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Adventures in Knitting – The Joy of Socks (and Hats)

December 15, 2009 By Paola 3 Comments

For some reason knitting socks was not such a big thing in the UK when I was living there, though I hear it’s now growing more popular. In fact for most of my knitting life the closest I ever got to hand knitted socks was reading about them in Little Women and since I’ve always knitted on long, straight needles I couldn’t even fathom out how it was done. And I couldn’t begin to understand why on earth anyone would knit socks when they were available for a few pounds for a packet of 5 pairs at the supermarket.

Everything changed when I arrived in the US, the land of fanatical sock knitters and incredibly beautiful sock yarns. You may remember I knit my first pair back in 2008 and had a few less than successful attempts thereafter. But I was starting to understand how addictive it is to knit them.

This summer I knitted the second pair of socks of which I am inordinately proud, using this Twinkleberry pattern and a Limited Edition Sundara sock yarn in the Mango Madness colourway. For those of you on Ravelry, here are the details.

I absolutely ADORE this yarn and am now really appreciating the joys not only of knitting, but of wearing hand-knitted socks. The weather has been unseasonably very cold in Seattle recently but my toes have been toasty warm and they are so, so comfortable, as they are knit precisely to fit my feet. I LOVE them and can hardly bear to remove them every evening. I wore my first pair of socks to ribbons and am frightened I’m going to end up destroying these. In an ideal word, I would have a pile of gorgeous hand knit socks from which to choose. Must. Knit. Faster.

In other orange knitting news, I spent a few September evenings knitting a couple of little seasonal hats for my dear friend, the Instant Hausfrau’s, new boy twins. Well they were seasonal back then. I’m only posting about them now as Ms Hausfrau was having a little trouble locating both hats, both twins and the camera at the same time in order to take pictures. Which is entirely understandable. After the Minx was born I was having difficulty locating my head. More details on my Ravelry page.

Happy Halloween!

Oh Tannenbaum

December 13, 2009 By Paola 9 Comments

Just when you thought there was nothing new under the sun in regards to Christmas trees, here is the extremely beautiful and, as far as I know anyway, very original ‘tree’ outside the Space Needle here in Seattle. It’s made of interlocking spherical ‘cages’ wrapped with thousands of tiny white lights.

{I was going to say, please excuse crappy iPhone pics, but actually it’s really rather staggering what you can do with a little mobile phone camera nowadays}

Memo to Self

December 11, 2009 By Paola Leave a Comment

{via the Bedlam of Beefy}

New Products, Lovely Mentions and FREE International Shipping

December 11, 2009 By Paola 2 Comments

We’ve just had a new delivery from French design studio Atelier LZC and I will be adding several new products to the site over the next few days.

First up are two stunning new sets of teatowels – the Potager set, featuring vegetables and kitchen utensils

and the Nature set, with birds, butterflies and foliage

All four of these teatowels would also look wonderful framed (the Potager ones would look great in a kitchen I think) and I love the idea of using a pretty teatowel to wrap round a bottle of wine for a VERY acceptable hostess gift.

I’ve been having a mini blog PR blitz recently and the store has been mentioned by the following utterly fabulous and extremely discerning blogs Not Martha, Shelterrific,The Bedlam of Beefy and Violet Posy. Thank you all SO much for your help and support.

Stupidly I was so busy offering their readers FREE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING on all orders that I forgot to offer the same to you, my lovely and very much appreciated readers. So go to mirrormirror, place your order choosing ‘free shipping with offer code’ when you come to check out and then use the code ‘jingle bells’ in the ‘how did you hear about us box.

(Any overseas orders placed over the weekend will be shipped on Monday and should be with the recipient in time for the big day. UK readers you still have the rest of the week.)

And A Partridge In A Pear Tree

December 11, 2009 By Paola Leave a Comment

I don’t normally like just linking to other people’s posts directly without adding ‘value’ or ‘insights’ of my own, but seriously if you haven’t already seen this incredible stand-up gingerbread partridge in a pear tree on Not Martha then I suggest you rush there straight away, where you’ll find lots of additional pictures and full instructions. Much better than anything you’ll find round these parts anyway.

{picture from Not Martha}

Some Photos and a Calendar

December 10, 2009 By Paola 4 Comments

One of my main resolutions for next year is to really work on my photography and sell some of it through the shop.

I really like the simplicity and ethereal quality of these photos by Kitty Rogers, available to purchase through her Etsy shop.

And most particularly I love her teeny tiny calendar – 12 little (business card sized) calendar photo cards on a tiny easel. In fact, I love it so much that I’ve just ordered one for daily photography inspiration.

{found via Lobster and Swan}

A New Me – December 2009

December 10, 2009 By Paola 16 Comments

So, I’ve been working out all month, and I was thinking that my eating had been pretty good – smaller portions, lots of fruit and veg, cutting right down on the evil white carbs - so I jumped on the scales on the 6th December expecting great results.

