Sunday, Stitching & Stupid Snow

I was going to tell you not to expect snow posts from me as Liverpool doesn't generally get much in the way of extreme weather, what with being by the coast and all. I went to Harrogate yesterday though and boy, did it snow. It was fun at first, look at me covered in it and enjoying myself!

However things took a rapid downturn when we got in the car and it took us about 3 1/2 hours to go 3 miles. The roads weren't the problem, we just weren't moving! The journey there in the morning took us about 2 hours. Getting home took well over 6 hours. Not fun.

Our reason for going there in the first place was fun though! We went to the Knitting & Stitching Show which was like crafty heaven. I met up with Lucy which was lovely - her blog has much better pictures of the stalls by the way. I mostly took pics of the exhibition stuff, a lot of which was incredibly innovative, and some AMAZING hats from the Leeds Millinery people. If only the iphone camera didn't suck so much, the pics would be much better.

I would die with sheer joy if I owned this. It's a BROGUE HAT!!

Purchases consisted of loads of beading stuff including a Christmas pudding earring kit, various presenty things that are safely tucked away now, some buttons which I think I'll make into necklaces and a knitting set in a cup! How fun please? The wool is gorgeously soft and the stall owner assures me that even a novice knitter can manage to make wristwarmers from it. I shall report back on my progress...




I swished for the first time as well! It was fun - I took along some stuff that was just cluttering up my wardrobe and exchanged it for this cute little black clutch and gorgeous Topshop pleated frock. It doesn't look as if it's ever been worn. Now I just need a sassy little black jacket to wear with it as I don't show my horrible arms off in public (just on this blog, weirdly enough. Also please excuse the bra straps)

ps - sorry if I sound entirely disjointed tonight. I had a very unsettling dream last night about the boy I was smitten with in Sixth Form and have been feeling odd all day. Haven't thought about him for years so I don't know what sparked that one off! I do sometimes wish that my dreams weren't so vivid - when they're good they're really good but bad ones have a horrible habit of freaking me out for a while afterwards.

Back Home

Hi all.

I'm back from holiday and am so far behind on comments - sorry! This weekend has been somewhat manic but I'll try and catch up over the next few days. I had such a lovely relaxing week away.

I ate way too much but I don't care.


Tons of mistletoe everywhere!

This is why I like holidaying in the UK. So beautiful and full of random, interesting things. Although you wouldn't know it from the last photo, the map assured me that it was the remains of an ancient fort.

View from the living room window.

When I wasn't charity shopping or making baubles, I mostly spent the week on the sofa. Items vital to my happiness - netbook, lipbalm, book, duvet.


Nom nom nom. All scoffed whilst watching An Affair To Remember and having a mild swoon over Cary Grant.






I popped to Stokesay Castle on the drive home. Bit of a flying visit as it was about minus 2 and that's really not the weather to be standing around freezing cold stone castles in. Beautiful place though!

Sparkles

When I haven't been charity shopping or reading this week, I've been crafting. Now I'm the first to admit that I'm really not good at crafts. I can wield a needle well enough but as I don't really do cross stitch any more, I get very little chance to use one. Anything more complicated or involving machinery (am still a bit scared of sewing machines) or actual skill is usually beyond me. I am not a good pupil either - if I don't understand something I get cross and go off in a huff and that doesn't usually help matters.

One thing I can do is follow a pattern. And I'm very fond of sparkly things, so I like to make beaded baubles. They mostly come from Spellbound Beads who are marvellous people and stock all kinds of shiny stuff. None of it is terribly difficult to make - you need to know about two basic techniques (how to finish off the end of a piece of a thread and how to keep the tension in the thread) and just have lots of patience.

Now as Char will probably confirm, even this isn't without complications and I'm usually found either muttering "16A, 1B, crap, which is the B bead again?" or swearing violently at the thread and telling it to stay still and not get knotted round the beads. Is it worth it in the end? I think so.

I made this beautiful bauble as a present for Christina as I thought it would suit her gorgeous, glamorous style. Isn't it a pretty pattern? A new for me but very satisfying to make. You just quietly plod your way through making the loops and then ta, da, it's done.

I also made this star pattern one as a present for a colleague . It looks stunning in real life - so intricate and sparkly but it's an absolute bugger to make. It took about 10 hours to finish and I was so sick of stars afterwards that I moved onto something totally different instead. I don't remember it being so hard last time I made it!

