I’m not a knitter. Really, I’m not. I know how to do purl and plain but I don’t know how to read patterns. I don’t even like knitting very much. But what could anyone do when faced with Noro yarn? The stuff is amazing. I started looking on flickr. What a mistake that was. Look at this and this and this(clever Caro!) and this(the most INCREDIBLE model ever! What a babe!)…
Then I went to the craft show with a whole group of Bad Influences. Well, Good Bye cash! I’ve been knitting for hours and hours and hours. Cast on 80 stitches on big needles (6.5 mm) and just purl and plain, purl and plain, purl and plain…

…four rows of Kureyon (colour 95) and four rows of Blossom (colour 15). Only 489 hours to go until it becomes a wrap or little blankie for snuggling under on the sofa…
…did I mention that I’m a slow knitter, too?

For all that I adore this stuff, I have a fickle heart and, ooh! look at this…and this…and this…and this…. It would be so much sweeter to make a snuggle wrap from something spun with the love of one these home spinners, wouldn’t it?

Maybe the next project. In about 2024.

There’s a lovely moment in Amelie when she slides her hand into a sack of lentils and relishes the coolness of them on her fingers – a Little Pleasure. I love that, too, and here is another of my Little Pleasures…quilting thread snuggled down amongst the fabric and batting. That soft little dent. And the sheer neatness of it. It’s wonderful.

Especially when it’s a luscious hand-dyed thread like this.

If you run with bloggers, eventually you get the bug.
Even resistant types like my sister!
She and her husband run Fix Design and, among other clever arty-type stuff, they are making amazing laser-cut things.
Like these very cool felt shapes. I especially love the birds on a wire.

I have a few plans for when my set arrives – pins, paperclips and some felt pincushions for starters.

They may even inspire me to get my dusty ol’ scrapbooking stuff out again! Even if it’s just to glue some on the cover of a little journal (speed is so often of the essence when crafting!)…

Cheap as chips and available to look at at fix design blog, and to buy in US $ at etsy and in NZ $ at felt

Tip: the NZ$ is pretty much worthless (did I say that aloud??). Get yourself a bargain at felt

Every now and then the place starts looking tired, doesn’t it?
And you get the urge to redecorate. So I did.
New header, new theme and cleaned up the sidebar.
I even made a new cushion for you to lean against when you call by!

It took more than 200 buttons, which surprised me. The fabric is a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton and the backing is a lovely old blanket.

Other new stuff is…me on twitter!! Let me know if you are too and we can stalk each other.
I’ve also just updated Nicolette’s link on my link page to her new blog. If yours needs updating, too, or if I haven’t added you yet, can you please leave a comment and let me know? The more friends the better, I reckon.

I know so little about Finland but I always imagine it to be a place full of friendly, capable people who spend long cold winters making beautiful clothes. I think I might be right! Anne called by my blog a while ago. She told me that she doesn’t have a blog (pleeeeeaaaase make one, Anne!!!) but she would love to swap some things with me, oh! and by the way, do I like Marimekko?!
What’s a fabric fiend to say but YES YES YES!!!

Then she casually mentioned that she loves buttons…

How perfect is that pistachio green ricrac? I adore it!

This bird print is my favourite of the lovely bunch of Marimekko fabrics that she sent…

Thank you so very much, Anne!