Shoe Love

Sorry that I haven't blogged for the past week, y'know how life gets in the way for us bloggers. 

Just to bring you up to speed, I've started my Accountancy evening class, started learning how to crochet, been to an amazing village farmers' market and start Freshers' Week for my Photography course on monday. 

Last night after reading Kaelah's post on one of her autumn outfits, I searched for a uk stockist of those wonderful Gee WaWa shoes, seriously, I want them so bad, in every colour! They look comfortable enough to wear all day and look great with jeans, especially the wide leg/flare/bootcuts of this season, and with pretty dresses, tights (and cardigans!). 

Aren't they awesome?! 

Though I do love how Kaelah wears hers olive versions with maroon tights.

Admitting defeat, I stumbled across office's website. I've never been on there, but my luck was in, and I ordered a pair for £12 (+£3.50 P+P) that were £65! Wow, BIG discount. 

A bit different, but substantial enough for winter, I'm hoping.  Again, tights, skinny jeans, bootcuts, can see it all happening with these shoes. Love the detail too, and £53 off?!

Hat Pattern on Straight Needles.

So, I promised you a reveal of the hat I've been knitting over the last few days. To be honest, it took me a couple of hours, but I redid it once, and I might re-do it again and use the same lace pattern I did for the scarf. 

The hat, like the scarf, is really simple. Again, it uses Knit, Purl and K2 or P2 TOG. 

This pattern is also for use on straight needles, other than circular of double-pointed (which a lot of hat patterns are for). 

I used the Debbie Bliss Paloma in Mustard, which calls for 10mm (but I used 9mm) needles. It's gives a very elastic finish, which is of course great for hats and gives a perfect fit. 

CO Cast On 

K Knit

P Purl

K2P2 Knit two Purl two

K2TOG Knit two together

CO 56 Stitches.

K2P2 for 8 rows. 

This gives the ribbing on the edge of the hat, making the fit even better.

Knit in Stockinette stitch (K a row, P a row) or in Garter (K all rows) for 26 rows. 

In the hat below, I did about 8 rows of Garter, followed by stockinette starting with a K row on the wrong side, so that the purl rows show on the same side as the first 8 rows of knit (I was experimenting a bit here!) and even when you start decreasing in the next step, continue with the type of stitch you are doing, e.g. if you are using stockinette use P2TOG (on P rows) or K2TOG (on K rows) depending on the row that you are on.

Decrease by K2TOG or P2TOG four times on every row. 

On the first decreasing row, knit(or purl) the 11th and 12th stitch, second row 10th and 11th row, and so on (do count your stitches and divide by 4, and minus 2 to work out how many stitches are in between your k2/p2tog stitches). 

Repeat until you have 8 stitches left, then cut yarn leaving 12" tail.

Pull the yarn through remaining stitches, cinch tight and weave in ends. 

You can pull the yarn through the remaining stitches by using the end of your other needle. When weaving in the ends you can pull the stitches (close to the edge of the hat) apart a little and pull the wool through, making sure to keep it as tight as you can. When weaved to the end, just tie off (either to itself by looping through stitches or to your BO wool). 

(Sorry about the overexposed-ness; dang PhotoBooth!) 

This is on the P side, so you can see the 8 rows or so of K, followed by the ws side of the stockinette and so all the P stitches. 

I showed you a pattern earlier this week for a simple lace-like scarf, here. And this is the finished scarf (or cowl). After getting to the desired length, I bound off, leaving a 6" tail and weaved through the two ends, pulling tight and tying off. I like cowls, there a bit more useful than just a scarf :)

Any questions about either pattern just ask :)

Rebekah

x

Furniture Fridays: Back to Nature

During a little research for tonight's post, I came across these. 

How awesome are these?! I keep trying to work out how it's been done. At first glance it looked like they'd cemented old pieces, then I thought maybe yoghurt? 

Looking closer, its seems to be the same material bio-degradeable seedling pots are made from, a kind of cardboard material that retains a lot of water. 

The artist Kevin Hunt thinks of it as a very changeable work of art, in that it is beyond his control and adapts due to the conditions. 

I just love the idea of sitting on a seat, cushioned by grass. I can imagine a picnic table made like this, love it! 

Rebekah

x 

British Wool Week 2011: Part 1

This week is British Wool Week, celebrating everything that is great about the amazing textile that is Wool, from British herds, with British Designers (and a few italian ones thrown in there too). 

To kickstart this week, La Galleria in London, is hosting "an exhibition that showcases the true versatility of the natural wool fibre. It will feature exclusive creations by renowned fashion designers and interior decorations. It will show wool in all forms of application from fashion to technical and intelligent textiles, to car interiors, safety needs, crafts and the built environment."

It sounds utterly fantastic! It opened today (8/9/11) and runs till the end of the month (29/9/11). If you can get to London, do it, they have over 50 contributors, from Vivienne Westwood and Paul Smith to YSL and Alexander McQueen, incredible! 

