Hello! How are you? Keeping well, I hope?

I'm another year older since we last spoke - it was my birthday on Saturday. I celebrated in fine style with a beautiful meal cooked for me by my husband. He was so sweet - made up the menu and everything. The funny thing was, he told me that he was recreating a surprise Valentine's Day meal that he'd made for me about, ummmm, twenty years ago although I remember that meal being a delicious nut roast not the Homity pie that I was eating on Saturday. Memory ain't what it used to be.......

My darling daughter, Faerie, made a bracelet for me. I think it's called Peyote Stitch? I'm very proud of her because she taught herself how to do it and stuck with it to complete the bracelet. AND she used all my favourite colours. Perfect. I love the way the beads feel - that sort of cool slither.

Elfine and Pixie clubbed together and gave me this beautiful necklace so I'm feeling extremely well accessorised at the moment. Also, there was a voucher included for breakfast in bed which I might take advantage of this weekend. Lucky me.

It's also been half term since we last spoke and, without going into details, it was quite simply the most extraordinary half term I've ever spent. We've had to re-evaluate a number of things and take some decisions. Nothing dreadful but just thinking about change has shaken us all up somewhat. We're all feeling a little discombobulated at the moment.

I snatched a few moments to make some more granny squares for my colourful blanket (must think of more imaginative name...). Small steps just now until I get my mojo back, I think.

Cheerio for now. xx

Hello! How are you? Feels a little odd to be writing on a Sunday but it feels like the right day to show you these few photographs. The bits and pieces from last time? They became the clever little "I Heart U" pattern from The Knit Knoodler and were a gift for Elfine. Do you like her alphabet letters with faces and background stories? Aren't they fun?

Another pile of knitted pieces became this (ghastly) little knitted bear from Knitables. I've put this photograph here deliberately to show that it's not all sweetness and light around here - sometimes I have knitting disasters, ahem. Toys with faces are astonishingly difficult (for me) to make. I couldn't attach the ears in such a way to look appealing and I thought that I'd make up for the weird ears by giving him big eyes - because big-eyed creatures are usually appealing, aren't they? - but then his eyes just looked TOO big and his snout was funny and, oh...... He does have heart though - embroidered on his chest instead of horns - he was a little Valentine's gift for Pixie. She likes him although did request arms.

Just time for one more - a knitted cuff for Faerie who's big into bracelets and such. I had to brush up my intarsia-in-the-round skills for this one. Phew, little knitted gifts always seem like a good idea but, in reality, take up quite a lot of time. Maybe I'll stick to chocolate next year.

Hope you're having a lovely Valentine's Day!

Cheerio for now. xx

Hello! How are you? Keeping well, I hope.

Just a quick post today - I can't show what I'm knitting right now because it's SECRET. Things for Valentine's Day for my girls because I'm soppy like that. There has been some speculation here in my house that I'm either knitting knickers or daffodils. Hmmmm. We shall see. Finished pictures to follow!

Have to dash now - hope you have a lovely weekend!

Cheerio for now. xx

Hello! How are you? Good, I hope. It's perhaps a little optimistic to think too much of spring but the days are definitely getting longer here in Cornwall - that extra hour or so of daylight is VERY welcome. My daughter, Elfine, brought me home some daffodils on Saturday which was such a treat. I regularly see flower-pickers in the fields near me - always bent double, usually in the rain - cutting and bunching daffodils to be sent around the country. I have to say that it looks like jolly hard work and I imagine the pleasure of outdoors work pales fairly quickly. My daffodils are beautifully scented which helps my own (small) labour of washing up the dishes move along quite nicely.

I've been working on a little sleeveless wrap cardigan on and off for a few months now. I remember thinking when I started it, "This will be quick - no sleeves.". Hmmm. Turns out that's not true. I haven't especially enjoyed the yarn which is Sirdar Crofter - the fairisle effect is enjoyable but I find the yarn just a bit too insubstantial. I think the picture conveys something of the lightness and slightly candy-floss nature of the fabric - all a bit floaty light. It is actually a double-knit weight - maybe I'll enjoy wearing the lightness of the cardigan.

