Well just a quick post to wish you all a happy Valentines Day. I don’t really get involved in this fest but there’s no reason to avoid it. So I thought I’d share a photo of the POM bottle I keep water in at the moment, to make sure I remember to stay hydrated. I love it, it just makes me smile every time I use it.
And this is another photo… it shows a bit of a round belly and some knitting. It’s what I’m busy with at the moment, knitting some pretty things for a friend’s wedding next week. I still haven’t sorted out my outfit, argh! I sure hope she has some sunshine for the big day, it’s almost been chucking it down and blowing up a storm non-stop…
Now I’m going to take a break and make some silly chocolates with Google’s latest Doodle… have a lovely weekend and take care! ❤
Wow is it already Friday?! I’ve been making progress with the grey snood and having some relaxation in the process… been enjoying some TED talks whilst working the yarn. Thought I’d share a few that particularly inspired and challenged me. Kinda made knitting feel like a really productive task – enjoy! And take care this weekend – thinking especially of everyone affected by the stormy weather and tidal surges affecting the UK. Hope you’re all ok ❤
A talk about lollipop moments! “There is no world, there’s only 6 billion understandings of it. And if you change one person’s understanding of it…you change the whole thing.”
A talk about how feminism most definitely isn’t dated, with a lot of humour, realism and passion.
Our current education systems educate creativity out of children. We need to be “…seeing our creative capacities for the richness they are, and seeing our children for the hope that they are.”
It’s getting colder in London now. It’s that time of year when I sometimes wish we could just snuggle up at home and not go out again for a few months. Although that would be a bit boring. Not least because it would give me no reason to knit grey, cosy pieces of yarn fabric to burrow into.
I have completed a couple of other projects that I will write about soon enough, but it’s now time to indulge in creating soft wads of grey to envelope myself in. Yes, it’s self indulgence time. Lucky for me, I love scarves. My mum invariably grimaces when she asks me what I’m knitting and I say “a scarf”. To her, it’s the most boring thing on earth to put your needles to use for. To me, it’s the best thing to tuck into of a dark evening with some random food or travel programme playback on in the background.
Do excuse the poor lighting. I’m using a combination of a supersoft 100% merino thick and thin yarn by Stitch & Story that has since been discontinued (boohoo!) and this brioletto yarn in silver, both bought in last winter’s sales. I’m simply knitting in the round in stockinette stitch, although I tried seed stitch for a bit with the Stitch & Story yarn but decided it wasn’t worth the effort, as the pattern isn’t that visible.
I don’t think I updated you on the snood that I was knitting back in May (oops, sorry!) I was really pleased with the end result. It’s another grey one I’m afraid.. and I even tried it on my hubby who simply looked too attractive in it, I might have to give it to him, even though I wanted it for myself haha! I did post a snap shot on Facebook of the lovely stripe effect I improvised using alternating sections of stockinette and seed stitch. For that one, I used Patons Wool Blend Aran in grey which has a lovely mottled effect making it easy to create a delightfully cosy textured look, although the texture is not as soft as the one I’m currently knitting.
So… how are you all? Anyone else feel like they just blinked and two months have gone by? Hope you are having a good week, take good care xx
My apologies for the slow pace at which I’m working at the moment and I haven’t paid enough visits to your blogs, there’s so much to catch up on! I’ve finally taken some snaps of my contribution to the Big Knit this year though… a grand total of FIVE mini hats.
Not even a drop in the ocean when compared to some seriously dedicated stars who have achieved knitting fame this year in support of Age UK. But I did have some fun playing with my own designs… I practised crochet in the same design thrice.. then decided to get the knitting needles back out.
I must say I was rather chuffed with my fifth experiment, which officially became the accidental jelly mould hat. I don’t know whether anyone would find my rather bland hats interesting enough if they make their way to the shops, sitting atop some little smoothie bottles. Everyone seems to love multicoloured hats, and I’ve gone and just done off-white, how boring 😛 Well, they’re off anyway, hope they get there in time – cheers Royal Mail!
Wow is it already Friday? I’ve knitted five little hats for the Innocent Big Knit (nothing compared to those marathon knitters out there!) It’s been great fun – I practised my crochet skills and even winged it with two of them and made up my own little knitted designs!
Hopefully I’ll get the chance to take photos of them before sending them off. Just wanted to wish you all a restful weekend! Take care everyone…
Well… I’m taking the first step to getting involved this year. Look! First Innocent Big Knit crochet bobble hat complete! It’s a great way to do some crochet, because I’ve been stuck on knitting for ages now…
And, I’ve become addicted to knitting small things… this is the smallest yet though – it won’t fit a baby’s head for sure! A nice quick knit – getting into Wool Week – anyone else having a bit of fun with wool this week?
Thank you for your ongoing support whilst I strayed away into the unknown since the middle of the summer that was, has been and is no longer. The weather in London is still mild and has actually been sunny and relatively warm in the last couple of weeks. I’ve even wondered whether or not another drought is on the way, crazy, I know.
Anyway, I’m planning on bringing an end to this last hiatus in blogging. And I thought I’d give a sneak peek at what woolly things I’ve been busying myself with recently as a starter.
Next week is National Wool Week in the UK, and I’ve been knitting quite a lot in the last month or so. These little booties are hopefully making their way halfway across the world in a matter of days, as soon as I get some long awaited news of the arrival of their intended new owner! I’m so excited, any time now!
