do you mind if i knit

The Walnuss Cardigan.

Hello!

The Walnuss Cardigan by Anke Stricke, is what I'm knitting now.

Would you like to see a picture of the finished cardigan on Ravelry?

Here you are, go to this link. You'll have to be a member of Ravelry to access this, you do this by applying to be a member and when you're invited, you can join and have access to an amazing pattern library. It's free to join.

If you're a knitter you may well have heard of Ravelry, and downloaded patterns. Some patterns you can get for free, with other patterns there is a charge of around $6.

The link to the wonderful world of Ravelry is here.

I'm a huge fan of Ravelry, it's the most amazing way to find all varieties of knitting and crochet patterns.

And one of the best things is that members upload photos of their knitting, so if you want to see what the garment you might knit, looks like on all shapes and sizes of bodies, you go to the projects link for that pattern.

The link to see what the pattern I'm knitting, The Walnuss Cardigan, looks like on many different people, is here.

I have to admit, the pattern for this cardigan is not for the faint hearted. It's a very clever pattern, but you need to be alert when knitting this. I feel as though I'm having a rehearsal for the second cardigan I might knit from this pattern. There are a few uncertainties, like the wool I'm using, I'm not sure the Rowan Cashsoft 4 ply in shade 453, has enough drape for this garment. There are also some mistakes I've made which I only became aware of by the time I'd knitted on quite a lot, and I just didn't feel like ripping back all the knitting I'd done. Like making a buttonhole every 7 mm, rather than the 7 cm required in the pattern. I'll have lots of buttons on this cardigan.

I think I thought that because this is such a simple design, (it looks simple in the photo for the pattern), it would be an easy knit. But it's not a particularly easy knit. I had a question about the pattern which I didn't know how to solve, and I emailed the designer Anke Strick, she got back to me really quickly, I thought that was very nice of her, and my problem was resolved.

Righty-ho, I'm going off to do some knitting, my fingers are itching to get going.

Have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio.

Vanessa xxx

Dressylicious.

Hello!

Back after another week away from blogging, work load, you know the thing, will just skim over it because it's very boring. Just to say sorry for yet another absence.

In my last blog post, I said I'd tell you more about the dress I was wearing under the dress I knitted, in the photo above.

It's a dress I love to wear, and I can imagine other people loving wearing it too, so I thought I'd share my source with you.

I didn't sew it myself, it was made by Kate at Harmony and Rosie, and bought from her shop.

I tell you, it was bloomin freezing when these phots were taken by Helen.

Helen Stephens. I've mentioned her work on my blog before. She's also a very lovely friend, it was extremely nice of her to stand out in the cold with me and take these photos.

Actually, she's just had another fabulous book published, which might interest those of you who know, or have small people in your life. It's called "The Big Adventure of The Smalls", and you can see it on Amazon UK here, or Amazon US here.

Helen has a blog called "oh, I forgot to say", and in one of her latest blog entries she shows her drawings of my Miniature Wire Haired Dachshunds, Ellie and Douglas. She's borrowed them a couple of times to draw them, because....................... !!!! She's doing a children's book in which they are the stars!!!!!!!!!!!!

Imagine if your children were starring in a book, and the author was producing lots of drawings of your beloved children for the book, you might well feel thrilled about it.

Well, it's the same if you have beloved dogs, there are lots of happy feelings involved in seeing your children/dogs being drawn for a book.

If you want to see some of Helen's drawings of the doggies, go to this link.

So, back to the dress.

Without a belt, or with belt? What do you think? I just can't decide.

Maybe it's a mood thing, how I wear it depends on how I feel on the day?

I really love this dress, and I'm so glad I bought it from Kate. It's made in linen and comes with full care instructions. The colour isn't a colour way that Kate shows in her shop yet. I emailed her asking if the Iona Tunic dress was available in any other colours than the dress shown in her shop, and she photographed this colour fabric, and emailed it to me, and I knew immediately it was the one.

This dress is so, so comfortable, and I think it's a timeless piece too, I shall wear it till it becomes a limp rag. I find the pockets very handy and nice to use, (the dresses I have that don't have pockets now seem incomplete). It's made with a linen fabric, which crumples, but that is part of it's charm, that elegant crumple of linen, and I actually like it's look.

