Crochet

I have been getting back into crochet over the last couple of years.

Why?

• I blame Cath Kidston. A while ago now, I saw some lovely crocheted blankets in one of her shops. When I looked at the price tag I nearly fell over. I remember saying, slightly outraged, "I could make that!". And so I decided to try and make something akin to the granny square blankets my grandmothers made for me.
• Secondly, I am on a never ending mission to 'soften up' of my husbands very masculine flat and create a 'cosy' atmosphere in the previously Spartan and cold lounge room.
• And finally, it is nice to have something different to do on the tube to work. I love reading, but I have peaks and troughs with it as with anything, and it is lovely to be able to pick up something else. 

My crochet pedigree

My nana taught me the basics of crochet when I was young and I can vividly remember creating long crochet strings with my French Knitting doll. My nana really is amazing with her hands and creating things. I think it is where I have got my crafty bug from. The spare room in my grandparents rooms was jam packed with sewing machines, material, patterns and sewing models. My granny had a similar stash of wool and knitting needles, in fact I can remember my granny breaking a knitting needle in half and sharpening it on the concrete outside to made a pair that were suitable for my size (at the time I remember her saying to call her 'Supergran', and she was). So there was a lot of yarn in my childhood.

How I rekindled my crochet romance

Initially, I bought one book and hopped on YouTube to look at videos but kept getting myself muddled. It was around that time I discovered the Make Lounge and they were just bringing out two crochet courses (their offering has since grown). I enrolled on the Learn to Crochet: Fashion Accessories and the Crochet Amigurumi Toys courses. There were lots of 'Oh, that's right' moments, and before I knew it I was racing ahead creating my own little crochet motifs. The instructors were brilliant as always and it is such a lovely environment. Im sure I have raved on here about the Make Lounge before, but if you live in London and are looking for a crafty outlet, the Make Lounge is just brilliant.

This is my half finished Amigurumi bear. The poor thing has been waiting months for his arms. I must finish those!

But then, the crochet fever dropped off for another few months. It was upon returning to a wintry London earlier this year that I got fired up again, and this time I was determined to make a beautiful blanket.


I found the perfect book on Amazon - Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs and after reading the Patterns entry from Jane Brocket's blog  (she is amazing! And this blanket is so so so gorgeous!) I was inspired.

I still get stuck occasionally and have to unravel and start again, but I have found a simple enough hexagon motif from the Beyond the Square book that I am going to apply to a blanket plan like the one Jane Brocket made. I am going to continue with one hexagon style for a while before I venture on to some others. I will eventually crochet all my little hexagons together, although in true Phoebe style this may not happen for another 2 years.

Here are the beginnings of my blanket hexagons... well hexagon.

Birthdays away from home

It was my birthday recently. I was very excited in the lead up to it. I felt like I was 6 years old again, eagerly anticipating a wealth of presents, attention and love. On the day, I got all of that. But something was missing. Something, at first, I couldn't quite put my finger on. As the day pressed on, I kept finding my eyes welling up, and a feeling of utter sadness overcome me. What was wrong with me? Was I was being a spoilt brat? Was I upset over a missing gift? I couldn't work it out. My husband showered me with love and attention, as he always does; he took me for brunch at our favourite cafe and cooked me a lovely dinner, I received birthday wishes from my friends and family, as well as all the gifts I had been desperate for (a part-time pay check doesn't pay for as much as a full time one, hence my list of birthday wants, no make that needs). What was missing was me. I was missing from my own birthday, in Sydney, with my family and friends, and especially with my sister, whose birthday falls on the day after mine. It has always been a bit of an event in our house (and probably a headache for my parents) and it has always been special.

I don't know why i felt it so acutely this year. I don't think I noticed last year because of the lead up to the wedding (and our trip home) and the building work we were about to undertake. The year before, my parents were here. Perhaps, as a friend recently wrote to me, it is just time to come home.

And so, it was a bitter sweet day. Not to say I didn't have a wonderful day, I did, it just amplified what i am missing too.

Lots of love
P xo

They are coming to London to visit the Queen!