In the meantime I need to at least produce two fronts that are identical. I tried to sew up the shoulders TWICE last night before finally realising that I had omitted the shoulder shaping on the second front by which time I had only enough patience to unpick the cast-off edge and return it to the needles.

Back to the drawing board again. Second verse, same as the first. At least it's not orange.

Cheerio for now. xx

Hello! How are you? Keeping well, I hope.

I've been doing a little bit of sorting and LOOKING at things this week - usual activity when I've just finished a biggish project - and an ORANGE theme is emerging. When I was small, my favourite colour was orange. Bear in mind, it was the seventies and orange curtains, kitchen appliances and clothing were commonplace at the time. I've subsequently moved away from orange as I've grown because I always felt that a redhead probably shouldn't wear too much orange for fear of being altogether too carroty....

But orange is creeping back and it's making me happy. And I do believe we should have more of the things that make us happy. So here's a little round-up of the orange things that are pleasing me.....

Buttons from Clothkits that gave such pleasure when spilled from their envelope make a jolly necklace (and I'm even wearing orange tights although you'll have to take my word for that).

Delicious orange-packaged chocolate which was a lovely thoughtful gift from my new friend, Nancy. And all I had to do in return was spend a couple of hours crocheting with her. It was a very pleasant way to spend time and now Nancy can crochet granny squares - go Nancy!

Granny's orange crochet which my Mother gave me last week. Granny was a beautiful crocheter but was not the best teacher....

Delicious orange jelly tot beads that Pixie and I made into a bracelet.

This month's orange stripey sock knitting.

Some new orange hairclips for Pixie.

My beautiful orange handbag for special occasions.

And, of course, the solitary orange which comes home in the packed lunch box everyday......

I'm away now to make (orange) butternut squash soup in my (orange) Le Creuset pan and will use my (orange) hand-blender to puree the soup.

Cheerio for now. xx

Hello! How are you? Doing well, I hope. It's a good morning here today - the sun is shining and the sky is blue. (Let's just ignore that light covering of frost on the ground for now.) Pixie and I are going carriage-driving this morning - it's our regular Monday morning fixture. Actually, she does the carriage stuff, I just do the driving. But that's fine. We meet up with a lovely group of ladies who are fabulously knowledgeable about horses (and other stuff too). They're the kind of intelligent, confident ladies that I always wanted to be when I grew up. I'm still working on that. Pixie loves it, she gets into the carriage and talks the entire time which is very entertaining. Talk, talk, talk and then it's back to school and Don't Talk. Such is life.

I've finished my puff sleeved cardigan from A Stitch in Time and I have to say that the knitting and seaming was a dream. The yarn is Castlemilk Moorit and 'grew' on a farm a couple of miles away. The fleeces are sent to The Natural Fibre Company at Launceston to be processed - they sell all kinds of beautiful yarns from British flocks - and it comes back to my neighbour's farm shop where I can buy yarn alongside my groceries. Low yarn miles.

The yarn is classed as a 'light aran' so it has made quite a dense fabric knitted on 4mm needles. It is fabulously warm and holds shape well so it's good for those enormous puffed sleeves. I quite like the effect it gives when worn with a dress - I did try it with my Freddies of Pinewood dungarees (hmm - just noticed I've got the colour that's NOT in the sale - isn't that always the way?) and I ended up looking simply square - and I do not mean that I was less than cool. The sleeves add A LOT to the shoulders

The outfit came together well. Pretty much as intended. I like that I've made the cardigan and the dress. Last summer, when we harvested vegetables from the garden, I aimed to make meals which were 100%-ers - home-grown vegetables, home-grown sausages, ice-cream from the milk of our own cow - it was deeply satisfying. This outfit is almost a 100%-er, at least until I manage to learn how to make underwear and shoes!

