The Year in Books:: January 2016

Last year (or possibly the year before?), Laura over at Circle of Pine Trees (and the deputy ed of 91 Magazine- yay!) started a thread and hashtag called #theyearinbooks, taking time to share our reads over the year, and offer a short review. I've decided to start documenting my reading in 2016, and will be using the hashtag and sharing over on Instagram, too. There's even a group twitter chat, and for February, a good reads reading group! I promise you won't be disappointed by Laura's blog, it's a beautiful document of slow living and finding magic in the every day...two things I hope to pursue this year, too.

My first book of 2016 is arguably the most famous of Agatha Christie's Poirot mysteries, 'Murder on the Orient Express'. I've been hearing a lot about Agatha Christie recently over on BBC Radio 4 (my favourite station), and knowing my interest in 1920s and 1930s fiction, my husband gave me this copy for Christmas. And I devoured it. The writing was full of nuanced characters, a rollicking plot line and of course the absolutely essential 'whodunnit' thread. I genuinely had no idea who had indeed done it, and my modern 'Nordic Noir' (and slightly cynical, I admit) stance had me guessing at completely the wrong person.

One does have to be aware of some of the rather old-fashioned opinions of a few of the characters- I don't think it was Christie's intention to offend anyone, it was just the prejudices of the time of writing, I suppose. I found some of the characters a little irritating, but that's probably the point. And at times I felt that Poirot's 'johnny foreigner' routine a little weary, but all in all it was a good fun read, and my first foray into crime fiction. I'd love to get to know Miss Marple next!

Also this month I've started two other books. 'Reasons to Stay Alive' by Matt Haig is one man's journey into depression, and the lessons he has learnt from his particular manifestations of the Black Dog, and how he has learnt to both live with it and manage it without drugs. It's fascinating, and I've found it a complete antidote to the kind of stigmatising depression usually invites. Reading it, I feel normal, and have found a way to verbalise my particular feelings and how depression manifests in me. I recommend it to everyone if you're struggling to understand your feelings and not sure how to approach your GP or loved ones about it.

I've also read the first chapter or so of 'The Tenant of Wildefell Hall'- my first Anne Bronte. 'Jane Eyre' and 'Wuthering Heights' by Anne's sisters Charlotte and Emily respectively are my two favourite novels so I have high hopes for this. I'm struggling with a wintery exhaustion at the moment. but it's important to make time for my first love- books.

Here's the pile of books I intend to read this year. If you want further reading inspiration, visit the Year in Books Pinterest board, or drop in on my chum Georgina's blog, Miss Chapter's Reviews, for a more in depth blog about books.

Pretty Pastel Style

A week or two ago, I was lucky enough to win a competition over on stylist Selina Lake's blog, the prize being a copy of her new book 'Pretty Pastel Style'. Well, as you can well imagine I was completely bowled over when Selina got in touch to say I'd won! I love her work, and as you may recall last year I wrote a post about her book Homespun Style. her modern, fresh styling along with an eye for colour keeps me interested in all her work, which is usually found in a host of UK mags. I'm currently loving her work in the new Prima Spring Makes magazine, which I picked up at the Knitting and Stitching show, and there is an 8-page extract of Pretty Pastel Style in the new Country Living, too. 

So here is a selection of my very favourite pages...

Firstly, the front cover. Not traditional pastels, I'll admit. So Selina's take adds a dash of vintage, gold and bold pink to offset the sugary sweetness of the pastel pinks in Jeannette Lunde's beautiful living room.

 I also love how brighter 'pastels' can be found, like this vivid green and the bold pom poms in this gorgeous living room (exactly how I'm trying to get mine to look...)

This pink is VERY pink, but I love the splashes of vintage and Cath Kidston to uplift the pastels...

In fact, all the shots of Yvonne Eijkenduijn's home are my favourites! Her blog, Yvestown, is natural inspiration for the pastel-hued home- white, bright, modern and fresh. Beautiful! Unfortunately my home will never be like this because I live with boys. With no girly space of my own. But I do try to introduce splashes of pastel colours with my insistence on Cath Kidston kitchen linen, and my soon-to-be-introduced pistachio kitchen wall!

All in all, I love the book. It shies away from traditional pastels and uses them in contemporary ways with fresh whites and bold neons, as well as balancing the pastel shades with soft beige and gold. Catherine Gratwicke's photography is stunning as always, as is Selina's styling ideas. I can't wait to get on with prettifying my kitchen! If you ever need any pastel colour inspiration, head straight to Laduree, where these amazing macarons came from on Friday...

A palette for your palette!

Happy reading 

xxx

Sneak preview...

Here is the UK cover for 500 Crochet Blocks! Pretty, huh?

Out on February 18th, pre-order here, and for more information, click here.

NEWS of the utmost kind

I have been a bad blogger lately. I have a list of projects as long as my arm, and it's about to get a heck of a lot longer.

My ripple is on hold. My granny a day blanket will be sped up to four or five grannies a day complete it, and my knitting needles will spark- they have never knitted so fast- to finish my cardigan. All to clear the way for a major new project, one that will be all-consuming and worth every hooky moment...

As very soon, I will start working on a book! Written by me and the talented Hannah Elgie (owner of Make, Do & Mend), 500 Crochet Blocks will be published by Quarto Publishing and will set out hundreds of patterns and ideas for blocks of all shapes and sizes- a true crochet compendium.

