A day out in Bath...

So yesterday I took the day off and caught the train up to Bath for the day to meet  up with my mum and sister who were staying with friends in Wiltshire for a few days. I do love Bath... in fact I was actually born there, and although I've lived all over the country since, I'm really glad that we now live quite close again, it is such a great city. I try to go up about once a month, it takes about an hour on the train (a really slow one though that stops at every little town and village on the way) but the journey is really scenic so it doesn't seem too bad at all! I haven't actually been for a while though cos I've been so busy lately, but also as I'm now too old for a young person's railcard (sob!) it makes it quite expensive!

I went up on the ten o clock train so I had some time to myself to do some fabric and yarn shopping before the others arrived... I have a few shops which I have to visit each time I visit Bath to get my fabric and yarn fix. One of my first stops was Wool, a relatively new yarn shop, located on Old Orchard Street. Being only quite new to the whole yarn thing myself, I've only popped in a couple of times before, but this time, I was on a mission! I was looking for yarn for a new project... I wasn't exactly sure what brand or colours I was after but oh my, I wasn't disappointed with the choice!

Source

The whole shop was crammed full of delicious colours and yarns, with a comfy looking sofa with a colourful granny blanket thrown over... It has a nice relaxed atmosphere where I didn't feel intimidated by my lack of yarny knowledge! The lovely lady who owns the shop (in above picture) was really friendly and helpful but let me just potter about and mull over my choices.

There were so many different brands of yarn but I was drawn to the few makes I had actually heard of... One of which was Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.... so many gorgeous colours and so, so soft! Really gorgeous yarn... I just had to have some of it! I had done a bit of research online before I went, but buying in person is always so much better as you can see the colours for what they really are and feel the texture and quality up close. I must admit that I do tend to buy quite a lot of supplies etc online as we live out in the sticks now, but I do love to support my local craft and yarn shops when and where I can.

Anyway I spent quite a while pulling out different colours, trying them out in combinations to see what jumped out at me. I'd decided before I went that I wanted a more muted palette than I've used for my recent stylecraft blankets, something softer, maybe greens and duck eggs... I also wanted to try out a 'luxury' yarn as opposed to my usual cheap and cheerful stuff!      

This is what I came away with....

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous... aren't they! I must admit a teeny bit of guilt did go through me as I went to pay. It is quite an extravagance for me at £5.50 a ball, especially considering the balls are only 50g each. I haven't even tried it out yet but I can already tell it will be worth it, the quality of it feels so nice.

Anyway I'm really happy with my colour choices. Although most of you probably associate brighter colours with me, with the exception of my studio, which yes, to be honest, is full to bursting with colour, the rest of the house is actually quite neutral. I love the calming nature of these soft and beautiful colours, they are the colours I am drawn to for a lot of my soft furnishings. 

I think I am going to make a cushion with my yarn, something snuggly for the sofa. I would love to make another stripey blanket, or maybe even a ripple but I don't think I can justify the cost of using such expensive yarn for something so big! I am possibly going to add a little pink to the mix... I'm not sure though. I do love the greens and blues together, but I just wonder whether there will be enough contrast for me with what I have chosen. Will make up a couple of squares I think and then decide...

Anyway, I also popped into Country Threads too, my favourite fabric shop, and which handily, is right across the street from Wool!

Source

 

Source

It is a bit of a treasure trove as there is a whole room hidden away at the back of the shop, crammed full of all manner of quilting and patchwork fabrics, threads, ribbons, tools and books. I can often lose hours in here (not a joke). The staff are always really friendly but to be honest, kind of leave me to it, I am in there that long! Though yesterday I was actually quite organised as I had a project in mind which I needed some new fabric for, which I decided on quite quickly. I did also impulse buy some new 'London' fabric (new mirrors coming shortly!) some felt, some pom pom trim and some new scissors though but other than that I was really good and stuck to my 'shopping list', haha!

Oooh and I also popped into The Makery, another fab new crafty shop in Bath (readers of Mollie Makes will recognise it!), on Northumberland Place.

