My Week...

Some of my favourite moments from the last week - tea and cake with my mum and husband in Shrewsbury, visiting the Yorkshire Sculpture park with my lovely friends, and making friends with a bee while we were there, and a business meeting over big red tea-cups. It's been a pretty good week. 

Knit-Along!

Yesterday was one of my favourite "work" days of the year - our Knit-Along for Innocent Smoothie's Big Knit campaign. This is our fifth year making teeny bobble hats to raise money for AgeUK and we always have a little day of knitting and cake and lovely company! Let me introduce the gang...

(Top left photo)

Gemma, who was knitting hats, and also brought along two massive cakes and £25 worth of yarn that her lovely boss at The Little Food Company donated to our day!

My mum, who is my right-hand helper, I really couldn't do it all without her! Mum makes millions of pom-poms for the hats that arrive without them, as well as knitting loads herself, helping me with the counting and bagging up of the hats, and encouraging all of the knitters she knows to help out. She really is ace. 


(Top middle photo)
Then there was Helen and Carys, as well as Mathew, a really lovely crafty family! Helen was crocheting, Carys was making pompoms and Mathew was doing a bit of both! They are legends!

(Top right photo)

Matilda came along to help with pompoms, and even brought along some chocolate coins that she had made - she knows us pretty well!

We also had help from my lovely friends Graeme and Sam and their little folks Abigail and Finlay, but unfortunately I was a bit hopeless and didn't get any photos of them! And my dear friend Lowri kept popping over from her shop with little crochet hats! 

It was a really lovely day, full of tea and cake and laughter, and we made lots and lots of hats and pompoms, as well as taking in more than 500 from people just popping in to drop them off. A conservative estimate of our progress so far is 2500 hats - half of our massive target of five thousand (since it's our fifth year I thought it made a nice target!) and I couldn't be happier!

Taking Stock...

Making : Cosy Blankets and little hats
Cooking : Raspberries
Drinking : Tea
Reading: Lots this month - just finished "Not That Kind of Girl" by Lena Dunham
Wanting: more pretty plants in the house. Especially Succulents as I seem to be managing to keep them alive...
Looking: forward to a day at the seaside when the weather improves
Playing: "Cards Against Humanity"
Deciding: where to go for adventures
Wishing: cake had no calories...
Enjoying: a mix-tape from my husband
Waiting: for sunshine
Liking: dinosaurs 
Wondering: if learning to use a drop-spindle would lead on to harder-spinning-behaviour? Is it a gateway craft?
Loving: the summer's first beautiful orange roses
Pondering: new projects
Considering: what to read next
Buying: Moomin PJs and more thrifty bits and bobs
Watching: classic movies from my childhood - "Jurassic Park" and "Ghostbusters" mostly
Hoping: for more strawberries from the plants in my garden, they've been a bit sad so far...
Marvelling: at the amount of little hats that are arriving at my stall already!
Cringing: at how rubbish people can be to each other.
Needing: to sleep properly
Questioning: how fast time flies, how can the days be getting shorter already?
Smelling: the flowers in the garden and the Raspberry Crumble in the kitchen
Wearing: pretty Cath Kidston dresses and skirts 
Noticing: how friends become family and how we cross the paths of others
Knowing:
Thinking: that I can't wait to visit the Rob Ryan exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Admiring: beautiful blankets and crafty things online
Sorting: out bags of wool and 4mm knitting needles for our Big-Knit-Along!
Getting: excited for the Big-Knit-Along!
Bookmarking: crafty projects and patterns
Coveting: Cath Kidston dresses and PlayPurses (especially the yellow one...)
Disliking: grumpy people
Giggling: with my dear friends
Feeling: grateful, ever so grateful
Snacking: on "kid's tea" (©Amy H)of Quorn Chicken Nuggets and Potato Waffles
Helping: my sister get started with her new business and feeling ever so proud
Hearing: lots of pretty songs - I rather like Daughter, they have a nice song called "In the Shallows"

Thanks as always to lovely Pip at Meet Me At Mike's for this fabulously inspirational list!

My Week

This week has reminded me of the things that are special, moments that are small but important - I have picked fresh raspberries from our garden, fingers stained with juice, and enjoyed the home-made crumble that my lovely husband baked with them. We joined my dear friend for a tea-party to celebrate her new home, her table covered with crochet and the beautiful ceramics that she made as her final degree project, and we ate sweet heart-shaped cakes in the garden, making plans for the summer. 

We had a quiet day visit to Ruthin, and went on to Llangollen and Ellesmere, just walking and chatting and looking around the little shops. A sweet friend came to visit and gave me a yellow toadstool, which has found a home on my fireplace, and my mum came to my stall to knit with me. We had a trip to the weird and wonderful antique place, and I had tea and crumpets, my favourite snack, and my mum told me that my Granny always had crumpets in the cupboard for me because they were always my favourite. I didn't know that. 
(Thanks to Amy H for the table photo from her Instagram...)

