awesome wrist warmers

Do you remember those pink dashings I started way back when? Well I barely got through one before I frogged the whole thing and resigned the yarn to my stash. On a stash dive today I found the remnants and a whole ball of pristine new yarn and decided it would be perfect to make these awesome wrist warmers with...


(photo credit to Johanna Ziegler - I haven't made mine yet)

Unbelievably this gorgeous pattern is a free download on ravelry, designed by Johanna Ziegler, and featured on her blog Twee as Volk. I love the grey and lilac combination, but for now pink and navy will have to do. The pretty lace design and practical warmth is just what I want in a mitten. (I might make a mitten 'flap' to attach - it's drizzling in Bath right now).



Also, I have almost finished charting a cleaner, simpler version of nerys (ie without all the mistakes and 'errors of judgement', but with the main cabling of course) and it will soon be available as a free download on ravelry, about which I am very excited.

Nouveau Sack Hat...it was a long time in the making...

I can't believe I started this in March, March. I completely re-started this gorgeous pattern by Weaverknits only three days ago with new yarn, and knitting it as it was designed to be knit - in the round (using magic-loop). I really, really enjoyed this fun, quick, adventurous knit.

I like to wear it this way...

I used Rowan Tapestry and King Cole Merino Blend DK - its an Arctic colour combination for a very warm hat.

I name this scarf nerys

The day before I left for Paris I did that mythical thing - I finished one of my projects. The deadline was met, alas I had reckoned without the weather... it was sunny and warm, no place for scarves. Now home in Bath some 150 miles northwards, in the winds and rain of October, I am glad of the warmth of nerys...

The 'design' is a scatty mish-mash of cabling. I changed my mind about the pattern half-way through, influenced by the yellow mittens of Vogue Knitting. I eventually came up with a chart to replicate the cabling (not having bought a copy of the magazine yet) and nearly used up my highlighters in all the drafts...

The original idea had bobbles, but they didn't seem to scale so the other end has mini pom-poms. There is an unexpected detail I like - the shaping of the edges created by the cables and especially the plaits. Four balls of Rowan Big Wool were consumed, and 10mm circular needles (working back and forth) were used. Its deliciously warm, like wearing a blanket. The deep intense dark blue makes me smile inside.

Six random things...

I've been tagged by Juicy Knits for the '6 random things about me' meme, hmm...

The rules first:
Link to the person who tagged you. (tick)
Post the rules on your blog. (tick)
Write six random things about yourself. (hell and death, as Stephen Maturin would put it)
Tag six people at the end of your post. (forgive me dear tagees)
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. (see above)
Let the tagger know your entry is up. (you bet)

Alrighty, here are six random things about me;

• My favourite font is Garamond, and it breaks my heart that this font doesn't appear in the blogger font drop-down menu. I also like to find those free download font websites and install 'The Hobbit' font and 'Floral Art Nouveau' font and such like onto my computer. Goodness knows what I'll ever use them for.
• I taught myself to knit from a book called 'Debbie Bliss Workbook' which had diagrams of how to cast on, knit and purl. I've never knitted any Debbie Bliss patterns, as I think they are a trifle frumpy.
• I have a Polish surname, due to my paternal grandfather, of whom I am immensely proud - he escaped the Russian gulag and trans-siberian railway and joined up with the British army in Italy, eventually travelling to London where he met my grandmother. But he lost contact with his Polish relatives and I do not know if any exist, I've never been there and I can't speak Polish.
• I can't stand the combination of cheese and tomato. The smell makes me feel sick. Which is absurd, because I love cheese in all its varieties, and tomatos are pretty good too. I can only eat pizza if it is liberally doused in chicken and barbeque sauce.
• One of my ambitions is to learn how to fly a light aircraft, and I have seriously looked into the cost of flying lessons at Bristol Airport in order to get my Private Pilot's License. I just need about £3,000 and a medical check-up.
• Today I posted my 100th post on ravelry, and here are some stats: I've been on the site for eight months, I've got 62 favourites, have aquired 26 friends, and my favourite group is 'The Lesser of Two Needles' where I've posted 25 times.

I'm going to tag these lovely people; amy was here, Glass of Fashion, and Original Stitches. I hope you all post your six random things because I would like to know you all a little better.

I love Stephen Fry...and I just got to meet him!!!!!

I totally adore this man, and have been one of his many millions of fans ever since I first snuck a copy of 'The Liar' from my Dad's bookshelf at 14 and was initiated into really good adult literature. Since then my personal favourites have been appearances on 'Just a Minute' and 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue', not to mention all his other books and films, and of course QI.


After waiting for a mere hour and half on Milsom Street outside the Bath branch of Waterstones with Mr HH, we had a whole two minutes of conversation while he signed our book - perhaps the most thrilling 2 minutes of my life! I still feel like jelly, the adrenaline is pumping, of all the people I would have liked to have met, he is at the very top. Huzzay!

the art that I like

or, a history of my love of Art Nouveau...

I'm no art critic or scholar of the Art Nouveau movement, what little knowledge I have comes from Wikipedia, this is merely a post of pure appreciation.

It all began on a saturday shopping ramble when I was 14, and I came across this outrageously gorgeous pack of playing cards in a well known department store, and promptly fell in love with the art of Alfons Mucha.



Years later I've just moved into halls at university and have a rather dire room with a brown carpet to brighten up. Imagine my delight when I found this at the college poster fair...



It is a curious thing, that on the streets of Paris are many street booksellers also touting posters, prints and postcards of Paris sights and Paris art, and among their wares are unexpected packs of coasters, in a vast variety of different art styles. Which brings me to one of the best souvenirs I've ever bought for four euros...a set of Mucha advertisement coasters!! Far, far too good to use, here they are scattered around my flat...




And my absolute favourite...