Stockpiling Sock Yarn and other stories

Saturday, and what a lovely one it is too.  It's dry and bright here in South Northants.  I was awake super early for a weekend (5am to be precise) and had done a food shop and made bacon sandwiches by 7am.

I love getting up early at the weekend.  I have a mega busy job, which I enjoy, and work full-time.  It doesn't leave much free time in the week to do the things I really love, like stitching, sewing, knitting, crocheting, baking, cooking and tidying.  Not to mention just hanging out with Andrew, watching TV and smooching on the sofa.

Ceramic decorative heart by Greengate

I had a horrible looonnnng dental treatment on Wednesday.  I keep going on about it, but it was traumatic!  I was sedated (as per) and having replacement fillings and a gum deep-clean (yuck).  It was supposed to be a 90 minute appointment but as I was practically knocked out, the dentist decided to do 80% of the job in one fell swoop.  4 hours (yes 4 HOURS!) and £800 later I was still very dopey with an entirely numb mouth, dribbling all over the place and unable to speak.  It was like fast forwarding my life 30 years and seeing myself as a batty old lady. (I am convinced I will be as mad as a box of frogs in my old age.  I've suffered too much with mental illness over the years to escape it in my twilight years.)  Don't get me wrong, my dentist is fantastic.  It's just that I am perhaps a bit of a hypochondriac and have a tendency to 'go on a bit' (husband's words) when I'm under the weather.  Thanks for listening, friends! :)

So anyway, after the unpleasant day I had on Wednesday and the subsequent 48 hours of feeling rough as a badger's bum, I started to feel a whole lot better yesterday afternoon and planned an epic weekend.  I have made ZERO plans.  I'm in various offices next week so a weekend at home is just what the doctor ordered.  My main objective is to start knitting a pair of socks.

In anticipation, I have quizzed various cyber buddies (Ali and Ally I'm looking at YOU), watched endless youtube videos and bought myself a book.  I also appear to be stockpiling sock yarn.

Madeleine Tosh Sock Yarn (Toshsock)

Ali should be blamed entirely for my sock yarn obsession.  Well, Ms Pork Chop is also culpable.  The pair of them post gorgeous photos of hand-knitted socks on instagram (here and here) on a regular basis and I've caught the bug. Trouble is, I can't quite get my head around knitting in the round.  (How do you remember which bit's the front and which is the back?)

Trailing Clouds self-striping sock yarn.  Yes, oooooh.

I tend to summon confidence by (optimistically) telling myself 'if 'she' can do it, I can do it' based on the fact that I, too, have a brain and two hands. The fact that these things also involve a huge dose of natural talent that I do not possess doesn't seem to occur to me until I have a giant basket full of expensive yarn.  All the gear and no idea; that's me.

I'm tenacious if nothing else so I will spend the weekend with a furrowed brow, scrapping with a ball of yarn.  I'm also going to squeeze in some stitching, pretty patchwork and a few episodes of Breaking Bad (newly found favourite programme to knit to with husband).

I have also bought a few supplies from overseas lately and they are starting to arrive at the house in dribs and drabs.   I'm so excited to start stitching these Rosalie Quinlan kits, with gorgeous Cosmo embroidery floss.

Stichery Pokery

The Cottage Garden Threads, are simply beautiful.  I've joined a little club where I pay about £12 a month for a stitchery pattern and four CGT threads with which to stitch it.  Such fun!  I'd love to join a sock yarn club if anyone knows of one.  Preferably a cool US brand which ships to the UK.  Suggestions most welcome.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Nicki 

x

Worshipping my yarn stash

We are finally straight at home.  Hurrah!  After three months without a dining table, a month without even a dining room floor and an enforced week away from home due to damp-proof work we now have a fully functional dining room.  Want a little peek?

Thank you, Shabby Chic Sarah, for your advice on spraying the mirror, it was black before!...  And thank you, Cuckoo, for the egg basket/fairy lights idea...  Love pinching ideas from my bloddies! 

We have still got curtains and window-seat cushions to sort but I am thrilled with the result so far.  Positively skippy.  

The floor is a huge improvement and having a thick base layer of concrete has really warmed the room up.  We had a wood burner installed in there earlier in the year so, with a fire going and the fairy lights twinkling, the room can actually be described as cosy!  Sooo happy.  I have spent loads of time in there already -  I feel the cold really easily so I plonk myself in the chair closest to the fire and sit reading, crocheting and sewing.  I've even watched a bit of TV in there on my laptop.  (One of my favourite things to do is watch TV on my laptop.  We have three proper-sized tellies in the house but I just adore sticking my big headphones on and watching one of 'my' programmes on the laptop.  I usually snuggle up in bed to watch it but I've also taken it into the bathroom occasionally and watched from the bath.  Bliss, I tell you!)  I've got loads to do at work this week and I can't wait to spread out my papers on the dining room table, light a fire and tackle my spreadsheets.  Sad, I know.