Source

It is an absolutely gorgeous little shop full of cute fabrics, felts, buttons, trimmings and ribbons, and the window displays are always so creative too. So many lovely things to look at, you don't know where to look first! I got chatting to Kate who runs the shop when I was in a few months ago and she is lovely too. They also run lots of workshops for all sorts of different things, from embroidery and sewing, to felt making, lampshade making, bookbinding and knitting amongst many many more! Check out their website for more info.

Sorry for the lack of my own pictures on this post and of the insides of all these wonderful shops, but hopefully you will check out their websites, or even better, pay them a visit in person! They really are a crafty person's heaven!! Anyway I had a really lovely day out, and it was so nice to see my mum and sister again (even though I only saw them two weeks ago!) it was really great to catch up and spend the day together. Hope you are enjoying the weekend too, will be back soon xxx

Spring has sprung!

 

I came back yesterday from my week away, and feel so much better for it, really refreshed and inspired - it was just what I needed I think! I couldn't have picked a better week off weather wise - it has been gorgeous every day, with blue skies and temperatures into the twenties. It's been more like mid summer than the end of March, though today  it's back to the cold and grey. I hope that wasn't it for the nice weather for the year!

I love spending time with my family, I don't get to see them often enough because we live so far away, so it was a lovely week. We took a few day trips out but because the weather was so nice we also were able to sit around outside quite a bit. I took all my blanket yarn so spent lots of time making squares in the sun, happy days!

Mum and dad also wanted to find a planter for their courtyard, so lots of wandering around garden centres was done looking for one. Needless to say they didn't actually find what they were looking for, but I really like pottering around looking at the plants and flowers especially as the weather was so nice...

 I thought the little coloured watering cans filled with  primroses were so sweet!

I so love spring flowers, so happy and bright and colourful after the dark grey days of winter...

We need to do our garden this year. It is basically just soil at the moment because when we moved in last year it was getting towards winter so we decided to leave it for a few months. Not really sure what to do with it though - it is quite a small space, but sure we can do something nice with it! Need to get some gardening mags/ books really for inspiration.

I managed to make another 90 squares for my crochet blanket this week in between trips out. I've changed my mind so many times on the colours - I started out with turquoise, pink and red (my fave colour combination!) but gradually decided a slightly paler, more Spring like palette was the way to go. I'm still using my Stylecraft yarn, so it was quite difficult to decide on colours which were different enough to the other two blankets I've made, but that would also compliment each other. 

This is what I have decided on at the moment...

What do you think?

It reminds me of crocuses with all the purple, yellow and green so just right for the time of year! I've now done about 140 squares in total. I'm not really sure how many squares I am aiming for, probably around 200 then it will be the dreaded joining together (really not looking forward to that bit)!

I also came back to some lovely post including Master Sorrel...

I bought him from the lovely Jooles of Sew Sweet Violet and I LOVE him!! Such pretty colours and so beautifully made, he is happily living on my new pinboard which I actually made at eight o clock this morning... (Told you I was refreshed and inspired,  I couldn't wait to start making again!)

I just covered an old board with some wadding and pretty pink floral fabric using my staple gun, then stapled on some criss-crossed ribbons and hammered in some upholstery tacks - sure they neighbours were impressed with the noise so early on a Saturday (actually their cars had gone so I'm hoping they weren't in).

Anyway have just popped some of my favourite cards and bits on it for now, though I'm sure I will fill it up soon enough! I love to make spontaneous things like this for the house, I just don't often have time. Some mini bunting is next on my list though whilst I am on a role!

I also bought this....

... after reading about it on lots of other people's blogs. Only had a quick flick through whilst I had my breakfast but it is so up my street - lots of colour, pattern and inspiring ideas, it is just gorgeous! You can buy it here and also check out Selina's fab blog.

I also got another super exciting delivery in the post too - but more about that next week - it will include another giveaway too! Anyway hope you have had a good week too, and have been able to enjoy the lovely sunshine while it lasted! Take care, will be back soon xxx

Snowy memories...