This blue green colour is a colour I'm very "in" to at the moment. I've started a new knitting project in a blue green wool. It's a very clever but complicated knitting pattern (for something that appears relatively simple), and requires a small amount of gritting of the teeth and bearing the pain stoically in the following of the pattern.

Maybe I'll save showing you what the pattern is till my Friday blog post, rather than over-loading you with too many links and images.

Yes, Friday's post it is, showing you what I'm knitting.

Till then, take care, may the sun shine on you, and now I'm tip-toeing off back to work.

Cheerio.

Vanessa xxx

The Alpaka Tunic by Deborah Newton - finished!

Finished! One lace dress.

A lace marathon, or that's how it felt to me.

I think the best thing I can do is get straight down to pictures, don't you?

So that's the lace dress with a fabric dress underneath.

I'll be telling you about the fabric dress I'm wearing underneath the knitted dress, next week, it's something I'm really pleased with, and want to share with you.

The next day, I wore my lace dress over jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, for a slightly different look.

Which look do you prefer?

With dress?

Or trousers?

 I think I prefer the dress underneath, I love the colour contrast.

I'm not sure whether I enjoyed knitting this dress, the experience is a bit hazy. Because I had to concentrate when knitting it, I had to knit in fits and starts, a few rows here, a few rows there, when I had a quiet moment, and it seemed endless. I loved watching the lace pattern develop, that was wonderful. And I like the colour of the yarn, which I'd describe as burnt orange, but everyone else sees as red.

I would knit a lace garment again, despite the frustration and pain, purely because it seems like magic knitting. With a few yarn overs and knitting togethers and so-on, you get lace! MAGIC.

This pattern is called the "Alpaka Tunic", and it's by Deborah Newton. It's available to buy on-line from Interweave, as a single pattern, here.

There are some lovely photos of a beautiful lady wearing a grey version of the dress here.

I used 4 mm nedles to knit this, because the general consensus when looking at people's Alpaka Tunics on Ravelry, was that it comes out quite big if the 5.5 mm needles are used.

The yarn I used was "Scappa" DK, which is 100% wool, spun and hand dyed in Scotland. After washing, this yarn softened up.

My major modification to this dress was to not knit the sleeves, I felt it looked nicer with out them.

I started this dress 28th October 2011, as evidenced in this blog post. It was finished and blocked on 14th April 2012, so length of time to knit it? About five and a half months.

Thank you very much to Hugo for patiently taking the photos of me, he did a great job.

I'm going to go and put this on my ravelry page, here. On Ravelry I'm vanessahc, you can see all my other knitting projects here.

Righty-ho, I'd better be going, things to do, you know how it is.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Vanessa xxx

To be a blanket, or not to be a blanket, that is the question.

What a perfect time of year to be talking about the subject of blankets.

For those of us in chillier climes, just the word "blanket" has comforting connotations.

Snuggly and buggly, cuddly, bundled up, cosy, warm, fire glow, hot tea in a mug. Such nice warm things to warm the cockles of our hearts, and make us glad.

I've slowly been progressing with making my striped and plain coloured diamonds.

Last night my curiosity got the better of me, and I started to join some together. I wanted to see how they'd look.

I love them!

I know they're not perfect.

This is because I've used different makes of 4-ply yarns to knit with, and every yarn company seems to have a different idea of how bulky 4-ply yarn should be. (I could now tell you who does a thick 4-ply, and who does a very thin 4-ply). So the diamonds are varying slightly in size, which makes it difficult to sew them together.

But never mind, I'm telling myself it has a quirky charm.

I've also moved on from the idea of using bits-n-bobs of yarn left over from other projects, to actually buying balls of 4-ply for this project, as I didn't have enough 4-ply left-overs.

And as I've progressed with these diamonds, I've had a nagging thought that just won't go away.

This would make a great blanket.

It was going to be a scarf, but now I can't leave the thought of a blanket alone. I'm finding it difficult to shake off this thought, even when I think of just how much work would be involved in making a blanket for a ............ king size bed.

