~Baby Jumper tada~

I've been back at work and too busy to blog since 1st September, but thought I'd share this latest finished project. I do feel good when I actually complete a project. I liked the shoulders on this sweater pattern and wanted to knit it for my baby niece Evelyn. It's Sirdar 6013 for baby cashmere merino silk DK.

 

 

I chose to make it up in Sirdar Simply Recycled Cotton DK in shade 0022, a dark chalky pink with a marl appearance. I went for one shade rather than stripes.

 

 

Here's the finished jumper...



 

 

 

 

 

 I crocheted 2 flowers for embellishments (pattern from Nikki Trench crochet book) in cream cotton yarn...

 

I wasn't happy with the not-very-neatness of my picking up stitches round the neckline, hence the flowers to hide a wonky bit :)

My sewing up isn't great either - must practice more!

I also found these mittens for Evelyn; £1.50 at the Monsoon outlet...



 So, I had a lovely day over in Manchester yesterday catching up with my brother and his lovely family in their new home.  On the drive over I spotted a fab sewing shop nearby in Eccles and we had a walk there.

 Bambers is a family business over 2 floors, selling overlockers, machines, wool, fabric, patterns, haberdashery, and they also run sewing courses.  I feel very guilty because I quite impulsively bought a dressmaker's mannequin (hurrah!) for a very good price - cheaper than I'd researched on ebay and the web. So, hence I felt the need to get up at silly o'clock this morning to do a car boot sale.  Unfortunately I only made £35 today but it will add to my ebay sales of late and pay for this essential bit of kit, so my homemade clothes fit me better.

~Helmsley visit~

We had a lovely day trip on Friday to Helmsley, North Yorkshire on what was the warmest day of the year so far!  Helmsley is a traditional and quaint market town on the River Rye, and has the ruins of a 12th century castle which is open to visit with an English Heritage visitor centre. Here are a few photos of the day...



 ...it was market day and this statue in the centre of market square is apparently of Lord Feversham.   Great selection of stalls - fruit and veg, collectables, haberdashery etc...
Daffodils still in bloom...

 

 

Plenty of independent food, craft and antique shops...

 

as well as a few charity shops.  The Oxfam was particularly well-stocked and well-priced.  This 2m x 1.5m piece of Sanderson vintage roses fabric was £1.99

 



And of course the castle and the English Heritage visitor centre.

 - you may also notice I'm a bit obsessed with period doors and doorways...

 

On my travels I usually come across a little café I would like to run, and this one was no exception...

 

We sat outside CottonHouse, in Barker's Yard for an Earl Grey and a Mocha.

This sunny courtyard of shops were converted from the stables.  As well as being a coffee shop, they also have this lovely haberdashery

 and sell locally handmade crafts...crochet, cards, appliqued t-shirts, bunnies...

excuse my reflection in the window!

www.cottonhousehelmsley.co.uk

 

A lovely day out in a beautiful part of Yorkshire. Enough to do and see to warrant a weekend break.

Have a good weekend x 

 

 

~Sewing in the hols~

Spurred along by Daisy's Sew-Along (click on the link opposite) and also the final of the Great British Sewing Bee on Tuesday, I've started a new sewing project...

 

It's New Look 6895, which is a multi-size pattern for 6 tops - I'm making view C, top right, which takes 1.5m of fabric.  It's got a gathered scoop neck, and gathered short sleeves.

I made another of these (view E) in 2012...

 

 

I'm using this navy soft cotton lawn, which I bought a few weeks ago for £5.99 a metre from the fantastic Fabworks millshop here in Dewsbury. It looks a bit faded in my photo, but it's a true navy.

Talking of the Sewing Bee; I did apply for this year and made it to the phone interviews but no further. *sad face*
That said, as I do my cutting out on the floor in a most unglamorous fashion, oofing when my knees hurt and I put my tongue out whilst concentrating - all these things would have not made easy viewing!
Here are my 4 pieces cut out, notches cut out and tailor-tacks done, all ready to start after tea. See how messy my sewing room is now you can see the untidy side! 
And now, Small Dog has just wondered in to have a look a la Claudia, Patrick and May just to check up on me...

I will return tomorrow with some progress (hopefully).

 

 





~Baby Shower & Cardigan~

Today I went to a Baby Shower; my first one - I didn't know what to expect but it was lovely.  It was a vintage afternoon tea, with some added 'guess the baby' photo games and opening of gifts. and was hosted by some friends for their sister/daughter whose baby is due on 21st April.   I thought it was very much an American tradition we had adopted, but reading about it on the tinterweb, it appears that worldwide we have always had these kind of events in every culture, though they may evolve and change over time.  In the late 19th Century apparently Victorians held afternoon tea parties for expectant mothers - I didn't know that!
I made the Puerperium cardigan (newborn - 6 weeks) which is a free Ravelry pattern I read about last year on Country Rose blog here

I made the short sleeved version (as I ran out of time!) but you can do a long straight or tapered sleeve.  It's knitted top down in one piece with sleeves knitted last 'in the round' which I did on my preferred 2 bendy pins. I have to be honest and say I didn't enjoy it at first -  faffing about with stitch markers, but actually it'll be lots easier next time as you can see where to increase and don't really need the markers past a certain point.
It only took less than 3 25gram balls of Yorkshire-spun Erika Knight British Blue Wool in 'Milk' (appropriate eh?)
I bought mine from Wool & Buttons see here  £3.95 for 25g.  After washing and blocking you can see the lustre of the wool, it's really soft like mohair.

