The Finished Object: House Tea Cosy

 Well hello! This is the first time I have shared a complete project with you all. And I do hope there will be many more. I thought I'd show my entire process, especially since I am very pleased with this one. I can knit! YAY!

 As you know, I have been working on this tea cosy pattern from Kirstie's Homemade Home. I struggled with the pattern at first, not understanding the intarsia colour change after I had cast on.

 So I decided to knit the windows and door of the house seperately and stitch them on afterwards. However, I managed OK with the roof shaping (knit2tog at the start and end of every other row)

 Although there appears to be a lot of instructions, I found this pattern hard to work. Knitting Jedi Master Hannah explained that it was lazy pattern-writing to blame. So I was relieved that I wasn't a total knitwit. 

 Hannah also explained the parts of the pattern that are missing, like putting the stitches on a stitch holder for these side panels.

 This is where it gets exciting...all fours sides completed and almost ready to join! The tails were weaved in and windows and doors stitched on...

 The joining instructions made NO sense at all. So I turned the pieces wrong-side up and joined the roof sections together inside out. Then I stitched the sides and front/back pieces together on the outside just using overstitch. Then I tried it on the teapot to sew up the flappy bits on the side pieces...

 

 And here it is! The finished tea cosy! It's so cute and full of 'homespun charm'. That's a nice phrase meaning 'a bit wibbly and not quite perfect'. 

Well my lovelies, what do you think? I think it is so cute! I have yet to make my first cuppa with my teapot adornment. I can't wait to drink my first housey brew. I am so super happy with this little addition to my lists of 'makes'! 

I have a small Finished Object to reveal next week. I wanted to post it yesterday but it's a birthday present so I can't reveal too much until I have given my friend the present!

Please let me know your thoughts and show me your knitted tea cosies. I love a bit of twee, me. 

xxx

Park Life

Spring is officially here at Park Avenue! The trees are heaving with pink blossoms and the world seems a much brighter place with blues skies and beautiful sunshine. Not that I mind winter- I love wearing thick cardies, getting wrapped up and spending my days making soups and crocheting, but Spring is a wonderful time of year. Full of the promise of new life and a summer filled with wonderful things ahead. We don't have a summer holiday planned this year but we have a couple of long weekends away booked up- a trip to Sussex to stay at a place called Ghyll Manor. I'm hoping to go into Brighton one day and visit some of my favourite haunts. There is some serious thrifting to be done down there. I absolutely LOVE Velvet- I used to love going into their stores. before it became one store there we three Velvets- a home, clothes and a haberdashery. Isnt't that a wonderful word? Haberdashery. An aladdin's cave full of treasures to be taken home and inspire you. So I'll visit there and also Snooper's Paradise- my favourite place when I was a student for vintage and second hand gubbins.I adore The Lavender Room too. Such pretty things, it's incredibly girly.  We're also going down to Cornwall in May. I'm very excited as I've never been to Cornwall. We're staying on or near St. Michael's Mount and I cannot wait to explore the South West. 

Here are some pictures I took the other day when Albie and I took a walk into town. The great thing about where I live now is that the Park is at the end of our road. I love Tower Gardens, and the walk along the river into town is so peaceful. 

Some blossom on Park Avenue. This picture needed no effects put on it. Glorious, eh? I love shots like these so I was rather pleased with myself. The sky was so blue and the blossom was a lovely shade of pink.

 Here is the sun peeking through a tree on the walk through the park.

 And the lovely peaceful path taking you past the river into central park.Lots of people were out walking their dogs, which Albie loved (he loves small dogs especially), riding their bikes and taking their babies out. Lots of happy mums smiled at me as we walked past.

 Here is a little seat perched next to the river. So you can watch it meandering past. Hopefully this week more trees will sprout their little buds so some more greenery will appear.

 This is a shot I took with Instagram. I love the effect, very Japanese. I love this so much I think I'll get it printed and framed. Maybe made into a canvas! That's how much  I love it. And this next one two. Maybe I'll work on an Instagram blossom series!