Equally tricky but in a different way (also v. tricky to photograph for some reason) is this one which I've finished up today. It's much smaller and you're going round and round on yourself with this design. About 4 extra hands would be useful. I went a bit wrong at one stage but what the heck, I'll just hide it at the back of the tree or something.

ps - have also been working on a couple of totally different handmade goodies as part of the big December giveaway I've got planned for you lovely lot. Watch this space...

Clowning Around

You've got to love that moment in a shop when something is missing a price label and you take it up to the till in hope/dread/anticipation of what the actual price is. It is one of the most satisfying things in the world when the answer is "Oh, let's call it £2.99" I sense that perhaps it was cheap because no-one else would want it but I did and that's the main thing.

I call it my clown top.

Ruffles!!

I know it doesn't look amazing in this photo - for starters it's too big but I shall solve that with a belt or something. I think it also deserves to be paired up with something more stylish than some ancient M&S leggings but I'm working with my holiday wardrobe and it was either these or pj bottoms... Basically though, I love it. I can't resist a piece of clothing that makes me smile when I catch sight of myself wearing it.

I haven't been wearing it all day though. Today was the first day this week with actual sunshine so I took myself out for a walk in the countryside. Is it possible to dress for proper walking and still look good? If so, I don't think I achieved it. My socks are fun though (yes, that is Indiana Jones).

Jeans - Dorothy Perkins
Jumper - River Island
Scarf - Next Clearance
Headband/earwarmer thing - Primark
Boots - Lidl
Jacket - Regatta

A Wish List?

Afternoon lovelies.

The cottage wifi has gone a bit wonky (definitely not my fault though - I didn't do anything to it, it just stopped working for me!) so I'm posting this from Starbucks after having been to the cinema by myself to watch Harry Potter (which, incidentally, was brilliant!).

I'm sipping a soya gingerbread latte and listening to Christmas songs (surely far too early for those?) and it's making me think about presents. I don't want to call this a wish list post because I don't think any of my "real life" people read this and will get inspiration from it, plus I'm odd with presents anyway and LOVE surprises so it wouldn't really be a surprise if I pointed them in the direction of this post, if that makes sense?

So it's not a wish list, it's mostly just things I would like but haven't got round to/can't afford to buy for myself. Yeah, it's probably a wish list isn't it?

Also, because Blogger SUCKS at uploading photos and I'm about to run out of time on the parking meter and am going MENTAL in a public place and shouting at the internet, there are no photos, just links. I'm very sorry. I hate posts without pics. Click on the links to see pictures of pretty pretty things or just use lashings of imagination.

If the links don't work then I wouldn't be surprised. Take pity on the crazy lady in the grey cloche hat in Starbucks in Hereford who looks as if she is about punch the internet in the face.



EDIT - Woopity von woop woop, the wifi appears to be working again! Here are some pictures. I would edit out the crazy ranting but it amuses me, so it's staying.

A "Go Away I'm Reading" mug from The Literary Gift Company
Laura posted this on her blog a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it. It would tie in my affections with my sequinned eyemask that says "**** off"

H&M blue scarf/snood thing - I couldn't share a photo of it anyway as the H&M website is awful (and swamped with people trying to get hold of the unimpressive Lanvin stuff probably).
I was drawn to the colour of this first of all but then I stroked it and I fell in love. For something 100% acrylic it feels amazing. Do I need more scarves though? Not really, so I bought a clutch instead (which I actually did need).

Debo Devonshire's latest book, Wait For Me: Memoirs of the Youngest Mitford Sister. I am about 98% certain I will be getting a copy of this from at least one of my friends - it'll probably be like last year when I ended up with two copies of In Tearing Haste.

Downton Abbey. I didn't watch this when it was on tv (missed the first ep and never caught up, d'oh!) but I must see it.


Accessorize reverse knit cable ear muffs
No explanation needed really - they're awesome. I love a good pair of earmuffs.

Mr B's Reading Spa Treatment
This is just a genius idea for a present. The idea of a proper spa doesn't appeal to me at all but a BOOK spa, hello! I live nowhere near Bath but it's worth going just for that, don't you think?


Coin bracelet
Just one of those things that I've always quite wanted but never got round to buying


Revolving book stand.
Beautiful and practical. Sadly v. expensive.

A Hello to Jason Isaacs tshirt
Every loyal follower of Wittertainment should have one. Preferably worn whilst handing out codes of conduct to unruly cinema goers.


Postcards from Penguin
I have vague ideas of turning these into a big piece of wall art. Such classic design.

Henry Cavill. Well, a girl can dream...

ps - if I can't fix the wifi I'll probably be a bit gappy with commenting until I get back. I can do it from my phone on some blogs but it's a killer on the eyes.