easy does it.

Slow going, around here.

I took an all-too-short trip to the place of my birth to bury my Grandmother high up on a hill with a view to the sea.

Since I've been back my homebody instincts have kicked in with full force, and I find myself in most of my spare hours curled up on the couch, embracing lethargy and a bit of a dark turn of mind... (thanks, Gillian Welch).

However, there is knitting, so at least my slothdom is still productive.

I joined the Madelinetosh Sweater Club this year - boy is it expensive, but when a huge bag of soft smoothy cashmere blend yarn comes through the mailbox, it really doesn't seem to matter that I'm scraping together the monthly payments!

I've just cast on for a Tinder - like most contemporary knitters I have a fan girl crush on Jared Flood - oh, the man who knits! If only real boys understood the appeal - they'd be fighting girls off with a stick!

Anyway - a few links to follow to keep you entertained:

Listening:

Gilian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest

Jordie Lane - Blood Thinner

Reading:

When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris

I've also got some stuff going on at Pinterest, if that's your kind of thing.....

Have a great weekend, sweet peas. xxx

Wooly business...

There's a couple of things happening on the internets that I wanted to share -

The inimitable Kate Davies, of Needled, is the co-founder of a movement in the UK to change clothing and manufacturing classifications of wool products - similar in intent to the Australian Woolmark licensing system, the goal is to change labelling, product descriptions, and labelling to accurately describe to true wool content of products for sale - a noble goal indeed....

I quote from Kate's blog below the aims of 'Wovember' - the month of November devoted to raising awareness and support for wool production and labelling:

(photo credit)

WOVEMBER is about:

* recognising that WOOL is a premium textile which comes from an actual sheep, and that – as such – the terms WOOL, WOOLLY and WOOLLEN should only be applied to real WOOL and not, for instance, to polyester or viscose.

* celebrating the important heritage and contemporary value of WOOL through our 100% WOOL stories, blog posts, pictures, textiles, and garments.

* educating and informing the wider public of the wondrous qualities of WOOL.

* creatively pushing the idea that the word WOOL should refer to sheep’s WOOL only.

* reconnecting the idea of WOOL to the animals and people involved in its creation and manufacture.

* campaigning for a clarification of trading standards to prevent further misuse of the term WOOL.

I encourage everyone to visit the Wovember site to participate and learn some more....

As for the knitting side of things, my lovely and awesome vintage loving friend Tasha has just launched Vintage Knitting College - an ongoing series of posts about knitting vintage patterns, with techniques tips and tricks, all clearly laid out with gorgeous photographs and clear instructions....

This is an ongoing project, and you can find the first post of the series here - getting started with Stranded Knitting!

I'm about to embark om my first colour work project myself, so I'm glad that Tasha will be there to hold my hand along the way....

Sadly, I am a little hungover today, so it's basic knitting, trashy tv and cups of tea for me!

I hope your weekend is a little more spirited than mine!

xxxx