My Month in Makes...June

I must confess that it's been a somewhat disjointed month of making - I've finished a pair of socks, and for my stall some rosebud brooches and button earrings, but otherwise I have either started new projects - Frankensocks and large granny squares - or plodded along with projects that were already in the making - my 2015 blanket and my grey and pink socks. 

I have been working on some more squares for the "Square Enough" course that I'm running with my knitty friend, it's less than a week away now and I'm a healthy mixture of excited and very nervous! 

My Week!

Another week has flown by, and what a lovely week it has been. It started just right with my trip to London, mooching around the British Museum, then on to the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery, all so very full of people enjoying lovely cultural excursions. I also enjoyed rather a lot of cake, scones at the British Museum and Cannoli from a sweet little cafe around the corner. A day out is not a day out without cake.  

The rest of the week has been spent working and knitting, and getting over some kind of lurgy that left me dizzy and confined to the sofa. I can't complain, I binge watched old episodes of The Simpsons and started a snazzy pair of Frankensocks, as well as finishing my first ever toe-up pair. I spent my Friday evening making pompoms for Innocent Smoothie Big Knit hats with my mum, and squeezing her little dog Jock. He's a happy little ball of fluff. 

My Month in Makes - May

I've had a jolly good month of making, finishing two pairs of socks (chunky and 4ply), a small blanket, some little crochet pots and a feather-and-fan lace scarf that has been on the needles forever.

Row eight and nine of my 2015 blanket are all done and attached to the other seven rows. Still in-progress are two pairs of socks - I'm at the heel turn point for the lovely grey and pink ones, made with yarn that I picked up at WonderWool so they are very special, and my first ever toe-up pair are very nearly done (thanks to my friend Becca who passed on the pattern to me) and I might well start another pair! I will share the pattern for the pots at some point soon, they are rather fun to make!

My Week

What a jolly exciting week it has been! We had a trip to Ruthin, and a day out in Birmingham, and on Wednesday evening we ventured to Manchester to see Babes in Toyland, and I met lovely Kat Bjelland who was ever so sweet and stood chatting with the gathered fans despite the freezing late night air. The support band were amazing too, called Skating Polly, I think they will be one to keep an eye on. 

On Monday I found myself a lovely thrifty bargain - one to add to the list of all-time-favourite thrifty-finds - a dear sweet tapestry granny-purse. It was £2 and is perfect. It has been a really wonderful week. 

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 am ever so glad that I made the most of the beautiful weather at the start of the week - today is dreary and rainy and Wintry, but I am making the best of it with plenty of tea and knitting. I spent most of the week in the post-WonderWool wind-down, enjoying my lovely new stash and mooching around the online versions of the beautiful stalls I had visited. I took time to knit with my WonderWool buddy on Monday and we discussed the day and our plans to use our lovely purchases. I spent a little time tending our garden, so pleased that my husband had the foresight to plant beautiful wallflowers and tulips. 

On Thursday I went walking with my dad and his little dog, wandering through the woods and along the canal, stopping to admire the bluebells and wild garlic that lined our way. We mooched along and chatted and managed to avoid the April showers, and it was just lovely.

My Month In Makes...

This month saw a sock knitting innovation - I picked up some Drops Big Fabel chunky sock yarn, and using a combination of two patterns I made some cosy socks! I used the Quick and Chunky Sock Pattern as a starting point, and took some bits from my favourite Beginner Sock Pattern, and now I have two pairs of very gorgeous socks, that take very little time to make! I've started another pair for my sister too.

I finished two pairs of 4ply socks - some stripy ones and some Frankensocks, and I'm working on a third pair, with Drops Fabel yarn that looks like fancy Fairisle. 

I'm making progress with my 2015 blanket, I've finished seven rows now, and I love it so much! I finished my granny square blanket, and it's currently on my sofa being adored by my kitties. At the beginning of the month I started a new stash-buster blanket, I'm not using a pattern, just making it up as I go along, and it's coming along rather nicely. 

It's been a lovely month of makings!

My Week...

The past week has been one of time spent at home - Enjoying our garden, chatting to our hens and our little bunny Clarence, sitting out in the sunshine knitting. We have baked, and tended our little patch, and taken things slowly. 

I went for a little drive to visit my parents, where there was more time spent in the garden and knitting, going for long walks with their little companion - a small terrier called Jock. He's rather cute and very excitable. It has been a splendid week, and although it looks like a change in the weather is upon us, I have made the effort to enjoy the glorious sunshine. 

My Week...

As weeks go, this one has been pretty special, full of my favourite things - exploring and adventures, and cosy times at home with my cats and my garden and some knitting. 

The fresh Spring weather has blown away the winter cobwebs, and the opportunity to wander aimlessly in the sunshine has been so welcome. I have so enjoyed watching the hard work we've put into the garden start to pay off, and seeing little birds foraging for bits and bobs for their nest is a joy - They work so tirelessly, with tufts of fluff and twigs to make their little homes cosy. 

As always, I've tried to make time for some craftiness, and have finished two pairs of socks that have been on the needles for some time. It's been a good week. 

My Week...

What a week it has been. There have been so many adventures and happy days. We started the week with a visit to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour, and of all of our adventures it remains one of my favourite places. The highlight was seeing the Hogwarts Express, it was splendid. We ended our trip in London, mooching around Covent Garden and Soho in the rain, and it was like coming home. 

