Picture Perfect Sundays!!!

Early last month I made a trip back home to England for the weekend. I had such a lovely time catching up with my family and spending some time at my parents house.

The plan was to tell you all about everything that I got up to. However, it's almost two months later and I still haven't written the blog post!!! Instead I thought I would share my pictures in a "Picture Perfect Sunday" post. I hope you enjoy a little glimpse of the place I grew up  :-)

Malmesbury High Street- Check out the bunting hanging from shop to shop :-)

 

At the top of Malemsbury High street lives The Abbey, I love to walk through its gardens and marvel at how beautiful it is.

  

Malmesbury's Market Cross.

A view from across the town.

I've always really enjoyed walking around the town, there's so much to explore!

I also love to follow the river and always find it very peaceful especially when the October sun is out to say hello!

 

 

Popped to the Tetbury with mum.

Tetbury is the next town on from Malmesbury and has a beautiful church.

We stopped for a snack in this cute little cafe. They also sold homemade sweets and cute crafty gifts.

Mum and her cola. 

It was lovely to be alone with mum for the afternoon. We enjoyed the weather and got to catch up on everything. 

I had a nice hot coffee and some yummy crisps. A slightly odd combination but I did enjoy them both very much!

It was a much needed trip home and I left feeling all warm and full of mums lovely baking! BLISS!

Probably not the most exciting post for you guys, but a very special one for me. I hope you liked having a little peak at where I'm from. 

I'm off to bed, then up to play my usual double show Sunday! 

Thanks for dropping by! I hope you all have a FABULOUS Sunday!!!!!! 

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Look where you're going!

Yesterday I wrapped up nice, warm and cosy and took a stroll into town. It was pretty late by the time I got around to leaving the apartment and was starting to get dark!

Walking along the streets glancing into the shops was making me feel very happy indeed. I was feeling super inspired by so many things.
I guess there are a couple of reasons for the warm happy feelinsg. The first being that Dennis gets home next Friday from his cruise ship contract! I just CAN NOT wait to see him! SOSOSOSOSOSO EXCITED! Its been about two months since we last saw each other and I have to be honest I've been missing him tons!
The second reason is that I'm completely and utterly in love with this time of the year! Most people like the sun shining nice and hot. I like it cold (but not too cold) dark (but not too dark) and on the build up to Christmas.  I love when it is dark and cold but you are wrapped up with your hat and scarf feeling all snug and everything appears to have a magical glow. So nice!

Walking along feeling content I spotted some bunting flapping in the wind.
As you know I'm on a bunting mission this month. I still have yet to settle on what kind of pattern or design I am going to use. But seeing this old bunting hanging from tree to tree got me thinking.

Its a bad picture as it was really dark, but as you can see its just some old scraps of red fabric. Its hanging on a line from tree to tree in the street. I like how old and weathered it looks and also how thrown together it is. Its a like its having its own little party flapping in the wind.

Being all bunting inspired I once again popped into the craft store and had a gander. I ended up buying a little pack of scrap material and some more ribbon which I think I will incorporate into my crocheted bunting. I will have a play and see what I come up with and see if it works.
How cute is this material though! Very vintage style prints, it reminds me of some of the Kath Kidston designs.

As I left the store I got a glimpse of the window display and whipped out my camera for a sneaky picture!

A little Christmas ginger bread house all made out of wool! Look how happy the mother is with her knitted winter home! I would also be pretty proud if I was her :-)

After buying my essentials (ribbon and scrap material) I walked back through the city as I wanted a little glimpse of the Christmas market that had opened at the weekend.
I didnt want to get the full experience as I'm waiting until Dennis is home so we can look around together. I culdnt resist having a sneak peak though! Look how gorgeous it all looks!

Look how all of the slights sparkle!

This is the main market in front of the "Rathaus". I Didn't get to close as the temptation was to go in and and get a little merry on Gluhwein.

 

The entrance to the "Weihnachtsmarkt'

No doubt you will be hearing lots more from me about the Christmas market as we get a little closer to Christmas day itself. Well....Thats if I last until Christmas! On the way home I very almost knocked myself out by walking into a lamp post. I should learn to look where I'm going rather than be distracted by the Abercrombie and Fitch store. OOOOOOOPS!!!

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Granny Stripe!

The first time I wrote the title of this blog I missed out the 'S' so you almost had a blog entry all about Grannies Tripe! Not sure if that would have made particularly nice reading! So thank God I noticed the missing 'S'!

Well, anyways..... Its here and its done! After weeks of ferocious crochet I now have my first Granny stripe! A delightfully thick and soft blanket to snuggle under and hide from the cold dark nights that are all ready creeping upon us!

You may remember about five weeks ago I posted a little picture of some gorgeous Merino wool I had just purchased at the craft store. Ten yummy shades of Soft Merino by Wolle Rödel and each one of them really was 'Oh so soft!'