And here are the flowers adorning my table this week. Some irises and lillies from the yellow sticker section in Tesco. The lillies are now flowering and look so proud and stunning. They're not scented though which is very disappointing. Perhaps I'll pick up some scented flowers at the street market on Friday instead. The irises are almost dead now, and though it's a bit sad I love how their deep violet colour fades when they die.

I am almost finished on a couple of WIPs (work in progress) so I'll post a crafty Big Reveal later this week...off to knit and natter tomorrow and perhaps a night out with my sister on Friday too. In the meantime I'll also bring you the next installment of my Obsessions Series!

Enjoy the sunshine folks 

xxx

Crafternoons

 Spring is definitely here, isn't it? The trees are suddenly bursting forth with blossom, and rather delightful it is too. The longer days and lighter mornings mean that Albie is now waking up at the crack of dawn. Not ideal, though he is going to bed much earlier and is still napping beautifully twice during the day. It wasn't always this way! After seven months of non-sleep we took Albie to an osteopath where he had cranial treatment. It really helped his sleep, all of his problems were attributed to his difficult delivery and thankfully now the problem is fixed. 

The weekend was a perfectly weekend-ish weekend, starting with viewing the dearest house in Moulsham. Thankfully, we made an offer and it was accepted! A gorgeous Victorian cottage in the street we desperately wanted to be. We are buying it from a friend of Darryl's so he can give us the inside scoop! It's been beautifully decorated though of course we'll want to put our own stamp on it. This week is motivating, with mortgage appointments and solicitor's letters etc. So friday night we celebrated with a sausage cassoulet and some prosecco. 

On Saturday I went bridesmaid shopping with Helen (the bride) and her lovely step-daughter-to-be Olivia. We had great fun at Primark buying headwraps and kitch earrings, and got the most beautiful bridesmaid dress at Coast along with the other four bridesmaids. On Saturday evening my mum and sister came over and I made a fish pie and we drank wine and watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona. It was heaven. I love Woody Allen, though I think you either love or hate his movies.

 This was Sunday's beginning. A cooked breakfast. With eggs and beans of course! But you can't oven those.

 And this was the rest of Sunday! Baking and then a crafternoon tea, with my girlfriends. I made Cook Yourself Thin brownies (only 91 calories each ifankyew) and some cheddar biscuits from The Great British Baking book. It was the first time baking from either of those books and I'm pleased to report they were delicious and came out perfectly. So pleased! I am creature of habit when it comes to baking, and usually stick to Nigella or Delia.

 Sarah and Amy came over with their knitting, and Corinne brought her beautiful daughter Belle. Belle and Albie are only a day apart and loved playing together! They kept each other occupied while I taught Corinne how to make a granny square. She already knew a few crochet basics so with jedi crochet master Amy's help by the end of the afternoon she was well on her way to crocheting a beautiful teal granny square!

 As you can see I've been cracking on with the house tea cosy. I've completed one front/back and both the sides. Last Wednesday I went to knit and natter at Make, Do & Mend and with a little help from Hannah I managed to suss the pattern. I've had trouble with this pattern, as it seems to miss out a lot of vital information. I've found that a few crafty folks have also had problems with Kirstie's Homemade Home as the projects do not seem to go into enough depth. Sure enough my jedi knitting master assured me that it was lazy pattern writing to blame for my inadequacies rather than my logic. She also kindly gave me a stitch holder and row counter so I could be a real knitter. I've taken to keeping everything 'knit' in my green spot Cath Kidston book bag, rather than the crochet baskets I seem to have strewn about my lounge.

There's no reason for this picture other than I liked the colours of the tealights today in their vintage-y glass holders. The candles are from Paperchase if anyone's interested. The holders I bought years ago from Habitat. 

Now I'm back off to my dreamland, choosing Farrow and Ball paint colours and curtain fabrics for our new home. Hopefully this week there will be A Big Reveal of a finished project. Until then, happy Springtime-ing.

