served its purpose

Well, I made it! Today is the final day of NaBloPoMo and to be honest I am glad to see the back of it. I'm pleased to say it served its purpose. At the outset I was curious about a number of things. For instance, I wanted to know:

• if I could post something everyday (i can and did)
• what the quality of 30 blog posts in as many consecutive days would be (subpar)
• whether blogging everyday could become my way (no way)
• whether blogging everyday would open the writing/inspiration floodgates (it didn't)

To be fair, November was uncharacteristically busy which led to the misguided assumption that life would provide blog fodder. What I underestimated was how difficult I'd find the jump from working on the tasks at hand to photographing and documenting said tasks...as I worked. Also, I just couldn't be bothered to put an interesting slant on things. Thus all my best intentions went out the window. 

All in all it's been a worthwhile experience but not one I'm in a rush to repeat. 

Now for something pretty.

{a gratuitous photo of my thing du jour - a sajou thimble}

temperamental tonight

After meeting and chatting with a number of exceptionally talented people at the Knitting and Stitching show, I came home full of inspiration. So I picked up and made progress on my anemone. 

My initial attempts at long and short stitch were not quite on point but having seen some really amazing pieces close up - Ideally at this point, I'd be linking to these really amazing pieces but my internet is temperamental tonight - I learned where I was going wrong, adjusted and I'm now much happier with the stitch. I've still got a ways to go though. 

I'm enjoying needlework and can't wait to finish the anemone so I can get back to the cross stitch kit I started at Jenny's before finally getting to the project; the reason I picked up cross stitch in the first place!

'criminal' penguin

Just in case you haven't seen this yet.

a rundown of my goodies

mmmm, that sounds rude, doesn't it?

Anyway as promised, here's a rundown of my goodies from the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate. There was so much high quality stuff there which really tested my resolve. This year I accompanied S' aunt and cousin, both of whom considered the exhibitions with a fine tooth comb whereas, I was gagging to get shopping after a cursory glance. 

Our first stop was 21st Century yarns where I picked up skeins of embroidery silks

The first stand we were confronted with in the second hall happened to be selling aida and evenweave linen at what seemed reasonable prices. But I bought some on my last trip to London and so was preparing to keep walking when I glimpsed the bargain bucket. I dove right in and resurfaced with 

a mixed bag of aida and evenweave of differing counts, colours and fabrics - ideal for practicing on and at £7 a bag, why not?

Our next stop was Oliver Twists, where I picked up these beauties

which I've christened autumn and ocean. 

Then at a stall further on, I was given my first Christmas present :)

patterns for handmade Christmas tree ornaments. I've been wanting these since 2008! Don't ask why it's taken me so long. These were also available as a kit with pre-cut fabrics but as my Christmas colours are purple, silver and white, the red and white would have been wasted on me. I hope plan to will have these ready for the tree this year. 

Still along the make-your-own line is my next buy

A luggage tag kit for £5, something S and I decided we could do with following the episode of our case going missing for days at the start of our last holiday. "Simple Way" had lots of make-your-own leather kits for satchels, shoes, wallets/purses, shoes and more. 

In that same hall, I found roving (for felting soap not spinning, silly) at The Black Sheep woolyknit. 

I wanted all the colours but got just orange because their other roving that was available loosely was super soft (which I now know makes hand felting a nightmare). They had many other colours but those were sold in 200g bags - I just don't need that much roving for anything! So I paid my £1 for 50g and left. I'll be visiting woolyknit.com for 50g bags of roving in future. 

My final purchase of the day was really a treat to myself

the dinkiest pewter pincushion from Sue Hawkins' stall. I had a hard time choosing between the owl and shoe but went with the shoe because it performed better in the "rocking test": the owl was top-heavy and toppled over too readily when rocked - it was very cute though. 

The show was a lovely day out with tonnes of gorgeous things to lust after, friendly folks to chat with and eye candy galore. 

noticeably fewer

I attended the Knitting and Stitching Show today and thoroughly enjoyed it. As usual it was packed to bursting with stalls but this year, they seemed to have grouped things sensibly with noticeably fewer paper crafts. As you must know, I have nothing against paper crafts but feel that if a show is called "The Knitting and Stitching Show", well, it should be all about knitting and stitching. 

There was much eye candy and below are my favourites, those that I was allowed to photograph anyway. 

{"Dear Jane, It's the 21st Century", Valerie Mullally's quilt}

{"Hot Africa", Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga} 

{Alice Wolfe}

{quilted Klimt}

{knitted Munch}

I hope the light is good tomorrow so I can show you what lovelies came home with me.

don't need anymore

Tomorrow I'll attend the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate. I'm not as prepared as I'd like. I haven't combed through my stash, needles, tool kit etc. to establish what oddments I'm in need of. I suspect the truth is that I don't need anymore craft supplies. Of course there's always going to be nice stuff to buy but as someone who is re-training herself in the fine art of moderation, I'm getting better at simply walking away. 

There are two companies I will be on the look out for (namely, oliver twists and 21st century yarns) otherwise I'll see where the day takes me. 