Cheerio for now. xx

Hello! How are you? Good, I hope. I'm feeling rather relieved myself as I have completed my January paperwork a little ahead of schedule and can now breathe easily....

I thought I'd show you where the husband and I had our coffee yesterday morning. We were just above Poldhu, overlooking Church Cove and the waves were incredible, very clean and impressive. It's a lovely spot to sit and enjoy the space - next stop America from that viewpoint. We bundled up warmly in the crew cab of Bertie the Landrover and felt very cosy indeed.

I've been searching for just the right crochet motif - I want to create a spotty fabric but nothing so far seems quite 'spotty' enough. Is that perhaps a limitation of crochet? A Granny square gives much more of a cross motif in the centre which isn't quite what I wanted. This large motif isn't right (most definitely unblocked in the picture) so I tried a different version with less rounds.

This is better - and much more square - but still features a lot of white. I've got much more red yarn than white yarn so I perhaps need to try another version with even less white rounds. Do you know of a good spotty motif that might work here? Perhaps popcorn stitch in a round?

I'll leave you today with this photograph of the latest addition to the farm - little piggies! Aren't they adorable? The husband picked them up on Saturday and chose the ginger pig especially (after all, he IS married to a redhead...). The other piglet is pink with black spots, one of the spots falls just over one eye which is rather rakish - he looks to be winking at us.

Cheerio for now. xx

Hello! How are you? Good, I hope.

I'm taken up with the usual January paperwork here - head is spinning and so is the crochet. This circular crocheted bag is perfect for those moments when a girl just needs to think about the work. A bit of soothing, repetitive movement - yoga for the hands whilst the brain is whirring. I'm steadily working my way through my accumulated Rowan Denim, some of which was bought when I lived in Yorkshire and used to visit that lovely woolshop in Ripon. Sadly, it closed down many years ago - I wonder if there is a new woolshop in Ripon nowadays? The plan is to introduce a few rows of bright colours in amongst the denim as I work up the body of the bag. It's looking distinctly boyish at the moment, I feel.

I think the writing on the label gives the clue as to how long this has been sitting in the wool stash. Early 90's vintage at least....

The telephone line has now been fixed although it did look like this for the weekend. Miraculously, it was still possible to get online via this lash-up. In fact, the connection was even a little faster than normal. The BT engineer has visited and repaired the line properly but not until we had chopped up the fallen trees and cleared the bridleway. Now, THAT was a lot of work.

The melted snow and ice has left the lane very boggy. I lost my wellies several times in the mud which all added to the enjoyment. Looking on the bright side, we have a very healthy stock of logs seasoning in the wood shed and an improved telephone line.

Here's a spurious touch of spring for you - tulips are so cheering, aren't they? Now, back to the paperwork - enough procrastinating. See you soon.

Cheerio for now! xx

Hello! How are you?

Maddeningly, after escaping any major problems (only a couple of outside burst pipes), the phone line has broken now that the weather is milder. To be fair, it’s been on its last legs for a while because it has been holding up an aged oak tree single-handedly. BT are aware and will fix it soon (I hope) but are currently “experiencing a heavy demand on their services.” Which is to be expected. It’s an odd experience to be without the telephone, don’t you think? And the internet too. I know there’s always the mobile but I don’t really use the mobile to chat - my mobile is there for emergencies, or text messages for keeping in touch the ‘light’ way. The house feels quieter without the telephone in it. All in the mind, I guess. Internet access is a coffee shop ten miles away so I’m saving up all my online stuff to accompany a latte. Interesting to observe just how much stuff is online now. I still carry stamps in my purse but there’s less and less need to actually conduct business via the post now. Renew a subscription? Online. Pay a bill? Online. Talk to the bank? Online. Keep in touch with friends? Online. Maybe it’s time to write a few letters.

