My Week...

This week has been full of jolly adventures. We spent Sunday at a vintage fair, with rides on the Merry-Go-Round (my pony was called Tulip) and mermaid spotting, wandering around the shiny vintage cars and mooching around stalls full of curious things. We had a picnic and rubbed the noses of Shire Horses and chatted with a lovely lady spinning beautiful yarn. It was a splendid day. 

The other highlights of the week were pretty spotty cake (thanks to my lovely mother-in-law, it was delicious!), knitting a tiny gnome, making many, many badges for a fair I went along to, and cuddling up to a certain Norman who sneaked his fluffy way into bed to read some Harry Potter with me. The fair was lovely, there were lots of other stalls with pretty things, and lots of tasty vegetarian and vegan food which we've enjoyed all weekend, and there were owls. They were the best.

My Month in Makes - August

I seem to have re-located my making-inspiration this month, and have been ever-so busy with lots of different things. I've made a few new pieces of jewellery, as well as working on a couple of designs that aren't quite ready to go out into the world just yet. I also acquired a new toy that I had been coveting for some time - a badge maker. I am utterly smitten and have been making lots of tiny badges. 

My crochet blankets are coming along well - I am working on my fifth large square for my cosy big-square blanket, and I'm up to row fifteen of my 2015 blanket, although I'm falling behind a smidge with my joining. 

I've been making teeny three-round granny squares and pompoms which are for something new - I will be getting the keys to my very own studio soon! So it will need prettifying with yarny goodness. It's a little bit scary (terrifying) but very exciting too. I'm going to be painting the place soon, looking forward to moving in. 

Readings... August

I think I have read one of my stand-out books of 2015 this month - I absolutely loved "The Bees". It was so different to anything that I've read before, it stayed in my mind for days after I had finished it, as did "Station Eleven" but for different reasons. "Station Eleven" was unsettling, not my usual type of book at all, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I really did enjoy all of my books this month, but any month with Harry Potter in it will be a good one.  

My August books...

• John Boyne - Noah Barleywater Runs Away
•  Emily St John Mandel - Station Eleven 
• Laline Paull - The Bees
• JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 

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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. 

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is one of those places that I'd always wanted to visit but never quite got around to, so we made a plan and picked a day and off we went on our adventures. It was the most wonderful place, and I already want to go again. 

Some of the huge sculptures in the grounds
Henry Moore - Large Reclining Figure
Nikki de Saint Phalle - Buddha
Nigel Hall 
Sophie Ryder - Sitting

The Camellia House was one of my highlights, it was so beautiful, I could have lived there. There's just something about the strangeness of huge trees and bushes being inside, and the light and all of the glass. It was heavenly.

The Wave sculpture is being installed at the moment, after missing it at the Tower I was so pleased to see it. It's stunning. 

 The Shell Grotto

The Boat House, the lake and the Dam.

And my absolute favourite part of our visit - the Rob Ryan exhibition. It was just the best thing to see so much of his beautiful work in one place. 

Taking Stock...August

Making : Pretty jewellery and bead bracelets and cosy blankets and tiny cross-stitch samples and little badges!
Cooking : well, chopping, lovely veggies.
Drinking : decaf tea, in an attempt to cut-down on the caffeine...
Reading: just finished "The Bees" and about to start "The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul"
Wanting: to share big news but not quite ready yet...
Looking: at my pretty new nails - mint green and pink with a little splash of glitter
Playing: with my new badge maker
Deciding: big things
Wishing: I had a crystal ball so I could just double check that things will be ok
Enjoying: rainy afternoons with movies and crochet
Waiting: for big things to start
Liking: feeling inspired
Wondering: if the summer is over...
Loving: making new things
Pondering: things to come
Considering: new converse Sneakers
Buying: lots of books and some pretty new clothes
Watching: Adventure Time
Hoping: things will be better
Marvelling: at mountains of Big Knit hats
Cringing: at the funny things people do sometimes
Needing: pretty things
Questioning: lots and lots of things over and over...
Smelling: rain
Wearing: some of my new jewellery, just trying it out of course...
Following: lots of lovely people on instagram
Noticing: the change in the air
Knowing: that Daniel Radcliffe will always be Harry Potter in my head (watching "What If")
Thinking: that I'm so glad that we have lots of summer fruits in the freezer
Admiring: studios and workspaces of all kinds of talented folks
Sorting: out stuff in my stall, time for a clear out!
Getting: ideas out of my head and into my sketchbook
Bookmarking: pretty and inspiring things
Coveting: fairy lights and bunting and random stuff that I don't really need
Disliking: the brand new bump on my head
Opening: my new notebook
Giggling: at silly tv programmes 
Feeling: excited and a little bit nervous
Snacking: on dried apricots, they are so ridiculously good
Hearing: the birthday party playlist that my husband made for me

Thanks to lovely Pip as always for her super-inspiring list!

My Week

After the many and various shenanigans of the last two weeks, this week has been one for time at home. There has been the mass-pompom-production that comes with this particular time of year - I spent time sat in the garden with my family whilst making them, and binge-watching tv shows whilst making them, and dreaming about making them. We are edging ever closer to our target of five thousand tiny hats, we are just shy of three thousand at the moment with almost two months still to go, I am pretty proud of how we're doing, and hope it makes a difference to lots of people. 

The quiet-time at home has given me an opportunity to see all of the little creatures enjoying our garden, we've had beautiful butterflies and busy little bees. I hope they like the flowers we've chosen for them. Inspired by the summery florals, (and because the weather is disappointingly wintry) I have been making little tiny cross-stitch samples, using the lovely Cath Kidston "Stitch" book as my starting point. I made a tiny frame brooch that I'm sure I will thoroughly enjoy wearing. There are big changes happening in my little world at the moment, and the hope for the future has given me some inspiration to get making. I am trying to grab it with both hands.