~Thrify Handknitted Pressies & Tea Cosy Pattern~

I thought I'd do a 'Ta Da' post for this titchy tea cosy I've knitted for my sister-in-law's birthday at the end of March. It fits snugly on it's teapot-for-one which I found on my vintage travels.  How come I always love (and want to keep) the things I knit for other people?!?
This project has been knitted from my wool stash of odds, ends and the never-even-started projects. Having done a bit of blog reading tonight,  I would wholeheartedly like to join Tina at Tea and Woolly Socks in her No More Buying Yarn Stash Busting Campaign.
So here's the tea cosy...

It's a made-up pattern; the main body is knitted in Louisa Harding Fleuris, colour Meteor - a 70% Bamboo 30% Wool yarn. Using your stash makes you choose colour combinations that maybe you wouldn't normally, if you get my meaning.  I think that it is a good thing. 

The pattern; I knit this in chunky wool on 6mm needles.

The main body basketweave pattern was done in 2 halves by casting on 40sts, or a multiple of 4 sts, 

Row 1 Cable 4 fwd to end

Row 2 Purl 

Row 3 K2, then Cable 4 back to last 2 sts, K2

Row 4 Purl

Then for shaping I just make it up as I go along. Usually it's K2 tog across the knit rows only, then draw remaining stitches up. The roses hide this bit anyway! The roses and leaves are from the tea cosy book I have posted about before, Really Wild Tea Cosies by Loani Prior.

~Half-term catch-up~

It's half-term, which means time off work for me to catch up on stuff at home. 'Stuff' being household jobs like dripping taps, leaking radiators, overgrown garden needing putting to bed and an ironing pile the size of York Minster - you know the score. Plus household appliances going *kaput* all at the same time.

I am now also on a mission to make as many gifts as possible for Christmas, in the name of much-needed thrift, but also in the name of being grateful for all that we do have. We do not need big and unnecessary material spending - just time and a smidgin of love.
So, do you remember this pile of wool bought at a local car boot sale?...

Well, I taught myself to knit in the round using 2 sets of flexible needles in the Summer.  It was fiddly at first, but just remember  to use 1 set at a time - one is your working set and one is your sleeping set.  Detailed and excellent instruction to be found in this book by Loani Pryor...
Once again I am knitting wristwarmers; but these little beauties require no sewing up.

1 working set, 1 sleeping set - half the stitches on each set

A finished pair of these lovely wristwarmers finished

off with some vintage buttons...

The pattern for these wristwarmers is a lovely one found via Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits here
See you soon, keep warm x

~Vintage Caravan fabric~

I'm so excited that my Spoonflower fabric has arrived! It's so cheery to come home from work to an unexpected parcel, even more so when Small Dog has resisted the urge to eat it as he does most letters.
Sally from Poppycock & Other Creative Nonsense wrote about her Vintage Caravan fabric samples from Spoonflower here and I popped straight over for a look.  I hadn't heard of Spoonflower before but highly recommend the service I received. I paid $18 for a yard of 42 inch wide fabric, plus $7 postage from the USA, and thankfully I didn't get stung with any additional customs charges. Yay! Here's my fabric prettily wrapped in tissue...

...and here is the fabric close-up.  I chose the brown background as I'm imagining using it as cushion front panels with natural linen/wool/tweed and mother of pearl button fastening on the reverse...

I see something different each time I look at it; fabulous ditsy prints, 1970s floral patterns and even more fabulous vintage caravan shapes that make me smile. Caravan ♥ Love is a beautiful thing!

~Leeds Festival Update~

Many thanks you lovely friends out there in Blogland,  for all your supportive comments and practical advice for L's first festival...

They left at 6am, almost walking backwards due to the weight of their rucksacks.
Wellies, toilet roll, Home Bargains tissues, waterproof jacket...*check*
She rang tonight and said she already feels very icky and dirty, but has had a good look round, and has already bought some vintage clothes.  Then I was regailed with a very vivid toilet description of what sound almost like open latrines, with plenty of opportunities to see what the people before you have deposited. Eeeeugh. Not for me. I would have to be helicoptered in...The line up is very good though and I know she'll love the Foo Fighters and The Black Keys tomorrow, The Cure on Saturday, and The Vaccines on Sunday.
I am a worried Mum but trying not to fuss...thanks again everyone xx

~Dresser Envy~

Dresser Envy is something I have suffered with for quite a few years now; exacerbated by sneaky peeks and glorious transformations of dressers on the blogs I follow...