I've already started another version in pink and I'm much quicker this time round!

~Finished Play Quilt~

I thought I would share a few photos of my finished quilt with you.  I have made a few quilts before, mostly thrown together and not very planned.  I actually thought about this one! It's designed to be a play quilt, that can be thrown on the floor anywhere and will withstand regular machine washing.  It's also the right size to be a cot quilt or would be a lovely cover for little-people naps on the sofa.  It is for my brother's new baby due in July.  I did my research on the t'interweb regarding measurements and methods.  The finished quilt measures 31 inches (79cm) by 35 inches (89cm).

I wanted the fabrics to be suitable for boys or girls, and I like a random selection of fabrics. All the fabric was prewashed to minimise shrinkage and colour-run (I usually miss that stage out due to impatience!)  The back is a scarlet polycotton...

...which was cut 4cm bigger all round than the quilt front, enabling the excess to be pressed and folding over to form the binding.  I machine-sewed the binding and it's ok, quite neat and the mitred
corners are mitred-ish...

I had all the materials, apart from the backing polycotton, the light wadding and the red and blue retro floral fabric which repeats regularly (see left top and right bottom below).  This was from Sunday Nest haberdashery upstairs at Me and Mrs Fisher in York. Some of the fabrics are repurposed (the star fabric was once Laura's pyjamas)  vintage (below left)  and other scraps of fabric were given to me.

I found lots of useful advice here:   http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/p/tutorials.html

Hope you like it!

~Vintage Knitting Book Giveaway & Birthday Time~

This weekend has seen me turn 44, which is a bit of a shock, but a nicer more symmetrical number than 43...

Laura bought me these lovely flowers.
Remember the Beginner's Crochet on 1st Feb at Me and Mrs Fisher in York? The lovely Hannah and Liz mentioned me and my blog on their Facebook page here.  So, I did also attend the Improver's Crochet the following week and I did manage to understand and complete the different projects, but I was very slow!  My colleague from work came along too (she was accomplished and speedy), and she made me this for my birthday.  Clever lady.  Just the shade of blue I like...

I am giving away this lovely booklet of vintage inspired knitting projects, by the talented Sarah Hatton.

http://www.knitrowan.com/designs-and-patterns/books/sarah-hatton-knits-vintage-inspired-projects

 There are some lovely garments and photographs...I like the brooch on the belt of the dress below...

If you would like to win this lovely pattern book, just leave me a comment and I will randomly draw a winner at 6pm Monday 24th February. Good luck x

~Crochet-fear resolved~

I've written about my 'crochet-fear' before and I am happy to announce that thanks to a Beginner's Crochet Course at Me and Mrs Fisher in York yesterday, I have finally got there and am well on my way to being crochet-fond!

Me and Mrs Fisher, Lord Mayor's Walk, York.

The course was run by the endlessly patient Trish, and was hosted in the upstairs craft room next to the Sunday Nest haberdashery.  After a lovely hot chocolate downstairs we went upstairs for the 10.30am start. The course was 3 hours (which went so quickly) and cost £25 with the end result of producing a granny square.

The craft room. Image from Me and Mrs Fisher

 There was plenty of individual attention as the group size was nice and small, which was brilliant for me as I couldn't get my head around even how to hold the yarn.  Trish brought inspirational books and completed projects along for us to look at.  Laura went along with me as she fancied learning so she can crochet on the bus and train.  This is my granny square from the actual day...

Not very neat, but I do like the coincidental choice of colours - I had another attempt last night and made these...

Laura is so speedy now, much better than me and her work's much neater too.  This is a cushion front that she started last night...

I've been looking at how to join the squares on YouTube and I've signed up for next Saturday's improvers course.

~Woolly Winter projects~

I haven't posted since before Christmas which is very remiss of me...I usually want to hunker down and hibernate from December til my birthday in February, but my SAD symptoms haven't been too bad this year - thanks in part to Holland & Barrett Max Strength 284mg St John's Wort  I really believe it's made a difference.  I'm also relaxing more and reading stuff on my new Kindle, a gadget I've resisted with a dismissive ' I like real books; but I've read loads - 5 'books' since Christmas and it must be good because I went to physically turn the page on more than a few occasions!
Small Boy is now a Young Man and was 12 yesterday, requesting a grown-up lemon tart in place of his usual chocolate cake. Laura also made him some choc chip cookies.

My brother and his partner have a baby on-the-way so I have a few sewing and knitting WIPs at the moment, and a cowl scarf for me that's nearly finished.
This is a hat I've knitted for myself, in some gorgeous Yorkshire wool with a faux fair isle effect...

