hope the weather warms up

And sure enough we woke to blue skies and the temperature soared.

A Creative Week in Weedon Bec

Heading south on the Grand Union Canal, below Whilton Marina

We had almost reached our summer destination; East Anglia, albeit a good 2 months later than we’d planned, so what would it matter if we dawdled in Weedon Bec for a week. Theres a lot of opportunity for creativity here, and I had friends close by, so with us bagging a mooring in full sun, ie good solar power, and no need to run the generator..

A misty morning but by 10am the sun was cracking the flags

…Eric took the opportunity to return home, to do some essential house maintenance, leaving me to play. There is a brilliant quilting shop in Weedon called the Bramble Patch. It stocks even more fabric than I have in my stash back home. Inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee, I bought myself a little pattern, some coordinated fabric to make a summer sunhat. This sewing machine rarely gets used on the boat, and even though it’s the tiniest of models I was debating whether or not it earnt its storage space. Its won a reprieve for now.

Weedon also has a creative hub housed in the Depot. The Depot was built during the Napoleonic war by George III to house the English ordinance, (gunpowder) in a more central location away from the south coast, in case Napoleon invaded.

Looking towards the clock tower at the Depot

Nowadays the historic warehouses, which have seen a variety of military use right up until the 1980s are home to antique warehouses, offices, classic car showrooms and bike showrooms, book stores and cafes.

We might live life in the slow lane, but I’ll always hanker after a sports car,

But my favourite is the Riverknits studio. Home to Becky and Marcus, who have created an artisan yarn brand, which they dye themselves. They regularly hold open days and knit and natters, and the week I was there there they hosted a mini yarn festival with a host of other independant yarnies. I met up with friends and we were in our element.

And yes I bought wool and a book.

Weedon Bec is a great place for a boats to stop. It’s simple and non fussy, but there’s 2 good convenience stores, a revolution outdoor laundrette, a variety of eateries, but sadly no dedicated boating facilities such and water, bins or fuel. But there’s plenty of mooring, and the neighbours are cute

Even Louie the sidecar dog in my header photo has his own website http://louiethesidecardog.com/

The Midlands March, where are we now, Warwickshire.

My last post was in February, we had just left Birmingham and we cruising roughly eastwards along the North Stratford canal.

We sat out storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin in a pretty little village on the edge of the Solihul district, called Hockley Heath. It had both a well stocked Co-op, first class butchers, a nice pub, and good TV reception. So we were sorted for a fortnight. Especially as I was taking part in a competitive knitting event running parallel with the winter olympics, so my enforced down time was not put to waste.

But as soon as the winds abated we set off once more on our travels. Down through the Lapworth locks towards Kingswood Junction. Such a pretty set of locks, but you’ll have to take my word for that, because that’s where disaster struck. Absolute calamity. As I was struggling to wind up a stiff paddle, my phone camera decided to leap out of my “secure” pocket and take a dive into the swirling waters of the emptying lock. In a flash of madness I was tempted to leap in after it, but despite my distress I only plunged my arm in as I watched my entire life being sucked away into the locks murky depths.
Alas no more Midlands photos. And if you have ever tried to buy a new phone online, without a mobile number to verify purchases, you’ll understand when I say I wont ever ever ever let my phone go swimming again. Thanks to some very helpful friends and family, it is now all sorted, and I am reconnected, albeit with a few missing contacts, so if you are a friend who hasn’t heard from me for a while, please get in touch.
Since that fateful day we have continued our travels, onto the Grand Union canal, down through the Hatton Flight, into Warwickshire. Which got me thinking about where we were, and more to the point, when do I draw our Midlands March to a close.

Where exactly is the Midlands? We often hear the definitions “northerners” or “southerners” bandied around, equally with pride or derision depending upon the point being made or the person claiming heritage. And I think both parties would include or exclude areas of the Midlands to their advantage or disadvantage as the mood required. But until this particular part of our canal life, it’s not a part of the country that either of us were that familiar with. Having consulted Google, the fount of all knowledge, we have come to the conclusion it’s not a straight forward question. Yes it is the mid section of England, from the Welsh borders to the Lincolnshire coast,

But there’s the West Midlands and the East Midlands to take into consideration.

The West and the East, with more detail below.