I've always coveted Steph's lovely dresser at Curlew Country...

Picture from Curlew Country blog

 I loved Scarlet's thrifty transformation loaded with Hornsea Pottery at Tales From Beyond The Nook...

Picture from Tales from Beyond The Nook

And I adore Kazzy's dresser at Country Rabbit - so much loveliness to peek at!

Picture from Country Rabbit blog

Well,  lucky me - heaven knows that I don't have the pennies to buy one - I now have my own dresser ripe for transformation!  

It wasn't thrifted; it was gifted -  from generous friends renovating their kitchen. 

 Here it is...

 It's lovely and solid, with oodles of storage.  I have bought a tin of F and B Estate Eggshell in New White, but my other materials I already had - some F and B Ball Green emulsion, some finishing wax and half a roll of Cath Kidston wallpaper.  Here's a sneaky peek...

I'll carry on during the Summer holidays tackling it in manageable chunks! The main body will be New White, with Ball Green on the inside and back. 

One more day at work then roll on Summer!

~Photos from York Festival of Vintage~

Good job all the stalls at York's Festival of Vintage were tucked inside the race stands as it was a very wet weekend.  I did feel sorry for the owners of the vintage cars outside, who probably didn't get the attention they deserved, because of the rain.
I had a lovely day out with friends old and new, including meeting up with Sally from Poppycock blog (and Bob the bunny, of course.) Here are some photos of the stalls...


I so very nearly bought this pink wool blanket on the left (£12)



Bob The Bunny admires the vintage fabric on Sago Designs stall...
(You can now make your own Bob with one of Sally's lovely kits - see here)



Lovely Jubilee display by Living by Liz - I loved this stall.
Some people get it just right don't they?

This pretty stall had lots to look at too...

including vintage cosmetics, labels and packaging...

Vintage fashion show


There was a good mix of homewares, vintage clothing, reworked vintage, vintage inspired crafts, as well as bands, dancing and the excellent nostalgic collectors hall where it was a pleasure to meet Mrs Day, who is a member of a 1940s living history group called UK Homefront http://www.ukhomefront.co.uk/.  We had a nostalgic sniff of the carbolic soap and she let us in on some vintage and thrifty household cleaning tips.
I also bought some trimmings and buttons from the lovely Cool Crafting stall who had come all the way from Cumbria.  Have a look at their lovely website and blog http://www.coolcrafting.co.uk/
My last purchase was a spontaneous splurge on a gorgeous 1950s dress, which I am just carefully washing and pressing, so I'll share that next time...

~Time for Tea - Feb event~

Yesterday's afternoon tea theme was Berries, Cherries and love, in honour of Valentine's Day. 6 ladies (and one baby nephew) sat down to tea at 2pm, following a welcome drink of homemade pink lemonade.

The table theme was red, with gingham and roses cloths, matching vintage china and table gifts of mini-heart candles. Have used a photo of the table setting for my new header - I used L's swanky camera and did a bit of editing with special effects. Her camera is tons better than mine!

I was ably assisted by daughter L and best friend J in the tea-making and serving of the cakey delights...

I made some mini-bunting for the cherry and almond cake.  The double choc brownies with macadamia nuts were lovely.  My favourites were the homemade jammie dodgers, which turned out really well and were yummy. I added some custard powder to the mix, which made them a lovely yellow colour.  I sieved homemade raspberry jam for the filling.

Next event is in March, with a Spring themed menu (yet to be decided on!).
Some of my guests brought me a thoughtful gift of rhubarb from the Rhubarb Festival in Wakefield, which Anne at Marmalade and Catmint posted about yesterday. A bunch of Oldroyd's rhubarb tied with green ribbon - more attractive and delicious than flowers I think!

I'll be making a crumble with it on Monday morning. Thankfully I've got a day off on Monday to catch up with domestic stuff that has accumulated over the last busy week.

~Vintage Fair at Rivers Meet Craft Cafe~

Bbbrrr, it's been a cold weekend here in Yorkshire, the snow has lingered due to the low temperatures.  It was minus 5 on my garden thermometer yesterday morning - and I have to confess I stayed in my PJs and watched a dramatisation of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca starring Charles Dance & Emilia Fox.  I hardly ever do that, so it was a nice treat.
 I loved the feathery ice pattern on the conservatory window on Saturday morning...