Seeing all the snowy pictures all over blogs and facebook this weekend has made me want to do a snowy post too! We didn't actually get much here in Somerset though, a little dusting really, though the local children were out in force building snowmen and making snow angels on the ground. So I am cheating a little bit with today's pictures, they are all from a few years ago, at my parents old house in North Yorkshire. 

For much of my childhood, we lived in an isolated house out on the moortop between Reeth and Richmond. We used to get a LOT of snow each Winter, and would often get days off school as the school bus couldn't make it up the hill. It brought a lot of excitement to us as children and we had a lot of fun in the snow, me and my brother Laurence and then later, with our sister Harriet too. We owned a large field at the back of the house, and used to sledge down it with dad - I even remember him skiing down it one year! Unfortunately I haven't got any of these really old pictures to show you, though there are lots in albums at mum and dad's.

These photos are actually from a couple of different occasions, 2005 and 2010 I think, when I had gone back to visit them over Christmas.

As I've grown older, the magic of snow has worn off a little... mainly because everything seems to grind to a halt even when there is only a couple of inches on the ground and I just find it so frustrating... I still find it breathtakingly beautiful though, especially when it is as crisp and clear as this day was.

 Believe it or not there is actually a dry stone wall under all this snow!

 Can you see the moon still out? (I think it was only about 8.30 in the morning when I took these)

 Sunrise...

...and this is one of my all time favourite pictures, in fact I still use it as the background on my computer. Dad took when he was out on his daily walk one year. It is looking back at their house over the fields - if you look just to the right of the centre of the picture just below where the hill meets the sky, that little dark patch is their old house and garden. I love the crispness of the snow with the blue sky and the patch of mist in the valley. 

They actually moved away from the area the year before last though and I do miss going back to visit. At times when I was growing up, it seemed like a bit of a pain because of the isolation and it was really easy to take the stunning views for granted, but it really was a beautiful place to live. I don't know whether I will ever live anywhere like it again, but looking back, I definitely feel lucky to have lived in such an amazing setting for so many years.

Don't get me wrong, there were some very bleak, horrible weather days up there too, as it was just so exposed and open to the elements. In fact, the day I took these pictures, me and dad had gone for a little walk just to get out of the house and oh my goodness, it was the most windy day I have ever experienced in my life. Once you got down the hill where these are taken it was fine, but out on the top road, I felt like I couldn't even breath, it was really awful actually. Every time I took a breath, the wind whipped it away before I could get it down!! I had to walk backwards, with my scarf over my mouth and still could hardly get enough air to breath... not a nice feeling at all!

Anyway I'll leave you for today with this photo which always makes me smile. I think it's from the same Christmas... Me and Harriet built a snowman in the garden, then she built a teeny weeny baby one next to it! Just look at it's little scarf and hat... it does make me smile every time I look at it! Anyway, hope you are managing to stay wrapped up cosy and warm - have got all my thermals in use here and my hot water bottle is never far away either! Back soon xxx

Hello 2012!

I've been feeling quite guilty about the fact that I haven't blogged again for so long, which I know is really ridiculous because it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things! Every day I write or think of little lists of all the things I want to get done and often blogging is on the list but it is always fairly near the bottom of priorities and often just gets bumped off the end!

Anyhow, not to worry I'm finally here and writing and it feels good... hello 2012 :) Did you have a nice Christmas and New Year? Ours was very nice, though pretty low key! We spent actual Christmas here just the two of us, and we barely moved off the sofa... lots of Christmas films and telly were watched and lots of crochet was done! I didn't get dressed properly or actually go outside for 4 days, had baths in the middle of the day and generally slobbed about... after the manic rush of Christmas run up it was bliss and I enjoyed it very much. I  also caught up on much needed sleep, I think Christmas Eve I slept about 10 hours straight without waking up  once which is pretty unheard of usually, I must have needed it!

