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.

Knitting in Public

I've had a lovely knit-filled weekend; starting one project and finishing another. Leah's jumper is all finished, and I'm just waiting for it to dry so that I can wrap it up as a brown paper parcel and send it winging it's way to Fi and Paul's.



This afternoon has been spent with a picnic in the Close of Salisbury Cathedral, where I got stuck into Odessa by Grumperina. It was really nice to be able to sit out and David took the opportunity to get some study in for his dissertation, in what may well be the last of the summer sun...


On the book front, I've just started A Man of Property the first book in the epic The Forsyte Saga series, by John Galsworthy. Set in Victorian London, these books are intelligent, witty, lavish and simply wonderful. I'm really looking forward to reading every last word in the series!

A Week of Rain

It seems to have rained pretty much non-stop since we put in out our little seating area last weekend. David and I have managed only half an hour outside today, which is a shame (especially for August!) but hopefully we'll be able to make up for it next weekend. By which time, I should also have finished little Leah's baby jumper.

On the up side, I've read a lovely book this week by Justine Picardie called My Mother's Wedding Dress. It's a collection of essays on life, family and social history; all told through the story of clothes and fashion. I'm not usually a great reader of non-fiction, but this was a pleasure to read!

Other treats this week have been lunch with my sister, who gave me a rather delightful metallic pink bag called Amore from my favourite bag company, Ollie & Nic.

I've also stayed with my dear friend Shona in her new house in North London. We had a very girly night in, putting the world to rights with some pink fizz and a movie! The next day we went out to the local Aquadrome to walk Tali, the weimararner, before heading back to some warming tomato and mascarpone soup with cheesey herby scones. Yum!

A Lovely Long Weekend

I’ve had such a lovely long weekend of it that I’ve not really had time to post here, so here’s a quick update of what I’ve been up to.

My weekend started early, with Mum and Dad meeting me on Thursday night to stay for the weekend. It was great to see them and they were wonderful in helping me start to get to grips with my very overgrown garden! After no small amount of digging, twenty sandstone slabs, nineteen bags of garden refuse, eight bags of pebbles and some very odd sunburn, David and I are now the proud owners of a little seating area. It’s been raining pretty much non-stop since we put the garden furniture together, so we’ve not really had the chance to sit out yet, but it’ll be lovely to sit out in the evenings through the summer.



Saturday night, the boy and I went to an eighties party, which was huge fun and then on Sunday, Fiona Pine-Marten and I went to meet the beautiful baby Leah. She really is just the most delightful little girl and I hardly wanted to give her back to Fi and Paul. I have almost finished knitting her little baby sweater, but after blocking and pressing it would appear that she won’t be able to wear it for at least four months! (At least it’ll be colder by then…)

Exciting News...

Very exciting news this week is that last Sunday Fiona and Paul had their baby, a beautiful healthy baby girl called Leah. I'm hoping to see them next weekend, so have started another Debbie Bliss Raglan Sweater in pale blue Sirdar Supersoft Toddler Aran.

It's been quite a busy knitting week for me, and I finally managed to finish something! Elegant Drape, an asymmetrical summer cardigan in dusky pink Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora has been a delight to knit- and now it's a delight to wear. I modelled it last night at Claudia and Simon's fabulous summer barbecue, where it was greatly admired!

I've also created an online photo album for my sister's big walk last weekend.

Other news, is that I have moved departments at work and am now working in the Novelty Department, which means I'll get to work on some fabulous new books- really looking forward to helping with some of our fabulous pop-up books!

Midsummer Madness

I've had a crazy weekend helping my sister complete a madcap challenge called Trailwalker in aid of the Gurkha Welfare Trust in conjunction with Oxfam GB. She and a team comprised of Liz, Nerys and Gary walked an astonishing 100km of the South Downs Way in 28 hours and 1 minute, to raise over £4000 for the Gurkhas.

The indomitable Daz and I (along with Latifa and Ali) acted as support for the team; proving food, respite and hopefully a bit of cheer as the team bravely struggled on through the day and the night. I managed to stay awake for a staggering 37 hours and even managed to get a bit of knitting done in the support van, casting on the first sleeve of Flicca!

I've also blocked my pink summer cardigan and am hoping to have it all finished by the end of the week. I really would love to wear it before it gets cold!