I’ve been dashing off some colourful little Granny squares this past week. They’re so quick to do and so endearingly cheerful. I’ve made these using my Rowan Handknit DK Cotton stash, lots of odd balls and leftovers. I did treat myself to a couple of newer colours in town last week but the choice was rather limited. Guess stocking cotton yarn is seasonal.

The basic pattern is from here Attic24 . Now there’s a lady who knows about colour. I’m using the Attic24 method of joining the squares as I go which is lovely as it gives such a sense of achievement as the blanket keeps growing. It is already getting a little cumbersome so maybe I could whip up a bunch of little squares in colours and do a lot of cream edging in one go.

The ends are a bit of a pain. To begin, I just let the ends dangle, thinking that I would just darn them in at the end. Then I thought that would be a major job and it would be better to weave them in as I crochet which I’ve done for the last few squares. I’m wondering if this will be sufficient to hold the cotton as it doesn’t create the slight felty-ness that weaving wool ends does? Might the ends work themselves out over time? Does it matter? How do you deal with cotton ends?

The stash of cotton isn’t appreciably smaller yet (note to self: don’t buy any more colours, perhaps?) My plan is to just keep crocheting. It will be as big as it gets.

Right, time to write some letters now. Or something. Hope life is good with you?

Cheerio for now! xx

Hello! How are you? The sun has begun to shine here in Cornwall and the snow is trickling away albeit very slowly. Our local schools have reopened and it is almost business as usual. We are certainly grateful that the drinking troughs in the fields have defrosted and will be even more pleased when our cows are able to graze freely again. Even the chickens' drinking water had frozen over. But now rain is forecast and, for once, it is welcome.

Enough of the weather though, what else is happening around here?

Well, yes, she does still knit..... just not very quickly. I'm working on a pattern from Susan Crawford's A Stitch in Time entitled 'To Set Off Your Summer Frocks'. One more front piece to finish up and then it's on to the seaming. You'll have to excuse the picture - my ends are showing.

I have the perfect outfit in mind for this one. A floral tea dress, red stockings and red shoes. It'll be fab. Please, please let it turn out the way that I want. I usually have a picture in my head when I start a garment, always convinced that this one will make me look just fabulous. Doesn't always work out that way though.

This cardigan does seem to be shaping up quite well so far though. The mannequin's measurements are almost mine - she's the 'nearly-me'. She's carrying her assets a little near the top to be an exact match but maybe I would have looked like that in Edwardian times. Perhaps. I do love the hugely puffed sleeves, don't you? They took so much wool to knit and did seem to take forever but then there's a magical couple of decrease rows right near the top and - zoom! - they're done.

The cold snap has motivated me to get on with a little sewing job for my workroom window. I love my workroom window which looks out over our farm fields. Kep, the farm dog, is always sitting outside, below at the farmyard gate looking out for any visitors. He loves visitors - he greets everyone with that special collie dog 'smile'. Have you seen a collie dog smile? They're very good at it and like to show all their teeth - they way we (people) do when we're happy. The wary visitors ask "Are you sure he's pleased to see me?" I say, "Of course he's pleased!" I can't vouch for other dogs though, so be warned. As well as watching for visitors, Kep also waits for us when we leave the farm. He checks Lily the Land Rover on my return to make sure I bring back the same number of children that I left with. Counts 'em out and counts 'em back in again.

The long and the short of the window is that it needed some kind of curtaining and a roman blind fitted the bill. The red and white spotted fabric was bought on an impulse back in the summer and it took a little while for the perfect project to percolate to the surface. And now it has. It feels good to use stuff up and the past year has seen a good amount of stuff used up or passed on to a good home.

More red dots, though this time they're cranberries. I roasted a pheasant for lunch on Sunday - it's the kind of cold weather food that the Aga does really, really well. Not everyone was madly keen on the notion, indeed reality, of eating pheasant so I concocted a variation on a nut loaf. A variety of chopped nuts, some breadcrumbs, herbs, a little cheese and the beautiful, jewel-like cranberries. I use dried cranberries which look somewhat shriveled and a tad unappetising in the packet but, when cooked, plump up beautifully and polka dot the dish. There was none left at the end of lunch which I take as being a good sign.

