Just a Quick one...

My Mum always uses that phrase when she calls up after she has spotted something in the shop I might like, so I found it appropriate to use here.

I was just walking to the local shop to get some milk (my tea consumption seems to go up as the temperature goes down!) and I was thinking how miserable and dreary it is today. But that all changed when I got to two trees. They still had their leaves on, and they were fabulous golden shades so I snapped a few pictures for you to enjoy:

 

I am also progressing on the other half's Christmas socks. Nearly done now: 

Hope you are all keeping well.

XXXX

Blind DIY

Remember the other week I was talking about crafts using Hessian fabric? Well I gave my bathroom blind a bit of a make over.

This is what it looked like before. It was about 10 years old and incredibly faded. After I put it through the wash to see if it could be saved. I managed to get rid of the icky mould build up, I decided it would be ok to use. 

I carefully unpicked it all and took the backing and thermal lining. Used the old piece of fabric as a template and cut a new piece of fabric from some upholstery hessian. I chose this type because it has a large open weave so it could still let some light through.

I machined-sewed the bits that held the hardware on but to give it a nice neat edge I spent most of the day hand stitching it. 

My rubbish attempt at stich invisible stitches.

And here it is finished! I managed to hang it wonky to boot. I really needed another pair of hands to help me do it.

Holidays are coming...

Isn't it weird that in the UK it is the middle of November and still warm? My plants do not seem to mind. But I am starting to feel rather festive. I saw a few Christmas adds. The perennial Cocoa-Cola add and also the Bear and the Hare from John Lewis. We have had one frost so far, it just seems mad.
 

I have just returned from a brief visit from the West Country. I spent a couple of days staying at my parents' house. It was lovely to see them, but the trip felt ever so short. I didn't take any photos because I was rushing around trying to fit visiting in to the five days I was there. Phew it was busy.

I also had took the weekend off to spend time with my other half, which was lovely. We had a nice walk to town, did a little shopping, went to the cinema to see the film Gravity. (If you get motion sickness I suggest you give it a miss, there is a lot of spinning camera angles!) and then we went for a meal. And had a nice walk back. 

Sunday was a bit more relaxed too, we only left the house to go and do the shopping. 

I began knitting yet another pair of socks. Using the same pattern as before but using noro wool.

I also felt like noodles for breakfast.

And baked more bread.

Hope you lovies are starting to feel the Christmas cheer


xxxx

The Bee Keeper's Quilt

I have been working on the Bee Keeper's Quilt project of a while now. It's the kind of project that has lots of little components that are joined together, known has "hexipuffs", super cute and very easy to master. The pattern is available here from the wonderful Tiny Owl Knits. Her videos are wonderful to watch. Almost like a kindred spirit to me, I love her whinsy patterns too. She is a little crazy and all kinds of cute. And her cat, so so so cute!

So here is my version so far. It's worked in DK on 3.5mm DPNs in the round. It needs to be worked quite tight, so the stuffing doesn't come poke out. Guage doesn't really matter either. The methods I used to make them is a long tail cast on, KFB as an increase, K2tog as a decrease and I use three needle bind off to finish. But the pattern describes many, many methods of making them yourself. I like to leave long tails on the work too, that way if you line them up correctly you can use them to join the hexipuffs together.


I don't really have any plans for colour schemes, just using up all my left over scraps and trying to use up all the icky colours that have been given to me. Here is a bunch of herxipuffs I have knitted up this week.

 

Here are all the other hexipuffs joined together. Nice and "clashy clashy" as my Mum would say. Nice hodgepodge (I love that word) of random colours.

 

Gratitude Sunday

Joining Taryn in this heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect and be grateful.

Through out the week I have been grateful for

... Feeling the need to get some DIY done. The house is slowly starting to look presentable.

... Planning the decor and soft furnishing. Finally I have some vision about how I want my home to look.

...the sense of calm and achievement that this brings.

... The breaks in the stormy weather we have been having has allowed me to get out and do some gardening.

...cracking open the bee keepers quilt project again. Feels good to slowly work through all those odd bits of wool that knitters and crocheters collect.

 

 

Business and preparation

Autumn is definitely upon us now. It is cold and murky time, a time to cosy up inside. Firing up the central heating which has been named Clunky. To chase away the cool, dampness that has been hanging around for the past few days.

The nights are drawing in too, it makes the day seem so short. Many times I have felt myself longing for bed around 8pm, which is far too early. Last night I gave in at half past 9. 

I felt that was acceptable after a hard days work. Yesterday I had to repair the chicken coop after the feathery ladies escaped. Luckily there was no Mr Fox around, so everyone is safe and accounted for after their adventure.

I have also been working on the decorating. Still going! Although it was all the boring white gloss for the wood work. Now it looks fresh and clean. I also need to make some soft furnishing for the living to help with the cosiness factor. Maybe some curtains just to help keep the warm in a little more. I came across some ideas for burlap (or hessian as it is called in the UK) curtains.

Here are some examples I have found on Pinterst:

The colours I picked for my living room are brown and purples anyway, so hessian would fit perfectly.  I would post a picture of my living room but it is about to chuck it down so has gone very dark!

Digging around further on Pinterst (as I am sure users of that site are well aware how often this happens!) I came across some pretty interesting combinations of hessian and lace:

 

Some possible future projects maybe?




I have also made mayonnaise. It was a very stressful thing to do and I managed to use eight, yes eight egg yolks! Now I have a whole bunch of whites sitting in the fridge ready to be made into meringue.