pretty patterns

Hope you're having a nice easy Sunday.

Normally at this time on a Sunday I would have my nose in my laptop and a pile of research articles,  studying for my PhD.  However,  I had a meeting with my supervisors last week, where the results of a couple of months of hard work were discussed.  They seemed pleased,  and I feel like I have made progress,  so as a reward I'm giving myself the weekend off. I also have a day off work tomorrow,  to sort out new curtains for my flat, so I feel an absolutely luxurious sense of unhurried-ness with hours of free time still stretching ahead of me!

I have been nesting this week, buying and working and thinking on things for the flat. Firstly these lovely bowls, which are so bright and pretty.  I love the pattern. 

A lovely tea cup- the print inside was the detail that really stole my heart.

My lovely new china also inspired me to crochet some more table mats and coasters to complement it.

Have a restful day,  see you again soon.

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Spring refurbishment

Last weekend I had a massive clearout of clothes, books and general bric-a-brac. It really felt so good! I also decided that I need to have a spring re-fresh here and started work on that.

My spring re-fresh necessitated some sewing. Regular visitors to this blog will know that I mainly write about knitting and crochet. Over the years I have had a bit of a love-hate relationship with sewing. When I was in primary school, and first learnt to hand sew, I loved it. I loved the order of tiny neat little running stitches, went to a sewing club and made a beanbag frog (sadly he is long gone (along with my childhood!), but trust me, he was gorgeous!).

I then had a long gap where I did not attempt any kind of craft, before picking up knitting again, then learning to crochet, and somewhere in there attempting a little bit of sewing. It was that little bit of sewing in there which caused the hate and frustration! All my cut edges were wonky, my stitches suddenly seemed to look uneven and untidy, the thread would snag and knot so that I had to start over, and frankly it all just seemed to take so long!

However, over the last year or so, with some perseverance I am slowly rediscovering my sewing ability and finally starting to like what I am producing! So, on Sunday, realising I wanted to refresh some of the furnishings and generally perk things up a bit at home with some fresh spring colours, I got sewing!

So, 'enough of this waffle' I hear you cry, 'what did you make?'

Here they are!

 I started slow - just a little cushion cover, using 2 pieces of fabric and a zipper fastening.

Then I moved on to hanging scented hearts - attempted several times over the last few years and responsible for not a little of my previous frustration! I had an epiphany with the construction of these last summer when I bought the book 'All sewn up' by Chloe Owens - I never knew you were supposed to cut notches by the stitches - felt so frustrated that  my little hearts did not go into the correct shape when I turned them right side out. Still, this time I think I have really got the knack!

I've now made 6 of these little cuties in total - I think I am a bit addicted to them! 

So. what's next on the list in my sewing marathon?

2 cushion covers (probably patchworh as I don't think I have single pieces of fabric large enough)

Some little purses of differing sizes

More hearts?

A travel project bag for my crochet at the weekends

A runner for my dressing table

Anything else I can think of before I run out of fabric!

I'm sure I will share the results with you here.

One last thing before I go - I wanted to show you my latest lovely dressing table acquisition - this gorgeous Wedgwood trinket tray

I saw this on eBay - the pattern is 'Angela', for a bargain price. I initially bought this for something to stand candles on, however, when it arrived this morning it looked too gorgeous for that! I think I may have to use it for trinkets and look for something else for the candles!

I so love these delicate little painted illustrations of flowers and butterflies - they are just breathtakingly beautiful!

Until next time.....

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I have been....

...away from my blog for a little while.

It wasn't intentional, just a few things kept me busy. I have been ill this week, which meant a hold on all things - work, crafting, posting - doing anything! However, I'm happy to be much better now!

In my last post, I talked about plans for making a vintage toned throw, and how I was giving myself a colour detox. Well, those plans are still a work in progress. I bought some yarn and started working away on a simple granny square throw - small squares in 4 colours joined together. I'll share more on this once its complete. This is a simple project and doesn't really represent what I ultimately had in mind - its more of a step along the way while I get a feel for the kind of colours I want to use.

I have some other, purple toned yarns set aside, which I think will eventually become a vintage style throw. I've just had them on the table while I've been working, looking at them together, trying to decide for sure which colours I like together. Then, once I decide that I need to think about what kind of stitch I want to use - definately something different from granny squares I think!

I've also been trying to take colour inspiration from other things around me, while I plan this project, snapping them all on Instragram to remind me! The purple Dahlia, orchid and dried lavender I have on my windowsill are my current inspiration! Wow, when I look around me and see how many purple things I have, I have to admit it really is one of my favourite colours! I think I'm leaning towards more blue-purple tones at the moment, like the lavender.

Even my china has been helping me on this journey of colour discovery. I was recently lucky enough to get hold of two more Royal Albert mugs to add to my collection - the pink and yellow mugs shown above (the green one I already had). These patterns are from their Bronte series (named after the classic authors, Emily, Charlotte and Anne). I think my favourite is the pink with purple flowers, seen in the foreground of the image just above, but I love them all!

That's about all for now, another post tomorrow I think!