Unpacking my china and organising the dresser and sideboards was a particular highlight:  

I have a sorted my china by colour.  It took ages but, oh!, how I loved unwrapping each and every piece.  I have a cupboard full of pink china and another completely filled with cake stands.  Simple pleasures...

I think that living in disarray for such a long time brought about a slight meltdown and I have been on a mission to regain order.  I decided to create a 'crafty corner' in the spare room so that I can faff around with fabric and yarn to my heart's content without messing up the whole house.   I bought, on impulse, a vintage teacher's desk on ebay, a pretty green chair and an oak bookcase.  The husband was coaxed into helping me move furniture around the room and a new place of worship, for me, was born.

Seriously, I keep just popping into the spare room to admire my yarn stash:

....sigh happily over my labelling system....

... and open my desk drawer to run my fingers over the spools of ribbon and washi tape:

I need to get a life, I know.  

Nicki 

x

PS Hello to my new followers!  Thanks for stopping by.  I'm always thrilled to find new blogs so I'll pop over as soon as I can.  Getting close to 100 followers now and I'm planning a giveaway when I reach the magic number!

Have a great week! 

Shopping and a Girl Crush

I picked up this book (Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench) at the weekend.  I have wanted it for a while so was pretty pleased to grab the last copy in my local Hobbycraft along with a few sumptuous balls of yarn...

The brown and the pink are both 'Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK'.  It is 75% extra fine merino, 20% silk and 5% cashmere.  It is soft, warm and I love the delicate shade of the colours.  I found a blanket in the book that I would love to use this yarn for but I would need to buy 32 balls.  (32 balls!) At £5.49 a ball that isn't something I can persuade our Household Financial Controller (husband) to sign off any time soon!  I couldn't leave the yarn in the shop so I bought six balls of it.  They didn't have it in store in a cream colour and I quite fancy making a cream baby blanket with accents of the brown and pink.  I am sure I can buy it cheaper elsewhere - I might try eBay.

I really want to make something out of the book soon though, so I'm going to give the fingerless gloves a try (although I prefer to call them wristwarmers!).  For this project I bought two balls of the cream-coloured yarn in the photo.  It is an Amy Butler for Rowan 'Belle Organic DK'.  It's 50% organic wool and 50% organic cotton.  I daren't start it yet in case I mess up but at least the material is in my basket for when I'm having one of my more confident moments!

Matalan is next to Hobbycraft in our town so whilst I was there I thought I'd pop in for a quick squizz.  There were lots of gorgeous little floral dresses in store but cute florals aren't me :( .  I saw this jumpsuit though and loved it:

It is difficult to show it properly in a photo without wearing it (and I'm not ready to post any photos of myself!) but it's kind of silky with a loose waist so it drapes nicely.  It also tapers at the ankle with little ties and has similar ties on the shoulders.  It looks lovely with my black leather jacket and nude platform peep-toe shoes.  I feel a bit Rod Stewart in it but I think I can get over that after a stiff gin!  It will be perfect for a nice dinner somewhere or drinks in a chic bar.  Here's a close up of the fabric:

Very happy with it and it only cost £22.  I always forget just how affordable Matalan is.  I'm not a huge fan of throwaway fashion; I don't often buy clothes but when I do I like to go for the best I can afford and tend to choose things that I hope will be timeless.  However, if I didn't go to the cheaper stores for a few bits and pieces my wardrobe would be a bit safe and boring.  I definitely wouldn't have much choice either!  I am trying to sort out my clothes at the minute and I've got a few events coming up at the end of the month so in a move that is completely out of character for me I am planning my outfits in advance (I never do this - I always frantically rush around the shops the day before a big dinner/wedding or whatever to find the right outfit).

So, back to work tomorrow having had over a week off.  I've got that end-of-holiday feeling which is ridiculous because I love my job, have a great boss and enjoy a certain degree of flexibility.  But it has been really nice to just potter around at home with my husband for the week.  The only thing I regret is that I didn't get round to any baking - this WeightWatchers thing is tough so probably a good job I didn't.

Before I go, can I just say that I'm now a tiny bit obsessed with Princess Kate.  I have always considered her to be a bit bland, boring and old before her time (I feel guilty for admitting that now).  Since the wedding I haven't been able to stop thinking about her.  She was so cool and calm on her wedding day.  She is thin, toned, impeccably behaved and beautifully turned out.  She must have such willpower and I am so totally jealous of her discipline and her cool head.

♥♥♥  I have a bit of a girl crush... ♥♥♥

Nicki 

x