Good Books and A Good Cup of Coffee

This week has been a very good week for coffee, books and crochet! First: I've finished the excellent novel, Night Waking, by Sarah Moss.

I've been very lucky with my book choices recently. It wasn't my plan only to review books I like - but that has been what's happened, and this book is no exception. Sarah Moss wittily depicts family life on the remote Scottish island of Colsay through the voice of Anna Bennett, an academic who is supposed to be writing a book. Her husband is also an academic as well as the owner of the island. Anna's struggle with the competing demands of looking after her two boys and writing her book is brilliantly written; Moss creates a believable portrait of twenty-first century family life where Anna's husband automatically assumes his 'work' is outside the home while hers is inside - despite the fact, as she tells him, that her maternity leave ended some time ago. A discovery in the garden of their house, as well as some Victorian letters, give this novel a page-turning mysterious element, too. Every character is well drawn and the sometimes weary, sometimes incredulous commentary by Anna on her life in the rainy, lonely landscape of the island is amusing and completely convincing. This is Moss' second novel - I'm going to search now for her first!

I've also been enjoying Nicki Trench's book, Cute and Easy Crochet. I personally don't like the word, 'cute' so I can reassure you, if you have a similar dislike for it, that many things in this book are lovely, and not too 'girlie'. There are some really good present-projects in here, like mug cosies and baby gifts. There are also bags and scarves - I like the Chunky Seashell Scarf in particular. I'm currently adapting the Floral Purse into a pencil case - the instructions are clear and there is a really good number of pictures to help you make sure your project is on track. Much as I love the granny square, I was pleased to see in here that there are plenty of projects which don't rely on it! So, for quick gifts for babies and adults, I would recommend this book - pictures of the purse/pencil case soon!

And, to close - a picture of my lovely flat white coffee at Baker and Barista in Ipswich on Saturday - Heaven!

This was my treat before going to teach a Beginners' Knitting class at the wonderful Jenny Wren's Yarns. It was a great afternoon: a lively, fun group of people who really enjoyed getting to grips with their needles. Looking forward to Improvers' Knitting in November, now!

 

 

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Ipswich, This Time Last Week: Part 1!

This time last week, I was exploring Ipswich! First stop, lovely pop-up coffee shop in the rather imposing Town Hall:

Inside the Town Hall is a craft shop, with some gorgeous ceramics and textiles. After a little browse in there, I headed for Snobs. This was  true Twitter success: I heard about them on Twitter and was *so* glad I'd found it. Now, inside it just gets better and better:

You can just make out Abby at the till. She told me that there's a strong BuyLocal element to the cafe, with the coffee locally roasted and local foods too.  This is a great space, with a wall of art curated by Cathy at LoveOne, and vintage chairs around nicely buffed old tables. My cappuccino, in a vintage cup, no less, was gorgeous and looked like this:

 

 

There seems a healthy mix of professional types, gallery viewers and customers popping in, as well as the DJ for the vintage music night the following night. I very much hope this pop-up stays put!

Next stop: Jenny Wren's Yarns!

In Which I Mostly Drink Coffee & Buy Wool...

This was *just* what I needed: a huge cheese scone (missed photo opportunity there because I just had to scoff it) and a lovely, dark strong coffee at Back to the Garden in Letheringsett, near Holt, Norfolk.  Here is the interior of the cafe:

 

It is in a gorgeous restored old barn, full of light and beautiful beams. *And* they have a knitting group on a Tuesday morning - I'm a bit envious of people knitting and drinking coffee in this gorgeous location. They have a farm shop, too:

 

 

Luscious. Here is their website:  http://www.back-to-the-garden.co.uk/

 

Then, on to Holt, and to its lovely wool shop, Les Tricoteuses. Managed to buy more Debbie Bliss Blue-faced Leicester Aran there, to make another Louisa Harding hat. It's lovely yarn, not too silky and quite plump (not the technical term, I'm sure, buy hey) and feels like it'd make a nice hat. The shop is jam-packed with wool - you need to leave time to have a rummage! So, all in all, a successful day!

A Lovely Cromer Cafe, a Bit of Knitting, and a Great Use for a Jam Jar

 

Ah - the end of the summer over the North Norfolk coast. As the sun went down, my fab Lady Friend pulled two lovely, icy G & Ts from her bag - making use of the jam jars from our delicious Staverton ewe jam. This is made in Suffolk - hurrah! - and we buy it in the lovely Coffee House near us. I was quite impressed with her upcycling ;)  Needless to say, like all food outside, they tasted just delicious.

This was our view:

The weather then turned a little bit chilly, so we went to Norwich and Cromer, rather than trying to sit on the beach. I managed, as always, to buy some lovely Sirdar Click DK wool for a Bronwyn Lowenthal jumper I will start soon in Jarrolds - where this sweet sign demonstrates their knitting skills:

 

More to come on the new DK jumper soon - my mum is making one first! Spotted this great piece of graffiti near St Peter Mancroft church, near the market:

 

 

We also discovered a *fantastic* cafe in Cromer, called Huckleberries. Here is my mughugger paying a visit:

 

 

This is one of my better BlackBerry photos: we're outside, here, having just eaten a scrumptious piece of caramel shortcake (in fact, only my mum's is better). The coffee was really good (by which I mean a two shot cappucino and nice and strong) and the tea cosies, for tea-drinkers, were knitted! Love it.