Pretending to be a Provincial Lady

 
I feel I am mentally pretending to myself that I have more time for out of work pursuits at the moment than I actually do. The result of which is this post!

I had my birthday last week, and was given a very pretty copy of E.M. Delafield's Diary of a Provincial Lady which you can just see the cover of in the pictures here. I haven't actually had a chance to start reading yet, though I will very soon! It's something I have wanted to read for ages. Now that I have finished my study course, my brain keeps telling me I should have time for all these things. Somehow it is not quite coming true though!

Sigh. My problem is a very minor one in the scale of things, but still. I think I am experiencing crafting burnout. This is what comes of having no time at all for your favourtie hobbies for a long time, and then suddenly having that time given back to you. You try and pack in so much in such a short space of time that you actually end up stressing yourself out with it!

This is what has happened to me. I now have way to many knitting and crochet projects on the go as well as some sewing I'd like to do, and several potential ideas for future projects floating around my head. Its starting to make me feel a little crazy as I don't know which to do first!

I have still squeezed in time to spot the lovely Royal Albert Blue Damask Old Country Roses tea cup on eBay and purchase it! This is the blue tea cup which you can see in the pictures (with tea in it), and goes so well with the Peppermint Damask pattern cup which I bought in the summer. I felt so lucky to be the high bidder and snag this cup!

Well, back to crochet. I really can't list all of my crochet projects here, but I can tell you about a couple of them!

Christmas cushion covers

I decided it would be nice to make some simple red and white cushion covers, just to help tie the Christmas colour scheme together in our living room. This isn't an ambitious project - I am only aiming to make 2 covers in total. Here's the start of the first cover:

Do you remember this design? Its the same as the design I used for my starburst cushion covers back in the summer.

Flowers in the snow blanket

This is also the same pattern - I'm intending this to be a throw, but its only cushion cover size at the moment. To be honest it may in fact end up as another cushion cover - somehow the colour scheme is not motivating me enough to make it grow any larger!

Well, thats all for now. I really will try and post more regularly - hopefully the next post might actually contain a finished project!

Collecting, crocheting and boxie pouches

It has been a heck of a week again for me with my coursework, and that's why its been a little quiet on here lately. I have so much studying to do I don't have much time at all for crafting. Sad, but necessary until the end of November, which isn't long now.

So, this is a bit of a round up of what I have been doing in the last couple of weeks. I normally would split this over a few posts, but I'm condensing due to lack of time!

Crochet hexagon blanket

It feels like ages ago since I first posted on here that I was attempting this. Well, I'm still working on it, though progress feels slow!

I'm taking a modular approach now - rather than making rows and sewing them on one at a time, I'm making clusters of hexagons as kind of modules then fitting them together.

Collecting china

I spotted some lovely cups and saucers on eBay the other week, and had to have them! They are Elizabethan Carnaby - I just love the retro floral pattern and colours on them. They have pride of place on the dresser at the moment. I'm afraid the colours don't show up so well in a photo. I think may favourite is the turquoise purple mix (bottom), though I like the autumnal feel of the orange, yellow and amber mix too (second from bottom)!

Boxie pouches

I discovered a sewing tutorial for these boxie pouches a couple of weeks ago and have since made 2 pouches - I love them! Once you get the hang of it, they are so quick and easy to make. I think every lady and possible all females work colleagues will be getting one of these for Christmas this year!

Poppys and roses

Having spent a conscientous couple of hours studying, I feel I can now allow myself some fun for the rest of the day! I should mention, studying on a Saturday is not normally something that happens with me, but with assignment deadlines looming next month and a week's holiday to Edinburgh the week after next (can't wait!) on which I will be unable (and even more unwilling than usual) to study, it just had to be done.

So, having paid my dues to the world of health informatics for the day, I took a stroll to photograph some of the lovely poppies which are gathering on the roadsides nearby my house. There's something about poppies and their ephemeral nature which is just charming, You would love to take them home and put them in a vase but you know that if you do, they'll soon be withered (and also you shouldn't really pick wildflowers). Best to leave them in the wild for all to enjoy. Maybe this is why beauty always makes me a little sad - you can't capture and hold it, and you know eventually it must die.

Then again, I suppose photographs are some form of capture of beauty!

This was tricky as far as photography goes (I'm no pro in that field) - a very strong wind making it difficult to focus and also blurring the colours. Still, I got there in the end!

As if the lovely poppies weren't enough beauty and charm for one day, when I reached home the doorbell rang, and a parcel which I've been eagerly awaiting since the start of the week arrived. I bought a tea cup and saucer from eBay with a Royal Albert Old English Rose design. I have a thing about tea cups at the moment (probably springing from my long term love of tea and cake!), and couldn't resist this one.

Here it is resplendent on the new Granny Square Throw:

This particular eBay purchase all started with a visit to Liberty's (which I haunt with the frequency of a Victorian ghost!) and me cooing over the current range of Royal Albert china, which is all in pink and blue pastel. Not being able to justify the expense, I turned to eBay and found the above! Obviously an older pattern but so pretty!