Thoughts on Being 30 (and a half)

Today is my half-birthday. I am Thirty-and-a-Half and I've been doing some thinking about the whole "being thirty" thing. Now, I can't say that reaching this particular milestone was terribly bothersome to me - twenty-seven was rather more unsettling and I have no clue in my head as to why that was, but thirty was just fine. But I've been thinking about life, and how things change, and how I've changed over the years and I thought I would share some of my conclusions...

I've decided that I'm messy, and I'm busy, and really I'd rather be crocheting than tidying.

I have fewer friends now than I've ever had, because not so long ago it became apparent that fair-weather friends aren't worth the energy, and so there are less friends, but they are good friends. They are the people that know me best, that I could share anything with, that I would do anything for. I love my friends, they are the best! I make an effort to spend as much time as I can with my family, I love them very much, and after living away for so long I make the most of the time I have with them. My life is sweeter for having my friends and family in it.

I am finally reaching a point where I am happy in my own skin. I like my short hair, and I wear what I want, and I love bright coloured clothes and pretty prints and sweet little shoes, and I love big clunky Dr Marten boots, and some days I love Kawaii cuteness and my little pink basket and everything has to be pink, and other days I love Granny florals and my knitting bag and dainty little teacups. Some days I want to go on adventures, and some days I want to hibernate. And that's just fine. It's taken a long time to get here. 

My life as a full-time crafter is a happy one. I don't earn nearly as much as I did working in retail management, but my goodness, I hated working in retail, and I love what I do now. I make my own schedule, I work harder than ever but I have flexibility and I am so proud of my sweet little shop. I wish I could keep a sketchbook more consistently, and I wish I was a little braver at knitting, but I love my little brightly coloured shop, and all of the quirks of being self-employed. 

I must confess that I don't always find life easy, I still don't feel like a grown up, and sometimes I wonder how other people make life look so easy, and seem so capable, and yet I feel so awkward all the time. Of course, I'm sure to other people I seem utterly confident and capable and they probably feel just as awkward as I do on the inside, but still, some days it's really not easy. I watched a Ted Talk recently about how to "fake it 'till you make it" (I've only just discovered Ted Talks and they're really rather interesting, as usual I'm a bit late to the party...) and it really made sense, to keep coming across as confident until eventually you become it... I'm still waiting for it to happen, but the nice lady assures me it will. 

There are lots of things that make me happy - cats, tea, flowers, art galleries, knitting and crochet, cake, silly tv shows, cardigans, old movies, notebooks, pretty jewellery, buttons, taking photographs, reading lots of books, floral fabric, walking in the countryside, going to see my favourite bands, letters, the Harry Potter Studio Tour, vinyl, the seaside, London, museums, charity shopping, vintage brooches, cassettes, my favourite songs, pretty clothes, vintage toys, visiting new places, my garden, art books, home. All of these things are part of what makes me who I am. 

Patrick Caulfield - "Vases of Flowers" 1962 

If you've made it here, to the end of my rambling then thank you, I'm not sure if any of it means anything or is of any value or consequence to anyone but me, but I wanted to share anyway, if only to get thoughts out of my head. 

2015 so far...

Here we are, halfway through a crispy January, and only now am I finding myself back into my daily routines. It was a delightful festive season, and I fully immersed myself into the holiday spirit, with plenty of crochet, reading and good food. I finished my granny-a-day blanket at a nicely cosy ninety squares, which is plenty big enough for my sofa, and began a new daily square blanket on 1st January. I took the plunge with rather large ambitions to make a Sunburst square for every day of 2015, the plan being a blanket that will be 16 squares by 23 squares, hopefully finishing up with a somewhat impressive 368 squares. I am holding out high hopes for this one, I really do want so much to complete a year long project. 

As is always the way, I was completely unable to get through a holiday without starting a new project, and I am very pleased to say that I finished it yesterday - a sunburst square cushion. It was a low-concentration stash-buster project, and I am rather pleased with it. 

Some of the other adventures from my holidays were passing my driving test on New Years Eve (a rather lovely way to end 2014), turning 30 on 8th January and the mountains of tea and cake that followed it, and being enlisted as Bridesmaid for one of my most wonderful friends - I am so terribly excited, I have never had the honour of being asked before, and I hope to do her proud.

I also had a splendid trip to London with my dear husband! We visited the British Museum for the Germany and Ming exhibitions, as well as the National Portrait Gallery for the Grayson Perry exhibition, which was fabulously inspiring. 

So I suppose that after all of those adventures, my plan to hibernate for the rest of January seems completely reasonable. 

Happy New Year lovely friends, I hope 2015 is a wonderful year for you!

My Week...