 

So, er, not so much knitting in this post.I have finished my Sarah Hatton jacket... but just as I'd officially finished it, I realised it is so bulky that I have to sew the cuffs in their turned-back position and buy a button or pin to keep it closed. I tried to show it off at Stitch n Bitch, but it was rather unwieldy and, I fear, it looked as though I'd wrapped myself in the dog's blanket ... but cuffs, and a pin, will sort this out, I'm sure! Wish me luck ;)

 

 

 

Yes, I Can Make a Blog Post out of a Keep Cup and a Wool Shop

I am childishly pleased with my day so far. This picture shows my hugely exciting, er, travel cup. I popped to our lovely independent cafe, The Coffee House, on Moreton Hall, today. They have a table full of these great reusable cups for sale. Now, I suppose it has been flown in from Australia, but ... it is usable by baristas in coffee shops, so I am smugly saving that ugly takeaway packaging each time I use it. It can go in the dishwasher at home, too. What's more - every time someone uses one in The Coffee House, you get 10% off your drink! Phew! Can it get any more necessary to have one of these? Mind you, it got mildly embarrassing as the lovely cafe ladies said you can choose the colour of each component...so I swapped lids....bodies....lids...cap bits an alarming number of times. The creation above, then, is truly unique. I need to get out more. Actually - I see a window of opportunity for a knitted Keep Cup hugger . . .

Now - moving swiftly on - for a recent trip to Oxford's new(ish) haberdashery shop, Darn It & Stitch. I was just wondering where, down all the narrow streets off the High this was, when I saw this bicycle on St Aldate's. I see from their blog that the Darn-It-&-Stitchers have been yarnbombing Oxford in the last week or so, and this bike seat cover is available via them on Ravelry!

Anyway:

This is the outside of the shop. It is slightly misty somehow because it was boiling hot and I'm not sure my BlackBerry enjoyed such a lot of light. Inside, the shop is laid out like the bread and fruit are at a deli -

It's a great informal layout, and somehow the boxes encourage you to, er, pinch the wool. The ribbons and other 'notions' are all good, too, and I bought myself some completely unnecessary but lovely ribbon, which I'm sure I will need for something, soon:

They run classes, too, called Pinworks, from their upstairs room: find out more at www.darnitandstitch.com. The woman at the till was lovely, too, and the shop is, I bet, a great addition to Oxford's shops. I'll have to plan another trip...

Ah - coffee and wool. What more could you want on a drizzly Monday?

Jubilee Weekend Knitting and General High Jinks

Yesterday's trip to Cafe Knit was inevitably rather Jubilee-tastic. I'm sure Suffolk has the highest concentration of Union Jack flags and bunting in England; Cafe Knit had some fantastic knitted bunting as well as the great tea cosies in the window. I treated myself to some delicious Debbie Bliss 'Glen' wool to knit a Sarah Hatton cardigan - the pattern looks brilliant, and nice easy moss stitch too - perfect TV knitting. Victoria has 15% off in celebration of the Jubilee, too, so it felt like a great bargain! She has some great Lavenham Blue yarn, too, bred and dyed in Suffolk - I wish I'd bought some of it ... might have to ring and order some ... but how many WIPs can one person have?! There is an excellent review of the Lavenham Blue yarn on another East Anglian knitter's blog, which you can read here: http://annidomino.blogspot.co.uk/  . Anni tests the yarn's tension and colourfastness and has good close-up photos of it, too.

Saw this rather unlikely headline on the way to the car. There's no tradition of Jubilee spoof headlines, is there??

This picture was last weekend, knitting on the North Norfolk Coast, with Sirdar chunky yarn from Sheringham's Creative Crafts. I'm sure the Queen would rather have had her Jubilee in the 27 degree heat of last Sunday, but I was quite happy knitting and drinking coffee on the beach. So different from today, when our street party had to take refuge from the rain in the church - quite medieval, in its way! A brilliant occasion, nevertheless. Now - TV and knitting are calling!

In Which I Go Out - Without Knitting - to a New Cafe.

Now, apart from a scrumptious dinner with friends, the highlight of this weekend was a trip to The Coffee House in Moreton Hall. An article in the local paper announced that two women had started an independent cafe and it's been running over a year now. Following them on Twitter - @TheCoffeeHouse5 - means that I've seen pictures of their lovely cakes and scones, so this weekend, as a treat for my stripey-armed Lady Friend and me after a glamorous trip to the tip - we went to see what it was like. When we got there, I was whimpering with disappointment because they were just about to close .... but they served us anyway! No national big chain is going to do that, we thought smugly. The decor is lovely, there's WiFi - and Bakewell tarts, coffees and the biggest cheese straws ever. Knitted cupcakes in the window - I approve. Lovely coffee too. I have always had little dreams about having my own cafe . . . and this one was disturbingly like the one I'd planned. In my fantasy double-life, in which I write and knit in different caffeine-rich locations all day, this is where I'll go.