The West Midlands and East Midlands regions are NUTS 1 statistical regions and were formerly constituencies of the European Parliament. Local government in the Midlands is as follows:
• Boroughs: (1) Birmingham, (2) Coventry, (3) Derby, (4) Dudley, (5) Leicester, (6) Nottingham, (7) Sandwell, (8) Stoke-on-Trent, (9) Solihull, (10) Telford and Wrekin, (11) Walsall and (12) Wolverhampton.
• Shires: (13) Derbyshire (Districts: (a) Amber Valley, (b) Bolsover, (c) Chesterfield, (d) Derbyshire Dales, (e) Erewash, (f) High Peak, (g) North East Derbyshire and (h) South Derbyshire), (14) Herefordshire (Districts: none), (15) Leicestershire (Districts: (a) Blaby, (b) Charnwood, (c) Harborough, (d) Hinckley and Bosworth, (e) Melton, (f) North West Leicestershire and (g) Oadby and Wigston), (16) Lincolnshire (Districts: (a) Boston, (b) East Lindsey, (c) Lincoln, (d) North Kesteven, (e) South Holland, (f) South Kesteven and (g) West Lindsey), (17) Northamptonshire (Districts: (a) Corby, (b) Daventry, (c) East Northamptonshire, (d) Kettering, (e) Northampton, (f) South Northamptonshire and (g) Wellingborough), (18) Nottinghamshire (Districts: (a) Ashfield, (b) Bassetlaw, (c) Broxtowe, (d) Gedling, (e) Mansfield, (f) Newark and Sherwood and (g) Rushcliffe), (19) Rutland (Districts: none), (20) Shropshire (Districts: none), (21) Staffordshire (Districts: (a) Cannock Chase, (b) East Staffordshire, (c) Lichfield, (d) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (e) South Staffordshire, (f) Stafford, (g) Staffordshire Moorlands and (h) Tamworth), (22) Warwickshire (Districts: (a) North Warwickshire, (b) Nuneaton and Bedworth, (c) Rugby, (d) Stratford-on-Avon and (e) Warwick) and (23) Worcestershire (Districts: (a) Bromsgrove, (b) Malvern Hills, (c) Redditch, (d) Worcester, (e) Wychavon and (f) Wyre Forest).

On that happy note, (if you have made if this far,) we shall consider our Midlands March closed when we turn South at Napton Junction.

The Toft Alpacas

Toft is a small company on a working Alpaca farm. They rose to prominence in 2013 when Kerry Lord, their founder, started designing crocheted animals and wrote a book called Edward’s Menagerie. And if you mention the word Toft to many a yarn aficionado, they will instantly start to drool. Toft produces high end super soft wool that’s very hard to resist. It’s only a few miles from the canal, so when Jo suggested we went on a visit, I leapt at the chance. Edward’s Menagerie has grown in numbers and there are now over 200 furry friends who regularly make an appearance at yarn festivals and craft shows. I knew that I was in for treat.Toft is situated in a purpose built barn studio and welcomes visitors with a hot drink. Everything at Toft is beautifully presented, including the coffee, and we indulged in a piece of spicy pumpkin cake as well. Then we were set to shop. Deciding what we could bear to leave behind or more to the point, how much we could afford to bring home. Jo is going to crochet some presents and I bought a gift for Heather. Heather has already made several of the Menagerie so Leanne the Chameleon will be an addition to her family. There’s a walking trail around the farm where we were able to see the alpaca.Although Heather and I both think that this is a llama not an Alpaca.

Safely through Newark, but only just.

After some mindless hooligans spoilt our last visit to Newark we were a little apprehensive. We delayed our entry into the town to avoid the weekend by using the Muskham Ferry patrons mooring. We anticipated they’d be quite tricky to get onto due to the river flow and the short angled pontoons. The easy solution would have been to go in bow first but you cant use the pub if you cant get off your boat easily, so that would defeat ths object. Eric’s helmsmanship was well and truly tested, they don’t do reversing around a corner whilst going upstream in boat school. Thank goodness we’d chosen to arrive in the morning before the gongoozelers were watching, it took 2 attempts but we made it. I made sure he was well rewarded and we fulfilled our “patrons duty” with several pints and a good sunday lunch.And before the anticipated weather change, I got to finish the shawl I was knitting and took advantage of the sunshine to wash and dry it flat on the roof.

Well replenished we set off to for the last few miles into Newark.

We steamed ahead towards the castle and in our excitement forgot to read the map, I mean what could be so hard to navigate, under the bridge and moor up on the right….Oops, when you have an 8 foot radio mast, it pays to to go through the middle arch with enough headroom. Luckily I don’t think the damage to the bridge was severe enough to stop the traffic. And it really was only the tip of the ariel that scuffed the already flakey brickwork. Much relieved we moored up at Farndon and I went for a walk. One of the last remaining working willow holts a is just off the mooring. Both a fascinating site for the number of varieties of willow trees, a haven for wildlife. This Comma Butterfly obliged me by posing for a photo.

Winter blues

I’m feeling very British, needing to talk about the weather. It’s dire, bleak and wintery, with sleet and biting winds. The temptation is to snuggle down under the duvet and go into hibernation. I’m certainly not cruising anywhere whilst it’s like this.

Thankgoodness I had the foresight to fill the larder with enough food to see us through at least a week without any repetition or two or three weeks of pasta and tomato sauce.

We don’t even get any TV reception here so I’m making the most of this enforced idleness by catching up on some knitting projects.

A scarf that has been on the needles for too long and needs to get finished. And to add a splash of colour, last week I finished a cardigan for my new nephew, Solomon

A little light relief

They always say moving house is rated as one of life’s most stressful events, not a lot is said about moving onto a boat, but needless to say, the constant uncertainties about when our boat will be complete has been very stressful. Hence the need for a little light relief; I’m knitting a lacey shawl.

For those of you that know me, you’ll know how much time I spend working with fibre, knitting spinning and sewing. I’ve been promised I can have the space under the bed to store all the necessities of life. I’ll be sharing a few of my projects on my craft blog pages, although I can’t promise to be entirely truthful about how much wool I buy.

Good things come to those who wait. It won’t be long now.