parkour motion reel from saggyarmpit on Vimeo.
I like the music as well.
Christmas Decorations on Tour
You’ve seen mine! Now show us yours.
This is a very lazy on vacation post with the idea entirely stolen from Liz at Violet Posy.
If you’ve done a blog post about your Christmas decorations, lack of decorations, other holiday decorations, beautiful decorations that you’ve seen round and about or anything else festive that you’ve done and want to show off then use the fun widget below to post up a link to your blog.
It will be running from now until 6th January or Twelfth Night or the Epiphany, the day when decorations are traditionally taken down in the UK (or else you face a year of bad luck).
I’ve added a link to my post and to Violet Posy to get you started and show you what it will look like.
Adventures in Knitting – The Joy of Socks (and Hats)
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!
And A Partridge In A Pear Tree
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}
Christmas is Coming….
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!
Christmas is Coming…
The air is buzzing with excitement (the Minx) and panic (moi).
The enormous Advent calendar stuffed full of tantalising little packages, which was sent by the Minx’s lovely godparents, is hanging up and revealing its secrets.
Christmas decorations courtesy of the Minx (with help from me on the actual cutting) are starting to go up
(for real proper grown up snowflakes check out Uncle Beefy, take a look at this incredible gallery of real snowflakes or make some on your computer here – the Minx and I have been having tons of fun with this little program and there’s no little tiny bits of paper to clear up afterwards).
New papier mache baubles from Crate & Barrel are on display.
And the snowflake garland I’ve been crocheting for the fireplace is now finished, blocked and ready to be starched and hung.
We’ve got a fun and festive weekend lined up. Our friend is visiting from Victoria and tomorrow we’re going to decorate the tree, do some Christmas baking, hopefully get to Urban Craft Uprising, go to a party in the evening, and then off, weather permitting, to Leavenworth on Sunday.
I hope you’re all less panicked than I am. What special things are you doing for the holidays?
Abigail*Ryan Homewares
Our favourite jewellista Abigail Percy and her beau Ryan Bell of Chick Stud Earrings fame have been working day and night (at least according to their Facebook status updates) on their new range of home textiles, based on Abigail’s stunning botanical drawings.
Their beautiful and unusual teatowels and scatter cushions are made from 100% cotton or 100% Pure Irish Linen, hand printed in the UK and hand-sewn in the duo’s Belfast design studio.
I love the colours they’ve used and they’ve done a fantastic job with the styling the images as well. Definitely thinking about getting some of these in the shop after Christmas. In the meantime they’re available online from Abigail*Ryan.
Giving Thanks
Just heading into the Thanksgiving weekend here – always a slightly strange for us as Thanksgiving still means diddley squat to us Brits (though the Minx is starting to get more enthusiastic about it); we don’t have family here to spend it with; and most of our friends are with their families.
I’ve been feeling strangely lacking in mojo over the last few days, so I’m going to spend to take a few days off, relax, exercise, sleep, knit and sort out some stuff. I’ll be back on Monday, but in the meantime if anyone wants to stop by and tell me what your best methods are for the regaining of mojo, I’m all ears.
In the meantime here’s a sneak peak of crochet project number three. And for all my lovely peeps in the US, happy Thanksgiving!
(I’ve been knitting up a storm over the last month or so, just not photographed everything. And I was a bit worried that this was turning into a knitting blog behind my back. But I’ll have a knitting update soon, I promise I bet you can’t wait.)
Knitting for the Home – Part I
Flicking through some recent magazines, it seems that texture is making its way back into interiors with a vengeance.
I love the way that knitted or crocheted items add softness, comfort and intricate detail to a space. I seem to spend far more time than is good for me on Ravelry nowadays and here are some of the patterns and projects I’ve been ogling recently. If only I had more knitting time. (If you spent less time pissing about on Ravelry, you’d have more time to knit. Just saying. – Ed )
From left to right starting at top left
– Crochet your own placemats. Pattern here.
– Knit your own covers for paper lampshades. Info Interweave Knits.
– Knit a cute little teapot cosy (available as a free Ravelry download here).
– The pattern for the Jacquard cushion can be found in Glamour Knits At Home. Photo credit here.
– Blue and white Delft Pillow by Eunny Jang, also in Interweave Knits.
– The crocheted and starched lampshade is inspired by Marcel Wanders Crochet Chair. The Ravelry project page is here, unfortunately there is no pattern. I ADORE this project.
– Another paper lampshade cover from Interweave Knits.
- A close-up of the crocheted lampshade above
– Cute and practical little coasters by the Purl Bee.
– The pattern for the Matryoschka cushion is available for download from elf518’s Etsy shop.
– The pattern for the Puff Daddy stool is available here. Also featured by Apartment Therapy.
– Pattern for this fabulously striking ‘Metafourmosis’ Afghan/wallhanging is here. Do it in colours to complement your decor.
– Another paper lampshade cover from Interweave Knits.
- A really cute little ‘gingham’ dishcloth. The Ravelry project page is here. Again there is no pattern available, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure it out.
– Striking retro potholders made based on this pattern. Photo credit and inspiration here.
– Lampshade from crocheted hexagons, which will apparently be published in a book called ‘Crochet Revolution’. I can’t find details on Amazon, though the Ravelry page is here.
– The pattern for this bathmat is from Knit 2 Together. UK peeps, do you remember Tracey Ullman? She moved to the US and started writing knitting books.
– Minimalist crocheted lampshade from the same people who brought you the Puff Daddy footstool.
– If you’re feeling really bored, why not crochet your own lacy curtains? The pattern is here.
– The MOST amazing knitted bookcover. Again there is no pattern, but go to the Ravelry project page here, marvel at the close-up pictures and see all the work involved.