Today I went along with Anne from Marmalade & Catmint, and my lovely Mum,  to a Valentine Craft & Vintage Fair here...

Rivers Meet Craft Cafe in Methley, near Leeds.   I remember this building as a pub a few years ago - it was given a new lease of life as a craft and foodie haven when it was reopened by Joanne and Richard as Rivers Meet in Autumn 2011.  It's open 7 days a week for food, and the in-house craft shop has some fantastic fabrics and beads too. There are also sewing, quilting and other craft classes, along with a book group. See other blogs here and here for foodie reviews and more lovely photos of this unique place, which, judging by today's busy cafe, is obviously a very popular hub of the community.

I caught up with Margaret again from Ready Planted  (@MaggyAnne on Twitter) whose stall looked very pretty and Spring-like.  I bought some Hellebores and Mum treated me to my first daffodils of the year at 50p a bunch.

Margaret's son paints the bespoke signs, they really are the nicest I've come across - his contact details are on the sign on the right under 'For Quotes and Orders' ...I'm looking forward to welcoming Margaret to my March afternoon tea event too.

A cup of tea and a slice of cake on pretty vintage china in the cafe ...

Now to more purchases...

Some East of India ribbon and labels from Chicken Shed Gifts who also have an online shop. 

  Some more ribbons and a handmade ditsy corsage from Twisted Vintage, who open their shop in Whitwood, Castleford, next month.

This cute wooden mini bunting from Twisted Vintage...

A couple of fat quarters of this pretty faux patchwork cotton lawn.  I might recover my piano (sewing) stool with this during half-term...Anne bought some fat quarters too, I'm sure she will post about them too - we both had cameras in-hand to take some snaps!

I may be back there for a half-term breakfast treat with the kids this week!

~Time for Tea - Jan event~

Six ladies sat down to tea today, for a lovely afternoon where we all tried (hard) to forget about diets just for a couple of hours...
Thankyou to all who attended and of course J for her help and donning her trusty apron again! Guests included Anne from Marmalade & Catmint blog, who has taken some photos and posted on her blog too here... Thankyou for the tulips Anne, seen on my new header, and also the wine encased in a cosy garter-stitched jumper!
The table was set with a red and green theme, using some of my favourite china and linens, including this Woods ware green cup and saucer.  Thankyou to Teapigs tea for their support too - guests took some teabags home too, along with polka dot packets of veggie seeds and leftover cake.

The theme was 'Comfort Food', so I had to include my favourite nostalgic treat - Battenburg!

Also a very rich Brownie Cake...

I ended up substituting Yorkshire Fountain's Gold cheese for Swaledale, also from Yorkshire and still as tasty with the green tomato chutney.

Looking forward to February's event - time to get my thinking cap on!

~Catching Up, Baking & Charity Shop Karma~

After a busy here-there-and everywhere week, I have a day off to bake tomorrow in preparation for Saturday's afternoon tea. Just making some teacakes now, so can't stay long...
A quick blog catch-up and say hello (and thankyou xx) to new followers of my blog.  Also thanks for great comments - I'm still losing comments that I try and leave, frustrating to say the very least, but I am keeping up to date reading all your blogs. A message to Jan on the lovely blog Stand and Stare about the perils of crochet... I agree with Scarlet that YouTube is good for tutorials, also VideoJug, just search the name of the stitch such as 'treble crochet'.  I have given up (shame) as I find my crochet inadequacies far too difficult to face! Knitting for me!  My attempt at a granny square ends up as a tight tension circle, which my small dog could wear as a beanie hat. Let me know how you get on Jan, and I might feel more inspired to have another go!
After some disappointing charity shop visits, which we all have had recently,  I had a good day yesterday.  I visited the deli/cheesemongers/cafe  Love Cheese on Gillygate in York (@LoveCheeseYork on Twitter) to buy some local cheese and noticed a charity shop next door...   Of course I went in.
I got this Laura Ashley cardigan for a reasonable £3.50.

