Quilt while you're ahead

glimpse 2

more knitting for the holidays...

I'm on a roll, people, get out of the way.....

half term

So... how are you filling your half term days?

we're enjoying the crazy colours

 

and the woolly socks come out to play (grazie mamma!)

we're playing football in the park till the light fades

 

we've discovered the pleasure of card games and absolutely love throwing pigs around...
 

and you?
 

 

  

baktus - modified

It goes without saying.

New winter = new scarf.

 

in shades of blue (Colinette, 1 skein from the stash)

 

stockinette stitch with regularly spaces purl rows

like the sea.

A shallow triangle

or a vase

???
  

 

  

mitts from the stash

free pattern found on Ravelry: "Susies Reading Mitts"

Knitted using 4mm bamboo double pointed needles and Jaeger extra fine merino dk, shade 942

One down, and one almost there...

I'm almost looking forward to the cold weather.

Almost.

treasure

We'd just been to the beach for the day.  W ewere hot and slightly sunburned. Our skin felt tight for the salt water and the kids were tired and picking at each other.  We wanted to be home.

But then we saw this:

and how could we not stop?

It wasn't cheap but there were bargains if you looked carefully; we seriously considered shipping this 50s baby home

I could have been Doris Day and Mr M could have been Rock Hudson... oh those movies...

Anyway, I did find something though and I was glad to see it worked perfectly

no more knotted skeins on chair backs

no more bribing children with sweets to get them to hold their arms out for hours on end

and most importantly of all, no more procrastinating the next big crochet project

Now if you'll excuse me... I've got work to do...

fancy becoming a domestic goddess...

vintage style?

Then you need a book like this one:

 

you can learn some basic rules

 

and some extraordinary recipes great for the summer weather... like this one for a banana and pineapple salad

 

or this one with onion, cress and horseradish cream...

 

After all these culinary delights, if you're still with me and haven't rushed for the brown paper bag, you can refine your knitting skills with this delightful book

  

because let's face it, we all need a little number for the beach...

 

I think sometimes there are perfectly good reasons why fashions move on...

a weekend in pictures

finishing

  

baking

 

knitting

 

and running

 

It was hard, but it was also a very moving and uplifting experience...

 

You should try it.

Tuscany - part 1

My parents village is high in the hills (800m give or take) and there are days like today where low clouds get in the way of warm spring weather

 

Feels cold, doesn't it?  Let me tell you, it wasn't warm... but hey... I had my newly finished socks to keep me warm

 

ahh the simple joy of a new pair of handknitted socks.  Hard to beat.

And then at the end of the day, as a treat the sun peeped throught the clouds and I went for a little walk through the village, wanna come too?

 

I love this row of houses.  The first one used to be the village school, the other ones were stables and are still used only as storage.  Wouldn't they make beautiful homes?

 

This one is right on the village square, I love that porch.

   

This one too.  It was the village bakery.

And the view?  that was much better too

life lessons

Things I've learned today.

Lesson no 1:  trees have eyes.

 

Lesson no 2 (a bit obscure this one...):

 

Lesson no 3: sister in laws love handmade socks as birthday presents

 

So all in all a very instructive day.

What did you learn today?

Aimee - by Kim Hargreaves

I've been wanting to knit this since forever.

 

"Aimee" from the book 'Thrown together'.  The pattern calls for Kidsilk Haze, I don't like its fuzziness so I used 4 balls of Artesano 100% Alpaca DK on 5 size needles (because I'm a ridiculously loose knitter).

Isn't it lovely?