I'm probably mad.

Maybe I shouldn't commit to anything at this stage, just carry on till I get too sick and tired of knitting tiny diamonds, and joining them together.

I've been enjoying using the Rowan Fine Tweed I mentioned a few posts back, and have started to mix the tweed with the solid coloured yarns, which is quite effective.

I've also been enjoying reading these books I bought from our wonderful local second-hand book shop. I was seduced by the covers, I have to admit (sheepishly), but have enjoyed reading them enormously. I'm just about to start on 'The Dean's Watch' by Elizabeth Goudge, after finishing the book of short stories by Georgette Hayer, 'Pistols for Two', and 'Peridot Flight' by Doris Leslie. I never thought I'd be in to reading historical romances, but there we are, I seem to have developed an appetite for a relaxing easy read, where women seemed to be rescued from various plights by handsome and extremely wealthy men. That's more Georgette Hayer's plot lines. 'Peridot Flight' has a very plucky heroine, and the subject of women's lib is touched upon, and Peridot (such a great name) finishes the book being the bread winner.

I'd really like to say I've been re-reading my collection of short stories by Anton Chekhov (which are a superb and thought-provoking), or delving in to the other classics sitting on our book shelves, but no, I'm reading historical romances, as guiltily as if I were devouring a very large cream cake (preferably a Victoria Sponge cake, yum).

So many of these old books have lost their dust jackets, it's such a shame. According to the proprietor of the book shop, where I bought these books, many people would remove the dust jackets. Such a shame.

Well I think that's all I have for you today. I hope your preparations for Christmas are going well? Take care.

Vanessa xxx

 

Pink is the colour of love.

The dozen pink roses are from Hugo, a gift for our wedding anniversary last week, and they're still going strong.

I love pink roses, I don't like red roses at all, and that's putting it quite mildly, for some reason red roses disgruntle me.

Pink, I learnt about a year ago, is the true colour of love. Red is the colour of passion. What d'you make of that in relation to my red rose reaction hey?!

The pink in these photos are a bit red looking aren't they?! They're actually HOT pink, not red!

Let's have a few calming beach photos shall we.

We have fabulous beaches around us here in the North east of England, and they get relatively little foot fall.

We are very fortunate with our deserted beaches, many people's dream is a beach that you have all to yourself. A long stretch of sand, with only you, the waves and your thoughts. Lovely.

But as with anything in life, nothing is perfect, and we sometimes get long stretches of cold grizzly weather.

So it is with something akin to jealousy that I've been looking at Lori's light. She lives in a place with wonderful light, which helps with wonderful photographs. Of course, her superb artistic eye for composition and narrative are all her own vision, and if you don't have that, no amount of good light is going to result in good photographs. Would you like to know where you can see Lori's beautiful world? It's easily reached by visiting her blog 'lori times five', the link is here.

And now for a report on the striped diamonds I've been making.

I've been doing about four a day, two at lunch time, two if I get a chance in the evening. These four add up to a little pile. I now have a pile of diamond shapes! You won't be able to get the true feeling from looking at, and handling a pile of knitted diamonds, in these photographs, but in real life, it's a delicious thing to experience. Trust me.

I must be getting that feeling Stephanie from Tiny Owl Knits talks about in her video here, where talks about her hexipuffs.

The tutorial for making the diamonds I'm knitting is here.

So I've increased the diamonds I've knitted from my last post about them, here ..........

To this! It soon adds up doesn't it?

Blocking makes a big difference to these little numbers. You see how they're all curled up at the back in the above photo? The ones at the front have been blocked by laying a damp tea towel over each one, and pressing with a warm iron.

Righty-ho, I have to go, I need to eat supper, Hugo has said the food is almost ready.

Cheerio!

Vanessa xxx

Striped Diamonds.

Isn't it getting dark early?

Thank goodness we have a wood burning stove to cosy up to in the evenings, it makes the dark nights an occasion. That's the positive way of looking at it.

My lace dress is coming on at a couple of rows a day at the moment, so a bit slow, but I like to think that these little bits of knitting all add up quite nicely over time.

