A Stitch in Time

The last three weeks have been pretty hectic, both at home and at work. We've had guests to stay, had a wonderful bit of decorating done (thank you RJ for our beautiful new staircase), and been out and about a fair bit too. I feel like I haven't had much time for knitting and stitching so this weekend has been a very welcome craft-fest!

The weekend kicked off on a high note when the door knocker heralded the post man who was carrying a divine parcel of happiness from the fabulous folk at Fabric Rehab. The photo on the left shows the material which I'm hoping will turn into a Beach Hut pattern quilt from Jane Brocket's Gentle Art of Quilt-Making. I bought a super-duper quilt ruler on Saturday morning (and the most gorgeous muffin cases ever seen - thank you Dinghams!) and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in, cutting out a trillion 2" x 8" strips! 

In the meantime, my first patchwork project is coming along quite nicely. I've machine-stitched all of the pieces into strips and pressed them all nicely, so I just need to sew the strips together, buy some wadding and backing fabric and put it all together. I think that the part I'm most looking forward to is the actual quilting part - hand stitching each of the squares through all of the various layers. I'll report back when it's progressed a little further. 

On the needles, the navy aran from my mum is now in its third incarnation! It started off as an asymmetric cardigan, then it was going to be a capelet, but now I'm rather hoping it will be comfortable as a Danica. Fingers crossed that third time will be a charm. (Didn't I say something like that about the my afghan blanket? Hope I'm not spotting a pattern...)

I've not fallen out of love with Instagram yet and have been snapping away at every opportunity! Here are some edited highlights from February:

 

I've read a couple of pretty good, albeit completely different, books in the last couple of weeks, Trespass by Rose Tremain and The Radleys by Matt Haig. I've just started Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor which has a slightly odd start, but I have high hopes that it'll be every bit as good as If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things and So Many Ways to Begin. I've also watched a couple of movies, The Social Network, which was really good and surprisingly moving and Black Swan which I enjoyed less, but mostly because I was expecting something beautiful and art-house not the horror movie it really is. (The costumes and the dancing were incredible, though!) To end this post on a hight point, I heartily recommend the new album, 21 by Adele. I've had it pretty much on repeat since I bought it - hope you'll like it too.

Keeping Busy

I've had a pretty busy month, so sorry for the lack of posts. Knitting has taken up a fair amount of my free time, especially as my dear friend Jenny is getting ready to have a baby (the bump is affectionately known as Bobbin) and I've been crafting away to make something ready for when she arrives. The knitters from work joined together to make this really lovely blanket for her. The pattern is from Stephany Lein's YARRRRN! blog and Jenny E, Suzie, Claire, Maya, Chiara, Alyssa and Gemma all chipped in to make an incredibly personal gift for Bobbin. Jenny E, Gemma and I had great fun choosing particularly Jenny-esque colours. Wool was handed out just before Christmas and the knitting started in earnest. Squares started coming in a couple of weeks ago and with a bit of patience, a lot of needlework, a long, long chain of double crochet and the magic of blocking, a baby blanket was born.

Bobbin is going to be a very well dressed little girl as she already has a beautiful nautical jumper and gorgeous baby jeans knitted by her mum, a stunning pinafore dress knitted by Jenny E and a little red asymmetrical cardigan from me! I think that the dress, the jumper and the cardigan will form Bobbin's going home outfit. She'll be the best-dressed baby that day, and pretty toasty too! I can't wait to see the photos and I can't wait to meet her even more! We gave her a pretty good send off from work last week and I'll really miss her over the coming months. Big hugs go out to Jenny and good luck for the big day.

My Kaffe Fassett Patchwork book that Mum and Dad bought me for Christmas finally arrived and I have at last been able to start on my first quilting project. I'm using the fat quarters that I received and a pair of jeans that David has kindly donated to craft to make a quilted cushion cover. It's early days yet, but I'm rather looking forward to having something to show you as the project to share...

Off the needles, I've had a trip up to Scotland to stay with Angie, Robin and Joe and we had a wonderful time. Angie and I even managed a girls' night out at the movies to see The King's English at Dundee Contemporary Arts. I had just discovered the Instagram app for the iPhone so spent a fair amount of time snapping away and posting my pics!

Edinburgh Castle in the Dusk

Woodpile at the Pillars of Hercules

Flowers in the Guest Room

Up In the Clouds

I've been reading some absolutely cracking books this month, including You Against Me by Jenny Downham, Mrs Miniver by Jan Struthers, Life: an Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. 


