This was the weekend that was ...

It started with this.

The annual Floating Market was back!

A whole array of different traders turn up once a year to sell their wares - and of course look very pretty!

Of course Mike soon found his favourite.

And me!

Peek inside.

Of course one of the hidden treats is sitting in our garden listening to the conversations of people going by. No - it's not in the least bit nosey it's - errrr - ummmmm - being interested.

Closer to home we've had the robins nesting in the ivy. They are now so used to us that they are almost eating out of my hand. Not sure what the people walking by would think of me though - hand full of dried mealworms outstretched as I cheerily quip 'come on little fella.' I don't know how or when this actually happened but that seems to be my default response to any creature I now come across. 

Not sure what would happen if one of them answered me back. 

Here he is posing on the bird feeder (he's that tiny dot).

As for our poor old blackbird chick - sigh - he was doing very well until last Friday when we found him lying in the path. Not a scratch on him. So much so that Mike even tried to do a mini resuscitation. 

It didn't work :( 

Here he is in happier times (the chick not Mike).

Mike's a bit taller.

With a bit of a beard.

And trousers.

Mostly.

I've starting knitting a sock! Winwick Mum is hosting a wonderful sockalong - do pop over and see what she has posted so far. But in typical impatient fashion I wanted to get started. 

So I have. 

Feeling positive so far but haven't 'turned the heel' yet.

 Wish me luck.

And the 'eyelash from Oswestry' fabric has been cut out to make a simple skirt. Now I'm concerned it's more of a craft cotton, without much give, and I - erm - need a bit of give! I've decided I'm going to stitch very narrow seams in a bid to convince myself that my size hasn't gone up.

Other than that we've been spending a fair old chunk of time at the allotment. 

'The WHAT? You kept that quiet!'

We've even started to pick a few lettuce! I foresee a future where I develop a serious lettuce aversion in an attempt to not have to eat it three times a day.

And other than daily doings that's about the weekend summed up.

Hope you've had a good one.

Jane

xxx

Much Ado About Bloggers ...

... or as Mike would have me put 'blogging' as it is more akin to the original 'nothing' of the title.

This is the sort of conversation we were having at 5am. I couldn't get back to sleep and I was wondering how I could write about our lovely bloggy meet up that we had on Saturday in Stratford upon Avon - home of the great Bard himself. Amy and Jo have already written about it very eloquently so I was trying to think of a different angle. I thought about using the magic of song - but being a blog of the written word this proved tricky. So the Shakespeare link was broached. By 5.10am I was chuckling so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks. Looking back it must have been pure hysteria as the suggestions were at best mildly amusing, and at worst - not amusing at all. When Mike realised there had been ten of us he suggested The Tenpests. Whilst I sunk the lowest with Macblog.

So.

We met and drank tea and visited Sew Me Something and nattered ten to the dozen and wandered through the park where there was wonderful music then travelled back to the 1940s and I ate some comical eggs and carried on nattering and took lots of photographs and received some wonderful gifts and had lots of hugs and then had to go home.

It was the best!

Sadly my camera decided to play up and wouldn't allow me to take more than a few pics but I hope they will give you a flavour.

And here we are!

Back row:

Mel from Mel Makes

Nicky from Sunshine Reflections

Sarah from Sarah's Pigeonhole

Amy from Love Made My Home

Front row:

Jo from Three Stories High

Gilly from Gilly Makes

Mel from Mellie Moo Crochet

Mel from The Patchwork Robin

And of course we can't forget our very lovely Ashley from Lazy Daisy Jones who joined us later and even brought along her pin up man!

Thanks so much to Gilly for organising such a warm and wonderful day.

And to the rest of you:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jane 

xxx

Hen's Teeth Workshop

I've admired the work of Viv Sliwka from Hen's Teeth for a while now, so when a chance came up to attend one of her workshops I couldn't resist. 

Known for her use of  beautiful old textiles, combined with embroidery and other ephemera, she creates all manner of delights.

So it was that on a murky Saturday morning several weeks ago I set off for Weston Park. 

The brief had asked us to take along any bits and pieces that we would like to incorporate in our work, so I had spent the evening before cramming my basket with all sorts of 'tat'!

As I pulled up I was greeted by the friendliest black cat. Monty has 'adopted' Weston Park and, more particularly, it's visitors in exchange for lots of attention and the occasional titbit.

He showed me to the workshop and it was there that I suddenly realised everybody looked like they knew what they were doing, were incredibly creative and would soon be sniggering at my embarrassing attempts at French knots.

I needn't have worried.

The other participants were lovely. All had different levels of expertise and all were willing to share what they knew.

Viv was an absolute star. She encouraged us to just 'have a go' at something, take ownership and go with our instinct. I think this was my biggest barrier. I am so used to following a pattern and working within a framework that I found it quite difficult to just let go.

The only thing I knew was that I wanted to make a needle case. So, using some templates and a stamp that represented dear old Jessie, I got stuck in. 

Early thoughts

Or rather I stared at things a lot, had a look at what everyone else was doing and ate some cake.

Then got stuck in.

And do you know once I got started it was difficult to stop. I ate lunch between stitches. I drank coffee between stitches. And it was only as the workshop came to an end I realised that I hadn't even visited the ladies room between stitches!

There was cake. There was laughing. There was the inevitable discussion as to who was going to win the Great British Sewing Bee.