So whilst the lace knitting is progressing at a snails pace, I decided I needed some knitting that was quick and easy, for those times I don't want to concentrate too hard, and I found JUST the thing!

It all started with seeing a blog post on Dutch Sisters blog here.

Corry was making a wonderful star ornament, (which she shows finished in this blog post here), and I thought it was just the job for a little inbetween knitting.

Then I went off my plan to make an ornament, because I latched on to the idea of making many little diamond shapes, and joining them up to make a scarf.

The tutorial for the knitted star, and the individual diamond shapes, can be found here.

They are easy peasy lemon squeezy, so have fun making them.

They are wonderful stash busters too. I'm using up all the 4-ply yarn I can find in my stash. It's especially good for using up bits of variegated yarn. I have some Koigu left over from something else I was doing, and it looks delicious knitted up in tiny amounts and scattered throughout the array of diamonds.

I wouldn't have thought to use the variegated yarn if it hadn't been for seeing an AMAZING design for The Beekeeper's Quilt, by Tiny Owl Knits here. Stephanie brings a fresh approach to the use of variegated yarn, a look I love, so I thought I'd mix some variegated diamonds in amongst the solid and striped coloured ones.

Isn't the web a wonderful place for inspiration.

If you do go to the link for the Beekeeper's Quilt, try and have a look at the short film Stephanie has made,(you just scroll down to the bottom of the page, or you can go to it by clicking here). She's very, very entertaining, and funny and enchanting. I especially love her asides about the noises she can hear her neighbour making through the walls of her flat. I've just watched her latest video about her Mr.Fox Stole (my heart), very entertaining too.

You know winter is closing in when the geese honk off. Don't they do just that, honk?

We stood watching them in amazement, as they flew in their undulating and purposeful v-shape. I almost waved them goodbye, it felt like I should shout "till next year, all the best, and you'll be missed. Take good care of yourselves".

I stood and admired a group of birds sweeping through the sky in a graceful clump the other day. It was the view from the spare room window.

So lovely, they were.

Well, I must get back to work, so I shall say cheerio, and see you on Friday!

Vanessa xxx

Knitting a lace dress.

Hello! I don't know about you, but I love Autumn, and I dread Autumn, all at the same time.

It's all so pretty, and exciting, seeing and feeling the changing seasons, that has to be one of the best things about our weather, the seasons.

I would like to say a big thank you for all your well wishes, I'm feeling so much better, not 100% yet, but almost there. Isn't it a huge relief to have good health, if you do have good health?

Inbetween crocheting scarves, I've been applying myself to knitting a lace dress.

I finished knitting the Coraline cardigan a while ago, but haven't any photos yet. I have a half finished skirt I'm making, to go with the Coraline cardigan, you see I've got a particular picture in my mind for the photos, so I'm waiting till they've been taken to show you the finished piece.

I can't not be knitting something, so I got stuck in to knitting this lace dress I'm showing you today.

I found knitting this quite challenging at first, mainly because of the way the pattern is written. All the instructions are crowded together in long thin vertical paragraphs, and if you're not used to this style of pattern, it can be a little confusing at first. (This is the way Interweave Knits write their patterns, not the style of the author of the pattern).

The pattern is the 'Alpaca Tunic' by Deborah Newton, and you can buy the pattern online here, from Interweave Knit's pattern library.

I'm not using the specified Alpaca yarn, I'm using a wool that is made in Orkney, which you can buy here. It's not the softest yarn I've ever used, but I'll reserve judgement on it until I've washed the finished garment.

There are a few people who have knitted this dress on ravelry, so I got some very helpful tips about it, ravelry is fantastic for that.

Lace knitting is a funny thing. It's sort of addictive because you see magic growing before you, but at the same time it requires a steady nature. You just can't be slap-dash when it comes to knitting lace, otherwise you don't get the desired effect, as I realised when I'd knitted a whole section. I had to take back a whole load of knitting I'd done. You can't over-rule lace patterns, they rule you, and you have to give in to their strict rules (those rules being follow the pattern diligently).

The other thing about lace knitting is that you never get the full effect until you've washed and blocked it. I never normally block my knitting after washing it, I know that's frowned upon, but I don't. But I will be blocking this lace dress, definitely.

