Personal Anniversary

I am the first of our little clan to have a birthday in Cornwall, our new-ish part of the world. And what an amazing few days I have been treated to! 

Amongst my many pleasures there was a few sneaky yoga poses on a deserted beach we had walked to. 

This was followed at home by lime cake with clotted cream, and a pot of lapsing souchong- what an indulgence! 

 The weekend also gave me paella, which I would happily bet is the best paella in the UK, cooked by my honorary Spaniard.

There were lovely presents (including an extremely thoughtful 'Running Songs' cd given to me by my nearest and dearest, a fantastic cable cardigan, and a new nightie with proper Victorian-style trimmings- just how I like them!), heartfelt birthday cards which drew the odd sentimental tear, there was coffee from a thermos in a cave watching birds, some great workouts, breakfast in bed... it's embarrassing how spoilt I am! 

But also impossible to describe how lucky I feel and how grateful I am to all the lovely people in my life, as well as to the circumstances that have given me so much in terms of health and good fortune. 

Busy Bee

I wanted to share with you a recent sample that I am developing into a throw. Inspired by the Cornish sunset, this is going to be both a design in my ravelry store, and form the basis of a workshop in October. I just love how the star-shapes are formed where the hexagons meet, and the contrast of bright orange with grey... there's always something so exciting about a new design.

There will soon be a link to the workshop on the right, but if you simply cannot wait for details please do get in touch. 

I have decided that Sunday is my new blogging day. Our Sunday routine is to do the housework, visit the local boot fair, then sometimes I go to yoga, and whatever else we get up to is interjected with coffee breaks and quiet time... it seems like the perfect day for reflection. 

If you are enjoying these pictures of the amazing Cornish scenery then you might like to follow me on instagram for more: my username is StitchingPixie. Do say hello! 

Crafty Cornwall

I'm delighted to be thinking about my blog again!

There are so many hours to be whiled away just looking at the sea (before touching on any of the other wonders of this beautiful place) that having much of an online life has slipped down the list.

I am hoping to bring you news very soon about some craft classes in Cornwall, too.

I have been doing some teaching, but it has been concentrated at the big trade shows. Now that the year has turned, though, I am ready to think about getting back to it. If you have any requests for crochet/knitting/sewing classes, do let me know as I am very open to locations and topics at this stage.

Project-wise I am a little stuck on my Cornish guernsey- it is a much larger project that I had really thought about, and the tiny needles require good daylight. I am almost up to the point where I can join at the shoulders, and then I will consider myself roughly halfway through.  Pictures to follow...

A Change Has Come

I have relocated. To the most beautiful place in the world. For many many reasons I feel like the luckiest person ever- I won't get swamped down with fine detail, but you will understand the greater picture I am sure. 

 

This is a fantastic fresh start, and a chance to re-focus and move forward with what is really important and exciting to me. I have one new design under my belt (but gah: cannot find my blocking pins!) and ideas for many more. 

I am following my new path with eager excitement, wondering what I will find inside each beautiful door...

I even have a work room of my own in which to be quiet and creative. 

Fresh bread from my new breadmaker has been feeding my creativity. The smell of freshly baked loaves has got me feeling very grown-up and homely. 

A Blank Sheet of Paper

The feathers which I mentioned before are coming down to land. Gently, beautifully, settling down in just the right places.

More to follow of course, as for now everything is awash with cardboard boxes.

A blank sheet of paper, a fresh start... a little bit of magic.














 

New Season

You could be forgiven for thinking that I had given up blogging for lent. Or even that I had given up blogging for ever! But, not so! I will not bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that things have felt a little like everything has been shaken up like a bunch of feathers, which are landing- in slow motion as feathers do- in slightly different places. This is positive, and not as dramatic as it might sound,  but could pave the way for significant changes...

Anyway, I thought I would take you on a quick pictorial tour of some of the things I have been up to over the last few weeks:

There was the Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia where I taught some workshops. They were mostly simple little bitesize projects which could be made in an hour.

Felt roses, which my students sculpted beautifully

Really easy knitted daisies

Sashiko pincushions

On the design front there has been:

Theme & Variegations Cowl in Fyberspates yarn.

My designs for Yarnbox in an amazing merino/silk blend

Darling Bud which I finally completed

Vita which was in Knit Now

Under the Frost which appeared in Interweave Crochet

There was this bumper crop of felted bags, made to my Tote Chic pattern- with a few impressive customisations along the way:

...and I haven't even mentioned arm knitting yet! 

Beautiful arm knitted scarf- well done Wendy! 

Over the last couple of weeks I have been delighted to be able to spend a little time working on Operation Hand Made Me- my desire to switch to mostly hand made items in my wardrobe. This has also pushed me to clear out a load of things I don't need anymore, which always feels very cleansing. 

I made this Kandinsky Cardigan from the most beautiful Rowan Fine Art Aran wool. I don't know if you can make out that the buttons are tiny ceramic birds, in a range of colours. 

I've sewn quite a few basic bits and pieces too: some simple shift dresses like this one, which are so easy to wear. Raglan shoulders make them super comfortable, and of course there are pockets in the side seams!

And some shift tops like this one. I only had a small amount of this fantastic Liberty print and I have been wondering what to do with it for a while. Now I know what to do with all of those small-ish pieces of fabric, as this is a really wearable top which can be made in an evening. 

And would you believe it, we are having a tiny glimpse of sunshine here, and I was actually ably to take my cardigan off for a few minutes yesterday?! Definitely a moment worth capturing in a photo. 

Happy spring to you :-) x

Because we're British

Just a quick post because I can't let another week pass without blogging; 2 photos which are both related:

Firstly, a bag knitted to my 'Tote Chic' pattern, by lovely Lesley in my Tuesday group, whose last session it was this week. She has made a really fantastic job of the knitting and felting, and this week we attached the strap. You can't really tell but it is a beautifully coordinating blue- blues being Lesley's colours. 

...& secondly a snap of how Tuesday ended: