Category Archives: Norfolk

Trips around the Norfolk countryside

Needlefelt Workshops at the Forum’s Makers’ Month

The needlefelt workshops are back! This spring I will be at The Forum in Norwich running two workshops as part of Makers Month. If you haven’t been before this is a wonderful opportunity to see and try out lots of different crafts for free, as well as book on to some fabulous workshops to learn a new skill in depth and there are fascinating talks and open exhibitions.

Arts and crafts people from across Norfolk, will be at the Forum to show you how to knit, sew, crochet, spin, weave, print, embroider, quilt, draw, paint, sculpt and even whittle. Entrance is free, and everyone is welcome. I’m really looking forward to it!

So if you would like to join me on a Needlefelt Workshop, do get in touch to book. There’s a choice of two, making a 3D sculpture from unspun fleece, or a decorative panel of fleece worked into wool felt. Each workshop will give you the skills to take needlefelting in a different creative direction. Book both for a 10% discount on the price.

I’d love to see you there…x

Autumn Walks and Acorns

I can’t believe we are nearly at the end of October! It’s all been a bit busy here on Planet Penny. We’ve just had a flying visit from the grandsons and grand dog which is enough to send anyone in a tizzy, especially Higgins! The grand dog is very “Tiggerish’ and Higgins has to be careful not to be bounced on.

I’m having to do a bit of resting because of the M.E. so I’ve been installing things on my shiny new iPad so I can sit with my feet up and write blog posts. This my first attempt. Not so much the writing as working out the best way to process the photos…I’m getting there…gradually.

And I’m also getting ready for the Two Rivers Trail Festive Fair which is coming up next month, so felting needles at the ready, I’ve been making acorns.
But we have had some lovely weather, so over the past few days we’ve been out with the camera enjoying all the colours of autumn, so come with us, it’s only down the road! I love to think that someone was walking along eating lunch, tossed the apple core in the hedgerow, and planted a tree! 2016-10-23-10-54-59 This is one our favourite stretches along the walk, sheltered enough not to get muddy.Because we do mud rather well in Norfolk! Mud And while there are acorns on the trees… acorns …there are needlefelt acorns in the studio!So watch this space… I’ll be back to show you the finished articles and with more news about the Festive Fair.

See you soon…x

Spring cleaning…in September!

That September ‘new term’ feeling never goes away really, does it? All those years of seeing the ‘Back to School’ displays in the shop windows, the new school sandals (yuk!) and the new pencil case.

So it always seems a good time to start something new, or give something established a freshen up and that’s what I’m working on with the blog at the moment. I’ve been blogging now for seven years, I can hardly believe it… there are 569 posts! Because the whole thing has grown up a bit piecemeal over time I need to have a tidy up.

But it’s a bit like deciding to sort out the box of photos under the bed. I’ve got right back to the beginning re-reading every post, it’s a lovely trip down memory lane! I’ve gone back to past holidays, the arrival of Higgins and all the cute baby pics, the building of my studio, the passing seasons…It’s such a lovely record of my life and I’d never have done it without the blog.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the new Planet Penny header. There’s so much going on here that than just wool so although I’m very fond of my sheep, I hope the new look encompasses the fact there’s a lot going on, and it’s all colourful!

But as well as beavering away at the computer I’m trying to make the most of any September sun which comes our way, (which, alas, has been a bit elusive. I’m listening to the rain as I type!) I’ve been in charge of dog walking this past week so my camera has gone with me, and also a little friend of Higgins called Coco. I’ve had my hands full.

mini dachshunds in September sun Norfolk UK - September The hedgerows are full of berries this year, I don’t know when I’ve seen so many. It’s a sign of bad weather to come so they say… memo to self: Knit more socks!Just such a fabulous colour, aren’t they? I always think the Nightshade berries look like necklaces the way they twine through the hedgerows…

Nightshade berries - September - Norfolk UK Having a supply of poo bags when out for a walk is jolly handy if you want to do a spot of spontaneous blackberry picking… blackberries - September But there are still summer flowers… scabious 2015-09-19 16.26 And bees…

2015-09-19 16.09 and a fairy ring… Fairy ring - September - Norfolk, UK toadstools toadstools2 But the fairy dogs weren’t interested… Mini dachshunds Higgins&Coco3 …until I mentioned the word T-R-E-A-T-S… Higgins gets quite bossy about treats! Mini dachshunds - September -Norfolk UK Meanwhile, back home and I’m crocheting up a big warm sweater with cold days in the studio in mind. After my lovely weekend at the Crochet Retreat with Frank & Olive I was inspired by Ruby’s big chunky crochet creations and so I was delighted to find that the issue of Simply Crochet magazine I bought last year (because I’m in it too!) had Ruby’s jumper on the front. Crochet Entrepreneur in Simply Crochet I’ve customised it (because I’m not a sylph-like twenty year old) and I think it’s going to be very cosy. It’s a brilliantly simple pattern, no shaping and only the one stitch all through. What can go wrong? Picking up the wrong hook and doing half a sleeve with it before noticing, that’s what went wrong!