My favourite book by a very long way, however, has been Being Billy by Phil Earle. Being Billy is an incredible book. It is a work of honesty and sensitivity. Rarely have I cared quite so much about a protagonist as he struggles to come to terms with the life that he must lead. Being Billy has integrity, it is moving and heartfelt and above all, it's a brilliant read. I was lucky enough to be invited to Phil's book launch at Waterstone's Piccadilly in January and it was wonderful to help him celebrate and catch up with so very many old friends. Phil's working on his next book; please do visit his website for more news, reviews and more.

This year, I resolve to ...

What with one thing and another it's been a bit of a slow start to the new year, and after a rather nasty bout of illness, I am now engaging with the world at large again!

December was incredibly busy, both at work and at home (sorry for the lack of posts) so the break over Christmas with D, family and friends was very much appreciated. It's been really lovely just relaxing, taking it easy and doing only nice things! And I know that it's not everybody's cup of tea, but the snow really was very special. When the snow in Salisbury was at it's deepest, the light took on a magical quality and I rushed out with my Olympus to take some pictures. I could post more here, but I've a feeling this post is going to be quite photo-heavy so I'll restrict myself just to this one of the Art Centre looking magnificent in the white,

I'm rather hoping that 2011 will be the year that I finally learn to quilt. My parents have very kindly ordered me a quilting book and they gave me some templates and some templates and some really lovely fat quarters. (Isn't that just the best name ever?!)
I'm going to start with a very simple diamond patterned cushion cover, maybe with a denim backing and border, sewn on the machine with had stitched quilting. Or at least that's the plan and as soon as the book that my folks have ordered I'm going to get stuck straight in.

On the needles, I've had a really good month. A Christmas present Baird for my sister, a lovely little asymmetric cardigan for Jenny's bump, and a cracking Capucine bobble hat for Shona's birthday.  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed making a pompom, I totally regressed to being a kid, which must've been the last time I made a bobble! The study blanket is coming on brilliantly. I've now got ten and a half squares, so probably only another forty-nine and a half to go! I think that my next big project will be a little cardigan and I'm thinking about using my Rowan Kidsilk Haze to knit up Melissa Wehrle's Grannie Smith Cardigan. It'll be lovely to finally make something successful out of it!

I haven't done a huge amount of baking, but I did come across this ingenious idea for Christmas presents for everyone at work. It's a really fun gift to give and everyone loved them. Here's a link to the chocablog website for the particular recipe I used.

I have been out and about a fair bit though, with trips to Mottisfont, Bath Christmas Market (twice) and ice-skating at the London Eye with my dear sister, which was just about the most fun ever. Here I am messing around on the ice - in the snow!

Right now, I'm relaxing on the sofa with a mug of fruity tea, my knitting one one side of me and the cat on the other, watching a showing of the Royal Ballet performing Swan Lake at Covent Garden, and it's really rather beautiful.

I'm going to leave you with a few of my favourite pictures from New Year's Day in Bournemouth with some lofty aims for the year ahead!

Look after myself

Be as good a person as I possibly can be

Be creative

See the beauty in everything

"Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts." Charles Dickens 

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!

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. 

Getting Craftier

Cheadle and Buttons

It may only be the end of October but my thoughts are already turning to Christmas! At work, I am organising a charity craft fair with the incredibly talented and stylish Juliet, for everyone to sell their homemade goodies, whilst raising a little bit of extra money for the National Literacy Trust. I'll be selling button jewellery as I did last year, which means that for the next four weekends I'll be creating, threading and glueing a new collection. This is the first batch and I'm really liking them so far. To see more of Juliet's work, check out her Jules and Clem shop on Folksy - it's gorgeous!

Pale and Pretty Buttons Bracelets

Bubby for Acorn

I've also been doing quite a lot of knitting and even some crochet. I've picked up Cheadle again and have finally managed to finish the plaited centre panels. (If you look really carefully, you can see a bit of them in the background of the photo at the top of this post.) I'm a little bit nervous about picking up an even amount of stitches above the central panels, but I am so determined to wear it this winter that I really am going to go for it. D and I are heading down to Cornwall in a couple of weeks' time, so I shall take it with me so that we can have a little bit of quiet time together - wish me luck! I've also made a second Noe Noa scarf, this time for my sister's birthday. I'd sort of forgotten how to crochet so the first couple of rows weren't quite perfect but before too long, I got right into the swing of it, although as the birthday approached I still found myself hooking right up to the wire! I completely forgot to take any photos, so Amanda very kindly got two of her dogs to model it – here are the results!

