On Our Way

So we've left China. The last week involved the shipping company packing all our belongings up...including the vast majority of my stash, packing our suitcases for 6 weeks away - not an easy feat I can assure you, and saying goodbye to the great friends we made. It was strange leaving our home of 3 years but exciting all the same. 

Now though, we're in Thailand. Having spent about 10 days in Bangkok we decided it was time to head somewhere a little quieter and preferably near a beach. We got a train from Bangkok to Surat Thani and then a boat to Koh Samui. The train journey itself was fine as we went first class so had our own little cabin, that was followed by lots of waiting around for a mini bus to take us to the ferry port and then a little more waiting before we could board the ferry. 

On arrival at our bungalow, aptly named Blissful Tropical Beach House, after many hours of travel we were delighted by the view and the house itself. Lying in bed we have a sea and mountain view which is wonderful after being in the city! We're staying at Bang Po, which is a quiet area of Koh Samui and perhaps not to everyone's liking. For us though it's perfect. This is the view from our bungalow:

We've rented a motorbike for the week to give us the opportunity to do some exploring of the island. It's wonderfully green and, of course, the sea is a brilliant blue, lined with golden, powder soft sand in most places. 

My days have been quite blissful and I feel very lucky right now. I sit on the porch to eat breakfast and read my book (The Night Circus, which I highly recommend), then we go for a ride and explore and perhaps eat out. One particular restaurant made me rather happy simply because of its name: Octopus Willys. The food there was delicious though. Look at these mussels with garlic butter and breadcrumbs:

Of course there is knitting and spinning but I think I've rambled on enough for now and will save that for another day! What are you doing for your holiday? I'd love for you to share!

Spring is on the Way!

I seem to have lost my knitting mojo due to a lot of stuff going on here. Life has been quite stressful (hence my absence for the last three weeks) but I'm hopeful that it will start to calm down soon. 

I have been knitting although mainly on a new project, which is a gift for a friend. You may remember that I was gifted 1kg of alpaca/wool laceweight yarn from peru. It took me far too long to decide what yarn to use and what to knit but I now have a Trillian on the needles. I am using some Juno Fiber Arts yarn in the Milly Standard Sock Yarn. The yarn is lovely and soft and although I tend to prefer non-superwash yarn, this is for a non-knitter so it made sense. The colours are so pretty and I recommend checking out the shop if you haven't. 

The second of the fingerless gloves from the previous post has been started, it should be finished by the end of the week!

Some spinning has happened; the first half of Aurora from the last post is finished but I have yet to start the second half. Look at those gorgeous colours!! 

I have joined in a Spin Along with the Stitched Together podcast and information can be found here. It's open through March and April and you have to spin 100g of fiber and suggest a project you might use it in. 

On my spindle for the SAL is some more Ixchel Bunny in the Baby Alpaca and Bunny Top. The colour way is called Wallaby Dreaming and has yellow, green, blue and a light brown and it will become a two ply. The spinning is really easy and enjoyable. 

Unusually for me, I've been reading this term. If you know me, you know this rarely happens as I fall asleep if I so much as look at a book in the evenings. One of my new year's resolutions however was to read more and I've been trying to make an effort in this area. Mostly I get my book recommendations from the Richard and Judy Book Club - if you need some inspiration take a look.  

The book I've just finished is called When You Walked Back into My Life. It's a very easy read and I found myself getting really drawn into the story and the characters. Admittedly, I bought it mainly because the cover is so beautiful, but absolutely loved the story. 

The book I'm reading now, The Universe Versus Alex Woods, has got off to a great start and the first chapters had me hooked. The main character, Alex, is very interesting and his back story is quite unusual.  

That's it for the week, I'd love for you to tell me what you are working on or reading at the moment.