Hugo will testify that I almost gave up trying to fathom the pattern at the beginning. Then a few days later, I sheepishly picked it up and tried again. And lo-and-behold, I got it! Now I don't know why I was making any fuss, it now all seems perfectly clear. That's the way of these things isn't it? Once you understand something, it seems easy, when you don't know what is going, it seems like rocket science.

I'm so glad I persevered.

And just before I say goodbye, here's a little hint of something I've got to show you next week, when I've listed them in my etsy shop.

Have a good weekend!

Vanessa xxx

 

A reveal you weren't expecting!

Hello!

I only realised today that I'm a day out, that it's Wednesday and not Tuesday, and that I forgot to post a blog entry last night. The Monday's Bank Holiday has got me totally discombobulated, I'm all over the place. Do three-day weekends do that to you too?

It all started with running out of steam last Friday, and having absolutely not the teeeeniest tiniest tinsiest bit of energy to do a blog post, even though I've got plenty to show you, almost too much. I always miss it when I don't do a blog post, it's like something is missing, I'm incomplete, so it takes quite a lot to stop me from doing a blog post. But there we go, no energy, not a milligram, and no blogola post.

But I'm back again with renewed vigour, even if I am a day late.

The surprise reveal is this cardigan I made recently, which was finished so quickly, I didn't manage to write about starting it.

It's my own pattern, very loosely based on the Annabel Cardigan I knitted which I blogged about in this post.

That's a picture of the Annabel cardigan above.

My pattern is sooo loosely  based on the Annabel cardigan, that if I wrote it up and published it, it would be very hard to accuse me of plagiarism.

I was thinking of writing up the pattern, but when am I going to find the time? My brain is feeling scrambled enough as it is. maybe one day, when things are calmer.

I haven't even got a name for my cardigan yet, I just think of it as my Herdwick Sheep Cardigan.

I bought the yarn back in April this year, with some Birthday money I received, when we went to the Lake District for a week.

The yarn is an Aran weight, using the fleece of the Herdwick Sheep, and produced by Crookabeck Farm in Cumbria.

The whole experience of buying the yarn was a bit of an adventure. The farm was a bit off the beaten track, down a very long a rustic winding lane. We were lucky that the lady owner of the farm was around to open up her shop, as she could have well been tending her flock of Herdwicks, which are a very pretty looking sheep.

You may have noticed lots of little wiry hairs sticking out of the balls of yarn in the mosaic above. Very prickly wiry hairs they are too. I don't want to criticise this yarn at all, because I love the colour and the way it knits up, and the fact that the yarn is from a breed that Beatrix Potter bred and loved, but I'm afraid I would be lying if I said it was soft and easy to wear once knitted up. (There's also a good blog entry about Beatrix Potter and the Herdwick Sheep here, it's very readable and informative). This yarn also sheds the white hairs whilst being knitted up, so that I was surrounded by a halo of white on the floor wherever I was knitting. I picked out a lot of the hairs by hand when I'd finished the cardigan, but there are still more to be removed. It's a cardigan that has to be worn over several t-shirts, or a garment that is so tightly woven, no hairs can get through and make you go "oww!"

If it wasn't for those bloomin prickly white hairs, this yarn would be very good, because the colour is so gorgeous, and it's a very hard wearing yarn, which doesn't pill, as far as I can tell.

Every time I wear this cardigan, which I have to work myself up to mentally, and make sure I'm wearing enough layers not to be tortured, I do some plucking out of the nasty white hairs.

One day, I will have a very nice and comfortable cardigan!

Shall we look at a few more pictures of a body in the cardigan?

I do have some beautifully soft Aran yarn in my stash which I was thinking of using to knit this cardigan again, and refine it, and then be comfortable wearing it. The yarn is lurking in a bag where I can see it, but that's not aloways a guarantee it will be used imminently.

I have almost finished the Coraline Cardigan I've been working on recently, I just have to graft the underarms, sew on buttons and sew in ends, and then its done! It feels like that's worked up very quickly.

Infact, I've already started a new project, another dress, using a lace pattern................. but that's another story.