Wanderlust Wednesdays: The English Seaside

As the English Summer starts to dissipate and gives in to the cold brutal winds, crisp air and beautiful autumnal colours, I can't help but look back on some nostalgic images and musings from a few of my faviourite places. 

I come from Yorkshire, on the East Coast of England, which offers some amazing seaside destinations, such as Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby. All are absolutely bursting with history, fantasy, fantastic views and walks. 

As a child, I remember being dragged out on those cold and windy days, when you want nothing more than to stay at home in front of the box, or with a good jigsaw. But thinking now, it's those kind of days that shaped your childhood, made the memories and gave you the future appreciation of where you lived, and of course, the plans to drag your kids along blustery cold English beaches.
What part of where you grew up do you particularly love?

Bridlington

Bridlington South Beach

Autumn Clobber

Sorry about the lack in posts the last few days, been a bit distracted by long knitting sessions and back to school shopping, this has also meant a lack of photo taking for my project, dang it. 

After seeing a post by the lovely Rach of So, hi. on her fashion trends for the upcoming weather, I was inspired to do a more british version, for the weather we'll be experiencing in the next month or so. It's also British Wool Week! which I absolutely love, so making sure I wear something knitted that I admire for the skill and quality every day :) 

More on British Wool Week in the next few days. 

I bought this earlier last week, £35 from Dorothy Perkins, and I absolutely love it! The colours are great and it's a really lightweight knit. Perfect for around the house, or out shopping on warmer days. I bought it for when I'm in the studio at college and want something a bit warm to wear that's more substantial than a cardigan, but still light enough to be comfortable. 

Wild Mushroom, Leek and Asparagus Pie

Today's recipe is for another pie! I do like pies round this time of year, not just because they're great comfort food, and come in all different varieties, but that Saturday evening telly is getting good. We have the return of Dr.Who, and also X Factor (which I'm less excited about), and so being able to mix a few ingredients, put some pastry on it and chuck it in the oven, knowing that you will have a good part of a meal in 20 minutes, is very useful and reassuring. It is now becoming more acceptable to be on the sofa, with some delicious food, rubbish telly and a bit of knitting, without being accused of "wasting the warm weather/summer".

A big, warm, cosy welcome to Autumn!

A Shopping Discovery: White Stuff

Hello lovely readers :)

I got myself a great new bit of technology yesterday, an iPad2. I'm overwhelmed by it, but when it comes to bloggin', it's a bit awkward. I think that this might just be a Blogger problem? Anybody else experience this?

Anyway! Today I was out shopping with my ma' in a little market town called Beverly, it's quite up and coming and has shops that we dont even have in Hull. One of these shops is White Stuff and I think I'm in love. When on every hanger it has engraved "Happiness in Every Stitch" I know I'm in the right place.

It's expensive, I must admit. For a dress you're looking at £65, a cardigan or skirt £50 and a top £40, which isn't too bad for a one off purchase, but when you want everything in the shop, it can't be quite an expensive venture.

Below are some images from the inside the changing room, though they are all unique, and some of my faviourite items from their website

Owls!

Furniture Fridays: Beautiful Shelving Units

Hello, and thank you for joining me tonight :)

In the second installment we will be looking at beautiful pieces of furniture in the form of shelving, woohoo! I do think that shelving is a difficult one to get right, filling the right space, with the right colour, etc. And allowing some space for alterations down to colour and pattern whenever you re-decorate. If you get wood shelving, do you sand and varnish, or do you just prime and paint? What about the wall behind?

I love this workspace, dual chairs too! Great use of space too, so useful!

I think this is a fantastic idea, using wallpaper or fabric to line the insides of old crates.

Could even be changed at whim for a new pattern or colour scheme.

Kitchen Garden, end of the Summer.

Hello Y'all :)

We've always grown vegetables and fruit in our garden, especially tomatoes and cucumber in the green house, but this year, we decided to do a little more. The hauls weren't huge, but what we did have was great and has been enough to make us want to do this again next year, with a few changes. 

This year, we grew the following:

Tomatoes, around four varieties

Green Peppers

Butternut Squash

Carrots

Garlic

Sweetcorn

Onions

Leeks

Asparagus

Pak Choi

Potatoes, again, four varieties

Broad Beans

Peas

Runner Beans

Raspberries

Strawberries

(We also have wild gooseberries and brambles/blackberries)

Like I say, not much did well, like the Garlic and Onions which just rotted, sadly. And all of the peas and beans gave us just a few small harvests, not as much as they could have. The potatoes this year where definitely the best, and I was happy with the varieties I had chosen. Next year we will be giving more room over to the potatoes so that we're able to store some for christmas time. 

Pea Shoots, March 11. 

Pak Choi Shoots, March 11, also.