Time now though for a spot of knitting.

Cheerio for now! xx

Hello! How are you?

Somewhat surprisingly, we find ourselves snowed in here in Cornwall. The schools have been closed for two days now and we are housebound. Not that I mind, actually. I can't think of anywhere nicer than to be cosied up at home with the stove lit, can you? Mind you, I do rather have the luxury of not having to BE anywhere for a few days so that makes life somewhat easier.

I was overtaken by a creative urge yesterday (plus the need to clear the decks in my workroom - an impulse best taken advantage of when it strikes. One never knows when it might come again.....). To begin, soap-making seemed like a good idea especially as I have a beginners soap-making kit at hand (from here). It's a vegetable-based glycerine melt-and-pour thing so not really hardcore soap-making by any stretch but I do like the look of translucent soap, don't you? The plain opaque soap starter block is cut into chunks, melted in a bain-marie, scented, coloured, and then poured into moulds. I made the circle soap in a deliberately deep red and scented it with my favourite Mitsouko perfume as a bit of experiment and it's turned out beautifully (too bad this isn't smell-o-vision). The mould was the bottom of a yogurt pot - very Blue Peter.

I was thinking that I might use these heart shaped soaps scented with Rosewater as gifts for Valentine's Day (thinking ahead). They're very satisfyingly curvy, aren't they?

I adore the chunkiness of these oblong bars. It was hugely pleasing to cut into the block and make smaller bars. I was reminded strongly of watching the severely-hair-styled lady cut up the carefully selected fudge at the old fudge shop in St Ives, which was a childhood treat. She used to slice it with a seriously large knife, scoop it up, pop it into a paper bag which she twisted shut up in the air before handing it over the counter. Bliss although my Dad always wanted rum and raisin flavour included. Heaven knows why.

Whilst the soap was hardening, I moved on to sewing. A Christmas present to myself was the latest Cath Kidston book which comes with some pre-cut fabric to make a little bag. I've never sewn with this fabric before (cotton duck?) and found it quite heavyweight and crisp. It's a pretty straightforward project with some appealing finishing details like the interfacing around the bag top and topstitching. The kind of sewing that makes a person feel special and accomplished. Or perhaps a complete beginner. I guess the label makes it look expensive at any rate.

There were instructions to make a rouleau tape for the bag fastening but that was simply beyond me (that fabric is thick - how are you supposed to turn a small tube inside out?). I substituted a little spotty ribbon which does the job just fine. Makes it a little more personal, perhaps?

In a flurry of finishing things up, Kiki from Clothkits finally got her legs. And her dress. And her knickers. Pixie loves her although she is a very visual doll, I think. I perhaps need to sew on some buttons for eyes and maybe beads for her bracelet to make her more enjoyable.

Phew! What a busy day that was! Today we're investigating the mysteries of free-motion embroidery, a little more crochet and perhaps some knitting. What kind of day are you having? Not too cold, I hope.

Cheerio for now. xx

Hello! How are you? Did you have a good Christmas break? I hope so. We've had the coldest Christmas for ages here in the West Country. Lots of ice and slippery roads, and even a light sprinkling of snow. My palm trees are not happy. Not one bit. I appreciate that the weather has been a lot more severe in other regions but we're just not used to it down here. I've even had to break out the properly warm coat which has not seen a winter since we lived in Yorkshire.

Lots of nice, cosy activities to keep me occupied indoors, though. Somewhat surprisingly (to me, at least) whilst in the grips of a head cold prior to Christmas, I actually managed to learn how to crochet. I blame the general out-of-body experience brought on by Lemsip (I'm just not good with medicines). The cold-induced delirium provided that 'Aha' moment for me and the crochet. I've tried before, many times, but just never quite got it. To be entirely truthful, I haven't always liked many crocheted items but a bit of random online clicking took me to here. And I was hooked (pun intended). I started off with the Sisterhood Crochet Blanket Square (from Vanessa's side bar) which has the most fabulous step-by-step tutorial with beautiful photographs. I did crank out a passable imitation of the original square which pleased me.