 I saw this wool in the store and immediately had to give it a squeeze it looked so luxurious and the different shades available were to die for! The colours were slightly darker than I normally go for. They have a soothing warmth to them and make me feel all Autumny. I couldn't get the thought of having something this soft and warm to wrap up in once winter hits Hamburg.

The problem was that It was so expensive and I really did hesitate before spending a small fortune on wool. Normally I work with Stylecraft, I love to do so because of the great value and vast range of colours. And if I'm not feeling Stylecraft, I would normally take a trip to the wool factory and buy in bulk. Buying at the factory usually comes out much better value than buying 50g skeins on the High Street.
I had a little battle with my conscience and finally decided to go for luxury. It  was kind of a treat to myself since I had just been given a slight pay-rise at work.

So home I went, all ready to start my first Granny Stripe!
I started with the blanket and had decided to give "Random" ago. Not putting the colours in a pattern but having them in random sequence.  This worked out well in the beginning and I was so happy with how it all looked! However, the more I went on the less happy I became. I really didn't want to mess this up!
I found it very hard to place the yellow colour as it would clash with most other shades. I also found  the grey too dark and I really wasn't happy with how it looked compared to the other warmer colours.  I had to make a decision because it was starting to go rapidly down hill. I decided to take the grey out of the blanket and save it for a future project. I also decided to stick to a formation of colours rather than playing chance with 'random'

I 'frogged' my project up until the point I became unhappy.

It turned out to follow a rainbow pattern (how predictable am I?.) I decided to keep the rainbow and started repeating it, but in reverse.

Each night I would come home from work and spend a little bit of time on my blanket. Sometimes I'd pour myself a glass of wine get some snacks at the ready and get down to work.

The thing I loved about this pattern (once again by Lucy at Attic24) was how simple it was and how fast you would see results. In just a couple of weeks I could see I was on the right track towards blanket heaven! It was really nice to work those clusters of double crochet and feel the soft yarn gliding through my fingers.

Each time I would pick up my work I couldn't help but notice a resemblance in its colour to that of the changing seasons out side of my window. It reminded my so much of the leaves that were falling and littering the streets.

Are you ready to see my Autumn/Winter Granny Stripe in full? Here Goes:

90 stripes in total!!! Sounds more than I thought! I may have got a little carried away ;-)

I also followed the pattern that Lucy gave for the border and think that it finishes it off perfectly.

I like how stripy it is, but am totally in LOVE  when it's a pile of stripes rippling over each other in a heap on the floor. It looks so warm and cosy.

This is my favourite picture! It makes me want to jump right on into the stripey warmth. This picture sums up how the blanket makes me feel. I'm in Love!!!

Look how lovely the border hangs over the side of my bed. I think that it looks kind of eligant.
Here it is on my bed with all of the cushions Dennis and I have made! I Cant wait to jump into bed tonight!

Now to crack on with this Bunting........Yiiiiiiiipeeeeeeee!!

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Long Lists!!

On Monday I had my usual day off from work and it was the first Monday in a long time that I hadn't  planned anything to do. Instead I saved the day entirely to sort out all of the little bits and bobs I had been neglecting over the past couple of weeks.

In theory it should have been a day of achieving. A day of crossing off jobs on my "things to do" list.
As usual things didn't quite go to plan! That evening I found myself sitting at my laptop with a half completed list in front of me! Its not surprising really that I didn't get everything done. I have this tendency of making my lists far too big. A list that is way too long to complete in a week, let alone one day!

At least I got the apartment tidied and finally managed to get around to sorting out the yarn box. Everything is now bagged up into types of yarn and/or colour rather than all mixed up together.
I also sorted through all of my projects and I have to confess I have far too many on the go!!!! I think I am going to have to restrain myself from starting anything new until some off the older projects are finished.

That being said,  this week I have been obsessed with researching a future project. "What is the project?" I hear you ask. Well..... lets just say I have a very strong urge to try and make lots and lots of glorious bunting! I bit of a weird urge, I admit. But a feeling for bunting is one that can not be ignored!
I had a little look about and there are some gorgeous examples about. Here a couple of picture (not my own) that I found and find completely inspiring!

 

The problem is that I really have to finish one of my current projects before I start with" The Bunting Extravaganza"

I guess its not so much of a problem as I am almost complete with one of my projects.

Here it is a little glimpse of one of my current creations! Its made using the gorgeous Merino wool that I splashed out on last month. I'm totally in love with it! The wool is so soft and the colours are really soothing to look at. A little sneak peak to get those sensors buzzing!

I CAN NOT wait to  fully share this with you once it is completely finished!  I'm already getting excited to snuggle up in it during the cold winter months here in Hamburg.
So my final thought is that once this project is finished then I will give the bunting a whirl! That sounds like a fair compromise/ solution to my ever growing stash of incomplete projects! :-)

Can't wait to go barmy over bunting! Crazy crochet times ahead!!

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