Monthly Archives: September 2010

Compensations of the Season

Last year the Virginia Creeper was a solitary, spindly strand struggling to stay clinging to the wall. I was a little brutal and trimmed it back to door height during the winter and it’s done so well over the summer, despite being torn off in the wind several times. Now it is truly glorious, and I have high hopes of it spreading really well next year, and hiding the join between the old house wall and the extension.

I was a bit premature in a previous post when I said how well the sunflowers had withstood the wind and went outside to find one drooping miserably over the fence. Never mind, it’s all looking pretty good in a vase.

I’ve been playing around with my basket of Stylecraft Special DK and working on a cushion assortment to compliment the crochet blanket. Ikea came up trumps – again – on my last visit with small cushions, 30cms, for a ridiculous price, something like 79p a piece! I managed to hold back though and only got six.

My first two have been a colour experiment. A cool one…

…and a warm one.

I’m happy with how they look…

…and the quality controller is testing them as I write!

There’s another cushion in the making but for now I’ve got to persuade Higgins it’s time for walkies, just as he’s decided it’s time to get comfy…

The End of the Summer

I don’t think there’s any getting away from it now, do you? I’ve hung on to the bunting for as long as I can but it’s looking awfully frayed and windswept now and as I sit here in the studio listening to the wind howling and the rain lashing on the roof I can see all my little flags are wrapped round and round the tape like little sausages.

I’m trying really hard to be positive about Autumn. I’ve been looking at lovely blogs with gorgeous autumny images so I know lots of you out there enjoy thi time of year, but today isn’t one of the better days! Still, I musn’t grumble. We’ve just had a couple of days in the west and the weather was glorious and I have some great pictures of Bristol and Bath to show you soon.

I’m rather happy to discover I can knit in the car! Reading makes me queasy so I hadn’t bothered to try before but because I’ve had a hook or needles in my hands so much lately I found I was horribly fidgety on the car journey so I gave it a go. I’d already had a panicky moment when I realised that heaving a basket containing 17 balls of wool across the country to someone else’s house might be a step too far. I had a couple of balls of this lovely wool…

…which had been part of a birthday pressie, it makes me think of blackberries and heather.

I also really needed a new pair of fingerless gloves. (Somebody small and black and four legged having eaten my last pair…)

: Friendship fingerless mitts by Sophy T O’Donnell

I was happy to find this pattern on Ravelry and it works very well. Number one was knitted up on the journey there – and in odd moments when I wasn’t having delicious cuddles with my newest little cousin, and the second one polished off on the way back!

I do have a little flowery prettiness to show you which I captured before the rain and wind set in today. I have some wonderful sunflowers which have been in a vase for days and are still going strong…

The cosmos grew to ridiculous heights before deciding to flower but they are lovely now and also last well when cut.

Next year I must get more Zinnias. They are so jolly, and just go on and on…

Dalias too, although there is the slug problem as you can see….

A great big pompom of hydrangea…

…and fuchias too…

I can see there is a bit of overkill on Planet Penny pink going on here but I discovered a self sown nasturtium hiding in a corner…

I’ve been really pleased with the sunflowers I grew this year. So much better than the single flowered monsters which are a novelty but don’t do much else, the multi flowered ones have gone on and on despite the wind and rain.

…and I still have roses. I hope the remaining buds will open and not get spoilt by the weather.

While I’ve been typing this, Higgins has given up completely on the great outdoors. He really doesn’t like wet weather and hides in his bed if anyone mentions walkies. Like this…

Yes, he’s really there. Under two blankets and inside the mattress cover. You’d never know. But, if I say the magic word…’Bickies’… he suddenly appears!

I’d better go and get that bickie now don’t you think? And one for me too…and a cup of tea! Enjoy the weekend, and don’t forget to enter the draw for a chance to win a jolly pompom bunting garland to brighten up your day! x

Fairy Cakes and Bunting

Where has the week gone? I do seem to have been dashing around, hither and yon, but even so I managed a little hooking and knitting as I went. I’m still loving my new knitting book and have been going a little mad on teeny weeny socks. They’re all packed up now and winging their way as I type to keep tiny toes warm but I’m sure it’s ok to give you a little peek…

Aren’t they cute? And I love the yarn which is merino wool, cashmere and silk, lovely to work with…

I’ve also made a scarf from this pattern…

Which is incredibly cosy and warm, and very quick to knit.

I’ve also done a spot of baking. It was the first birthday of our very swish Eco built village hall and everyone was invited to the party. It seemed a fairy cake sort of occasion and I’d found some polka dot bun cases…

…and some gorgeous little mini smartie decorations I was longing to use…

They did show up rather well on the cake table!

It was a lovely excuse to meet up with friends for a cuppa and something sweet and sticky (I’ll get back on the Weightwatchers regime tomorrow- honest!)

