50 Years of Ziggy Stardust

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  • 50 Years of Ziggy Stardust

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 enjoyed Simon Goddard’s enjoyable and informational ‘Bowie Odyssey 72’ book launch at 21 Soho Square.

The more you read, the more there is to know. I need to do some more research and then will revisit!

1. Bowie mural, Tolworth
2. David Bowie’s birthplace, Brixton
3. Group photo, Bromley
4. Recreation of same
5. Bowie bandstand, Beckenham
6. Book launch
7. Ziggy album cover
8. Recreation of same

Vegar Fairisle Jumper

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  • Fairisle Jumper

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 of the process are available in the story highlights on my profile.

If you have any suggestions for future projects, please get in touch.

Pattern: Vegar Jumper by @cheynebarbara via Shetland Wool Adventures Journal Vol. 03.

Yarn: Shetland Spindrift from Jamieson’s of Shetland

Needles: HiyaHiya sharp interchangeables

Gold Wheels

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  • Gold Wheels

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.

Learning to machine knit

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  • Striped Scarf

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 machine and get some experience.

Dunwich Dynamo Double

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Dunwich Dynamo – an enjoyable unorganised overnight trip to the seaside last weekend. Had some nice encounters on the way out, had a swim in the sea, bumped into old friends, and got a good soaking cycling back through thunderstorms.

Pan Celtic Race 2021 Links

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From Sunday 4th July 2021 to Wednesday 14th July 2021, I took part in the Pan Celtic Ultra Endurance Race.

Podcast

I took part in Chië’s ‘Talks Around The Coffee Cups’ podcast and talked a bit about the race. You can listen to it on Spotify here:
Episode 13 Coffee with James

Photos

My photos for the trip can be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jameshouston/albums/72157719548723259

Sponsor me!

I’m raising money for London’s Air Ambulance charity. If you want to sponsor me you can make a donation here and the money goes directly to the charity. Thanks so much to everyone who has already made a donation!!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/james-houston-pcr

Dot watching

You can review my progress here (I’m rider #077 following the red line):
https://dotwatcher.cc/race/pan-celtic-race-2021

Social Media

The Pan Celtic organisation team are all over social media! So if you want to see race updates, help yourself to one of these links:
https://www.pancelticrace.com
https://www.pancelticrace.com/entered-riders/
https://dotwatcher.cc/feature/bikes-of-pan-celtic-race
https://www.instagram.com/pancelticraceseries
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCCaiA87tHCZogFEGoDS-GQ
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pancelticrace
#PanCelticRace #PanCelticRaceSeries #PanCelticRace2021
#PanCelticClan #ClanRider077

My own Instagram account is here:
https://www.instagram.com/jim_london/

Strava

Anyone using Strava can get my daily ride data here: https://www.strava.com/athletes/2075000

Strava art

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I made a couple of cycling doodles recently, where I created pictures by cycling whilst recording the route I took. One was for a Look Mum No Hands! competition. I chose to draw a turkey for this as it was thanksgiving. I’ve won a jersey and cap which I’ll go and collect once the shop is open for business again. The other doodle was an adaptation of a route originally cycled by Anthony Hoyte that said ‘Merry Christmas’, which I changed to ‘Merry Crisis!’. Anyhow, a good excuse to cycle around London. Some roads were new to me and others brought back memories.