Reading, Knitting and Someone Else's Crochet: what could be better?

Ta-dah! I finished these last night, to the entertaining accompaniment of several episodes of Big Love. The pattern is from Mollie Makes, Issue 33, and they've worked up pretty well. They're made in 4-ply, on DPNs, and as I don't often use wool that fine, I found they took quite a while to knit up. The instructions are clear, though, with really good photos so that you can check how your pattern is going! The snowflakes are crochet and I cheated a bit on them by using DK and a size 14 hook, so they don't look as fine as the ones in the magazine. I realised, once I'd sewn the snowflakes on, that the gloves can be worn with the snowflakes on the palm or back of the hand - lovely. There will be more on my Ravelry page soon about little changes I made to the pattern. I was going to give these away as a Christmas present - but I might keep them for myself instead!

This week, I also finished a brilliant novel: Charlotte Mendelson's Almost English:

I expected to enjoy this as I've read all of her novels; she has a gift for articulating precisely what a character thinks or feels. Her choice, for this novel, to alternate between writing about a teenage girl and her mother (as well as their brilliantly-drawn troupe of Hungarian female relatives and friends) means that the novel also demonstrates how a mother's and a daughter's experience of an event can be. Marina's experiences at her new boarding school are particularly entertaining and Mendelson effortlessly recreates the mix of mortification and exploration that characterises teenagers. Laura's anxieties about her absent daughter as well as her own romantic life show a loving but cautious and reserved kind of motherhood which, I think, is rarely the subject of films or books. Mendelson's novel is beautifully written, right down to the level of the wit and clarity of individual sentences. Possibly, if you want a thrilling plot, this might not be the novel for you. But if you enjoy superb observation, convincing characters and pitch-perfect writing, then it most certainly is.

Finally, I saw this fabulous crochet bike basket. Is this yours?! Get in touch, if so! I love it!

 

 

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Yep, All I Do Is Drink Coffee & Knit.

 

We started Christmas shopping sensibly early this year, as we send a package to Australia. The Craft Fairs run by the March Hare Collective have really nice things - and lots of lightweight things suitable for posting! Jane Crick prints badges, journals and papers and we bought some jewellery from another stall too. Since I've started selling my knitting (in a very small way!) I've become much more appreciative of the time and effort it costs people to make such good quality things themselves, so I was glad we supported this. It was really busy and had a lovely, jolly atmosphere so I hope they all did well.

 

I feel I've spent most of my time recently squirrelling away Christmas presents and having coffee in various places, like our local Costa:

 

 

But also the lovely Coffee House where they had some fab KeepCup decorations:

 

 

I've managed a trip to Lavenham, too, to Cafe Knit, where Victoria had a gorgeous, Christmassy window display:

 

 

Crochet snowflakes on the left, knitted trees on the right . . .  beautiful! Victoria had some new Artesano yarn, made from British wool - it looked gorgeous and the colours were really luscious, dark, rich shades. A nice pattern book, too. It's a bit too late for my Christmas list, sadly, but if I get a voucher, I may be heading back for that lovely wool.

 

I always pop into Lavenham's St Peter & St Paul's church, too, and this week they have a really lovely but slightly sad memory tree in the churchyard:

 

 

In the wooden box are gift tags and a pen, so that you can write the names of people you remember and tie them to the tree. Lots of people had done this, and I wrote one, too. A really nice experience, and a poignant one, too, among all the excitement and bustle of shopping.

 

I feel I should mention the Works I Currently Have In Progress - but it's clear from this post that, er, I've been out and about rather than getting on with my Christmas knitting! I have finished a couple of things, so will write another post soon with some pictures!