Then on the 28th I travelled up to see my parents who now live in Staffordshire. My brother Laurence and his girlfriend Rachel had come down from Newcastle and it was so lovely to see them. We normally only cross paths for this one day a year as we live so far away from each other so it was really special. My sister Harriet was at home too - I have to share a room with her whenever I go back to visit and I love our catch up chats late at night. I didn't really take many pictures, I never do, even though I always take my camera, but I got some very lovely gifts this year so I'll show you some of those instead...

Lots of red and white gorgeousness! The tins and mug were from Karl, and the spotty pie and baking dishes from our good friends Bryan, Sarah and Harry. I LOVE them all!! Our kitchen is quite basic and utilitarian in style so I'm trying my best to pretty it up!

Mum and dad gave me lots of lovely little bits - including this gingham heart chalkboard... so sweet, mum knows me too well, she always has such good taste in presents :)

They also treated me to this gorgeous red coat when we were out sale shopping in Birmingham...

Excuse the quite rubbish picture of me doing some headless modelling! Mirrors and flash = big bright flare right in the middle of the photo so you'll have to make do with a grainy shot! But isn't it nice? I really like it! I've been wanting a red coat for quite a while now, but since I hate shopping for clothes I rarely ever find anything I like.

And these beautiful silver heart spoons were from them too..... 

I just think they are so so pretty, I really do love them.

And my last present picture for today is this lovely aqua heart hanging candle holder from Harriet... she also knows me too well :) Hopefully we will be doing the garden up this year - I can't wait to be able to use it outside in the Summer.

Laurence and Rachel also bought me some very lovely gifts including wonderful smelling handcreams and some aqua spotty pjs which are perfect and so 'me'... but they are in the wash at the mo so can't show any pics right now. I was very lucky this year with so many lovely presents, and that people know me so well to choose gifts that I truly really do love.

Anyway, so maybe that's enough about Christmas now, since we are already well into the New Year. I'm not the hugest fan of actual New Year's Eve itself though - I have spent it at my parents for the last few years and it's always a fairly low-key family affair with the traditional board games of Cludeo and Boggle always coming out... This year was no exception though by about 10.30 we were pretty much boggled out! We did manage to stay up until midnight though and watch the fireworks on the telly and in the courtyard outside where one of the neighbours was putting on his own show! Beats some years when we have been asleep by about eleven! I haven't actually been 'out' on New Years for years now - when I was at Uni I would be staggering around the streets from pub to pub with my friends from back home which was fun at the time ;) but I prefer a quieter life now, haha!

As for New Year's resolutions, I do have some (unlike Harriet who has about 4 pages of them!) but I think I'll save them for my next post otherwise this will end up being a super jumbo one again! Talking of Harriet actually, I did manage to teach her to crochet whilst I was up. 

She's not the most patient of people but she got it in the end and made a really cute granny square. She wanted to make it into a cushion cover like the ones I was making but ran out of time before I left so she made it into a phone case instead by folding it over and sewing up two sides, then chaining a little loop to close it. Isn't it cute? I got this pic off her facebook page but I'm sure she won't mind me posting it :)

I decided to make two cushion covers for our sofa over the holiday, and managed to get the fronts of both crocheted up, but I need to buy some bigger pads and decide what to do for the backs. Here's a quick pic of the first, twenty five small squares all edged in white. 

I love how this one turned out, even though I got so frustrated sewing the squares together, I find it so difficult just to catch the back loops. Maybe it's cos my tension is quite tight? Or something... it nearly drove me up the wall though, was so glad it was only a cushion cover size and not another blanket!! (Though such a shame as wouldn't a blanket like this just be gorgeous??)

I also made a co-ordinating one just one big granny square which was so much faster to crochet, just round and round and round!

Despite my best efforts of turning my work as I went and joining the new yarn on different sides, the middle of the square still went kind of wonky! In fact this picture makes it look really wonky!!! It's not that bad in real life and I'm hoping when I block it it might sort itself out a bit.

They are pretty bright and to be honest won't really go with much in our living room (except of course the equally bright crochet blankets I've been making) but I find I don't really care very much if it all looks a bit mismatched, as long as I like it all! Hopefully I will finish them soon... I do have a horrible feeling that they might be cast aside for months until I get around to getting new pads but hopefully not!

