I don't seem to have had much time for knitting just lately. I've been sticking to the one project at a time thingy and it seems to be working. At least, I haven't had to rip anything back for a while so I'm hoping that the frogging gremlins have moved on elsewhere. Apololgies for the lousy photo, but this is what I've been working on. I think I mentioned it in my last post, it's a stole for my daughter who's been waiting for it for ages! I used a ripple stitch for the edge, worked to about 15cms,then a simple diagonal lace for the main panel. It's looking very pretty with all the colours and is a little longer than when I took the photo.

We've had this past week off work - bliss - and we went here. The Countess of Shrewsbury, also known as Bess of Hardwick, built this beautiful house at the end of the 16th century, and it's the most intact Elizabethan house in the country. Every room is hung with tapestries, some of which have never been taken down in the 400 years since she lived there. We spent a good 5 hours there; and I'd definately go again. You can also explore the old hall, which is a ruin, but the main staircase has been made safe and you can climb up to roof level and see all the wall friezes, which still partially remain.

Our eldest daughter visited from Belfast for the weekend; it was lovely to see her and her partner after 4 months since our visit to Northern Ireland.

There are a couple of lace stoles that I have in mind to knit for myself. I thought I'd queue them for future projects rather than succumb to start-itis, but I think I'll leave them for another post.