My Week...

The beginning of this week was perfect for hibernation at home, cosy with cups of tea and a Harry Potter movie-marathon and a big bundle of crochet while it rained outside. We snacked on homemade raspberry crumble and ice cream, and it was perfectly delightful. We had Christmas in July with friends - it was because of lateness rather than design, but next year we plan to do it deliberately as we all have birthdays in the months either side of Christmas. I made one-hundred and forty pompoms for Big Knit hats, and we counted the ones that have already arrived - there are 873 so far. 

I have had a couple of little adventures this week - I've been to Wolverhampton and Liverpool, and had a mooch around the shops and Galleries, searching for inspiration. I had a look around the Tate, FACT and the Liverpool World Museum, and bought lots of plastic from the comic book shops. I also went to my first ever Clothes Swap with my little sister, we had a splendid time and I found a very sweet little skirt to bring home. It's been a lovely week.

My Week...

What a lovely week it has been! The sun has been shining and the long days have been glorious, we even made ice cream to help with overheating! We had a date-night at the movies, and I had a very jolly trip to Liverpool. 

I was a little bit under the weather on Sunday so I started making granny squares - I've made blankets with small squares, and large squares that just keep going, but never a whole blanket made of big squares, so that's my plan - I've done eleven rounds on each square now so I'm a happy camper. 

A Little Adventure

I have been a busy bee this week, working my little socks off to get to-do lists done so that I could take myself off for a little day out. Yesterday I hopped on the train and went to Liverpool. After living there for four years, Liverpool is like a second home to me, and even after eight years away, I sometimes miss it terribly. I love the old buildings on the waterfront, the amazing independent shops on Bold Street, the hustle and bustle of the city. The place that I miss the most is the Tate - I love the way an art gallery has fitted so effortlessly into an old industrial space, the strange little nooks and crannies that you just don't get with modern, purpose built galleries. I went primarily to see the new Jackson Pollock exhibition, not a favourite artist of mine but I like to be open-minded. The exhibition was interesting and logically curated (that sounds ridiculous I know but I hate it when exhibitions don't make sense)and I particularly enjoyed seeing the work on the Japanese and handmade papers. 

The highlight of my visit was the Geta Bratescu exhibition, so full of colour and experimentation, I loved the texture and the repetition of ideas, I found it very interesting. 

Image from Tate Website - Geta Bratescu Medeic Callisthenic Moves 1980-1 © Geta Bratescu, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

I took a look around the DLA Piper Series, and there was something new that I enjoyed - Lorna Simpson's "Photo Booth". The combination of the concept (photos from the 1940's interspersed with her own drawings) and the execution (I love the was it is displayed) made it really appealing to me - I have always enjoyed seeing collections. 

I love the work from Saloua Raouda Choucair too, her retrospective at Tate Modern stands out for me as one of the best exhibitions that I've seen. This piece is called "Poem of Nine Verses". 

I went on from the Tate to the Liverpool World Museum to take a look at the Maya exhibition and it was stunning. 

Painted Figure - Late Classic Period (AD600-900) Elderly Man in Blue Araceae flower

Disc from Chichen Itza - Early post-classic period (AD900-1250) made of wood, turquoise, shell, coral and slate.

It was just fantastic, a huge exhibition of really interesting things so skilfully made. I'm hoping to visit again before it closes. 

My Week...

My week started with a very exciting evening out in Liverpool watching the very scary-mindbending Derren Brown after a little visit to Hotel Chocolat for a pot of cocoa-shell tea. 

It has been a quiet and cosy week at home aside from our city adventure, with Thursday being spent building pretty triangular raised-beds with my dad, filling them with pretty succulents and alpines and pretty flowers. I have high hopes for them.

My Week...

I have had a lovely week - there has been crafty planning and working away in two of my favourite cafes with two of my favourite ladies, and lots of cake and tea to help things along. I have had cosy moments at home with the cats, and made progress with my toe-up-socks. I had my lovely day out in Liverpool and although I didn't take many photographs I brought home a head full of ideas. 

And despite being chilly outside, the spring is plodding along at it's own little pace, and it's lovely to see.

Tate Liverpool... Part One

Yesterday I woke up and had a realisation that I had no to-do list for the day and that the sun was shining - a rare combination of events indeed, and suddenly I caught the scent of adventure! 

