Celebrations!

Oh dear....I didn't realise it was so long since my last post! Anyway, time for some celebrations!

1. I got my registration to practice in the UK! After all these years.....

2. Thanks to this, I was offered (& have accepted) a promotion

3. I have only 2 more days at work until a whole week off with friends & family & food. And knitting.

4. Rage Against the Machine made it to the UK Christmas Number 1!!! I now have a few copies of Killing in the Name of, but really, can you ever have too many? Anyway, yay for rebellion.

5. I have the cutest baby ever. No, really, just look at that bum :)

There has been lots of knitting, sewing, baking, etc. Just not lots of time. Hopefully I'll do some catch-up blogging soon.

Evenley Wood Garden

Last weekend we visited Evenley Wood Garden for their Autumn Colour open days. True to their word, there was spectacular and sometimes surprising autumn colour:

And of course, plenty of leaves for little hands to play with.

I can't wait to see it in spring!

New Hat

Another lovely Drops pattern with yet another fantastic name - b16-13 Hat in 2 threads.

This is the second of these I have knit in the same yarn (leftovers from the cardigan I knit Mr B just before he was born in Drops Alpaca). The first was a present for the lovely, new Arlo - I hope it is keeping him cosy!

It is a lovely pattern, so quick to knit in the 2 strands, and it has earflaps with lovely cords on the bottom that tie it securely to his head so that it stays on for up to a minute at a time. He seriously hates having his hat on - unless you are out and there are better things to think about.

I still think this is seriously cute. There may even be more of these in my future.

A few weekends ago I went with my friend Caroline to Origin, the London Craft Fair, at Somerset House. Caroline had extolled the glory of Origin to me for a long time, and I was happy to find that she was right -it is a wonderful, interesting, inspiring and potentially expensive day out. I bought very little but came away with lots of ideas and thoughts.

My favourites:

Smith and Coates had some gorgeous baby and children's clothes from recycled jumpers, with sweet additions of handknit and crochet pockets and ornaments.

Jane Withers had a beautiful selection of hand and machine knit wares, with particularly gorgeous scarves. Yum.

Thornback and Peel had lovely handprinted fabrics - I bought some handprinted handkerchieves.

But I think the best bit was the people watching - the clothes! The hats! The shoes! To be in the company of so many stylish people....

Can't wait for next year!

Winter Woolies

Ok, Autumn woolies. But it is getting colder and baby needs a new jumper:

This is Five Fruits (ravelry link) by the lovely Oxford-based Amanda. Its a great pattern, although I didn't manage the 'five fruits' style stripes. Instead, I diligently used up my left-over Debbie Bliss Cashmerino scraps, and some Sublime Angora Merino. It was lovely upon finishing, if a bit fluffy. Now its a big fluff distribution mechanism. It looks a bit pill-y and worn after only one wash, which is disappointing. In hindsight, the Sublime yarn should have been knit at a tighter gauge. However, it does look super-cute, will fit for a few months at least, and I learned a few new things (like the hem). And, my baby is now toasty warm on those chilly autumn mornings on the bus!

Autumn Harvest

The allotment was pretty neglected this year, but we did manage a good harvest of borlotti beans. This is what has ripened and dried so far, and there looks like there will be more to come - good times!

To compensate for a pretty dismal effort in formal gardening, I've focused on hedgerow harvesting this year. Yesterday, we went out and found a bumper crop of haws, a last few blackberries and elderberries, horse chestnuts (only good to look at, but so pretty!), and sloes.

Yet another jaunt away, this time to France - Brittany, Normandy and the Loire.

Mont St Michel, in the lovely misty sunshine. This place was a revelation, just spectacular.

The Loire chateaus were pretty impressive. This is Chenonceau, built over the Loire itself. There were beautiful floor tiles throughout Chenonceau, but I particularly liked these; they were very worn in the centre of the room, which I think really added to their charm. The Chenonceau kitchen, as it was in WWII, when used as a field hospital. The coal range was amazing, but difficult to photograph. The copperware just lit up the room - the room was full! Chambord - incredible architecture, including a central double spiral staircase. We spent the last night in Ver sur Mer, in Le Mas Normand, a gorgeous B& B. We had a little farm outbuilding, decorated so beautifully. The colours and fabrics were gorgeous - this is just a taste of the quilts on our bed.

After all that, we came home and had a party to celebrate the end of the harvest season with our friends in the late autumn sunshine. Everyone bought home grown or home made goodies, and we supplied home brewed refreshments - what more could you want! I certainly can't think of much :)