{craft shopping bag}

I hope that this time I remember to take pictures to share the day with you. Which reminds me, I'd better get my batteries charged.

giving thanks

 

{lovely cake, dodgy frosting :-)}

Today was good. S and I celebrated thanksgiving with friends, awesome food and lots of laughs. I am totally spent and about to crawl into my bed but boy, am I ever thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

a roadblock

If you're a regular here, you'll know that I've been busy painting my home. I've been ever so proud of myself for persevering but this week I hit a roadblock. The time had finally come to tackle the one spot I always knew I couldn't handle, it just wasn't ever going to happen. So I made a few phone calls and along came

a bona fide painter/decorator. You can think of him as my fairy godfather (I know I do). 

He went up his ladder, 

waved his magic brushes, 

with a roll here, 

a flick there, 

non-trivial balancing acts...

and it was done! 

I am a VERY happy bunny. Now I can get on with the top coat on the walls in the hallway which is where my painting ends...for this year. 

Hopefully 2012 brings with it the will and strength to take on the final room. Until then, I've got nothing but (thanksgiving and) Christmas on the brain. Speaking of which, have you seen the decorations in the stores? I'm dreaming of baubles...

listen: Asa

tea, my introduction

Today's post is about one of my favourite things: tea! (thanks, Miss Mags!) .

As a child I was all about Lipton (orange pekoe) but the moment I hit high school I ditched my tea habit. It wasn't until my first winter in Toronto that I rediscovered my love of tea. 

Ah, Toronto with its mind-numbing cold which nothing quite prepares one for. To keep warm I downed hot chocolate (the only hot drink I imbibed at the time) by the barrel. Never a good plan for there's no quicker way to meet the freshers' 15 (or 50 as it felt to me) and that was just October! What the heck would I look like by February?! No, I didn't need to know! 

So off I went in search of a suitable alternative. No starbucks or second cup for me, I wanted something I could pretend was healthy or at the very least, something that wouldn't kill me so soon! And found it at the end of Queen Street* and it was called:

I found shelves of jars filled with loose leaf teas

and quirky decor, like this lovely clock. 

On my first visit I told Barbara (the owner) that I had a sweet tooth and was desperate to switch from hot chocolate to tea but had no idea where to start. She asked me what flavours I liked, what scents I liked, whether I preferred strong tastes e.t.c. before handing me two bags of loose leaf teas that she had blended as we talked. 

Her teas always smell divine, have little or no caffeine and taste scrumptious! And just like that I was hooked. 

This evening, S and I raise our warm cups to Barbara whose tea is getting us through an evening without central heating :-(

* these photographs were taken at the new premises.

my make space

At the end of my last post I asked for help with blog topics for the rest of NaBloPoMo and Erin_in_Boston suggested ".... or a photo story about where you do your work?", so I'm going with this today.

My craft room was the first to get sorted when we moved in and other than the table and pegboards, nothing's changed in there. My sewing happens in my craft room which happens to be the conservatory at the back of our house. It's flooded with gorgeous, natural light and though the temperature in there can fluctuate wildly, it's a lovely space to make things in. 

To kick things off is my sewing table with a view of our south-facing garden. Please note (one of two) pepper plants that I've managed to keep alive for 7 whole months! 

At the opposite end is "the storage area". Here I house my craft books and many, many other bits and pieces. 

I don't own a lot of books (craft or otherwise) yet I've never been able to keep them all together until this craft room.

And now I've got a shelf for my sewing books

and knitting books

as well as my glass head, jugs of needles and hooks, a jar of embroidery thread and pattern folders among other crafty things.

So there you have it, my make space as it was earlier today.

felted soap again

I've been at it again. And who could blame me, felting soap is quick, simple and oh, so useful. 

Along the way I worked out a few things such as: coarse roving is infinitely better than super soft roving is for felting; that I can ditch the dishwashing liquid and that I prefer felting with bright colours over neutrals. 

Now S' "man soaps" are all felted gorgeous pinks, oranges and yellows. 

He doesn't mind. 

In other news, I've hit the wall and I'm finally running low on inspiration so I turn to you, dear reader: what would you like me to write about over the next 11 days? a recipe? a tutorial? something about me? my favourite...? you choose!

thimble box

As a crafter that's also afflicted with the collecting bug, I'm constantly on the lookout for organising solutions for all those little accoutrements that go hand in hand with making.

So when my thimble collection 

found itself in need of re-housing, I headed off to the hardware section of my local Asda store in search of those compartmentalised plastic boxes that screws are sold in. 

You know the ones? Just like this

Once I got them home, I added the screws to S' substantial collection and then the box was mine, all mine!

and my thimbles (and I) lived happily ever after! 

Not bad for £1.50, eh?

p.s. Thimbles were "my thing" for a while. Fortunately, I've outgrown that phase of my life. Don't judge, you know you have your own thing too!

on crafting

more like prattling on.

