There has been a lot of talk of yarn bombing recently.  It keeps popping up when I least expect it, but then I guess that’s part of what it’s all about! 

First my cousin’s shop, The Dress Exchange in Kilmarnock, got yarn bombed in the cutest way by the Pixie Knitter, who leaves pretty knitted gifts around the area in the dead of night!:

(Picture courtesy of The Dress Exchange)

Then a last minute night away in Hebden Bridge brought colourful knitted bunting, cakes and pom pom hats all over the town centre:

Within days of that I ran into local crafty gal Sarah from The Art of Moodling who is planning some yarn bombing, right here in south Manchester on 23rd July!  So get those needles and hooks out and dig out any old yarn that you just haven’t found a use for!  Details are on Sarah’s site, or drop me a line.  I can’t wait to share pics and details from the ‘bomb’ itself!

Have you been to see The King’s Speech?  It’s sooooo good!  It’s really funny which I didn’t expect and it’s also really interesting.  I am fascinated by the period in history between the two world wars too so I really enjoyed that.  Colin Firth was brilliant in the lead role and I can really understand why he is winning awards for it!  Another reason why it was so good to go to the cinema this week… my friend had a free ticket so we shared the cost of the other ticket!  Bargain!

There’s also been a bit of yarn shopping!!  I have been meaning to go to Black Sheep Wools, near Warrington, for ages and Kathy and I had spoken about going before Christmas but it was closed for refurbishment.  It opened again last week so off we went.  Oh, it’s sooooo good!  (yes in this post everything is sooooo good’)  It’s really big for a yarn shop and has a really good range of brands, prices and qualities of yarn.  There are also lots of accessories and loads of embroidery and cross stitch things too.  I didn’t go too mad – well, I’m a girl of limited means now aren’t I!!?  I’ll show you what I bought another time, but here’s a peek in Kathy’s bag, and some pictures of the shop:

And then this afternoon there was cake!  It is my friend Jayne’s birthday today so she invited lots of the girls round and had her 2 teenagers on tea and coffee making duty (I must say they did a sterling job!).  Jayne had made lots of cakes: the victoria sponge was sooooo good and absolutely delicious.  We all had a really good giggle!  In fact after a couple of hours we had decided to set up our own version of the WI and meet fortnightly for carrot growing contests, trips out, reading groups, exhibitions and crafts.  Mad but true!!!

Here’s the cake:

When things aren’t feeling very good for me I can find it too easy to stay indoors and shut myself away.  That was fine when I still had to go to work every day, but now I could go days without having reason to go out.  I’m still not sleeping very well so not 100% but hoping that with a bit of time I’ll start fully enjoying my time not working!  So long as it doesn’t last too long that is!!

Friday was just such a day when I went to see Kathy for come crochet and catching up.  About 2 years ago Kathy and I were both knitters and trying to find someone to teach us the basics of crochet, but didn’t succeed.  We then, separately, discovered and took the day course at Fibre and Clay and have both spent a lot of time crocheting since then.

Kathy is a fiend for going to auctions and ‘finding’ things and has some lovely and interesting old sewing boxes full of goodies:

We were wondering if our sewing boxes will be discovered and drooled over in years to come when sewing and handicrafts have another renaissance!  I can’t imagine so but I guess the women who had these boxes originally would have said the same.

We took Kathy’s fostered (yes, really fostered) dog, Monty, for a walk round her allotments which was really an eye-opener!  I have never been on an allotment before and now I want want want!  As I live in a flat I have no garden and an allotment seems like a great idea.  However, maybe that’s just a dream because I have time at the moment. 

Brussels sprouts, leeks and onions all getting big and tasty underground:

Back home we had yummy tea and toast and set about the inaugural meeting of our newly formed crochet group.  There are many knitting groups locally but none that just focus on crochet. Between us we know a whole 5 people who crochet and decided it would be great if we could get together from time to time to share ideas, skills, projects etc.  Maybe this will grow and along the way we will discover other people to join us.  Do you live in South Manchester and fancy getting together with other crocheteers?  If so drop me a line.  We don’t have any definite plans yet but if we do develop I’ll set up a Ravelry Group and take it from there!

So our first meeting was two members and a dog called Monty.  Great things from small acorns grow!

I want to finish with showing you just one of the lovely things that Kathy has in her home.  A little tawashi (Japanese dish scrubber) in the shape of an apple slice.  Unused of course, because it’s just too darn cute to get dirty!!!

Wet and windy here in Yorkshire today so we decided it was best not to venture too far into the great outdoors.  Instead we headed to Harrogate which is only about 20 minutes away.

Harrogate is veeeeeerrrrrry famous for Betty’s Tearooms which are also veeeeeerrrrrry popular.  Last year when we were in this area we didn’t even manage to go there as the queue outside was really long and we were told it would take about an hour to get in.  This year I had decided it was best to not even expect to go because I’m not very patient in a queue and didn’t want to have the stress of it, no matter how nice the tea may be.

Imagine then our delight as we approached and there was no queue!  Oh joy!!!  We went straight in and waited only two minutes for a table to be cleared for us!  Then decisions, decisions!  I wanted a coffee as it was mid morning and that would be my preference at that time!  But I was in Betty’s!   How could I have anything other than tea, and breakfast tea at that!

I chose a toasted teacake and Caveman had pancakes with mushrooms.  No pictures I’m afraid – too busy eating!  It was really lovely.  Betty’s has an old fashioned feel with waitresses in frilly blouses, polite service, cake trolleys, silver teapots, leaf tea and an overall feeling of calm, quiet and subtelty.  I did like it very much – it makes a change from the normal coffee shops where it’s all about speed and providing the basics.  Oh don’t I sound so old fashioend saying that?  I guess when it comes to tea I am!

When we were leaving there was a queue so seems we timed it just right.  Must remember that for next time!

Harrogate is great for shopping so we had a good mooch around the town and did a bit of shopping before heading home, lighting the fire and settling in for a cosy evening!  It’s now really quite wild outside so I am glad I got this picture of the sheep earlier today between rain showers.  I think this is my favourite sheep shot so far, as I love the rainbow and the deep, heavy grey of the sky.

I arrived here about lunch time and within an hour of being here I was off out with my sister in law, her mum and my mum for afternoon tea!  How perfect an arrival that was!

We went to The Butterfly and the Pig in Glasgow!  Great name yeah?!  I’d not heard of it until recently and what a find it is!  The tearoom is an absolute delight and the afternoon tea well, let’s just say we were all very full for a long time.

My favourite things about it were the mismatched crockery and old linens on the tables.  The decor and accessories are just my taste and I could have happily had all of it at home, although I probably don’t need that many tea cups!

The tearoom itself has a great mix of dressers, wooden chairs, pews and mirrors.  We sat in a window seat under a sash window, with tweed cushions – a great place to watch the world go by too!

And what was the afternoon tea itself like, you may be asking!  Well, I think these two pictures answer that question!