Tiggy Looking Lovely

Not so much a model as a prop.



"Look at me, look at me!"



Proper Posh

In other, very exciting news, D has graduated from Henley Business School with a very well-earned MBA! Last Friday we checked into the very-fancy-indeed Hotel du Vin for a couple of nights' of utter luxury. And as wonderful as the hotel was, the ceremony was even more amazing! I felt so proud to see him walk boldly across the stage, shake hands with the vice-chancellor and collect his certificate. We were joined for the day by D's twin and celebrated afterwards with champagne in the bar. Heaven. If you've never been to Henley-on-Thames, I can assure you that it is well worth a visit. It is such an idyllic location on the river with lovely pubs, bars and restaurants. (And the poshest loo in the world...)

Last but not least, I continue with the books and the baking. I've just taken a lovely tray of flapjacks out of the over ready for a picnic in London town tomorrow with my mum, dad and sister. Right now, I'm trying very hard to resist the urge to scoff the lot. The recipe is one of the easiest you could imagine. Melt 150g of butter in a medium sized pan with four tablespoons of golden syrup and 50g of brown sugar. When it's all mixed up add in 275g of porride oats and pour into a buttered and lined brownie tin. Bake at 190 degrees for 20 minutes (or until it looks yummy), leave for ten minutes to cool, cut up into snack sized squares then wolf down with a nice cup of tea.

Flapjacks - Yummy!

Last but not least, I've read quite a few books since my last post that I would heartily recommend: The Glass Room by Simon Mawer, The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas, No and Me by Delphine de Vigan and The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan.

Keeping it Cozy

Mellow in Autumn

 Autumn is well and truly here, and what a beautiful season it is. D and I took advantage of our location a few weeks ago and went for a long, lovely stroll through the New Forest. The sun was shining and the light through the trees was amazing. Wherever we walked there were fallen leaves and the most amazing mushrooms. D was incredibly patient as I stopped every few paces to capture yet another fine specimen on my new camera. We saw literally hundreds, in all shapes and sizes; in circles and rings; on trees and in hollows - they were everywhere!

We also made friends with quite a few of the gorgeous New Forest ponies, that roam through the woods and on the common land, but the best thing we saw was the Landford Village Autumnfest. I'm not sure that I have ever seen anything quite so bizarre as their scarecrow competition! Outside every other house in the village was a homemade scarecrow, some modelled on famous people; the Pope, the X-Factor judges, Wayne Rooney, some based on fantasy characters; all manner of fairies, the cast of The Wizard of Oz, Shrek, Borat(!) and some ordinary people; the cellarmen outside the Landford Poacher and the couple getting married outside the old chapel. It was brilliant - click on the link to see the overall winners.

The Finished Mittens 

On the needles, I have now finished my winter mittens, and just in time too! Already, I have to leave for work in the dark, and that extra little bit of warmth will make all the difference as the days get colder. I've also made a little something fro Emily from the Poultry Cross Knitters who will soon be giving birth to her little acorn! I'm also embarking on another Noa Noe scarf for my sister and I am determined to finish Cheadle before cables go back out of fashion! It has been lovely seeing in all the glossy magazines just how much knitting has been shown on the catwalks of the various fashion weeks around the world - here's hoping that more people get knitted and join one of the most gentle crafts going. Mittens crossed!

Messing about with my iPhone!

I'm still completely smitten with my iPhone and happy downloading apps left, right and centre! My favourites so far include Hipstamatic, the Man Booker Prize app, Nike+ GPS for tracking my running and the LSE Mappiness social experiment app. Hours of fun, and my life is way more organised too!

Beautiful Oddness

Something else that I have enjoyed, almost beyond measure was The Enchanted Palace exhibition at Kensington Palace. I visited this weekend with my sister and it was quite possibly the best exhibition that I have ever been to.  It was everything that I would imagine for a dark, beautiful, fairy tale brought to life in an enchanting setting. It contains dreamlike installations, fashion beyond compare, from the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Stephen Jones and William Tempest, a bewitching quest to uncover the stories of seven real-life princesses and contemporary art and poetry from some of the most talented modern artists. It's on until the 28th of February next year - if you can get to London, I urge you to go. Check out this blog of one of the characters Peter the Wild Boy.

One last thing - I have discovered a new passion - the joy of muffins! If only I had known years ago how easy it is to bake these lovely little beauties...  So far, I have tried raspberry and white chocolate, banana and mile chocolate buttons and double-chocolate chip. I shall soon be as big as a house - but very, very popular!

Yummy!