I'll see you on Friday, I'm off to my knitting group, haven't been in a while............. cheerio! Vanessa xxx

 

 

Debbie Bliss Dress Revealed!

Of all the coincidences, this was a good one. 

We went to the beach to take photos of the Debbie bliss dress I'd finished knitting, and washed up on the sand was a fishing creel that matched the turquoise colour of my dress!

I LOVE coincidences like that!

So here it is, my finished knitted dress, made following a Debbie Bliss pattern, (details at the end of this post).

I mentioned in a previous post that I was worried about this dress being too small, especially on the band just under the bust, I was convinced I wasn't going to be able to get it over my chest.

But it's turned out to be a perfect fit, and there's noone more surprised than me.

The band under the bust stretches a little as the dress is worn, so it went from being a little tight, to just right.

And I'm very glad I started the neck shaping later than stated in the pattern, it would have been much too low cut if I'd followed the pattern.

I have to say, I'm thrilled with the results of this knitting, I love this dress. It's very, very comfortable, and a flattering shape too.

As there is very little sleeve to knit, this project didn't take too long to make, two months.

Knitting with Debbie Bliss baby casmerino yarn was a real treat. It's so soft, but also gives good stitch definition, almost like a cotton yarn, though it's actually made using Merino, a bit of Cashmere, and a bit of manmade fibre, so there isn't the heaviness you get with cotton yarns. It's lovely and warm too. This yarn washes beautifully. I washed my dress in the washing machine on the handwash cycle, and gave it an extra spin in the washing machine, and the dress has come out of that well. The range of colours is mouth watering too, I'm a big fan of Debbie Bliss yarn colours, she does beautiful brights to elegant subdueds, something for everyone.
In the above photo, my favourite turquoise trainers, and my favourite turqouise Falke cotton rich tights (please may they never ladder or get holes in them, please may they stay forever perfect).

But turquoise trainers and lady-like knitted dress, do not the perfect fit make.

High heels are the order of the day for this dress, or little slip-on pumps perhaps.

Even though I'd only increased my height to about 5 foot 4 wearing the heels, I felt like an Amazonian woman tottering about in these shoes all day. I very rarely wear heels, so it always feels a bit strange. I feel empowered because of the immense height I suddenly see the world from (!) but at the same time I feel quite vulnerable, like my feet are not firmly planted on the ground. Do you get that too?!

And now for the knitty-gritty details. The pattern is from Debbie Bliss knitting magazine Spring/Summer 2011. It's pattern no.15 (page 90).

The pattern calls for Debbie Bliss Eco Baby yarn to be used, but this can be substituted with Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which is what I did. The colour I used was 340031 (turquoise/acqua blue), eleven balls of it. My knitting tension is loose, so I had to go down from the 3.25 mm needles in the pattern, to 2.75 mm needles. The resulting fabric is quite firm, but I think that helps to keep the shape of the dress.

I started knitting this dress on 4th June, according to an old blog post, and finished the dress on 5th August. So let's say it took two months to complete.

As knitting patterns go, it was easy to follow, though I wouldn't give this pattern to a beginner, maybe intermediate, as you need to know what you're doing around the neck area, in terms of where to do the decreases, it's not explained very well.

I didn't knit the picot edge on the sleeves or hem, because they curl, and actually I prefer the simpler garter stitch edge.

If there weren't so many wonderful dress patterns I want to knit on my list, I would make this dress again in a different colour, I like it so much.

So there we go, another dress finished, done and dusted!

Now I'm completely engrossed in knitting the Coraline Cardigan by Ysolda. And I've started sewing another Miz Mozelle Dress, doing a seam here and there. It all adds up, knitting a few rows and sewing a few seams here and there, before you know it, you've got a finished piece. In the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, I'd probably be the Tortoise.

If you'd like to see other people's version of this dress on Ravelry, the link to the relevant page is here.

I hope you enjoyed the show today! Vanessa xxx

 

Cornishware and Custard Coraline Cardigan.

Hello! If you're popping by today hoping to see the reveal of my Debbie Bliss dress, I'm really very sorry, but there are still no photos of it.

