Zoë's Knitting Bag

Open Day

We've been to Sussex on our quest for a suitable Uni for Sophie.  It is such a beautiful county and it is a long time ago since I was in Brighton (1979), that I just had to pay a visit on our way home.  I hope you like a peak at some of the places we visited last week.

Firstly the lovely beach at Littlehampton ::

 We couldn't leave without visiting the famous East Beach cafe ::

You can read more about it here.

This is the view from the beach side ::

Another beach, this time we went to West Wittering ::

Brrrr - it was chilly and the sun was just setting.  There were lots of twitterers and dog walkers about to leave as we arrived.  Oh how Alfie would have loved it there.

Brighton was our final place to visit as we made our way back home.  Of course, a visit to the mecca that it Cath Kidston could not be missed.

 
But the shops don't open too early here so we had a walk though The Lanes, then on to the Pavilion ::

I A*D*O*R*E this building ::

OK, now down to here to buy some Brighton rock ::

Watch out though, for these ::

Then we simply had to turn back and pop into Cath's ::

To get few little things for Christmas ::

It was a pleasant trip!

Random

A few photos to illustrate our past weekend ::

 

Sophie's plate and my little jug.  Hand painted at The Sticky Earth Cafe.

Ghostly biscuits.

Bubble balloon - they last for weeks and weeks.

Crocheted wristies for Bella!

They were made for my 11 year old Niece :: love the red nails!

New Moon Mittens

Emerald green in Rowan's Cocoon for me to wear at the New Moon showing next month. These Bella mittens are so nice to knit. I am looking forward to the new film very much and am still reading Breaking Dawn.  I make it last by just reading a few pages at a time as I do NOT want it to end. Sad or what?  Meanwhile I am enjoying the vampire fest around now by watching Being Human with the gorgeous, smouldering Aidan Turner who was brilliant in Desperate Romantics as Dante Gabriel Rossetti. As well as the obvious (!), hasn't he got lovely teeth? Also I've just got into True Blood which is a far more violent and x rated version but I looooooove the title music.

Dare I show you this ::

A new blanket made with Rowan Felted Tweed and Porridge coloured Scottish Tweed for the background.  I am joining this one as I go along.

Please don't forget to leave a comment.

Shetland Scrap Mittens

I've had another great weekend,  where we tried out a new cafe at Cromer.  We met up with my sister and her family there. Brrr it was a chilly morning there on Saturday and after a teeny, weeny stroll along the esplanade, the sight of The Rocket House Cafe was most welcome.  It's above the Henry Blogg Lifeboat Museum if anyone wants to pay a visit.  We had a nice lunch there and warming hot drinks.  It was very busy which was nice to see. I loved the nautical 30s cruise liner doors and porthole windows.  The North Sea was ferocious looking and was its usual brown/grey but the panoramic views were just brilliant.  There is also a veranda to sit out on but you need a warm summer's day for this.

We also went to the cake decorating supply shop, bought another mug by Emma Bridgewater and then booked for a half term trip at the Sticky Earth Cafe  to paint some pots.  I am really looking forward to this and my sister and her family will be coming along to this as well.

So with all this busyness, perhaps I will be forgiven for still not finishing the Granny Shetland blanket. The 186 squares are all done and over half of them are joined. See below ::

However, I did manage to make some fingerless mitts this weekend with the scraps of leftover Shetland wool.  The pattern is from Lucy and I enjoyed wearing these on my beach walk this afternoon. I'm really quite pleased with them and feel that it's an excellent use of leftover wool. Thanks Lucy.

The left hand::

 

The right hand ::

The pair ::

Boo!

Honestly, just how can anyone resist Nicky's lovely creations over at The Vintage Magpie. Sophie was very pleased to receive Boo as part of her Birthday  gifts.  Doesn't little Boo look great amongst our own home grown squashes and pumpkins?

 

Then inside for a warm up in the kitchen.

Eighteen

It was a great week.  Whilst we quietly celebrated our 23rd Wedding Anniversary with a sat nav, a Union Jack cushion and a Being Human DVD! LOL, sounds weird but not really these were our gifts to each other, Sophie reached a milestone birthday.  She went to see Wicked in London and we had a family celebration on Sunday.  The only disappointment was the weather which spoilt our plans to launch a few chinese lanterns on the beach.  Picture this:: on the beach, pitch black with a solitary fisherman and a group of people desperately trying to read the instructions with the aid of light from a cam corder screen (yes I forgot the torch)and a pathetic fire gas fire lighter nearly empty and high winds from the North Sea - all of us huddled around in a circle trying to create a windbreak.  It was a no go.

The cupcakes on the other hand were a great success.

 

Vanilla and chocolate from Scrumptious Buns.  Yummy.

A Kind Act

It's been a while - again.  Sorry, there is just never enough time in the day.  Also, a certain someone is 18 very soon and so there has been a great deal to organise.

I had a lovely, most welcome, surprise the other day to receive this giveaway from Sheila.  I've worn the felted aqua corsage many times, thank you and she must have known how much I loooooove tea towels and cupcakes. Oh and look at the hand coloured gift tag - beautiful. The magazine is great too for such a crochet novice like me.  Such a kind thing to do.

Talking of crochet here is the latest shot of Granny Shetland Blanket.