There have been visits to Shrewsbury, for shopping  and more mooching (and a delicious Vegan breakfast at Optimum Joy, a new favourite place!) and a trip to Chester with my lovely mum and dad for even more shopping and lots more mooching, and I've even managed some knitting time - a pair of chunky socks. 

Happy Easter lovely folks. 

My Month in Makes...February

It took me by surprise to find that suddenly it was time to turn the page of the calender and welcome in March. February's makes were seasonally appropriate - scarves, socks and blankets, lots of cosiness. 

In February I finished one pair of socks, and two bow scarves, and I'm still working on my granny square blanket and need to make a second sock to finish two pairs. My 2015 blanket has passed the sixty-square point now and it's ever so pretty. 

The pattern I used for the bow scarf is over here and my trusty sock pattern is here.

My Week...

There were so many adventures and fun things last week that I barely know where to begin. We went to the Theatre, and the Seaside, to new favourite cafes and old favourite cafes, to a museum that we'd never been to before, visited three towns in one day, and did quite a lot of charity shop mooching. 

I managed to squeeze in some craftiness - I finished a pair of socks (they'd been on the needles for ages and I'm rather pleased to have them finished), added a row to my 2015 blanket, made another bow scarf and fancified the one from last week. My best crafty moment of the week however, was not my own - happiness of happiness, my mum finished her first ever sock! It's utterly glorious and I hope I have started her on her way to  a sock addiction to match my own. 

My Week...

Last week was a thoroughly crafty week. My mum is making splendid progress with her first ever hand-knitted sock and I'm enjoying helping her, and working on socks of my own at the same time. My granny square blanket is growing, and rather cosy, and I had a bit of time to try out a vintage bow-scarf pattern, I love it so much that I'm planning to make more in other colours. 

I am also very pleased to see that my succulent plant is still growing away happily, and that I haven't managed to kill it yet. It's a huge achievement for me and my "underwatering-then-overwatering-to-compensate" ways. It's progress.

My Week...

Last week was one filled to the brim with adventures and crafty making! I visited Liverpool for the Tate and shopping, went to the theatre for date night, bought a vintage embroidered cushion from a lovely trader in the market, had cake with a dear friend, and got very excited at the arrival of Harry Potter tour tickets. I've been working hard on my granny square blanket, and finished the second full row of my year-long blanket, and tried to make progress with the three (!) pairs of socks that are on the needles. 

My Week...

A little bit late, but this was what last week looked like. It was full of small things, quiet moments. The winter-blues have done lots of coming and going, so I've been crafting my way through them. My proudest moment of the week was finally finishing my chevron blanket, which has been a Work-In-Progress threatening to be an Unfinished-Project for a jolly long time. But now it is done, and cosy on my sofa, with a selection of vintage florals and crochet cushions. It is a pretty happy feeling. 

My window-sill garden has been added to, there are new socks on the go, and there's been some new jewellery in the making. It's been a productive sort of week really. 

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

The days are passing so quickly and it's suddenly December. I am finally allowing myself to feel festive, and this week has been about buying gifts, spending time with family and being cosy. There has been plenty of crafting - my latest pair of Frankensocks is cast off and all of the pesky ends woven in, and my mood blanket reached the sixty-square milestone.

There are lots of lovely things happening over the next few weeks as we get ready for Christmas, and although I am ever so busy in my little shop I will be making efforts to enjoy festive jumpers and lots of chocolate and good cheer. 

My Week

As always I have found the week has passed me by in a whirlwind of adventures, beginning on Sunday with a trip up into the pretty Welsh hills to Ruthin Craft Centre for the beautiful Julie Arkell "Away" exhibition. I have loved her work since the first time I encountered it, feeling drawn in by her very unique style of nostalgia and sentimentality, and her unashamed thriftiness, keeping every little odd-and-end and finding a place for it somewhere. 

My second big adventure of the week was taking the train to Chester with one of my dearest dears for her Birthday shenanigans. There was sock knitting on the train, vintage shopping, dress buying (Cath Kidston sale dress, it would have been rude not to...) much, much tea drinking and cherry scones that were so large that we were somewhat shocked. The other highlights of the week have been flowers from husband "to make our place nice", kittens discovered in a pile, crochet procrastination and postal My Little Pony loveliness from another of my dearies with a sweet Blythe doll postcard. I am truly so very lucky to have so many sweet dearies in my life. 

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 mostly been about hibernation and hiding from gales and stormy weather. We ventured out to Wolverhampton on Sunday for an evening of entertainment in the shape of Mr Robert Newman, who is always a delight. Other than that little trip to the outside world the week has been spent mostly at home and there has been an abundance of tea and craftiness - I made a string of bunting with vintage embroidered doilies, as well as my daily granny squares (the first 18 are done and joined!) and the start of a brand new pair of Frankensocks. I also gave a little bit of love to my latest fabulous thrifty-find - a pretty polka-dot Cath Kidston bag, which needed a jolly good wash and a wee bit of stitching before it had it's first outing! 

I am pleased (and admittedly a little bit shocked) to see that my dear little Windowsill Garden has produced more pretty flowers, some delicate and utterly delightful pink Delphiniums. Although I am sure to be tempting fate to say it, it would appear that I may have finally  broken my run of terrible plant-growing luck. I am also successfully growing succulents, after a bit of very helpful advice from my favourite gardening enthusiast. 

After a splendidly busy day in my little stall, the week was rounded off nicely this afternoon with tea and a generous slice of Cherry Bakewell at one of my favourite establishments, Fine&Dandy, with my lovely husband and dear friends.