As I said, I have been hooking too, but with all the little socks I’m not quite ready to show you what I’ve been up to just yet, so I’m going to talk about bunting again. This bunting…

Lots of lovely people have been leaving nice comments about the pompom bunting I made with my leftover wool and Vanessa over at Do You Mind If I Knit was kind enough to mention it and link to Planet Penny. It made me think I’d like to do something a bit special for all of you who have been visiting over the last months so I have decided to do a …

GRAND POMPOM BUNTING GIVEAWAY!

Would you like to join in? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, and to be in with more of a chance if you put a link from your blog to Planet Penny I will put your name into the hat twice! The bunting is several metres long so will make a really pretty decoration, and being multi-coloured it will match most colour schemes. I’ll make the draw on Saturday 2nd of October so there’s plenty of time to enter the draw.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you all…enjoy your weekend x

P.S.I’ve just realised this post is enough to give you spots before your eyes!

A Sunny Sunday and Using Up Leftovers

No lie-in allowed this morning! Last night’s weather forecast promised us we’d lose the sunshine in the afternoon and the beach was calling. We were there by nine o’clock, bright sun, an incoming tide and a stiffish breeze. Very bracing. Only two other cars in the lane ( the beauty of our favourite beach is that there is no car park, no tearoom!) so once we came over the top of the dune the beach was nearly deserted. Higgins is now reliable enough to run off the lead, although he really misses having someone young enough to run with him.

Considering his reluctance to set foot outside when it’s raining and puddly he’s quite intrepid when it comes to the interesting pools forming as the tide raced in…

He hasn’t quite found a deep enough bit to actually have to swim yet so I hope I have the camera to hand when he does.

While Higgins sleeps off all that exercise I’m sorting out my leftover yarn.

I have a bit of an obsessive thing about winding wool. I have a lovely gadget for doing the big balls, but these little bits get wound very carefully by hand so they look pretty. (Yes, OK! I know it’s weird but it makes me happy…)

And it’s something to do while I decide what I else I can make.

I’ve lost my diary. It’s slim, anonymous, dark blue. Perfect for slipping in between books and magazines and losing forever. Well at least long enough to be madly inconvenient. So I decided to get something more substantial, an academic one so I can start it now.

But it’s not really me, is it? But, with a little application of brightly coloured yarn it can be made much harder to lose…

Although Tim has pointed out that I’m going to lose it as soon as I put it down on the blanket….

I’m also suffering from rapidly cooling coffee, but not any more…

… there are STILL bits of wool left, but I have a plan! Bunting! Well, everyone loves bunting. In fact, it would be quite nice to think of a new slant on bunting….

….Pompoms!

I’m very happy with the pompoms…and I still love all those colours. I also have lots of cushions just waiting for covers…and a new sofa which needs cushions.

Which is why I went back to the market on Friday…

…for fresh supplies!

Cue Drum Roll…

…Fanfare? …or just a plain old Da-daa? It’s a show and tell moment. Blanket time! I’m feeling very happy about my blanket. As someone who has been known to struggle with finishing something (that butterfly mind thing where I find a new project before the end of WIP) I’m feeling just a little smug…

And it’s a happy blanket. Lovely summery colours which are going to be very cheering as we go into gloomy old winter.

It’s a good size too. The right size for a single bed or a throw over the sofa and also perfect for curling up in front of the fire. I used 17 different colours, 100grams of each and it was almost exactly the right amount. I then bought a couple of extra balls to do the edging and I really liked the greek fishing boat blue shades.

I thought I’d do a bit of an arty shot in the garden, but I had a slight problem with my photographic assistant…

He didn’t quite ‘get’ what I was trying to do…and then got very tired…

I thought it might look rather nice in the studio…

Ahem, excuse me, can I just get past please…? Thank you…

So if you are ready..here we are…

And also, on the bed…

I’m almost, almost but not quite looking forward to cooler weather now!Ii’m still in love with the colours so I’m very tempted to buy another batch and have a bit of fun with matching cushions.

But now I have one or two other little projects on the go so I can’t rest on my laurels. I’ll tell you about those next time…

‘Good Enough to Eat’ Swap

A while ago I joined in with a Bloggy swap organised by Em’s Shabby Shack. My partner was Kelly, of Kelly’s Recipes for Life. It’s taken a little while to complete the swap as pregnancy and wedding plans (not mine!) unexpectedly got in the way. But we’ve done it now and I’d like to share my excited unwrapping of all my little gifts.

Firstly, this is what we had to do:-

“This is what we would like you to included~
A handmade item that looks or smell good enough to eat.
An item that is Green~Fair trade.
A Delicious cake recipe.
A couple of items which you would consider look good enough to eat !”

Everything came out of the box tantalisingly wrapped in pretty pastel tissue…

Firstly, a card…

Gosh, Iced Gems… I haven’t had one of those for years. You’d bite the icing off and suck it, and then be left with that boring little biscuit. (I think I used to give it the dog… Poor thing, no wonder it was fat!) But they are SO pretty.

Then,