Blog break

Hello everyone,  I'll be having a bit of a blog break for the next few weeks as I'm scheduled to move this Friday!  All very exciting!  I'm not sure when I'll be back,  hopefully before Christmas but it really depends how long it takes me to get everything organised and settle in.

Happy crafting, see you again soon!

Pastel inspired cushion cover

After my last post about pastel inspiration and thinking about decorating and furnishing my new home, I thought I'd share one of the things I making for my place.

Above are some of the squares for a lilac cushion cover I am making. You might be able to see, it is the same pattern as the cream one I made at the end of the summer.

I have some matching little shell buttons ready for the fastening.

I'm also enjoying having fresh flowers in the room at the moment. I think fresh flowers will be a feature of my new home whenever I can afford them!

Here's one last snippet of pastel loveliness from the weekend - can you make out the pastel colours on the bridge?

Stay warm everyone - it's cold here now!

Winter-time pastels

Now, I know that most of us tend to associate pastels with spring. Well, I have been thinking a lot (as you can imagine) about furnishings for my new home, and I really feel I want to keep it really light and airy and bright, so I am thinking pastels!

S and I went on a lovely Saturday morning walk yesterday, from Clapham Junction to the King's Road in Chelsea. I found some pastel inspiration in these gorgeous terraced houses which can be found down a little side street just before you get to Sloane Square.

The whole street is beautiful! Every single house along both sides of the street is painted in a pastel shade, from lemon yellow and pale blue to pink, lilac and pale green and salmon. I love the fact that everyone on the street has gone along with this! I wonder which house was the first to decide, 

"hey, y'know what?! I'm gonna paint the front of my house pink!" 

I particularly love the lilac and pale pink houses next to each other in the first picture above. You may not be able to see due to the shadow on the photo, but the lilac house also has a dark purple door!

So, yes, pastels shall be a feature in my new home. It's funny, I love day-dreaming about what furniture I might buy (cheap and cheerful is a must as I have an entire flat to kit out - bed, sofa, shelving and all!), and what colour cushion covers I'm going to have etc. etc., but I am totally procrastinating when it comes to actually packing for this move! Well, maybe it's not so strange to feel that way - after all, who enjoys spending hours wrapping china in newspaper?! (sorry if you do enjoy that!). 

I think I much prefer unpacking to packing!

Between finishing off my red sweater, starting a new sweater and working on cushion covers to adorn my yet to be bought sofa, I haven't had much time for my starburst throw in the last couple of weeks. 

I've started stitching the squares together, but I may not be able to pick this up again until after I've moved now. Still, I am already picturing it spread out on my new bed, cover a crisp white duvet cover (also yet to be bought - ugh, I have so much to do to make sure I don't end up spending my first night in my new flat sleeping on the floor under my coat!)

Have a happy Sunday all!

Another sweater

It's the middle of November, and we are well and truly into sweater (or jumper if you're a UK reader) weather, though oddly it's still not that cold here! We do have some nice sunshine and clear(ish) blue skies though.

I have well and truly been getting my knit on in the last few weeks.

Ages ago in this post I mentioned that I had a red Kim Hargreaves sweater pattern, Briar coming up on my list of Things I Want To Knit Before It Gets Cold. I believe I even mentioned red yarn too!

Well, the yarn was duly purchased (though in a slightly different shade of red to that I originally planned, but hey-ho) and the knitting excitement begun!

The yarn for this pattern is Rowan Lima. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this yarn?! It is squishy and cosy and a dream to knit with. It produces a gorgeous soft fabric, and because it's aran weight it's good instant gratification knitting!

On Monday night I finished my sweater and boy, am I pleased with the result. It is a delightfully cosy and snuggly garment, but being a Kim Hargreaves, knit the pattern has lovely clean and flattering lines - just what you want when the weather is starting to draw in but you're not quite ready to feel like a michelin man smothered in yarn (though it is nice to feel like that in January I find!)

How do you like it? Are any of you getting your knit on for some snuggly autumn and winter garments? Perhaps those of you in the Southern Hemisphere are whipping up spring and summer garments?

I already have the next project flying off my needles - here's a sneaky peek.

This is also a Kim Hargreaves pattern - one that I made last year, but somehow managed to end up with something that would have better fitted and Oran Utan because it had ridiculously long sleeves!

I really should be getting on with making homewares that I really need though. My house move is finally in sight, after months of waiting! I'm hoping to move at the end of November/beginning of December, so it will be frantic packing over the next few weeks. Then, once I have moved there's the business of trying to get a new internet connection set up - sigh. I may be out of action on the blog front until 2014! Hopefully I will pop back in here before moving day arrives though!

More next time, plus a crochet update!

Colour play

It has been wild and windy here! Our house was without power for about 7 hours on Monday, the day of the big storm. Suddenly being without electricity makes you realise how much you depend on it - for everything from boiling a kettle to heating water to shower or bath in!

Actually, I kind of liked not having electricity for a little while! It was nice to have no distractions and be forced to fall back on more traditional methods of entertainment, such as reading (and crochet of course). Though I probably would have taken a different view if the power outage had lasted until dark - as my other half said "crochet by candlelight - very exciting"! Exciting it may have been, but I'm sure it would have been bad for my eyes.

We were lucky to have our power back the same day - I know some people who were still without power on Tuesday afternoon/evening.

Perhaps my liking for not having electricity relates to a general need I'm feeling lately to try and slow life down. I feel a bit like I'm on a merry-go-round at the moment. I'm trying to cram so much into the days that the hours just fly by, and it leaves me feeling a little dizzy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining - I'm loving everything I'm doing at the moment - work and study. It's just that some times I find myself at one of the regular points in my routine feeling like it's only been about a minute since I was doing the same thing the day before!

Do you ever feel like that? Is it a side effect of modern life? I think it must be.

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Well, continuing with my attempt at a slow pace of life here, I've spent some time over the last couple of days playing around with the colours for my starburst squares, rolling ends into nice neat little balls, not hurrying the process, but just enjoying. 

In the photo above you can see the colours I'm using. I was going to try and tell you what make and shade each colour was, but I've completely gotten mixed up with trying to work it out now! Maybe I'll try again when I've finished the blanket.

I've made around 90 of these little squares now, and have started sewing them together.

I find working in batches make the process flow a little more smoothly, so I've been working the first two rounds on a batch of circles, then the third and finally the white edging.

Tonight I'm starting the stitching together process - I have to say it looks pretty good so far!

Stay warm

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