 Charity shop Karma I believe, as I coveted it earlier this year in the actual shop and couldn't afford it.  It's part of their nostalgic 'Archive' collection which is ....'a range of dresses, shirts and cardigans using prints from a bygone era. Beautiful bird, butterfly and floral prints reference this season’s passion for Botanicals, with delicate vines, sprigs and roses'
So chuffed with it.  It's a tad too large but never mind. So I'll pass my good fortune on, and inform you of the lovely things in the RSPCA charity shop on Gillygate, York. Highly recommended and Happy Thrifting!

~Secret Dining Tearooms & Supperclubs~

 Time For Tea @ Lavender Attic, my pop-up tearoom is taking place on

 Saturday Jan 21st 2pm - theme Comfort Food

also Saturday Feb 25th 2pm

and Sat 24th March 2pm

I seat 8 at each event. For availablility and tickets (£12) visit the supperclub website here or click on the link on my blog sidebar.

You can attend as a lone diner, or in pairs or groups; all that's needed is a willingness and desire to meet and chat with fellow guests and enjoy sandwiches, savoury treats and cakes.  I create a lovely relaxed and nostalgic atmosphere with vintage china and linen, fairy lights, bunting and music.  

As I've written before, I'm a member of http://www.supperclubfangroup.ning.com/ where you can locate all the secret supperclubs and tearooms around the UK and beyond. This growing phenomenon is a fab way to eat excellent food for a reasonable price if you are at least a bit adventurous and like meeting people, and having a nosey at other peoples houses!  People that attend are usually like-minded foodies who are secret-dining their way around Yorkshire and beyond. The OH and I attended Dinner at The Manor in Leeds prior to Christmas for a Delia-Christmas food night, which was our first supperclub visit, and turned out to be a real treat. We bumped into Jini, who I'd met previously at Clandestine Cake Club. I never got round to writing about it before Christmas, but there's a good review of the evening and photographs of the food, which was delicious, (especially the broccoli soup and the pheasant terrine!) on Jini's blog - The Munchy Medic. Jini also explains a bit more about how supperclubs operate.
Tonight the OH and I are zipping over to York for an Italian-inspired meal at The Tin Duck Supperclub including beef shin ragu with homemade pappardelle and plum and almond tart with vanilla mascarpone cream. I promise I will take my camera and write about our evening. I am driving but the OH will be taking a nice bottle of wine to enjoy.

~Winding down for Christmas~

Catching up with reading lovely blogs and their beautiful seasonal photos just now makes me feel very cosy, smiley and festive - and a little guilty that I haven't done much in the way of festive posting.  To be honest, I haven't had much time spare due to work and home/family day-to-day stuff, but I finish work on Thursday for the Christmas break! Hurrah!
 I'm admiring nostalgic decorations on other blogs (especially at Beyond the Nook today).  My kitsch mini-kitchen tree is home to my thifted vintage baubles...

 ... unfortunately they're not family heirlooms; I only wish I had kept my Nana's Christmas stuff.

(Excuse the overflowing drinks trolley, by the way!)

My mantlepiece has been jollied up with a garland I've made by stringing together handmade vintage wooden decorations on garden twine.  My Mum gave me them this week to take care of...

I just need to do some hedgerow greenery-snipping this week and add the holly and ivy.
Fairy lights are everywhere, on mirrors, pictures, even in the downstairs loo!
I get them from Lights4Fun, a Yorkshire company based in Harrogate.
And I bought 2 tins of this gorgeous stuff...

Peppermint Bark...yum! Half price in M&S at £4.   Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits blogged about this last December and has a recipe for the homemade version here .  Yes, I really should have made it myself, but coveted the lovely reusable red tin it came in, which will be used to store my ribbons and buttons.

Have a lovely week everyone - I'm looking forward to Thursday evening when J will be singing at the Primary School carol service in the beautiful village church.

~Link to a Lovely Giveaway~

'Tis the season for lots of exciting giveaways on the lovely blogs I follow.
The Christmas Giveaway on the blog Poppycock & Other Creative Nonsense is especially generous as there are 12 lots of goodies to choose from if you are the winner! All you have to do is pop over and leave a comment before 7pm on Sunday 11th December.

Sally is an artist and crafter from East Yorkshire who sells her textile creations under the name of Fabric Mountain on Folksy here. I passed on a Liebster award to Sally's blog, as it's one of my favourites.  One of the recent posts about a craft fair that Sally exhibited at featured some mini-journals that I coveted...they arrived today, wrapped beautifully in seasonal tissue paper...

along with this lovely Robin postcard which I will display on my kitchen shelf.