And I even found out how to do a French knot! 

I was a bit worried about the group photo as I knew my work wasn't in quite the same vein as the others but, do you know,  the more I looked at it the more I liked it! And it was for that very reason of having let go and creating something that was completely my own. Something I will definitely tap into in the future.

Can you spot Jessie Dog in the middle?

I completed the case over the following few days.

Want to see?

 If you ever get the chance to go to one of Viv's workshops grab it! You can find out more about them on her blog.

Meanwhile look what popped through the letter box the other day. 

Hmmmmmm? 

Could I?

Bit scared!

 Watch this space!

Jane

xxx

The mystery of the small smalls, or, why are some smalls smaller than others?

I've been flitting about again. My attention span at the moment is that of a very small gnat (although having not been an observer of gnats and their mindsets I may well be doing them a great disservice - but I feel that the analogy makes the necessary point).

So when good old LDJ posted about knickers I was hooked.

 'Aha!' thought I.

'They are nice small objects and thus must be nice and quick to make.'

But in typical impatient manner I wanted to make them then. And there.

So I scoured t'internet for a free pattern and set to.

Now I should have learned from the time that I made a crochet slipper - that's right, just the one - that you should always double check your sizes. How was I supposed to know that a size seven pattern would equate to a size four in the UK. Feeling very much like an ugly sister I tossed aside my 'too small footwear' in a fit of pique.

But this pattern clearly said size twelve.

So off I went.

And very pleased I was with myself too. 

Until I tried them on. Or should I say tried to try them on.

At the point where I realised that I would be lucky if they would reach a thigh I decided to check the size.

The very pretty thigh stranglers on the top

Hmmm.

Surely a size is a size is a size - no matter where you live?

Apparently not!

So I played safe and sent off for a popular kit.

 Would you believe it? The kit worked!

The sizing was correct and - without going into too much detail - my nether regions were suitably adorned.

The free pattern on top compared to the proper size!

Next pair.

Same pattern on a fat quarter.

Hmmm.

A visit to the craft emporium to buy a replica set of fat quarters and eventually more knickers were made (two quarters per pattern if you will - or indeed a fat half)

.

Meanwhile there has been a production line of baby hats for Taciana's worthy project. Again these have been wonderfully quick to make, and I have enjoyed revisiting some of the yarns that I used when the girls were mere twinkles.

Difficult to model them though. Especially when the 'models' keep rolling off.

And last but not least has come a small pair of trousers accompanied by a chunky sweater.

Just about big enough for a mouse.

NO! Glove Mouse.You are far too small!

Just about big enough for a mouse called Bob!

Bob's about to go off to furnish the dusty shelves of my old etsy shop, but before he does I wonder if he's got any ideas as to what to do with the 'too small' knickers?

Thanks Bob!

May you all be well and your smalls be adequate.

Jane

xxx

Hidden Treasures

I think it's only fair to warn you about this post. Mr K has recently treated me to a new camera and today was it's first outing. Needless to say I was particularly snap happy so if you fancy some eye candy (where on earth did that phrase come from?) rather than my customary poignant and inspiring writings (!) go ahead. 

Just saying.

Some time ago I wrote about Leek - a nearby market town with a wealth of history set among beautiful Staffordshire scenery. So when they advertised a Dickensian market Mr K and I thought it would be the perfect way to celebrate the start of the Christmas holidays. The weather was predicted to be fine and bright but - as we drove across in heavy sleet and rain - my expectations were considerably lowered. The market was still on but the weather had obviously taken it's toll. Some treasures still caught my eye however.

Sadly the rain was coming down too hard to have a proper mooch so we quick stepped it around the wild mallards to the indoor market.

Fortunately the nativity scene was under shelter.

And at last we felt a touch of Christmas past.

Although this little chap had clearly had enough!

Not sure what was going on outside Boots but it was all very jolly.

In a valiant effort to keep warm and dry we ducked into places hitherto unexplored.

Friends from my knitting group have often mentioned the store Bibelot and  I expected it to be a small town style wool shop. 

How wrong I was!

As we entered Mr K immediately recognised the proprietors as two of his old students. As he was waxing lyrical about the 'old days' I decided to have a peek upstairs. 

Look what I found.

And although I like Cath Kidston to a degree I couldn't help but be bowled over by this display of loveliness.

It just carried on.

Where to look? What to do? Where to buy? I was actually so totally phased by the amount of stuff in there that I came away with nothing - apart the firmest of intentions to attend one of their friendly craft courses in the New Year.

Next stop was a cafe called Spout. 

We were immediately greeted by young friendly staff and invited to choose from a fantastic range of goodies from the menu. Settling for the simple teacake option (!) we explored the rest of the rather large, rather quirky, rather beautiful old building.

Even the toilet had a distinct personality!

Upstairs there was a fantastically well stocked ale store called The Bottle Lab.

Needless to say quite some time was spent in perusal mode.

By the time we left it was dark.The way home across the moors and hills was speckled with fairy lights of various  colours, shapes and sizes - notably one that was in the shape of a bus. 

Who knows? 

Looking back the weather did us a favour. We explored indoors rather than out and in doing so were treated with a wealth of treasures.

And of course we couldn't resist bringing this little chap home.

Hope you are keeping warm and well.

Jane

xxx