Random thoughts of a would-be knitter

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Buttons, buttons, buttons

Buttons Galore!
I've had a really lovely and busy couple of weeks preparing my wares for the annual Walker Creatives Christmas Craft Fair. So far, I have twenty four bracelets, twelve pairs of earrings and eight rings ready to go and in just about every colour of the rainbow. I'm feeling quite nicely ahead of the game, although I do have a few little gift bags to make up.

I've temporarily suspended my Folksy site, As Cute As Buttons so that I've got as much to sell at the fair as possible and then I'll have a really good photoshoot next weekend and  re-list everything ready for a little bit of Christmas custom. As always, if there's something you'd like made up specifically, do let me know and I'll do whatever I can to help.

I have started my own Christmas shopping already, which is frankly staggering, considering I normally leave for a madcap dash along Oxford Street on Christmas Eve! My sister and I visited the Bath Spa Christmas Market yesterday and I picked up some really lovely things as well as being quite inspired with some of the goodies on offer. Next weekend, I'm meeting a friend for lunch so I'll be able to visit the Winchester Cathedral Christmas Market too. I'm so lucky living the in South West - there are so many beautiful places to visit and really nice things to do. Salisbury even has its very own ice rink in The Maltings, so I'm really looking forward to giving that a go!

On the needles, I am still busy and in addition to my afghan blanket I have have two secret surprises on the go; one for Christmas and one for just after. I shan't tell you any more than that, but will post pictures when I don't need to be such a secret squirrel!

And just before I head off to finish making my gift bags, here's an early Christmas present that I have given myself! These smashing letters were from Urban Outfitters of all places and I LOVE them!


Saturday, November 13, 2010

A Little Piece of the Quiet Life

There's something particularly beautiful about the British seaside in winter that can't be matched even on the sunniest of days. D and I are just back from having spent a wonderful relaxing week in St Ives, staying  in a simply stunning flat right on the heart of town on The Digey. It was a week of only good things: fireworks, chips, long lie-ins, strolls along the beach, lots of photography, reading, pasties, plenty of knitting (of which, more anon), reading great books, the odd pint of cloudy cider and even finishing the Guardian cryptic crossword for the first time ever!

The sea is incredible at any moment of the day and taking a stroll whenever we wanted was a pleasure. There were moments when it was quite wild walking along the harbour wall and the beaches of St Ives, (especially on Thursday morning when it felt as if Force 10 gales were raging!) but there was respite to be taken in any one of the many charming pubs along the harbour. And a few pints were gently nursed while we puzzled over the crossword, staring out at the waves.

The flat itself was gorgeous, with slate flooring, clean white walls and original artwork everywhere. Looking out of the window to the left we could see the wild and wonderful Porthmeor beach and through the window on the right we could see the boats coming in and out of St Ives harbour. Amazing! Everything was exactly as we would have hoped and we felt right at home from the very first moment we stepped through the door. The Digey is in a wonderful location just off Fore Street, with its very own chocolate shop, Chocolat and delicatessen, The Digey Food Room. There was a really homely bakery at the bottom of the street and a very handy paper shop at the bottom of Fore Street, just on the harbour front. Just about everything you could possibly need for a relaxing week in a home away from home.

St Ives is not only beautiful and perfectly placed, but super-cultured too! We visited the Peter Lanyon exhibition at Tate St Ives, and had a lovely lunch in their cafe. (In the exhibition space I managed to get myself told off for taking a photograph out of the window - oops! But I couldn't resist, it looked so tempting...)

Without a doubt the cultural highlight for me was a visit to the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. To see where such a talented artist lived and worked and to be in that space was humbling. Being out of season I had the place almost to myself and I could have stayed for hours and hours, just taking it all in. I took some photographs in the garden and of her studio, but they in no way convey the true beauty of the place.  If you are visiting Cornwall, please visit. Inspiring and beautiful.





Barbara Hepworth's Studio

Here's my own attempt at art - a snapshot of the sunrise from our window.



On the needles, I've had an incredibly productive couple of weeks. The weekend before we went away, I treated myself to a ball of Rowan Cocoon to make up Ysolda's Icing Swirl Hat which I'd picked up the pattern for at Knit Nation in the summer. It was really rewarding to start and finish something just in a couple of days, I just wish I had a balloon to block it on, so that I can wear it!

I took quite a bit of work in progress away with me and so Cheadle is also coming on apace and all of it is now knit apart from the collar and cuffs. The central plaited panels and picking up for the top half didn't prove too difficult, but the thought of sewing the bottom section onto the plait is a little bit daunting, so I'm putting it off just a teensy little bit!

A bit of a mixed project is the blanket that I've been making for my study for - oh, only about the last three years! It started off as a bunch of squares, each in a different stitch, but I got bored and no two squares were even remotely the same size. Then it turned into a really rather lovely Moderne Log Cabin pattern from Mason Dixon Knitting's Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne, but it became unwieldy and sat gathering dust upstairs. Well, as they say, third time's a charm and I'm now on my sixth square of Diamond Afghan from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern Knits. And I'm loving it! It should be in aran, so I think it'll probably take about 60 squares altogether, but I'm off to a pretty happy start...

St Ives is served by not one, but two yarn stores, Kuiama Crafts on Fore Street and the really rather lovely House of Bartlett where the proprieter hit exactly the right spot when she asked if I needed any help, or if I was happy just to stroke the wool!

I'm also loving The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket. It's great just to dip in and out of whilst enjoying a bowl of porridge and a cup of tea in bed on a Saturday morning and I'm quite sure that it's going to inspire me to get some Christmas gifts started for friends and family. (Only six weeks to go - eek!)

In Cornwall, apart from the papers, I read only fiction: The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey, The Road Home by Rose Tremain, The Cat Sanctuary by Patrick Gale and Life of Pi by Yann Martell. All great reads and perfect for a week away.