I'm hoping Hugo can photograph me this weekend wearing the dress, so there is a reveal for next Tuesday's post. It's on a hanger, hanging in a prominent position rearing to be worn.

But I am busy knitting my Coraline Cardigan.

Every time I look at the blue and off-white stripes I'm knitting, and glance at the balls of yellowy alpaca yarn (to be used for the top smocked section of the cardigan), I can't help thinking of Cornishware china and custard.

It's led to me thinking about other things I'm nostalgic about.

Custard creams. Biscuits from my childhood. I remember breaking open the 'sandwich' of the buiscuit, and eating the filling first, followed by the two biscuits that encased the custardy filling. Now I eat them whole, I prefer them that way.

And Iced Gems. When we visited my Mum's parents, our Granny and Grandad, I remember the drawer in the cupboard in the kitchen, that housed the packet of Iced Gems. I thought of them as little magic biscuits. I still think of them as little magic biscuits that occupy a world where fairies exist.

Sherbert Dips, fake cigarette sweets, humbugs, Digestive biscuits (plain, not covered in chocolate). Some of the distinctive things from my childhood that my knitting makes me think of.

Nowadays, in my adulthood, the things that bring me a feeling of contentedness are the Roses in the garden, especially the yellow Roses. Cutting them and bringing them into the house always feels like a special treat.

Opening a new bar of soap. A new bar of soap unwrapped is a lovely thing. It's so pure, fresh scented, soft, clean and crisp-edged. Especially a gift soap which comes in lovely paper.

Getting into a bed made with fresh sheets. Putting on clean pyjamas. Sinking a spoon into a newly opened yoghurt. The startling smell of newly cut grass. The soft fur on Douglas' (boy dog) tummy, kissing the doggies ears. Watching the twitches of doggy dreams. Sunny days with no wind. Yarn and fabric shops and all the excitement of choosing wool or fabric to make a garment. Hearing Hugo's voice when he returns from work. Being in the involved moment of work. Sitting in the garden drinking a glass of cold white wine.

I could go on and on.

(It's reassuring that there are many things I love and appreciate in my life).

I musn't forget Sweet Peas. The bunches of Sweet Peas I am given by my parents-in-law from their garden. They bring happiness that lasts till the final flower is standing.

Annie at wonderful blog Knitsofacto, has a link to a place you can buy plug plants of Sweet Peas to grow in hanging baskets, in this blog post.

I never knew you could grow Sweet Peas in hanging baskets, I thought they had to be planted so they could be trained up stakes, tall and gangly. Hanging basket Sweet peas are a great idea if outdoor space is limited, and you long to grow Sweet Peas.

My knitting is making me feel pleasantly nostalgic. When I reach the section where I start the smocking, using the custard coloured yarn, I might feel overwhelmingly nostalgic, who knows.

You might want to know what the yarn I'm using is...........

The blue and white are Alpaca Baby DK, by UK Alpaca, colours Duck Egg and Natural Buttermilk (great names for the colours don't you think).

The custard colour is 100% Alpaca from Alpaca Select, colour 0102.

They're all from my stash, so not bought recently. I found the Alpaca Select website, and yarn that may be a newly packaged version of the Alpaca yarn I have. I can't guarantee that the colour Lemon I found on this page of their website is the exact same shade of yellow I am using.

The UK Alpaca website has the yarn I'm using on this page. But they don't seem to make the colourways I'm using any more, and their available range of colours is limited.

That's the thing about using yarn from your stash, yarn colours, and even yarns themselves go out of fashion and become unavailable.

Well I think I might potter off and make myself a nostalgic but very real cup of Earl Grey tea. I suppose if I was to be properly nostalgic, I would make it with loose tea leaves, in a teapot, kept warm by a tea cosy. Once brewed it would then be poured into a china tea cup sitting on a matching saucer, and the milk (which would be decanted into a little jug), and stirred in with a tea spoon. Lovely, but too much washing up afterwards. I'm not a die hard nostalgic really, am I.

Have a good weekend, and for those of us experiencing the very British never-ending rain, let's hope the weather suddenly becomes very un-British, that is, very sunny and warm.

Vanessa xxx