Armed with new-found knowledge, a large, emerald green crochet hook and some chunky emerald green yarn, I started to recreate the squares and kept going until the yarn ran out. What a fabulous way to use up an extraordinarily large amount of yarn in a short space of time. I had no idea it could eat stash quite so quickly.

I especially enjoyed crocheting the squares together with single crochet - although I have since learned an even niftier method which I'll show you next time. Although I have the distinct feeling that there are many, many crocheters out there who knew this stuff all along. Late to the party. Again. Ah, well.

A couple of bits of house-keeping just to update things a little. When I first started this blog (in April 2004!), I rather fudged introductions to my daughters. The youngest in particular, who has gone by the epithet of 'BB' (the Baby Bohemian) is very definitely no longer a baby and is particularly offended to be called a baby ("Child-minding, Nanny and Granpa. NOT baby-sitting."). She has requested that I refer to her here as 'Pixie' in future (it's a family nickname). So, from now on, there will be ten year old Pixie, the thirteen year old Faerie, and the fourteen year old Elfine. The husband is still the husband (lucky him!).

Well, that's all for now. Oh, must just wish you a Happy New Year!

Cheerio for now. xx

Anyways, the sherry is opened and the holidays have begun. Happy holidays and I'll see you in the New Year!

I sewed up my first project from A Stitch in Time this week - Such Flattering Puff Sleeves. I used the recommended Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Yarn in shade 14 and chose that shade of blue because I wanted to be able to use the combination of pale blue wool and red jewellery. I usually avoid blues (something to do with navy blue being considered a 'safe' colour choice) but I quite like the effect of this colour.

It's perfect with this pair of jeans.

A closer detail of the puff sleeve. I'm happy with the amount of 'puff' but, in retrospect, I think I could have sewn the sleeve in such a way as to give a larger amount of 'puff'. Next time.

I knit the smallest size which called for 7 skeins of the 25g yarn, but as I said before, the sleeves use rather a lot of yarn. Just a few metres left over after sewing up - a frighteningly close call.

I'm a vintage girl at heart. I adore black and white films, mid-century glamour, stockings and heels. I leap at the chance to wear hats and like to coordinate my shoes and handbags (btw did you see Cheryl Cole on The X Factor sporting pink lipstick and red nail varnish - at the same time?! I digress....) So it follows that I've got a considerable knitting crush on my newest knitting book. It's A Stitch in Time (Vintage Knitting & Crochet Patterns 1920-1949: Vol. 1) by Jane Waller and Susan Crawford and is a re-writing, and essentially re-working of many of the patterns in currently available yarns, of this edition from the 1970's. The new version is a fabulous book, lovely, clear photographs which show the knitting detail and are also beautifully styled with vintage hairstyles, accessories and clothing. If I could only be half as polished as the lovely ladies in this book.....

I met one of the authors, Susan Crawford, at Fibrefest in the summer. Why is it that, when faced with someone really interesting, one's mouth spouts the most silly nonsense? I'm kicking myself for being unable to put together the simplest of sentences at the time - "I really admire your work" would have been suitable but apparently gabbling incoherently comes more readily. I DO admire her work tremendously and love the pictures here which show her knitting patterns teamed with Cath Kidston clothes - aren't they pretty?

I'm working on 'Such Flattering Puff Sleeves' currently, having reined in the urge to start at least twelve projects simultaneously. Just one more sleeve left to work, in 2-ply Jumper Yarn from Jamieson and Smith, and I'm knitting quickly in an effort to beat the yarn. The last sleeve ate up so much yarn and I'm crossing my fingers that I will have enough to finish although I'm sure those awfully nice people up in Lerwick would soon help me out.