Weekends seem to disappear faster than any other day of the week. I think it's a giant conspiracy, engineered by a multinational corporation that exists only to get us to work more, and sleep less. No fun for you lot! That's their motto. Grumble grumble. Clearly I'm feeling a little tired, and a bit dazed by Monday. Monday, already. It was Friday afternoon,...
Even in the most tired of times, where everything seems to be just "work, work, work" and you're feeling low, it just takes a little bit of energy to remember that there are really beautiful things to be found all around you. This blue railing in Victoria Park, on an afternoon walk. Very late afternoon, getting dark. Matchy gold teapots and tea cups in a...
All quite suddenly - and entirely without notice, overnight - my craft room / office has transformed into a veritable Aladdin's Cave of treasures. Everything is jewelled: the beautiful and unexpected gifts that arrived through the post, the knitting that is gathering on my craft tables, the shelves which are piling up with glittered objects. The colours are all rather spontaneously and wonderfully...
... I finally cast off on a shawl I've been knitting. Will block it this week. I also promptly cast on for my Hey, Teach! which I'm calling Strawberry Pi. A repetitive and easy knit, I'm half way up the back and switching to a repeating lace pattern now. ... I washed and thwacked (!) my handspun yarn skeins. They are currently drying over the...
I finished spinning the Ice Cream Sundae last night. It's fabulous. Even in black and white. Almost 200 grams of pink-peppermint-mulberry loveliness. I have no idea what it will become, and I still have to wash it... Sooooooon, my lovely. And your little dog too. (I feel like I should be cast in The Wizard of Oz). Incidentally, my craft table is filling...
The socks are done, and have been waiting patiently to be blocked. You don't have to block your socks, but, as with all knitting, they're oh-so-much-nicer when they are. I scoured shops and online resources for hours looking for the right sock blockers. I knew I didn't want acrylic, and I definitely didn't want single sock blockers. Why do so many people sell sock blockers in...
Hey, Look! I'm blogger of the month at Black Sheep Wools. They asked me loads of knitty questions, so pop over to their lovely blog to read more. They also sent me a gift card which I promptly spent on sock yarn ... more on that when it arrives by postie. ...
I don't think it was technically a Christmas present. More like a happy-new-year-and-by-the-way-I-love-you present. You see, on the way to Cornwall, we went on a roundabout route from London via Bristol. And there, we stopped off at a little shop called The Spinning Weal. Just, because it was on the way. Mostly. And The Most Amazing Husband bought me a beautiful new spinning wheel....
I collect knitting needles. Every time I visit a new town or village, I pop into their charity shops to see if they have any. I like the ones that look like they've got a story. They're pink or blue or grey, well-used, and you can't see the markings anymore because they've worn off from years of knitting. Charity shops keep their knitting...
I decided to start this year right. It will begin with a positive thought a day, recorded in a brand new gratitude journal. I loosely followed this tutorial to make a soft leather-bound journal, with seven signatures made up from an assortment of lovely papers. I figured, if I put a lot of love into making something like this, I'd be more likely...
Happy New Year! We've been away, adventuring along the Cornish Coast and enjoying lazy afternoons in front of a fire. It was time to get away, to recharge, to re-evaluate and to reconsider the New Year. To live differently, for a short time. Did you make New Year's Resolutions? This year, after much consideration, my resolution is to finish things. Not just projects...
