tis the season to be jolly

I cant believe that last Thursday, one minute I was sunning myself in Hyde Park and the next I was wandering round Harrods Christmas shop, with Christmas music playing!

Sorry to mention Christmas twice in one post during August - but I have just finished a new Christmas goodie knitting pattern for a Gingerbread Man and Mince Pie.



Thanks to Stickfia and Wolknaeuel from Ravelry who volunteered to test knit my pattern. It can be found on my new etsy shop - crazydazyknits. I'm reorganizing my shop at the moment so things are a bit chaotic.
Have a good, hopefully sunny Bank Holiday, Ali

liberty of london

I'm just back from a trip to London. While I was there I spent a morning in Liberty of London, Regent Street.



I love everything about this shop, the actual building, the fabrics, all the lovely things for sale....in fact the only thing I don't like about it are the prices!!!!! Here's me doing a bit of window shopping..


........and the interior is even more beautiful than the exterior.

I must have spent over an hour browsing the Rowan yarns and the fabrics. Here's my favourite the "Betsy" fabric in four colourways........

Bye for now, Ali (the worlds biggest Liberty fan)

new baby

A new baby is a good excuse to run down to the toy shop to shake the rattles, squeak the squeaky animals and fondle the soft toys. Also a great reason to get the knitting needles out. I thought this little guy would be the beanie hat type, so I knit two.... The ribbed beanie at the back of the picture is from a pattern found on Ravelry... Little Boy Blue Ribbed Baby Hat, and I followed this pattern to the letter. The hat in the foreground is based on the Apple Hat found while browsing on Knitting Pattern Central. I liked the shape of the hat, but knitted it with blue wool and icorded the top to form a loop. Not having much chunky or aran wool in my stash I just used two strands of double knit, which created a nice mottled random effect. I used these brill dpns which I found in a charity shop recently - they're plastic and quite slippy so great for me as Im a tight knitter. Im not sure what era they're from...but definitely "vintage" as they say on ebay.

All the best little one, Ali

top of the world

Its raining in Belfast again today. Yesterday, the sun made a rare appearance and being up in the North Coast we would usually have headed for the beach, but instead we drove to Binevenagh Forest. It is a short walk to the basalt cliffs were you can see the most amazing view....

this is only a fragment of the panorama, you can see, Lough Foyle, over to Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, Magilligan Point, Benone Beach....its just breathtaking and a wee bit scary if you don't like heights. I think I should get a job with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board!
Bye for Now, ali