Anyway that's about me done for today but will be back later in the week with a more work related post. My shops are all now open again and I am having a massive SALE in my Not on the High Street shop to sell off some of my older designs and every single thing is in the sale this time (only until the weekend though). Will  probably ramble on some more about it in my next post but there will be quite a few changes for my little business this year so I am making room for lots of lovely new stuff and to hopefully make things a bit easier on myself! Pop over if you have a minute, there are still a few good bargains to be had ;) Anyway hope you can enjoy some of the lovely sunshine around at the mo, take care, Jenny xxx

Merry Christmas!

Ooops... it's been exactly a month since I last wrote a post, how did that happen! This last six weeks has been crazy busy especially in my Not on the High Street shop and it has been one big round of making up badges and mirrors - especially of the personalised variety! The amount of orders way exceeded my expectations so my own Christmas preparation plans have kind of been pushed to one side this year. As has my blog reading, I've missed so many lovely Christmassy posts I know but hope to catch up a bit soon.

I did put the tree up a few weeks ago, and gathered a few bits for the dresser, but all my plans of crocheted bunting, paper chains, Christmas baking and other handmade decorations sadly went out the window. Next year I'm going to start earlier... round about March I think! (I'm only half joking.)

Here are a few little snippets and favourite decorations from around the house...

My bargain candy canes I bought last year came out - some are hung on the tree, some are arranged in glass jars....

My lovely dresser... which still looks a little bare really, complete with homemade bunting!

The red and white rag wreath I made last Christmas is back too!

...some Scandi inspired red and white stars

Lots of candles...

 ...the little gingerbread house I treated myself to in Bath a few weeks ago

 

...a fairy with pom pom hands and feet :)

... a feathered and sequinned chicken with a crown

 ...a sequinned nutcracker and little reindeer

...a bejewelled peacock I think this one is supposed to be!

and lastly one of my absolute faves, Mr pom pom earmuff bear! 

There are many more ornaments just as random as these on our tree this year that I've collected over the past 7 or 8 years...  Collecting Christmas decorations is something I really love and it is a tradition to buy at least a few more every year! 

When I was a student I worked part time for a few years for Monsoon Accessorize so many of my novelty decorations with the moving arms and legs and pom pom feet come from there. Since then I've been collecting slightly more 'tasteful' ones of clear glass and red and white but the old favourites still have to come out. Last year I tried just a gold and silver tree but it looked so boring, so am happily back with the jumble of colours and styles this year!

I also bought myself an advent calender this year for the first time since I was about 12! Have loved the little chocolate before breakfast each day but quite dissapointed there were no pictures behind the windows like there used to be. Still for £1.99 not sure I can really expect anymore! 

 

And lastly my latest purchase is these adorable felt and knitted reindeer. For those of you who follow my facebook page, you may remember when I fell in love with them a few weeks ago... well I happened to be walking past the shop again and they were in the sale... it was meant to be obviosuly, hehe. Aren't they adorable? :)

Just before I go and since it is almost Chrismtas, here are my festive December projects for Crafts Beautiful magazine. (For more crafting ideas go to www.crafts-beautiful.com)

 Brightly coloured 'fill your own' decorated crackers... I love how these have been photographed. Too bad I didn't actually put in any gifts when I made them, otherwise we could have used them on Christmas day!

...and a festive stocking project!

Anyway so here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! We will be spending actual Christmas here just the two of us, then will be off to visit my parents and family over the New Year - can't wait as it has been a good few months since I was last there, and a whole year since I saw my brother! Hoping to squish in some kind of crochet project in my suitcase for the long train journey. My stripe blanket is still not finished, but is much too big and heavy to take with me... so something smaller... maybe a cushion cover I'm thinking. Or perhaps the bunting I never got round to finishing... at least it would be ready for next year! Anyway, hope you all have a wonderfully festive, happy  and relaxed week with your loved ones, see you in 2012!

xxxxx