The Crafty Minx

Yes, that's me. I'm crafty, see?
 I finally photographed the round cushion sitting in its snuggly new home on my bed. Looks right at home, don't you think? It's very soft, the Gorgeous DK yarn I used is a bamboo cotton mix and it's lovely and silky smooth. I've got quite a lot left, though I'm not sure what it's destined for yet. I decided today that I shouldn't buy any more yarn. I have so much! and so many projects planned.

 This is the result of the weekend's crafting. The charity shop jumper cushion is quite the triumph! I used some stylecraft yarn I have to just sew the two pieces together:- one longer piece of fabric for the back and bottom of the front, then the cable  section for the top 'flap' of the 'envelope'. I think it's a little boring but it's destined for some lovely adornment...

 Like these! I saw a crochet flower cushion in a magazine and though to myself 'heck, you can make that, Kath!' And so I am. I need to make about 30 of these flowers to cover the back of the cushion. The lovely striped item there is a gift from the talented Amy, who was my crochet teacher. She made this lovely hook case for me at the knit and natter last week. It's lined in hot pink felt and has spotty buttons! What more could you want? I am inspired to make a roll or pouch for my knitting needles, I have some lovely bright soft yarn and some Cath Kidston fabric that's itching to be used.

 And here is my new love! I am still somewhat of a knitwit (thanks, Sarah) at the moment, and so on Monday morning I happily took delivery of two knitting books to add to my craft shelf. Purls of Wisdom is lovely, very simple to follow and loads of clear info on different stitches and there is a section with some lovely patterns. The hot water bottle pattern there is from Knitty Gritty by Aneeta Patel, another great volume for beginners with tonnes of bright pictures so idiots like me can see exactly what they're supposed to be doing.

Do you like my coloured knitting needles? I bought them from the RSPCA shop for 40p a pair! I mainly picked them because they're pretty colours, but I have a range of gauges now. 

And what's that you spy there in the corner? Ah yes! phase one of the tea cosy. You want to see a close up? 

Ok then. 

Here it is! I absolutely could not work the pattern in the book, for some reason my intarsia colour changing was disastrous. Believe me, I tried it about ten times and just ended up getting cross with it. So I asked my knitting guru Hannah If it was total cop-out if I just knitted the house shape and made the windows and doors seperately. And she said no, of course not! So here is the house front. Tonight at knit and natter I'm going to attempt the sides which require a stitch holder, whatever one of those is. But so far I am so chuffed with this! It's just garter stitch but good practice with decreasing and casting on and off I think.At first I didn't like the colours, and wasn't so sure about the windows, but once I sewed it all together I fell in love.

 Ok, so it's a little wonky and the stitches at the edge are a little messy. I think 'homespun charm' is the correct terminology for this.

 I got this great book at a charity shop in Braintree for 50p on Saturday morning. Isn't it amazing? Proper retro patterns. I love the styling too- very Raquel Welch. I will attempt the dress on the cover one day. But it's full of retro patterns, like this shirt dress. Groovy!

 I also bought this beautiful china in the same shop. The photo doesn't do it justice I'm afraid. It's lovely cream and gold, so delicate and pretty. I really do not need any more china but anything gold and pretty I'm such a sucker for. I only have one complete tea set, so I'd love to collect some more of this to make a tea set! I have four side plates, a cake plate and a jug here. All for £8! I've been finding out a little more about the makers and this probably dates from the 1930s. So I think I'll try eBay for some teacups and saucers and the sugar bowl. Who knows what a summer of boot fairs will bring?

I'm off to knit and natter at Make, Do and Mend tonight with my tea cosy, then at some point this week I'll plough on with the baby blanket. In between eye tests, swimming with Albie, washing, cooking and house hunting! Phew. Isn't it the weekend yet?

Springtime inspiration

Oh I love Spring. The anticipation of longer, warmer days and the sight of fresh blossom lifts the spirits, doesn't it? This time last year I was pretty darn pregnant and full of excitement of both Spring and a new baby. Now I can't wait to take my little man to the park to play on the swings and see the spring blooms. The shops are full of gardening gear at the moment and yesterday we bought some Ready Steady Grow pots- everything you need in the plastic tub to grow courgettes, chillies, wild flowers and wild rocket on the windowsill! How exciting. Can't wait to see our window ledge allotment grow.

