My Kind of Friday...

Hello!!!

I just need to say this, it's official,  I LOVE FRIDAYS!!! I never used to get excited about Fridays when I was younger but now I can't wait for them to come around. All that lovely weekend time, that 'what shall I do now?' time, family time, quiet time, shopping time ... basically just TIME for me and the people that I love.

This Friday especially is particularly good. Firstly cos Autumn is here and that's my favourite season (closely followed by Spring). The crisp mornings, the colours of the changing leaves, the misty hills and dales.....Miss Autumn is extremely welcome after a very long hot summer. There's quite alot of this going on with the trees -

The leaves are falling by the hundred and my garden is turning into one huge glorious leaf pile - particularly good for jumping in!!!!

The second reason for this Friday being fantastically fab is that the sky in my neck of the woods is just awesome in the Autumn, very blue and very clear. The light is glorious. I just had to snap a pic of the chimney at the school where I work to show you exactly what I mean.

Is that a blue sky or what? (Note: this pic is just as I took it. I've not messed around with it on Photoshop - it's straight from my camera!)

My third reason for being super excited this Friday is cos I got a little parcel in the post this morning. Now some women get their kicks from shopping for clothes, or jewellery or stuff for their home. Not me. I get my kicks from buying these.....

Yes, that's right. Knitting needles are the thing that float my boat! Not just any old knitting needles though. No indeed. These are Signature Needles and if you don't know what I'm talking about (and if you're interested) go here and you can find out all about them. They are the Rolls Royce of knitting needles, the Manchester United of the Premier Knitting League.
'But they're just knitting needles!!!' I hear you say. But you're wrong. They are sooooooo much more.

Let me explain. If you're a knitter, you'll know what I mean when I talk about the needle splitting the wool occasionally. It's very annoying. I don't look at my needles when I'm knitting and it's very frustrating to at last look down at my work and see that five rows ago the wool got split on a single stitch, and I have to rip it back (knitting terminology for unpicking) and do it again. That doesn't happen with Signature Needles because of the very fine tip. Have a look -

Are they not exquisite??? They are called Stilletto points and with good reason. You could seriously damage someone's eye with these beauties!!! I got these needles this morning and did quite a bit of knitting today at school in the playground and not once did the wool split!!! YAY!!!

Another fab thing about these needles is that they're extremely light. This probably doesn't matter to a whole lot of people but it does to me. I never realised how heavy my old needles were until I tried a pair of Signatures. The difference is amazing.

My final reason for loving these lovelies so much is that they are just so well made. I often find tiny bits of metal sticking out of needles where they haven't been finished properly in the factory but not these darlings. They're as smooth as silk and the yarn just glides across them.....sigh.....

They are, however, not cheap but they will last you a lifetime so worth every penny. I knit ALOT and for me there is nothing better than having the best tools for the job. We knitters spend so much money on good yarns so why not good needles?

I'm off now to do a few more rows but pop across to the Signature website and have a look for yourself. They do normal needles, circulars (which apparently don't twist like other circulars do) and double pointed needles. You can specify both the points and the ends that you want when you order so they're completely to your taste and style of working. I chose these twisty ends. Aren't they wonderful?

So go on, get over there and treat yourself. You know you want to....

Hope your Friday was as fab as mine!! ♥

Til soon.

xxx

Mother's Day....

To all you wonderful Moms.....

Have a magical day......♥

xxx

My Love and I ......

Hello friends! I just wanted to pop in quickly to show you this .....

Is she not gorgeous?   I am indeed the luckiest chestnut on the planet as this week marked the 20th anniversary of my first date with DH!!! And he remembered with this beautiful orchid! Do you want to see more? No problem......

It really is so delicate. I even fell in love with the pot it came in. I know it says 'herbs' on the front, but I'm not complaining .....

DH also gave me a voucher for a local health spa so I sense a massage and a facial in the not too distant future....YAY!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend....thanks for sharing this with me.

Here's one last look....

Til soon.

xxx

p.s. Sorry for the quality of the pics - my camera isn't great but I really wanted to show you. xxx

On my needles...

A while ago I bought 1500g (yes, you read it correctly, 1500g!!!) of this

It's a very nice yarn being 20% wool and 80% acrylic so it's soft, warm, easy to work with and has a fabulous drape. I had intended to make this

but for one reason or another I subsequently decided against it so was left with a HUGE amount of the yarn. It's a gorgeous cappuccino colour but I stashed it away, not really knowing what to do with it. Then, a few weeks ago my gran (actually she's my step-gran but who's asking?) said she needed a new cardigan for the winter. Sadly she suffers from chronic arthiritis in her hands so cannot knit or sew any more. As soon as she said it I thought of this yarn as it's definitely one of her colours. She suits all ranges of browns so I knew she'd like it and when I showed it to her she thought it was fab.

We discussed exactly what she wanted (a small amount of cable, a button up with a round neck, no collar etc., etc) and I jumped on the internet to find a pattern. Ravelry (of course) is always my first stop for all things knitting but although I searched for nearly an hour, I just couldn't find the right pattern. There were many 'it'll do' types but nothing that really made my heart leap. Do you know what I mean?