I do so love this project but I am making slow progress.  There are 8 more little squares to do and 11 more strips to join but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.  I am knitting various other things as well but they are not ready to be revealed yet. With the nights getting dark so early now I really hope I may get one of those special day light lamps in my Christmas stocking.  Dark colours are so hard to see.  But I've already formed a plan in my head for a tweedy crochet blanket!

The Autumn has been very mild here so far and, in fact, this morning was the first grey misty morning on my early morning beach walk.  Apart from today, we have been blessed with glorious orangey red skies just before sunrise.  The sun has been a red, glassy ball of light rising about five or so minutes later each day. It rises just in time for Alfie and me to stop and watch it at the end of our walk. We have the whole beach to ourselves and only see a few people starting their daily walk as we are ready to leave and the regular helicopter on patrol over the North Sea at about 7 am.  I know this stretch of sand so well that I could walk it blindfold but I may need to invest in a little torch soon to guide me on my way these dark mornings.

I think that Sunday will bring our first frosty morn but often here on the coast we escape the frosts for longer than our inland cousins. The Met Office have forecast a mild wet winter or so I heard the other day.  I always though that lots of berries on shrubs and trees indicated a hard winter to come.  Just look at this lot on our Pyracantha and the Rowan tree is full of berry too.

From Wool to Waterhouse

I'm still in recovery mode today after a great weekend of extreme pleasures. LOL!  iKnit London was good, very good and a few little yarny purchases were made.  Sophie is very happy that I am going to knit her a bead Alpaca necklace.  I've already started on this earlier today and have strict instructions to finish it before returning to the Shetland Granny blanket.  The yarn is the softest British Alpaca ever and a lovely natural Biscuit and the beads are stuffed with the fleece fibre.  Sophie also got some Alpaca in Oatmeal for some cabled wrist warmers.  I might just have to visit this farm soon to see the lovely Toft Alpacas, although I think there are some up at Mundesley which you can walk through the fields.  I must look into this.

I bought some beautiful Unicorn and Angel yarn and a pattern from The Natural Dye Studio to make some crocheted lace weight scarves at some point.  Amanda gave me some helpful advice on joining the flowers on her Morgana scarf pattern.  I also managed to crochet a few more flowers on the train.

Then on to buy some Wensleydale DK :: a skein of dark chocolate for a pair of wrist warmers to match my winter jacket. I also picked up some buttons (photo top of this post) and woven ribbon from another stall.

 

The Circle and Victoria lines were closed and this somewhat disrupted our travel plans and so we bussed or taxied about London.  We met Jamie in Picadilly at Eros's statue and in a mad moment ditched the idea of lunch at our usual Italian restaurant and went to the Rainforest Cafe. Even though we sat near the gorillas and had a leopard nearby and wait for it: experienced at terrifying thunderstorm - it was great!!

Sophie loved the bar stools and decided to have her arm painted ::

 

After all of this excitement I went off for more thrills, to the RA for the Waterhouse exhibition and they went shopping along Regent Street stopping at Abercrombie and Fitch and then on to Sophie's Mecca :: Top Shop.  I planned to meet up with them in Liberty but that was not to be.  For the first time ever, I did not pre-book my tickets for an art exhibition and had to queue for 2 and a half hours.  It was worth it though to see, especially again, "The Lady of Shalott" in all it's splendour.  Somehow, my ornately framed print in our bedroom will never look the same.  Although for me, Millais' "Ophelia", "Autumn Leaves", Sophie Gray" and Holman Hunt's "The Light of the World" are still my favourites ever.

The weekend was rounded off with a small box of Macaroons from Ladurée, Picadilly.  Heavenly. Now what could be better than that?

Happy Flowers

Yippee! The weekend is almost upon us and we're off to the Big Smoke.  We plan to visit the iKnit London weekender, meet up with Jamie for lunch somewhere nice and posh and then back to the RA for the John William Waterhouse exhibition.  Oooohh how I love the Pre-Raphaelites.  Then, if there's time a little retail therapy at Liberty and Harrods.

 

So of course, on the train journey, a gal needs to keep herself busy. Meet my version of Amanda's Morgana scarf.  I'm using this gorgeous Autumnal shade of sock yarn.  It's a delight to use.  I can't quite master the joining technique yet, please remember, I'm only a crochet novice.

The Shetland Granny blanket is in it's final stages but it's not ready to reveal just yet.  Must dash and tidy up before the last of Land Girls on BBC.  What a little gem this series has been for 1940s lovers like me.  I simply adore all the knitted cardis, jumpers and scarves.

I'm also quietly remembering my Mum who would have been 72 today.  God Bless x

Have a lovely weekend everyone.  Toodle Pip!

Beach Hut Love

So when I said that I was taking a blogcation I was fibbing, no really, I had to pop back agan to show the beautiful beach hut that we were lucky enough to use yesterday.  Our day at Wells-next-the-Sea was sunny until early evening. My sister and her children joined us for the afternoon and brought afternoon tea and cakes.  Alfie played all day with his tennis ball and two little brothers who had the next-door-but-one beach hut (with their family) played with him all morning.  Alfie was exhausted but still ready enough for an afternnon session with my sister's children.  He was so worn out that he just laid there when we buried him in the sand!  I tried to take a photo of this but the minute I got up out of my chair, he followed me.

 

The weather went from this ::

 

To this in the early evening ::

Running to shelter ::

Look at the row of little beach huts in this light::

 

Now I really must go and get on with that blanket.  Toodle Pip!

Autumn's on its way - my favourite time.