  And here spread across the table is my springtime inspiration. I love the covers- so much colour!

I'm in a dreamy mood this weekend. We have accepted an offer on Inverleith and now we have the task of house hunting ahead. There is sadly very little about in the way of similar properties to ours, not in our price range anyway. So I indulge in the magazines and catalogues to fuel my imagination of how lovely I could make a house, should we soon buy one.

The above spread is from this month's Country Homes & Interiors. Lovely- very girly. I'm not sure D would be thrilled about that, but the styling is so beautiful. I prefer homes to be a little more eclectic perhaps than this, as by nature everyone's home is different. I suppose that's why I haven't been blown away by the new Laura Ashley catalogue. It's all very coordinated and clean.

This next spread is from Homes & Antiques and this feature is taken from a book called Rediscovered Treasures. Which I am very tempted by. All about recycling old treasures into useful things!

 

The next spread is from Country Living, styled by Atlanta Bartlett. I always love her styling, the photography has such light and life. I love the use of colour on off-white backgrounds: this is a look I Am Very Much Into. I would love a kitchen like this! The heart of the home.

 

All the spring magazines have inspired a little colour round the dining area here. D suggested we use the flower coasters for the tea lights on the windowsill, and they look great! Such fab spring-like colours.

I bought some glorious tulips from Tesco, they were in the yellow sticker section for only £1.50 a bunch. I gave them a lovely home in this enamel jug, and took good care of the rescued blooms.

 I feel so sad for the yellow sticker flowers, all trampled and brown. But these were still lovely and fresh!

 

And here is some crafting I indulged in this afternoon. I bought a jumper from the charity shop for £3.50 and I have made the foundations of a very special cushion. So far it's a cable knit envelope cushion but it's going to be much, much better than that. A couple of hours measuring, cutting and hand stitching has produced something that Laura Ashley sells for £40!

I have some wonderful charity shop purchases and some more crafting results to share soon, I just hope today's persistent drizzle eases off tomorrow so I can take some more sunny pictures. And I will try and learn how to use Hipstamatic as I've been inspired by Beth Retro's blog and Selina Lake's gorgeous styling to create something pretty. 

Hope you're all full of the joys of Spring and getting stuck into your crafts too.

Lovely Things

Today  has been another day full of sunshine and the promise of Spring. My weekend was mainly concerned with preparing for a viewer for the flat, as she was supposed to come on Saturday morning and postponed at quite literally the last minute until Sunday 3pm. So there was lots of waiting around and cleaning to be kept on top of. However I managed to get out the house Saturday morning with a big canvas bag full of yarn, needles, hooks and patterns and wandered over to Cherry on Top tearoom for Hannah's knitting club. I managed to persuade my friend Amy to get up and out the house for the 10am start and she and I began Crochet Corner at the club. It was jolly pleasant drinking tea and scoffing cake, and nattering with strangers about knitting and crochet. We then took a walk up to the post office and I squeezed in a bit of chazzing, picking up four pairs of knitting needles for 40p a pair. Absolute bargain. Amy crocheted me a gorgeous crochet hook case, which has inspired me to try and make one for my knitting needles. 

Today has been full of lovely musings, sights and sounds. My little boy's laughter always brings me joy.

Some parcels I sent out today. Lucky eBay buyers! I love receiving parcels, I'd love to receive a parcel like this.

I picked up this cute little knit top from the Cancer research shop before the knitting group for only £3.50. Thrifty and chic, non?

Yes, some more hyacinths. I used a filter on Instagram to emphasise the absolute blueness of them.

Crochet on my lap this morning. I finally finished the round cushion around tea time. I'll take some pictures of it snuggled on the bed. It looks perfect so I am very pleased. It looks as though it's always been there.

Ah yes. One Born Every Minute is on. I love it, such a wonderful documentary. I always get so emotional, watching new babies come into the world is absolutely magical, even if your own birth experience wasn't exactly perfect.

