Snow

Today we have snow! And to go with it a swirling, biting wind. I'd like to say that I am cosied up by an open fire getting on with current projects. I can't say it  for two reasons. One: some modernising maniac took all the chimneys out of my Victorian house. And two: I am at work. The day job. However in this quiet moment I can show you the projects  that I am working on.
Bookmarks/book closures. Very useful if, like me, you have a sketchbook full of loose scraps of paper.
Pretty little bags for transporting projects or whatever else you choose.
And a newly learned knit stitch that has, I think, a lot of applications.

More walking

This landscape ,where we walk most days, is under threat of becoming a golf course.  I won't bore you with all the reasons why I and others think this is a terrible idea.  For now we can roam freely and each time we do is such  pleasure.

Dog walking and new technology.

Pictures from the walk. In nothing like chronological order! I did  say at  the very start if this whole exercise, however many posts ago, that I was a technophobe. Should have added technodope.  Today I had the bright idea to use my phone to make a post. This then is the result.

Procrastination.

Inspired by the colours I see in the woods where I walk the dogs I made this scarf. I wouldn't class my self as " good" at it but I find the rapid growth of crochet pieces very encouraging and love the ways that you can use a broad mix of colours.
However I have only recently learned about weaving the ends in as you go! Consequently this little beauty looks great from the front and is a hideous mess of trailing tails on the reverse.


Sewing in ends is a job I put off .....and put off...and put off. Tedious beyond belief but it had to be done. So, armed with a nice cup of coffee and enthused by the sunshine, I set to work.




The effects of the sunshine were not felt by me alone. The Herbert's are not averse to walking in the rain but always more eager in good weather.
I tried to ignore the nagging.



And the pleading eyes, which H. H. the younger can do particularly well.
Truth to tell I needed very little encouragement.
Off we went to walk and play in the woods and on the common.






And when I came home? Well there it still was. Waiting. All taily and traily. And just as soon as I have finished this post I will set to with a vengeance or....




I will let you know how it goes.

Cat crazy.......

Before the dawn of the Hairy Herberts I had always had cats as pets. Ever since I was eighteen and first lived away from 'home' I have had a series of  cats to keep me company, to wordlessly welcome me home and each one has left its own warm memory. I suspect that I am a cat person at heart. Which is no doubt why I bought these cat buttons without any idea what I would do with them.
They remind me of the fuzzy felt toy that I had as a child. Although my fuzzy felt was all about farm animals I can't believe it would have been complete without a farm cat or two.

As I said in a previous blog post, the remnants of felt left over from upholstery sparked this idea for brooches. And this idea is becoming something of an obsession. An obsession with consequences.

The buttons come in black, grey or ginger. To date I have made quite a few brooches mixing and matching the cat colours to various background combinations and they have generally been well received in my shop and on Etsy.

 Then I had an enquiry from a lady in America. Her passion is for calico cats.  In my ignorance I wasn't sure what a calico cat was. As it turns out it is what we Brits know as a tortoiseshell. Very pretty but neither black nor grey nor ginger.
She posed me a creative challenge which I am endeavouring to rise to. Tho, as she rightly pointed out, this project is not going to make me wealthy I feel compelled to find a solution.