Well, sneak peeks should not be too long, so I’m going to rest my eyes from the screen now and pick up my needles again. I’m enjoying catching up with all of your blogs in the meantime though. Have a great week!
I just wanted to thank you for popping by even though I’ve gone awol here. I’m slipping in and out of Facebook while I’m sorting out my life. It’s been one thing after another, but right now, it’s as good as the sunshine we’re having. I’m hoping things will settle down soon.
Right now I’m trying to stay focused on things I need to get done offline, but I’m still reading your blogs to keep me sane! Do pop by over to Facebook in the meantime if it takes your fancy, and like if y’like! 🙂 I’ve decided I’ll be sharing stuff that tickles me or makes me think over there, while I’m having a quieter spell here.
I’m finding that the warmer weather, and the to-ing and fro-ing around here right now, is well suited to plenty of tasty toasties 😉 There’s no better way to keep some creativity going in my life, than incorporating it into a quick bite to keep me going! I’ve also stolen some moments to knit, and finished my projects, which I want to blog about soon. What do you do to balance things when things get a bit hectic?
Sending you lots of sparkly, bubbly sunshine for the week ahead! xx
It’s been a bit of a tough old time since I last posted. Still not out of the woods yet, but consoling myself with some knitting and learning yet again to trust in God’s plan and grace. In the past Sunday, a friend shared a song that I missed. I received news of it just when I needed reminding most. I’m feeling very thankful and at peace.
As I posted on Facebook last week, I’ve started another mini project. I promised to update you today so I’m posting photos below. But I’ve been winding yarn all day today because
I’m currently convalescing and have nothing better to do and
my mini project has run out of yarn and I need to get some more and
my mammoth cable project does my shoulder (and head) in if I do too much at a time (although it has more than doubled since I last posted that photo)
So, today I took apart a project I finished previously that I did not like so much once I finished it. I think I should have used a softer, simpler and consistently coloured yarn for it. But I’m not going to make it again. I love the yarn and the mottled greys in it though, so I did some searches for ideas on balling yarn with a centre pull. What I’ve ended up with is the equivalent of two balls of yarn into a elongated rugby ball shape. Still a ball of sorts I guess, but not what you’d normally call a ball.
As for my lovely mini project, I could never bring myself to bother with knitting up anything but scarves and phone holders or random not so useful things. I would look at the yarn needed to knit up a cardigan and baulk at the idea. But then, after enjoying knitting up the booties so much, my mum encouraged me to try some mini jumpers etc. saying that they knit up really swiftly and it’s a great way to learn the skills. So I’m currently working up a mini hoodie with the view that it can be for a girl or a boy because I’m not yet sure who’s will eventually end up wearing it. I’d really recommend trying baby knitting if you are just starting out, because my mum was right – it’s addictive!
I’m quite frustrated that I’ve done the back, front sides and just over one sleeve but have just run out of yarn! I can’t wait to get some more! How many yarn lovers do we have reading today? Please say hello and let me know if you have some ongoing projects!
In the meantime, with the yarn I’ve balled today, I’m going to make up a quick snood using inspiration I’ve pinned here and here. Hopefully it’ll be nice and quick and will turn out well. It’s definitely spring though, there is not a cloud in the sky and when I open the back door an unmistakeable fragrance of life wafts in. Hopefully the resulting snood will not be needed until the end of the year!
Thank you all for reading and leaving your comments. I’ve still to respond to some of them. I’m getting quite bad at this – sincere apologies! Trying to get into a good blogging rhythm. Missing some of your blogs too – I can see many friends of this blog have also been busy – thanks for popping by and leaving messages, even when you’ve obviously not had time to post yourselves. It always does me no end of good to hear from you ❤
I’ve been filled with wonder that spring has sprung. I spent some time bird watching from the window today and wondering why it is that the smallest of birds love to sit fully exposed to the buffeting of strong winds at the very top of the longest thin tree branch that points skywards. I’d be more likely to hide somewhere among the budding branches down below, where there is more shelter. That seems to be what I’ve been doing in the past few weeks when I’ve gone missing on the blogging scene.
Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and for continuing to visit, even though I seemed to have passed out for lack of fish and chips. They were real encouragements and it cheered me up no end that such an affinity developed over my favourite deep friend dish! Since that last post, I have eaten fish and chips twice (the last time was two nights ago). I now feel reasonably fortified and would like to return. Perhaps, I might even gingerly hop higher up the tree and feel the breeze… who knows, I might eventually take flight!
For today, I intend to pay back a debt. I owe you a Wonder Wool update. Way back in winter, I posted a little sneak preview to see if you could guess what I was knitting. I was making my foray into baby knitting for a friend. She has since safely received both the hat for her and the knit for baby (as well as delivering an adorable baby girl) so I can reveal what I was knitting for the first baby project I set myself:
I intend to do more – I was hooked! They knit up relatively quickly and I learned some new techniques. It’s a Patons newborn pattern involving knitting two rows into each other to form the pretty scalloped edge.
Knitting something for this brand new little person, gave me time to think about the fragility of life. How one person can bring so much joy or devastation to the world. How every small action we take or every word we speak, can have a huge impact on someone else for good and bad. This post from a couple of sisters I love to read, was at the same time thought provoking and challenging along those thought-lines. I thought I’d share it – cherish this moment!
Once again, I thank you for your kind words, even though I have been so slow to respond. Thank you friends! I pray that you have strength in your wings for whatever you are facing today x
this is lemonade 