~Christmas Giveaway Link~

Find some time over the weekend to pop across to Marmalade and Catmint to enter the free giveaway to win some lovely Christmas goodies.

For 3 chances to enter all you have to do is...

1. Leave a comment on Marmalade and Catmint's blog asking to be entered into the draw.
2. Become a follower of Marmalade and Catmint.
3. Link back to the post on your blog about the giveaway.

~Liebster Award - a hug from other Bloggers!~

I feel so lucky to be given the Liebster Award from 2 lovely bloggers!
I only discovered what this was yesterday.  I thinks it's like giving a *hug* and encouragement to fellow bloggers, spreading the word about us newbies with less than 200 followers who may be writing about stuff of interest to other lovely folk...It means dearest or beloved. And so the love goes on....I shall display it proudly thanks to lovely, lovely Anne at Marmalade and Catmint (who will get an extra slice of cake when she visits my tea event in February) and also Emma at The Log Cabin . Thankyou ladies x

The Rules

• Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
• Reveal your top 5 blogs and let them know by leaving a comment at their blog.
• Post the Award on your blog (proudly! yay!)

My top 5 deserving the Liebster award all are lovely friendly and humorous people - crafters, fabric & crockery collectors, thrifters, make do and menders....
Poppycock & Other Creative Nonesense Sally is an East Yorkshire artist, very clever lady.  Makes beautiful art and sends me encouragement and support.
Life on The East Coast Dawn has a lovely blog.  She lives in beautiful Suffolk. Fab way with words, very honest and inspirational photos.
Daffodils & Snowdrops I also love Em's photographs and write-ups of thrifty, retro and vintage places to visit.
Vintage Jelly Linzi makes me laugh out loud with her posts. Brilliant. Another blogger who loves fabric, crafting, being thrifty and growing your own.
Your Handmade Home Melissa is a clever lady making a living from sewing and crafting lovely homewares. She also has a teapot and vintage crockery obsession (like me).

 ~My first few months blogging has been a revelation - thanks to all you lovely people out there ~

*Sob* Kate Winslet eat your heart out!

~I ♥ Blankets~

I love blankets. I don't particularly like the word throw, which sounds too modern, much preferring the cosy snugness of blanket.
I'd like to share 3 of my current favourite blankets with you...
The first one is a granny squares blanket which is very old and was actually crocheted by my Nana B.

 I love the black background and it's made in good quality wool. It's definitely destined for a caravan sofa and I will treasure it forever.

The second is a recent thrifty find in a York charity shop. 

Labelled 'Pet Cover 50p' (hurrah!) it's a small cream Witney blanket in excellent condition.

That was a good find,  that came after a hopeless hour in Selby at the charity shops where I found nothing - and saw a (slightly bobbly and faded) jersey Designers at Debenhams dress priced at £15. Honestly.  But then, that particular charity shop has had a recent revamp and now has laminate flooring!

Lastly, I received a package from Steph at Curlew Country, who now sells vintage treasures via her blog.  This blog, I have to say,  is one of my absolute favourites, having read it now for over 3 years. I spotted a gorgeous crochet blanket, and it arrived safely- wrapped in brown paper and baker's twine.  I love the colours, especially the geranium red and the hot pink.  At the minute it's making the sofa in the conservatory look very festive.



Now my granny squares blanket quota has been met, I am happy to stick with the knitting (under a blanket, of course!) and for the moment ignore my crochet fear!

~Your Handmade Home Giveaway~

Seems that following my whinge that I never win anything, Lady Luck is smiling on me!  Perhaps she thinks I need cheering up after my accident at half-term...Yesterday I received this pretty cardholder I won on Melissa's blog, Your Handmade Home.  I chose this red one as I adore this fabric.

I am so pleased, many many thanks to Melissa.  I will now have to get myself some little cards from Moo as seen here on Daffodils & Snowdrops blog...

Have a look at Your Handmade Home where you can browse and buy handmade goodies for your home, including lots of lovely Christmas decorations and advent calendars.

~Sew Sweet Violet Giveaway~

If you've a moment pop over to Sew Sweet Violet before the 11th November and enter her lovely giveaway for an adorable addition to your Christmas tree. Jooles also sells her gorgeous birdies in her Etsy shop.