It's West Yorkshire Spinners Bluefaced Leicester DK Prints in 'Owl'  £9.70 for 100g.
I bought mine from the lovely Needlecase in Tadcaster.  For those of you further afield, they have an online shop too.

image from www.wyspinners.com





~Enjoy the festive season!~

I thought I might share some Christmas simple pleasures...

As well as the vintage baubles, I love these glass robins I bought this year.

Lovely berry-laden holly from mature trees at work *ahem* with a precious inherited wooden box that was my Home Economics teacher's sewing box...

I love the fragrance of this 'Silent Night' reed diffuser from Next...

...and finally marzipan fruits! I love them, they remind me of my Nana, the1970s and Christmases full of advocaat Snowballs ...   Both me and daughter L find all things almond and marzipan the pinnacle of indulgence, so these will be savoured! 

These lovely ones were from the gorgeous sweet shop Florence Wren on Bootham in York.

Happy Christmas everyone x

~Yorkshire Log Cabin Weekend~

Earlier in November, I spent a weekend at the Yorkshire Coast with 7 friends, staying in a lovely log cabin. I've stayed here before, though this time we were in a larger, newer lodge called Skylark Lodge. 

These are serious cabins, with swinky-swanky kitchens and bathrooms plus a log burning stove and a hot tub outside. All of the 2-storey cabins are situated round 2 little lakes.

The interiors are lovely, very nicely done...

Image reproduced from http://www.hornsealakes.com/accommodation/dovetail-lodge/

...and the lodges are just a stone's throw from the sea

and are on the outskirts of Hornsea, East Yorkshire (the home of Hornsea pottery of course).

Hornsea itself has many lovely independent homeware shops, an art gallery and pottery, fantastic charity shops, yummy fish and chip shops, plus a  museum.

One of my purchases was a pair of  Sealake Mohair Cushion Sole Socks made from the wool from local Angora goats kept in the fields around Hornsea mere, an inland lake. They were £12.50 but well worth it: they are sooooo gorgeous and warm.  I have a weakness for fluffy warm socks instead of slippers.  

I have already booked another visit early next year!

~Lovely Shop Bespoke Country~

In the Summer when we were caravanning in 'Chateau H' at Filey, I discovered a gorgeous shop in Scarborough called Bespoke Country. I love finding a shop that is filled with things I like, and just that bit different to other shops.  They do mail order too, and have a lovely website where you can buy online and pay by card or Paypal here

Image from www.bespokecountry.co.uk

I bought a lovely handmade sign for the caravan and also a pack of 16 10cmx10cm Tilda fabric patchwork squares (I think I paid £4.50) which I'm just machine sewing now to make a cushion cover. I join mine in numbered strips once I've laid them out into a pleasing arrangement.  Here it is in progress...

Lots and lots to look at in this shop - vintage style interiors, handmade shaker-style signs customised while you wait, fabrics, Emma Bridgewater pottery, handknitted tea cosies, giftware, fabric, ribbons and buttons...I'll definitely call in again when we're next at the coast. They also have a blog too called 'Red House' which can be found at http://redhousechronicles-jenny.blogspot.co.uk/

Bespoke Country
18 Bar Street
Scarborough
North Yorkshire
YO11 2HT
Tel: 01723 378728
Open: Mon-Sat, 10-5

...have a lovely weekend, we are lucky tonight, having been invited to a friend's house who is a fab cook so I'm looking forward to some gorgeous Indian food. Not sure how I am going to squeeze in my party dress this festive season but never mind...

~Lavender Attic, Rivers Meet & Lubylu Candles~

Next Sunday 20th May is the Market In May event at Rivers Meet Craft Cafe http://riversmeetcraftcafe.wordpress.com/
from 10am - 3pm where I'm sharing a stall with @sostacysews and @secretthimble.
I've decided to have a sort of travelling pop-up shop of Lavender Attic's favourite things where you can find...

♥Vintage-inspired homewares
♥Vintage finds such as kitchenalia, bric-a-brac, fabrics & buttons
♥Homemade lovely things 
♥ St Eval candles handmade in Cornwall
When I host an afternoon tea, there will be the opportunity to have a look. Tea, cake and shopping - it really doesn't get any better! Also I'll be happy to have a stall at fundraising events or even parties at home if requested. 

I'm also really excited to be a stockist of Lubylu candles - beautiful handmade natural wax candles which are made in Yorkshire by the very talented Lucy, who lives not too far from me. I have the pretty tins which are decorated with stamped wax motifs and glitter... 

and the gorgeous rainbow of colours in glass jar candles...

I met Lucy at the last Rivers Meet event and I'll be selling these Lubylu candles on my stall on Sunday.
I'm also planning to have a launch and shopping evening; no doubt with cake and perhaps a Pimms or two, one night in the next couple of weeks. Must get organised!
It's also coming up to my 1st Blogger-versary next week...I really appreciate it so much that you read and follow Lavender Attic.  I'm really pleased to have reached this little milestone along with 101 followers! Thankyou x