a cardigan for summer

Here's the knitting project that I mentioned the other day. I finished it! A nice summer's cardigan.

I used a pattern from this book, as recommended by Emily who has made a few gems from the pattern, including this amazing sparkly number. The pattern recommended some super soft angora wool, which would have been a real treat, but I was aiming for a more summery garment so I substituted it for some recycled cotton yarn.

I'm really pleased with the outcome - its very comfortable and the right level of cosy. And it was really pleasant to make as it was mostly knitted together as one piece, so I managed to avoid too much of the dreaded sewing together.

Perfect for a summer's evening in the garden or by the sea.

And I might well make a winter version at some point too, using some cosy lambswool. Super soft, like this little friend...

petting zoo

Time spent with pets is always a pleasure.
Even if some of them do make my eyes incredibly itchy.

As well as seeing these guys at the weekend I also went to Birdworld where I got to stroke baby goats and rabbits, and hold a tiny mouse. So soft!

ceramic cat

This ceramic cat was found buried in our garden last week.
I like him a lot - he has a very nice face.

I've been thinking about doing a bit more ceramics or pottery recently, since it's now well over a year since I did my mini pottery course.

I've just started a board on pinterest full of nice handmade ceramics that make me feel like getting my hands messy with clay.

advent

It's the first day of advent today (I had a Santa-shaped chocolate for breakfast) and it definitely feels a lot like Christmas - much snow! It's a shame I don't work far enough away to get a day off for sledging but I'm looking forward to my walk to work tomorrow...it'll give me time to finalise my playlist for this month's mixtape.

I've been finding it really hard to do anything other than huddle under a blanket in the evenings this week. It's tough having a fridge for a house. It has given me time to finish off my cardigan though. Now all that is left is to find and sew on some buttons and it'll be ready to go. I need all the warm winter knits I can get at the moment.

Next task: Very warm socks (& possibly more scarves for cats).

Victor & Raul

A nice weekend spent celebrating l'anniversaire de mon pere.
Card games, double puddings, water features and too much Tom Petty.

hellebore, buttercup, meconopsis

I had a surprise day without work today, which gave me some time to really get onboard the flower crochet bandwagon (see here & here) and learn some new skills.

Cats & crochet & charity shopping + lunch with family = a successful day off.

the love farm

GREAT photos by Sam. WONKY drawing by me.

A perfect camping trip!
Unfortunately there were no bluebells remaining, but instead there was the roundest of cats, green woodland and so much food. And a bit of lightning to add some excitement.
More weekends like that one please.

the little things

Presents, pick-me-ups and perfectly timed baking.

when all else fails...

...spend some time with kittens.

meow

Two reasons why I'm looking forward to Christmas.

pros and cons

good things
• new kittens (unfortunately not mine)
• peppermint tea with honey
• bingo
• planning a window display

bad things
• damp flat
• stomach pains
• leaking boots
• slugs and mould (a by-product of a damp flat)

It's not all that good.
But it's bonfire night tomorrow so that'll be a treat!

not very content

I would quite like to feel like this:


or this:


or this:


But instead I feel a bit like this:


I also really want a cat!

photos on flickr: one / two / three / four

this and that

A little bit of an update:

Today i got a new book in the post. I look forward to giving it a read.

On saturday I got locked out of home but used the day productively by going to Yumi's and creating some library card designs for our local library (there's a competition on at the moment). We don't have high hopes of winning but we had a good time drawing so all is well.

I tried to draw tiffany from memory:


As you can see I missed out some key elements (turns out my memory isn't that good).

Also last week I had some bad news...my cat Shadow passed away. It was quite expected as he was almost 20 but also very sad as he has been a lovely friend for most of my life. Poor little lamb.



Tomorrow me and Yumi are going to head to the library to see the outcome of the competition - wish us luck (we really do need it!).
x

cat nap