To say the least I was a little despondent. Ravelry had NEVER let me down but now it seemed I was asking too much...... I wandered around for days not knowing what to do and then it hit me - DESIGN YOUR OWN PATTERN!!!! That made my heart leap, I can tell you. I was a little daunted at first but I've been knitting all my life and have made all kinds of sweaters so I took a deep breath and began......

So far I've done this

What do you think? This is the right front so the arrow is where the button band will be joined on. Obviously the left front also has an identical cable. Do you like the double cable or do you think it should have been a single? I'm still in two minds about the double but I've done the left front and am almost finished this side so I'm not ripping back now. There is also space to the left of the cable to put on a patch pocket if she decides she wants one but I think it will look just as good without pockets. The back is plain stocking stitch.

So, that's what I've been up to over the past week or so. I really like how it's coming together and I'm very excited that it's my first very own made up pattern!!!! You see, you're never too old (or too young) to start designing!!!

I've called it Granny Anne and will blog the pattern when it's a FO rather than a WIP. Please let me know what you think.

Til soon.

xxx

From my two sticks...!

I've been working today in our bookshop so between serving customers I've also been dashing about on the internet. I've recently put down my crochet hook for a while and taken up my 'two sticks' again - this is D's description of my knitting needles!

First I discovered this wonderful lady Kate Davies.

She's a knitwear designer and her work is fabulicious!!! If you enjoy knitting or simply enjoy good design, please do yourself a favour and pop over to her site and see the rest of her beautiful work. I've already earmarked this pattern to buy -

 That's a cowl I would definitely wear and in a similar colourway it would go with everything! How about this? She has made it as a cowl but I would probably do it as a scarf .... don't you love her coat???

Then I scurried over to http://www.ravelry.com (where else would a girl go on a Sunday afternoon?) and discovered Boo Knits. If, like me, you gaze in awe at some of the shawls that people make, check these out....

Are they not exquisite? Shawls really suit the South African climate particularly in the Spring and Autumn when the evenings are cool. Ho hum. I can see quite a few new projects on the horizon.....

Til soon.
x

Let the children play ......

٠ let the children play ٠ stamp in puddles ٠ climb trees ٠ dig in the dirt ٠ go on a bug hunt ٠ make mud pies ٠ roll down a hill ٠ build a camp ٠ make a daisy chain ٠ look for fairies ٠

Playing outside makes kids –

٠ smarter

٠ healthier

٠ happier

Recently I was chatting to a  friend of mine who is also a teacher and we remarked on how little children seem to play outside these days. In our youth (we were both born in the 1960s) there was no television, no computer games, no playstations, no fear of 'bad people' and life was pretty carefree. We played indoors on wet days but if the sun shone we played outside, ALWAYS.

We played in our sandpit .....

We sat on benches in the sun.........

We made camps in leafy glades......

We trained for the circus.......

Outside play is so important. For strengthening little arms and legs, for making young imaginations soar, but most importantly for the feeling of the sun on their skin and the wind in their hair. It's all around them and it's free.
Til soon.
x

D's Bedroom...

I've decided that 2012 will be the year that I make a concerted effort on my house. Most of the rooms are ok(ish) but all of them need finishing off and definitely de-cluttering!!! My first project is going to be Little D's room.

Firstly, from now on I'm going to stop calling him Little D and instead he'll be just D. He's 8 years old this year and is no longer 'little' and I can hardly call him Medium D so D it is! I am, of course, referring to my youngest son whose ripple blanket you'll find here.

When we moved into this house some 7 years ago he was very little so I painted his bedroom walls white up to the picture rail and above that pale blue with clouds and kites. I loved it, he loved it and everyone that saw it loved it so all was good with the world.

Not so any more. D's now decided that it's too babyish for him and that he's embarrassed to bring friends home to play in case they laugh at him so CHANGES MUST BE MADE!!! No-one's going to laugh at my child!!! (I'm now officially in Warrior Mummy mode.)

When I asked him what he wants for his room his answer was simple 'Guns and soldiers!' Um. Not a space theme then? No. How about an undersea bedroom? No thanks. I want guns and soldiers. Oh dear. Warrior Mummy's confidence started to crumble as I envisaged him sleeping among AK47 rifles and rocket launchers. Deep breath. Calm down. Let's google some ideas......

First I saw this mural which, if I was remotely talented as an artist, would be PERFECT!!!!

I quite like the idea of these soldier stencils around the room and D could help me do them.....

I REALLY like this bedding. There's no way I'll find something similar here in SA (very limited choice) but if I can find some camo fabric then I could probably run up a couple of reversible duvet covers myself. May work out cheaper too!

Then, I saw this which is going to be my model for his room. Most of it I can do myself (even the walls!) and the rest I can probably rope a couple of friends in to help me with.....pretty please???

I know it's pretty 'themed' like those scary bedrooms at the Disney hotels and D's won't be quite so hectic but I love the window blind, the beanbag and the vines on the walls. He doesn't have a bunk bed but I can probably get some camo netting to hang over his bed like a mozzie net and...... (as you can see I'm getting quite excited and enthusiastic about this project)!

So what do you think? Good for go or stop right now and go for something a little more classic??? Give the boy the bedroom of his dreams (within budget of course) or convince him that he really needs something more conservative??? WHAT WOULD YOU DO?????????????
Advice will be appreciated.......
xxx