So, not quite finished yet.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my September ramblings, do you spring clean in September too?

I’ll be back soon…x

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Just a little post…

…to say thank you!

Thank you for all the positive comments on my last post. It’s lovely to hear you are happy to read my ramblings, and Higgins is positively swollen headed at the thought that you want a bit more ‘Dachshund Action’… He’ll do his best to provide it!

A lot of the things which have been keeping me away from the day to day Planet Penny stuff have been related to getting to grips with sorting out my parents home, my mum’s stuff and all sorts of things I had stored at her house and forgotten about. It’s an unwritten law, isn’t it, that you always have something left in your parents’ attic, even when you have a home of your own? I know we still have all sorts of odd boxes full of our off-springs’ stuff and they’ve long left home. I’m being hopeless at parting with things too, even things I actually don’t like, like this Toby jug which has scowled at me from a shelf for as long as I can remember…

He’s been banished to a cupboard now, but we haven’t parted company even though he obviously disapproves of everything I do!

And then there are clothes, especially things my mum knitted. How fabulous is this Patricia Roberts cardigan she made me in the eighties? I thought I had lost in in one of my many moves, but no it was safely in the attic. Quite a good incentive to diet, but probably not to have another perm! Patricia Roberts Cardigan Sitting out here in the studio listening to the rain on the roof it’s hard to believe how hot we were over the weekend. Higgins is very fed up right now because he hates the rain and would prefer to stand around with his little cabriole legs crossed rather than got out into the garden. It was a different story on Saturday when it was 28°C, a steamy hot August afternoon… A little post - Norfolk in August He really was a hot little sausage! dog_walk hot_dog So for now I’m indoors and working on a crochet project with the new Planet Penny yarn. Here’s a sneaky peek…I’ve also finished a bag that I started on the Crochet Retreat when I decided to go outside my comfort zone with chunky yarn and a size 12mm hook. I love the bright shades of this DMC XL Cotton…
DMC_XL

DMC XL cotton yarn It turned out to be a little more XL than I had planned. Just as well I’m 5’9″ or it would drag on the floor but it’ll be great place for a yarn stash! crochet bag DMC XL yarn I’ll be back with a new post to share those pastel butterflies, see you soon…x

The Penguins Party!

I’m a bit obsessed with penguins at the moment!

I saw the John Lewis advert last week (the beginning of November for heaven’s sake, far too early…but adorable all the same!)

http://youtu.be/iccscUFY860

…and in a parallel universe I would definitely have a pet penguin, Higgins would love a little friend.

However, it got me thinking about making something a bit different this year for my stall at the Two Rivers Trail Festive Fair. With that in mind I’ve made some needlefelt penguins and I thought I’d drop in here for some opinions…

So here’s my little Penguin Party…

And the question is, do I or don’t I add little knitted scarves, and would they be better with or without a hanger for the tree? I’ve thought about too much and need a second opinion! What you think?

And finally thank you you for the lovely comments after my last post. It’s so good to know you enjoy calling in to Planet Penny. Higgins, as always, is basking in the admiration of his fans (and really doesn’t want to play second fiddle to some silly penguins!) Back soon…x

Just Coasting…

Goodness, it seems an age since I was here! How are you all? It does feel rather that the blog and I are coasting at the moment, what with my preoccupation with my mum. Also, some weeks ago, thinking that this month would be fairly quiet and calm (!) I booked myself on the Photocraft Course which is now in full swing.

I must say it’s very interesting, and the embryonic skills I will have aquired by the end of the course are going to be so useful as I build on them and use them in the future. More of this to come.

But in the meantime, I used the week long break in the middle of the course to have a break myself. With my mum recovering slowly in hospital and with various family members keeping up with the visiting I decided to take myself off to the North Norfolk Coast for a couple of days in a B & B and have a little camera practice.

Now I would say, going on my present record, don’t whatever you do book a holiday at the same time as me if you want good weather!

Because of all the drama around my last trip away I didn’t get to share the photos I took then, but a lot of the time it was like this…

…wet and windy.

And then this time, heading off to an entirely different part of the coast, it was like this…

…and this.

I went to Holkham Hall…

So you sort of get the picture, don’t you? Not really the weather to lift the spirits.

To add insult to injury, the very same bank of fog casting it’s gloom over Blakeney, Wells and the surrounding area was also keeping poor Tim stuck on the gas platform where no helicopters could fly instead of joining me at the bed and breakfast!

All was not lost though and Tim eventually arrived, along with a burst of sunshine and warmth at lunchtime on the day before we were due to return home! We took ourselves off to Holt for the afternoon which is always worth a visit, especially when there is tea and cake on offer!

And having been starved of light and colour for a few days I was so pleased to rediscover Ruth and her relocated shop ‘Glory Days’. The original shop was in Norwich; I loved it and wrote about it here. It sadly closed, but the new location in Holt is perfect, and in such a pretty little flint and brick cottage.

And it’s just so pretty and colourful! If you are in the area, do call in to say hello and get a colour fix!

So on that happier note I will sign off, and hope to be back before long…x