I ♥ Buttons

Here's a photo of my button box:


I've got a bit button-crazy over the last few weeks. We're holding a Christmas Craft Fair at work on the 2nd of December, so I've been beavering away at making some button bracelets to sell. I can make a couple of bracelets on each train journey into work and so far people really seem to like them, so here's hoping that I'll sell a few on the day...


It's been great fun going through my button box and sorting them all out into colours that compliment each other:

On the knitting front, the Walker Knitting Club have finished the baby blanket for Fi's baby. She came in this week and we presented it to her. She was absolutely delighted, which was just brilliant! I'd spent most of last weekend sewing all of the different pieces together (which was quite challenging as they were all in very different tensions!) and adding a cream border to bring it all together and finish it off properly. I'm afraid that I didn't manage to take a photograph of it, but here's very poor quality photo from my phone that gives you an idea of what it looked like!
(Back row from from left to right: Sarah, Cheryl, Jenny, Gemma
Front row: Me, Fiona, Angela, Stephanie
Missing from the photo: Judy, Caroline and Jenny J)

New York, New York

And what an amazing city it is!

From the taxi journey in from JFK to the top of the Rockerfeller Centre, David and I had amazing few days in New York. There is something quite wonderful about seeing the New York skyline for the first time. It's really breathtaking, and yet at the same time there's something incrediblt familiar about it. I managed to keep our destination a secret right up to check-in (which quite frankly amazed me) and I'd give anything to see the expression on David's face all over again!

Our hotel, The Gershwin Hotel was brilliantly located in midtown, two blocks up from the Flat Iron building and just a short walk from Greenwich village, where we ate most nights in some really wonderful restaurants.

We crammed a lot into our four days in the city, visting Central Park, the Guggenheim, Battery Park, Greenwich Village, Macy's and Bloomingdale's. We saw Times Square, travelled on the Staten Island Ferry, went ice skating in Bryant Park, watched a Little League game and took the lift all the way to the 'Top of the Rock'.

Top moments for me were, the ice skating, listening to Bach's Mass in B Minor at St Paul's Chapel (near Wall Street), seeing raccoons in Central Park, eating pizza by the slice and drinking the most fabulously extravagant Apple Martini in Tavern on the Green in Central Park.

Here are a couple more pictures; one of me in Times Square, the iconic telescopes that are on top of the highest buildings and a long exposure shot of the ice skating, with the Empire State Building in all her glory in the background...

Gone to the Dogs!

Well, what a lovely weekend! I’ve been staying at my sister’s house in the middle of nowhere looking after her two fabulous lurchers; Max and Tiggy. We went for four walks (two long and two short) and had a number of adventures including catching a rabbit (bleurgh!) and a scientific experiment to see if you really can get two human adults, two very large dogs and a small but fluffy cat into a standard double bed. (And the answer is yes, but it gets a bit cosy!) Unfortunately, I was far too busy with the dogs to make anything with my buttons, which have arrived already.

On the knitting front, I have started off quite a large project at work. My dear friend (and fellow founder member of the Walker Book Knitting Club) Feefer is due to have a baby just before Christmas and I’ve adapted this log cabin blanket pattern so that everyone can knit their own piece then I can sew them together and knit a border to finish it off. So far I’ve got three pieces in, so nine more are due. We’re keeping it a surprise and I can’t wait to see the look on her face when we present her with the finished article!
Speaking of surprises, David’s birthday trip is this weekend. I’ve managed to keep where we’re going a secret since May, but just keeping the destination under my hat for this last week is proving most challenging!

It's Been a While...

Autumn is really setting in now, and I'm slowly getting used to the change in season. It's hard leaving the house in the dark and getting home in the dark, but I'm sure that once it's properly dark and I'm used to it, I'll be back to my normal cheerful self...

I have been out and about since my last post; picnicing with my old Ottakar's friends, visting Claire, Nig and Oliver in Devon, back to Stourhead with Martin and his new wife Melanie, and down to Christchurch to meet up with my parents for dinner in their campervan.

I've also been a bit crafty; making my first Christmas present for this year, continuing with Flicca, starting a new project called Glister and trying to organise a special baby blanket for Fi at work, that will have a square knit by ever member of the knitting club at work! The Social Committee at work are organising a Christmas Craft Fair, so I've ordered lots and lots of buttons from The Button Company to make some bracelets to sell for Christmas presents.

Today I've been making a birthday present for my sister Amanda. Here are some pictures of how it looks:

Back to School

Well, September really is here, which means that I really need to get a move on with my Flicca cardigan. The scale of Flicca is ambitious and I've been making progress, but to date, I still have one sleeve and the collar to do and I really, really want to start wearing it as soon as it gets cold.

David and I went to Stourhead for the first time in a while yesterday, where we saw these beautiful hydrangeas. We had a lovely walk around the lake and saw five cygnets and our first autumnal leafdrop. Stourhead is one of may favourite places to go and I can't wait to see the place in all it's autumnal beauty.

I do love autumn. I love going for walks in the afternoon. I love it when it's cold, but the sun is shining. I love the colours out there in the world. And I love being safe and warm at home on those cold dark evenings.

A Pair of Odessas!

...and on the knitting front, I've been none too lazy either. I started an Odessa by Grumperina in a lovely grey alpaca bought from my favourite wool shop, I Knit London last weekend and managed to finish it in a couple of days. It's proven so popular I've already made a second for my friend Helen, who is celebrating her birthday next week. It's such a great pattern- really easy, great fun to knit and incredibly satisfying in the speed it knits up. I also love how impressive the finished object looks, and how nice it is to wear.

I shall have to get a move on with my Flicca now and try not to get distracted by any more projects, especially if I want to have it ready to wear before it starts getting cold. Brrrrr!

Beautiful Cambridge

Last weekend was a busy weekend, firstly at a fabulous party entitled Shrewfest hosted by my dear friends Piney and Jez in their new(ish) house in Shrewton, then on Monday David and I went to beautiful Cambridge. Most of the day was spent just wandering through the alleys and strolling along the river, we even had the treat of being punted along from Magdalene College down to Queens. In the evening we dined at The Cambridge Chop House, where we had one of the most wonderful dinners I think I've ever eaten!



I was so taken with Cambridge that I took nearly fifty photographs- here's just a couple of my favourites...




David and I are off to Parklife right now (a party in a park very close to where we live) but hopefully I'll manage another update on my knitting progress over the last couple of weeks.