Bicycle Adventures and Other Things
I’ve written a detailed account of my attempt at riding the 2022 Transcontinental Race on a Brompton, which you can find here: https://www.jameshouston.com/tcr/ Make sure you click on the lolly at the top of the homepage 🙂
A simple blue cardigan. This is the #yourscardigan pattern released this week by Naoko Ogawa @atelierknits_strandsoflife It’s very comfortable and will be perfect for the cooler Autumn days. This is the first time I’ve done test-knitting (knitting a pattern before it is published) and the process went really smoothly. Test knitting also gives a deadline for motivation to … Read more
In the early hours of last Friday morning, in Burgas, Bulgaria, I succesfully completed Transcontinental #8 ultra-endurance bicycle race. I arrived at the final checkpoint 25 days, 5 hours, and 43 minutes after setting off from Geraardsbergen, Belgium.
On Saturday at 5pm, I finished the Pan Celtic Race 2022 ultra endurance bicycle race. I really wasn’t sure how it would go. My training had tailed off in the 3 months prior to the race. But I got the bike ready and packed the same as in the previous races – with a lot … Read more
Another finished object! This one’s special as it’s for me 😂 Karin at the brilliant Beautiful Knitters yarn shop in Pimlico kindly gave me her own pattern for a tie, which I’ve knitted up in Positive Ease pure merino using HiyaHiya sharp circulars. I followed the pattern mostly, but inadvertently went a bit off-piste for the main front section of the … Read more
It was the 50 year anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars record release yesterday, so I thought it was a good time to visit some of the places in London with Bowie connections. Thanks Andrew for joining me in this enjoyable quest, which ended up in Soho, where we … Read more
A woollen sweater, nicely timed for summer 😅 Inspired by Icelandic Afmæli patterns, in blue representing Shetland, this design by Barbara Cheyne is the first piece of Fair Isle knitting I’ve done. I was drawn to this Vegar Jumper design as I think it looks elegant, especially in the cool blue and grey colours. Pictures … Read more
Gold! I was looking for a colour to match this black raw lacquer frame, and I’m pleased with how the gold turned out on these new rims. Surprisingly subtle, and a good complement to both the frame and the brazing.
Last weekend I took a class in machine knitting with Timothy Andrews at Knit Works London and knitted this scarf. It was really enjoyable, a good pace, and I learned a lot of the basic techniques in just a few hours. Soo much quicker than knitting by hand! I’m now very tempted to pick up a second-hand … Read more
I finished my first pair of socks. The knitting pattern is #dearbjörnsocks – designed by @fibre_creative – knitted in LYC Sock yarn from @londonyarncompany. This was my first time cabling. Each knitting project I’ve chosen has included something I haven’t done before – I’ve continued to challenge myself, hoping to learn and improve.