Another busy week has flown past. We’ve indulged in a bit of travelling and some mini breaks to squeeze the last few bits of fun out of the summer while all the boys were still together. This has resulted in plenty of car time for a spot of crocheting and sightseeing all rolled up into one. One of my favorite trips was to Weston-Super-Mare to see Banksy’s Dismaland art exhibition.

As you can see, the weather was just gorgeous so some of the deliberate dismalness was mitigated somewhat!

Here are a few snippets of some of the weird and wonderful stuff going on.

The best £5 I’ve ever spent, value for money and thought provoking. Great fun!

I love to go to Weston for a day trip as it’s the most easily accessible seaside town from where we live, so this just added an extra kick to the day. Fish and chips on the beach and a spot of alpaca making on the way home made for a happy day indeed.

Car time is great for testing patterns or working on repeated elements but not so good for free form designing. Too many balls of yarn, sketchbooks, pens and pencils are required to make it a truly portable element of the creative process. I like to have my entire yarn stash to hand when working on new patterns because I’m really never too sure of exactly what I need as I wing my way along.

The next thing the alpaca needed to finish off her look was a little rug type blanket for her back. So when we were home again I chose my colours in crayon and then found the nearest matching yarn.

Obviously it’s important that Alicia has her say, she’s going to be making a fashion statement with her chosen rug so it has to be just right.

Carlos advises on the correct colours. We’re going for a Peruvian look this time, but the colour palette is very close to the Mexican too, and Carlos has met some of the best dressed alpacas on his travels from Mexico through to South America, so he feels very qualified to give an opinion!

On the next car trip I get to utilise my early birthday present from my oldest son. We had to drive him back to Cardiff for the start of the new term so we had the birthday celebrations a few days early. Being arty himself he knows the value of organising your drawing materials and he knows how I like to keep busy on the hoof.

So this is what I had and I’m made up with my new pencil roll. It’s so handy to have all the colors at a glance. No more rummaging around in a floppy case hoping the right colours will pop up into view!

It also doubles as a very handy lap table when unrolled, but takes up hardly any room when it’s time to pack up. All those rainbow colours are a sight pretty enough to make you smile too. Multi-purpose genius!

Of course a day out is not all about crocheting in the passenger seat! I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s good practice to make yourself get out of the car at the other end and enjoy the scenery for a while, so after safely installing our student son back into his digs we continued a short way around the coast to Penarth where we found a lovely rocky beach with Cardiff shining like some crazy looking industrial holiday camp on the one side…

…Bucolic Barry and the smooth stretch of the open sea on the other side…

…and a pretty pier in the middle.

The ideal spot for a tray of chips as we watch the sun begin to sink.

We have plenty of time to contemplate the smell of the sea, the uplifting gentle September sun on a windless day and the beauty of the dove grey beach pebbles..

A remarkably similar colour theme is going on with today’s alpaca.

A little fluffy pebble of a head is forming nicely on the way back home.

I just can’t stop making these sweet bundles of scrumptiousness at the moment. I think I’m addicted to the comforting, soothing feel of the soft-as-a-cloud fluffy yarns!

Back at home, all these are waiting to meet today’s new addition.

This design is going to be featured in Zoomigurumi 5, available early next year from amigurumipatterns.net, and there will be a single release pattern too. I’ve just got to finish off the outfit in all the different colour schemes and pick a favorite for the book. Now I’m back at home I swap crocheting in the car for crocheting in bed for a large part of Sunday.

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it! I hope you can come back soon to see how it all turns out 🙂