my week off was bliss - thank you

This having-a-week-off-while-the-kids-are-at-school malarkey is a whizz, I might be enjoying it a bit too much but who cares. Thursday/Friday last week I was at the stitching show, the weekend I was finishing Cosima (looks good I think), Monday I made a quilt top for madam, Tuesday I caught the bus from Balfron to Stirling for some fabric and wadding to finish it, and have a coffee and a bit of a mooch around (oh yeah I can really pack things into one day).... I tell you this week off is fab, I could get seriously into pottering and loafing and farting about (actually I can tell you, it is actually one of the few things I am very, very good at, in fact I think I have quite a prodigious talent for erm, not doing very much as the husband would say - that and getting in the way, and making yorkshire pudding too - although how many yorkshire puddings do a family of five really need? I can also drink vast quantities of tea but I suspect that is not a talent but more bladder training).

Still back to the grind on the 8th floor tomorrow.

So this is the finished Cosima in Rowan Summer Tweed (and the quilt top for Madam - which I can't claim credit for really as it is a kit from Purely Patchwork in Linlithgow, who don't have a web address which is good as otherwise I would be even more skint than I am at the moment after last weekend). Cosima is not actually so purple - the summer tweed is a bit more gentle than that, but it looks as if the colour just wasn't going to photograph.

And, here is sunny Stirling (with a shot of McAree brothers, I love McAree Brothers they do lots of scrummy yarn but are also an old fashioned kind of haberdashery/school uniformy kind of shop, where they sell sensible socks in lovat green and ladies girdle contraptions that you probably get welded into and are eventually buried in) they even have that wonderful time-stands-still smell of old cardboard boxes and traditional polishing stuff. Stirling, in case you have never been is a weird collision between lovely old town and castle on the hill and some of the downright ugliest modern architecture you will ever see - the Thistle Centre/Bus Station always sets me off humming the icky theme tune to Prisoner Cell Block H - it is truly hideous, still I can't help feeling a sneaking fondness for Stirling as in some parts it is really very pretty with the concrete monsters preventing the town from lapsing into a twee preserve of monied folk. Stirling is a somewhat chaotic mix of chavs, neds, arty types, sports students and anyone who just seems to wash up there at the bend in the river, it's great.

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So, Cosima is over - now I have a new crush - it is the garter stitch yoke cardigan thingy in some very tasty Debbie Bliss (yes, I know that is just another name for the divine Kilcarra) that I got very cheaply at the knitting / stitching show from Black Sheep yarns. Heaven or what? I even have the perfect buttons - there are 11 of these little vintage babies from Gallowglass and how many does this cardigan take? 9 (and isn't the way they are sewn up make for just the cutest little catepillar?)

 

and some more vintage buttons from the show (and no that isn't a ornery old vintage-y darning toadstool - thats a vintage-y old darning toadstool for gloves - and now its mine squeeeeeee! this is despite the fact I normally only ever knit fingerless gloves)...

Comments

[Yvonne]

Wish I'd taken the week off as well! I'm envious of that quilt, I had to use blinkers to walk past that stand after you'd shown me your purchases. Don't you just love the antique tools etc on Gallowglass - I bought a wooden container that holds DPNS, some bone Tunisian crochet hooks and one intriguing hook that had an "eye" at the other end.

I've made a start on the Lanark Tweed and sneaked back and bought some of the aran weight on saturday!

[Beate]

HI- I love the buttons. Will we ever have enough buttons?
Have a great week-end

[Jeanne]

Oh my, your Cosima is beautiful! Makes me want to stop everything and knit it! And the quilt top looks lovely--even if it is from a kit!

The buttons are amazing. I love how they're packaged. So clever!!

[sallyanne]

I love it all..the knitting, patchwork and Stirling ! I visited Stirling in 2004 and had a great day wandering around the castle and town, your photo brought back some happy memories for me, thank you.

[Jeanne]

Beautiful buttons -- esp. the red square ones and the ones in the bottom right corner that remind me of Gothic church window tracery!

[RoxyKnits]

Ooh I'm loving that Cosina - gorgeous shade too isn't it? Hmm might have to dig out some Summer Tweed. Gosh I love that stuff!

And what a great button haul :)