November December

Only to find that I weighed 172lbs, for a grand total weight loss of nothing, zip, nada, zilch, NOTHING. My body is ridiculous sometimes. I truly think that the last few years of sitting on my backside working from home has taken a terrible toll on my metabolism.

November December

I was feeling pretty despondent but thought I’d do this month’s photos anyway, for completeness’ sake, but was quite heartened when I put them side by side, as I really think there is a difference. What do you think?

I do feel HUGELY much fitter and my clothes do seem to be fitting better, so maybe I am toning up/building muscle after all. And I’ve definitely got the exercise habit at the moment, which is great news. I’ve bought a couple of books I’ve been recommended on kickstarting your metabolism, so I’ll report back when I’ve read them.

How did everyone else do this month? Better success than me? Thanks for bearing with me – checking in like this and thoughts of doing a triathlon next year are focusing my mind wonderfully. (Speaking of which, I really need to start dropping some serious poundage if I’m really going to be able to do the tri – like that’s going to happen in December)

Anyway, see you on January 6th (or thereabouts)

Update: I thought I’d let you know how I’m refining my regime each month, as this is basically an ongoing ‘’transform my body’ experiment. I’m currently alternating strength training days with high intensity interval training days courtesy of the aforementioned Cardio Coach. I’m coming to the end of the EA Sports Active 30 challenge which is full of killer squats and lunges (presumably why my thighs are looking a little more toned in the pictures above) for my strength training and have Jillian Michael’s new Wii game lined up next. Will let you know what that’s like. I’m also cycling more, trying to fit in a bit more swimming and walking more, but will be focusing more on those in January.

I’ve also been making some modifications to my diet (such as eating more protein) based on the books I’ve been reading, but I think they deserve a post to themselves, which I will do when I’ve read them.

Fancy Hotel of the Week – the Scarlet

December 9, 2009 By Paola 3 Comments

A UK friend of mine and occasional blog commenter stayed a couple of weeks back at this brand new hotel in Cornwall and thought I would love it as much as she did. And from the pictures she was right. We used to go down to Cornwall nearly every year when we lived in the UK and it’s another place I miss horribly. I MUST get to this hotel sooner rather than later as it looks amazing (though annoyingly it doesn’t appear to take kids).

The building itself is a fabulous purpose built affair, making the most of sea views and built to the highest eco-standards by architects Harrison Sutton.

This is the wonderful bar area. Love the colours and the mix of chunky wood and leather.

Like the seating and the low hanging lamps, though wonder if they’d be annoying if you were actually in the bed.

Pretty colours, though the big wooden boat is a bit of a Cornish cliche. Kelly Wearstler should look here to see a more successful use of statuary though.

More lovely colours, prints and unusual lampshades in the library and lobby.

And everywhere fabulous sea views. Why are there no hotels like this close to Seattle? Cornwall does actually remind me of the Pacific Northwest a lot. Maybe I should open one.

{All images from The Scarlet’s website. Check out more from their gallery here. And they have quite an interesting blog here about the trials and tribulations of building a hotel. Interiors by Max Bentheim Interior Design}

Get Your Holly On

December 9, 2009 By Paola 2 Comments

Design bloggeuse extraordinaire Holly Becker over at Decor8 is running an e-course in January called Blogging Your Way which will talk about becoming a more successful blogger and include tips on photography and styling. And I’ve signed up!

I really want to take this blog to the next level in the new year and work on my photography/product styling, so it seemed like a great way to do this in a focused way and kickstart the year. And get to meet other bloggers online.

There are apparently a handful of places left if you want to sign up – all you need is a blog, a camera and $119 for the seven week course. All deets and registration here. I’ll keep you updated with how it’s going in January and maybe share some of the assignments on here, if they’re shareable.

{image via Decor8}

Christmas is Coming….

December 9, 2009 By Paola 5 Comments

I’ve finished crocheting my Snowflake Garland. It was very quick and easy and everso slightly addictive. So much so, that I might make some more as gift tags.

The Minx and I referred to that seminal work Usborne Activities – Christmas Cooking at the weekend in order to prepare our Christmas party offering. These were made from a basic Victoria sponge cake cooked in a roasting tin to make one big flat cake. The cake is then cut into twelve squares and ten triangles, covered with butter icing (by me) and decorated most tastefully by the Minx with bits of Twix as the tree trunks.

The now traditional Christmas tree decorating photo was also taken.

Update: Oops, I forgot to give pattern details for the crochet garland. You can download a free PDF here. It’s a US pattern, so UK readers should remember to translate it from US crochet terms to British crochet terms, but that’s very simple. Details of the garland I’ve made are here on my Ravelry page, for those of you who are on Ravelry. If you are, do come and be my friend!

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