The list of crafts I've picked up in the last decade is staggering. In chronological order we have:

• paper crafts (April 2003)
• knitting* (August 2006)
• crochet* (December 2006)
• quilting± (May 2008)
• sewing± (shortly after I learnt to quilt)
• embroidery^ (November 2008)
• weaving (August 2011) thanks for the reminder Elle!
• soap felting  (August 2011)
• cross stitch^ (November 2011)

Fortunately, there's considerable overlap between media (paper, fabric, yarn) and tools in some of these crafts. For example, *=yarn, needles/hooks; ±=sewing machine, cutters, rulers...; ^=floss, hoops, needles, pattern. I doubt I'd've given so many crafts a look in otherwise. I like how most of the skills are transferrable and also how being good at one skill gives me the confidence to attempt other (what I perceive to be similar) crafts. I often find myself thinking, "Go on, give it a whirl. What's the worst that can happen?". This attitude comes in handy in other, non-crafting aspects of my life. 

What else have I learnt from crafting? Patience. Lots of it! To listen to the voice within (does that sound creepy?, I can't tell, I'm half asleep. bet I'll read this in the morning and think what a load of crap!, what was I on?!?). I've also learnt to take more risks both in crafts (after all, what's the worst that can happen? another one hits the frog pile? yeah, whatevs.) and in life. I love the folks it brings my way, be that for a season or for a lifetime. Crafting feeds something deep inside (it's getting creepy again, isn't it?). O.k. it's obviously time to wrap things up.

I probably should stop blogging so late at night. I think it's stopped working for me.

Oh, there are crafts I've tried but haven't really taken to. These include but are not limited to:

• spinning - drop spindle. (I've been told to try the wheel)
• scrapbooking

I'll add others as and when.

p.s. i think Blogger's time stamp is broken, this was originally posted at 23:59.

picture: white sands

{White Sands, New Mexico. 30.6.07}

crafts: another first

Today I visited Jenny and Steph at their home; Craft Cottage to those in the know ;-) 

There was  biscuits, cookies and tea galore. We chatted, laughed and made things...and I learnt how to cross stitch.

That's Jenny's kingfisher on the left and my ladybirds on the right. Cross stitch is pushing my eyes to the max - it's REALLY dinky but thoroughly enjoyable. 

Another good day.

8 months to the day

Earlier this evening, I went from this 

and

To this. 

I ripped it apart and it's back to the drawing board. Sometimes, getting it right is a pain in the neck!

Tomorrow, I meet with an old friend who will show me the ropes of cross stitch. I will also meet a brand new friend - we've been tweeting for a while - and it'll be fun. I am very excited about this as it will give me a break from house painting. 

When we moved in, I claimed I would paint the whole house myself but never thought I'd actually pull it off. And here I am, 8 months to the day (yay!), with just the final room (the living room, also the largest room) and the hallway to go. To say I am proud of myself would be an understatement. The sense of pride I feel when I walk through the front door is immeasurable! *clears throat* S would have it known that he pitched in (with ceilings in 2 rooms + the skirting board of the smallest room and 1 door) but it's been mostly my hard graft, my backbreaking, body aching efforts that's made such a difference. And it's very high quality work too!

It's been worth every drop of blood (yes, I bled), sweat (by the bucketload) and tears (major meltdowns) not to mention the aches and pains - worth it! I'm trying to get as much as I can done in time for Christmas entertaining. 

But "setting up home" does mean that crafting has taken a back seat and that my poor Etsy shop is feeling rather neglected; I've so many more things planned but it's slow going. 

All in good time I suppose.

lists: winter pairings

The weather is slowly moving from autumn to winter and consequently, my mind is abuzz with knitting new winter accessories. High street shops, with their technicolour displays of winter accessories, are giving me a run for my money but I will not be swayed. Has anyone else noticed that the quality of knitted winter accessories is greatly improved or am I alone in thinking, "I'd buy that. And that. And...oooh, that one is lovely..."?

The first of my pairings is:

The next hopefuls are:

{top right: Daphne and Delilah by Rebecca Danger; bottom right Flocked Mittens by Adrian Bizilia }

Then there's:

{1. Elise Mitten by Johann Landin; 2. Edith the Hat by Johann Landin; 3. Rose by Kamilla Svanlund; 4. Lizard Socks by Beate Zäch}

While the final pairings are:

{1. Ashwyn Beret by Wendy Neal; 2. Nine Dwindling Cables by Yarn Owl; 3. 1989 by Rebekkah Kerner}

Matching stash yarns to potential projects is an exercise I've been carrying out in my head so it's good to finally get them out there. I doubt I'll get through all the projects listed above but it's good to dream. Besides, the long winter should give me plenty of time to make a dent, don't you think?

house & garden. not the magazine

(but wouldn't that be nice). Now that I'm close to being done painting the inside of our home, we turn our minds to the outdoors. We've begun looking through gardening books and visiting the local garden centre too and soon we'll make a trip to Daleside nurseries. 

I don't have firm ideas as yet but I've started a list of "must haves" and these little guys are on it.

Also on my list is a Japanese Maple, every possible species of very scented lavender, an espalier apple tree (like B and J's), to name a few.

I am now about to embark on a very deep sleep!