Cushion and magazine loving later in the week. Any more thoughts on the crochet coasters/flowers?

xxx

The Challenge of the Utmost Kind

 There's a definite feeling of Spring in the air. Though it's nippy out there, the days are longer and the light has changed. It's a much better time to take photographs, though I can't guarantee my snaps will improve any. I wish I could take pictures, I have a decent enough digital camera, I just need to learn how to use it properly. I stumbled across this lovely blog the other day: beth retro dreams. She takes stunning, dreamy pictures- very Tim Walker. Please show her much love, her photos really are amazing. 

Blogland is very much at the forefront of my mind this week. I've been overwhelmed by the support shown to me for my decision to take up the dottie angel challenge of the utmost kind. I emailed her the other day and sent a lovely reply which really helped spur me on.

 As you can see I already have my sewing kit ready, safely installed in a cake tin I bought a while ago now. The kit needed a tin, and in the spirit of all things thrifty, I said 'I know! I have tins aplenty'. And so now my odds and ends and bits and bobs live in the union jack tin. 

Above is a small selection of my yarn stash, in readiness for all sorts of home-made goodies.The half-finished cushion cover has been rediscovered and I'm showing it some love tonight by finishing one side then cracking on with the other. I still have the vintage stripe baby blanket for little Olivia to finish but I will require more yarn for that, perhaps purchased on a little trip to town tomorrow.

 The books above are going to be inspiration and indeed motivation for the challenge. I need to yearn for beautiful things, and I also need somewhere to turn to when I see something on a website or magazine and get a serious case of the Wanties. I can turn to these lovely books and find stuff to give me the wanties in there too.

 This was a birthday present from D. I just love this spread. I'd love a great big dresser heaving with unneccesary yet beautiful things. What was it William Morris said? Something like have nothing in your home that you know to be useful and think to be beautiful. Well this beauty covers both of those angles.

 With my new knitting skills (Hannah was very impressed with my practice sample!) I'm going to make this. Lovely! I'm got the Rowan pure wool my little brother got for Christmas to use, I just need one extra colour and I have everything I need. How exciting! I do love a tea cosy. I've planned a crafternoon with some friends in a couple of Sundays time with tea, yarn and cake. A knit and a natter. How terribly rock n roll.

 Of course, I know that this challenge will not be easy. There will be exceptions, and Tif (dottie angel) said that it's fine to have exceptions, the challenge is all about getting creative and having fun. Of course the baby will be the main exception- he'll need new clothes etc. Though we have been very thrifty so far. We were given the pram/pushchair, car seat, crib, rocking chair and a set of lovely nursery furniture (not yet even picked up, we need a house!). As well as mountains of clothes and toys! I've planned a cowboy theme for his nursery- Cath Kidston calling. I've been making a list of a few purchases from CK for a while too- a couple of pillowcases to replace my fading, mascara-stained favourites, a dress and some oilcloth for my 1950s cabinet. And now I have literally cleared out a good two thirds of my wardrobe, I need to replace some basics- bras, tights, tops from H&M. Besides that I intend to chazz it up quite a lot. And even slim down so I fit in my pre-baby clothes! The house needs some new bits when we get there- a new sofa from the big blue Swedish place, an extra CD rack and bookcase to match our existing. But I think the rest I'd definitely like second hand. I'm after stools, chairs and cupboards to paint and revive and fabric to make curtains etc. This is going to be a lot of fun! I just need a sewing machine. So if your granny or mum has an old one she is getting rid of, do let me know! I am happy to have it serviced and made to work again if it's knackered.

And this is the result of the past few days crafting. Eight lovely flowers, crocheted in Sirdar luxury soft cotton. The pattern is from Yvonn's blog-here- and they are easy to make once you've made one or two. Now I planned for these to be coasters, but we have plenty of coasters. I feel that they are somehow designed for another purpose. But what? I need suggestions. D suggested a table runner but I am not convinced. One day I'll crochet a big white bedspread out of these, like my mum's. But what to do with these colourful ones? I need your help.