So for now, my enormous stash and project list will be retired, and I will be blogging a bit sporadically to make time for the book. Still, I have a new pattern to share with before then, and of course a couple of big 'Ta-Dah!' moments too. Oh, and my wedding too.

Snapshots of Easter

Hello! Dearie me, my blogging had been rather poor of late, hasn't it? Sometimes just life gets in the way. Constant deadlines, a series of annoying little illnesses and a pervading feeling of toddler mess has prevented me from having anything very real to blog about. But, I have been plodding on, having forgotten about Easter until it was almost upon me. I didn't even put up my usual Easter decorations, trying (and usually failing) to make an 'easter tree' with twigs and a jug.

So I dabbled with a few easter crafts, and took some pictures with my real camera, rather than the snapshots from my iPhone I have been sharing lately (you can find me on Instagram, incidentally). I finally got around to crocheting these delightful little egg cosies from Nicki Trench's book Cute & Easy Crochet. Either my eggs are huge or my crochet is tiny because they wouldn't quite fit on the eggs!

So I switched to a 4mm hook, worked an extra row before decreasing and they now snugly fit around the lovely East Anglian free range eggs. The yarn (L-R) is Rowan Pure Wool DK in: Honey (Discontinued), Parsley, Kiss, Clay, Pier, Tudor rose. All have trim in Enamel, with East of India ribbon 'handles'.

I also tried making macarons on Saturday, using the recipe in the Tesco 'Real Food' magazine. As you can see, they came out quite nicely, but ENORMOUS! I will try using a smaller template next time. But I got to grips (literally) with my piping bag, and conquered my fear of meringues. I might even try it again some day!

I'm now at week six of my #grannyaday project, which I began on March 1st. So that's 43 squares altogether!

The time has flown by, and I think I'm about halfway through my stash now, so I reckon on another 43 squares before working a lovely granny border. I've been weaving in my ends (mostly!) and joining the squares on-the-go, so I don't have a huge, tedious job at the end. Do you love it? I LOVE IT! I am loving this easy project, textural pattern and luxurious, light wool. Beautiful.

My other yarn progress: the back piece of a cropped cardigan I am making from the Sirdar escape DK I picked up at the Knitting and Stitching Show last year. The pattern I am knitting is a vintage one, and I plan to customise the finished cardi with some fabulous buttons (perhaps the covermount buttons from Mollie Makes issue 13), some lace trim and a Liberty tana lawn pocket. Yes, I am excited about knitting a cardigan! My stepgrandmother, Nia, is a lovely lady. She has wonderful manners, is a great conversationist and a handy crafter. She taught me and my sister to knit many, many years ago, then we went and forgot it. She and my grandfather are moving house soon, so I am the lucky recipient of some of her trash/treasure. Including lots of vintage (and I mean 1930s) knitting patterns, and masses of yarn. Some good, some bad. And also this:

When Nia said those words "Would you like the Ercol table" my little granny heart skipped a beat. Of course I said yes, and took delivery of the little beaut on Wednesday. At the moment it is up in the spare room, though it'd look so lovely in the lounge. Sadly our front room is a main thoroughfare and also toddler stomping ground, so it'll remain upstairs until I clear a special place down here for it. Alongside this free treasure in the picture are some more free treasures: a futon from my other grandmother (luckily I am the only one who has ever slept on it prior to my ownership), and you spy there a mirror, rescued from potential skipdom by our dear friend Damo. I've painted it white for this house, and am waiting for a day of 'hanging' so it can be put up, along with those lovely printing/ hot metal/ letter trays there.

I've also taken some time for reading over the Easter weekend. Mollie Makes arrived on Saturday, so I sat down with a cuppa (in my latest Cath Kidston mug) and some jolly nice reading. I also was given the Little Paris Kitchen cookbook by my beloved for an Easter present. Can't wait to cook some French stuff! I drool looking at the pages- reblouchon cheese, lardons, rabbit, liver salad! NOM! Not one for vegetarians I'm afraid.

And that's it. Quite a lot acheived in the last week, now I look at it. I have a couple of room makeovers to reveal soon, as well as soon news I am absolutely BURSTING to tell you, but I must contain myself for now. On Friday I'm going to Selina Lake's book launch event for Homespun Style, and plan to make a few Homespun-style purchases. Hope to see some of you there!

xxx

Homespun Style

Ever since interiors stylist Selina Lake announced on her blog that her new book would be called Homespun Style, I've been cooling my heels waiting for it.

And here it is! In glorious technicolour. Of course, I have been a fan of Selina's magazine work for a while. Her natural eye for beautifully placed colours and objects is something I definitely do not have, so this stunning book is definitely the one for me!

Here are my favourite spreads:

*gorgeous colours, perfect chair!* 

*Selina's inimitable style*

*perfect prints and beautiful use of light*

This book is just beautiful. Debi Treloar's photography captures the unique style of these homes beautifully, and Selina's styling just gets better!

The gorgeous colours, retro prints and crocheted items are definitely the elements of Homespun style that I embrace. And it got me thinking about my own home, and how much of it is 'homespun', both in true homemade fashion, and items inspired by the homespun look.

 *new one little bird print and wall colour*

 *homespun cushion, blanket and curtains*

 *Sideshow design tea towel framed and mounted*

 *vintage letter set tray pilfered from D's newspaper offices some years ago, ready to adorn the living room wall*

I hope to make it to the Homespun Style Marketplace event in April., to meet some homespun makers and bloggers. And spend some hard-earned cash monies! See you there?

xxx