I took myself off for a little day out to Liverpool, my main plan was to have a mooch around the Tate and re-visit the Leonora Carrington and Cathy Wilkes exhibitions, and I'm so very glad that I did. I must confess that I like to mooch around galleries on my own, I am an obsessive note-taker, and I am aware that it's a little bit of an anti-social habit. So armed with my notebook and a selection of pens - just in case one runs out, I've been caught-short before so now I go prepared - I set off on my adventure around the gallery. I thought I would share some of the lovely things that I saw...

I started on the Ground Floor, with the György Kepes exhibition of photographs 

Leaf with Leaves and Prism 1939

Lily and Egg, 1939 © estate of György Kepes

I moved on up to the DLA Piper Series: Constellation

Sophie Brzeska by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, 1913 © Tate

And the Living Room exhibition, which is a really rather clever concept, it's full of the every-day bits and bobs that make up home.

Bathroom Mirror, by Patrick Caulfield 1968 © The estate of Patrick Caulfield

To Be Continued...Part Two Coming Soon!

My Week...

My week started rather well with an evening in Liverpool Philharmonic for Laughterhouse Comedy, the highlights were Mark Thomas, who was the reason we went along, and discovering The Boy With Tape on His Face - he was so funny I almost hurt myself, have a look on YouTube, there's no way I can explain...

I spent Monday planning crafty stuff with a fellow crafty person, as well as getting a quick Toe-Up Sock demo (it turns out that I always cast on using a Cable Cast-on, who knew?!) and working with a self-employed friend for company in a lovely cafe, which helps with self-employment motivation! I took an afternoon off on Tuesday with my lovely dad for a trip to Ellesmere, he saved me from a hissing goose, and although the ice-cream stand was closed, we consoled ourselves with delicious iced-buns from the bakery. Thursday was our Emma Bridgewater adventure followed by Cream Tea, which was really very splendid. 

We have hugged our little ginger cat extra tight this week, after a dear friend lost her little Marmalade companion, my heart is broken for her. 

My Week

I do so enjoy a week that starts with a Bank Holiday, and on Sunday we used the time wisely to pop along to the Machynlleth Comedy Festival to see Rob Newman, and visited all of the lovely shops and a delightful cafe for Butterscotch and Walnut cake and tea - they had the most beautiful teapot and mismatched crockery, it was heaven! I spent the evening finishing a scarf I started a very long time ago, and I feel pleased to have completed my first ever lace pattern. I've also been working on Granny Squares and socks this week, made with my lovely WonderWool haul, I was too excited not to dive straight in! 

For Bank Holiday Monday we went on a city adventure to Liverpool, we went along to the Leonora Carrington and Cathy Wilkes exhibition at the Tate, which was really very interesting and I'm already planning a return visit. We had a lovely wander around the shops and had lots of tea. 

On Thursday we voted in the General Election, and although I don't want to mull on Politics here, I feel more than a little let down by the result. I had hoped that five years of aggressive targeting of the most vulnerable in our society would have been enough to change the way people voted, or that it would have been enough to convince people to take an interest and actually go out and vote. I worry for our NHS, for our elderly and vulnerable people, for the people who can't make ends meet no matter how hard they try. I worry that hateful propaganda has poisoned people who should know better, that we will go backwards instead of forwards in eradicating intolerance. It has taken me a day to be able to articulate these thoughts - yesterday was just too sad. 

My Week...

Well, another week has flown by, and suddenly we're mid-way through March! The highlight of the week was a trip to Liverpool - we visited a rather lovely Moroccan restaurant and then spent the evening with Placebo, one of the bands I have loved since I was a teenager and of the utmost importance in the story of "us". 

The rest of the week was spent quietly crocheting and reading, spending rainy days at home with our feline friends, who found cosy places to curl up. As of this morning I have a new plant to take care of, a blue Hyacinth, from my lovely husband - it will live in my shop, and bring me good cheer as I go about my crafty makings. It's the little moments of happiness after all. 

In Search of Giants

I've had many strange and whimsical journeys, but this was one of the most magical of all...

The Giants were charming and absolutely delightful, it was surreal and wonderful.