It has been a week of delightful adventures, cake and craftiness. There was a trip to the seaside on Sunday, with a visit to Oriel Mostyn, and a splendid mooch along the seafront. I always enjoy the quaintness, and the peachy pastelness of the hotels. There was also a little bit of time for a trip to Chester, and one to Liverpool, for shopping and festive present buying, and regular tea and cake breaks. 

 



On Thursday one of my dearest, sweetest friends visited, and as always it was like we'd never been apart. There was a wander up to the old castle mound in Oswestry, and a visit to two of my favourite tea rooms and the gallery. It was a splendid day and reminded me yet again of the loyalty from my foul-weather friend that I am more grateful for than I have words to explain.

My personal crafty endeavours this week have mostly been the progress of my latest pair of Frankensocks, squares for my mood blanket and a dainty little crocheted flower. The flower pattern came from a book that had belonged to my Great-Grandmother. It was an opportunity to connect with a lady of whom I have only the vaguest recollections, mostly where dots have been joined by the people that knew her, through their stories and anecdotes. I cherish the idea that I sat working through a pattern that she herself may have tried, wondering if she stumbled at the same points, if she would have found my "magic ring" adaptation interesting or if she stuck rigidly to the instructions. I felt a heavy sense of missing out on the chance to spend time with a kindred spirit, but that I am joined to her with the knowledge that she may have taught my gran to knit, and that she in-turn taught me - the passing of skills from generation to generation. 

My Week...

This week has flown by in a whirlwind of crochet, tea and spending nice bits of time with friends. I found a delightful pattern for making little fingerless gloves, perfect for my newly-acquired sheepy-wool which was crying out to be cosy mitts, so I settled in on Saturday evening and crocheted away. I worked my way around my blanket a couple of times on Sunday, and I'm sure that one day soon it will make a very warm little bed cover.

I am utterly thrilled with the progress of my windowsill garden, now flowering away nicely with pretty little white Gypsophilia. The next one that looks ready to bloom is the Delphinium, and I have high hopes for my tiny greenhouse plants. 

I found some lovely charity shop treasures this week, with the thrifty luck on my side for more fabulous sheepy-wool, some pretty coral 4-ply, and crafty books (Amy Butler and Applique). The yarn was put to good use quick-fast, and during an afternoon of excessive amounts of tea I made another pair of cutesy mitts, using strands of both coral yarns together to make a rather splendid blend. This afternoon I enjoyed a rare catch-up with some of my dear friends, and taught their sweet little girl how to crochet, and we made friendship bracelets, because we are best friends - As always my week has been full of tiny moments to treasure, but none more so than a seven-year old telling me that I have a special place in her heart. Such sweetness. 

My Week...

Another splendid week has passed, and there have been many delightful moments to look back on and smile a little happy smile. I spent a jolly evening at a birthday gathering for a friend in the Welsh hills, where I had a bit of time watching the world go by with some of the local livestock who were happily mooching around, and had a little chit-chat with the farm cat, Puss. Sunday was a perfect Sunday of crochet, cats, and mid-morning macarons made in one of my favourite little tea shops and enjoyed at home with a big cup of tea. 

On Monday I ventured to the big city, for theatrical Japanese food preparation at Miyako Teppanyaki followed by Gruff Rhys at the Glee Club. Wednesday was a day of chatting with friends that visited my little shop, talking about crafty adventures, swapping fabric and yarn and crochet tips. I also discovered to my amazement that some tiny seeds that I had planted had actually grown and grown and made little delicate white flowers. As a somewhat unsuccessful gardener I was thrilled and amazed, and am overjoyed to see more and more little flowers unfurling daily. 

Today has been a knitting day. And a knitting day is never a bad day. 

My Week...

Well, as last weeks of summer go, it's been a rather splendid one. It started with a bit of chilly weather on Saturday, which of course meant that I had to bundle up in my work-in-progress blanket as I added more rows to make it extra cosy. Sunday was a delightful day, catching up with a dear old friend and making friends with his lovely lady-friend. There was tea, and cake, yarn shopping and much chatting. Monday was spent in typical rainy day style, with lots of crafty makings, films, tea and time with my other half and our kitty family. 

On Tuesday I took an opportunity to visit Peterborough, and enjoyed having a mooch around the very pretty museum, housed in a Victorian Hospital, and full of interesting bits and bobs, including Butterfly specimens and treasured letters and handmade things from World War One. Wednesday was another cosy day, and I spent the evening in the close company of our oldest kitty. On Thursday we ventured to Shrewsbury for shopping and spent the afternoon watching "Lucy", before I finally gave in and took some rest to clear a particularly unpleasant headache. I spent Friday sewing pretty things for my shop, very quietly as part of headache recovery, but today I have Allo Darlin' for company as I work, choosing their first album as the soundtrack to my morning. Splendid.