My parents are coming over for their second visit next Easter, and now i am thinking about where i want to take them. They have been here once before and spend 1.5 weeks in the UK, and 1.5 weeks in France. This time, most of their 4 or so weeks will be spent in the UK. I know they are already thinking about a train trip up to Scotland and shooting over to Rome for a few days. But thinking more locally (SE England) i wanted to get some suggestions for brilliant places to go and visit. They have done a fair bit of the tourist trail in London so im thinking things a little less out of the ordinary. I want to take them to the places that make you feel lucky to be over here.

First of all though, a bit about my parents.

My dad is a complete Anglophile. He loves all things British and then European. He loves his history and spends a lot of his time pretending he is Napoleon on his computer.

My mum likes walking around, everywhere, all day. Last time she was here, i think i started crying as we enterred our 6th hour of shopping our way along from Kensington to Harrods in Knightsbridge. I love shopping, but my mum loves it more, but then she did have boots on that were more comfortable than mine.

They both like to laugh and dont take anything to seriously.

I will get the list rolling with my idea's and if you have any please add them on in the comments below.

In and about London

Shopping along the Kings Road, wandering from Fulham to Chelsea.
In particular, Life After Noah, Designers Guild, Anthropologie and Heals

A walk in Wimbledon Common and morning/afternoon tea at the Windmill.
I have taken to riding my bike around the common fairly regularly. On these trips i always curse myself for forgetting to bring any money for a little treat from the Windmill cafe on my way around.

A visit to the Tate Modern and Tate Britain.
I don't really understand a lot of modern art, but the Tate Modern building is worth a visit in itself. And of course, a visit to the Tate Britain to see the Lady of Shallot . The Lady of Shallot is a very important cultural reference in my family, mainly stemming from the nearly obsessive way we watched Anne of Green Gables over and over and over again as children. My sister could recite the entire movie by the age of 3, seriously.

Outside of London

Fir Tree House Tea Rooms, Penshurst
This place is just gorgeous. I have only been once, invited by a friend for a summer time afternoon tea, and i am very keen to go again. We sat in the lovely garden on ticking striped chairs circling around an old fashioned garden table overflowing with cakes, scones and tea. Delicious.

Sunbury Antiques Fair / Wimbledon Car Boot Sale
I thought they might like to see a proper antiques fair/car boot sale done like only the Brittish can do. Its an early start, but that means we can pack more into the day.

A walk in Surrey or Sussex
I love the idea of these, but after 2.5 hours, i am normally a bit fed up, so maybe we could find one that is about 2 hours instead of 3. Preferably with a nice pub along the way for a Sunday roast lunch. It will be Spring, so hopefully the Bluebells will put on a show for us.

A visit to Bateman's (Rudyard Kiplings house in East Sussex)
This house was gorgeous, with beautiful gardens, amazing history and furnishings care of William Morris. A lovely spot in the country side too, not to far from home!

A trip down to Battle
This would be for Dad. I have never been before, but he would love to see the site of the War of the Roses (I hope i have the correct battle there, my ignorance is shameful!)

And i am looking for recommendations on...

I would love some recommendations for the Portrait Gallery if anyone has them? Its somewhere i would like to go but havent been yet. So i am wondering if it is worth taking the parents when they are here.

Over to you guys, what do you suggest?


Post Script

Oh dear - i knew i had it wrong. My dad sent me an email with the following. Oops

"Battle, the Wars of the Roses, Phoebe really, what did I spend all that money for on your education, obviously not British history. 1066? Without doubt the most important date in Anglo/Norman history"

It was the Battle of Hastings, not the Roses - D'Oh

Phoebe and the Letterpress does Halloween

I was playing around with my website banner and came up with the following purely by fluke

VERY halloween in my opinion. I might try and do a Google and pop this one up on my website for the day!

Phoebe and the Letterpress get stamping

As some of you will already be aware, I am trying to get my own little letterpress business started, Phoebe and the Letterpress (there will be more about that later on).

I am still in the beginning stages and trying to get all my materials together before I can list anything on my Etsy shop. But in the meantime I have been stamping away in preparation. One of these was a 'Thank you' stamp I had made initially for our wedding. I have popped some photos up on my website of these attempts and I think they came out beautifully. I really lucked in with the light when I was taking the pictures too, I think they almost look professional (to my amateur eye anyway).

I thought you might enjoy checking them out.

P xo

Finished quilt

Its a few weeks ago now since I finished my second baby quilt. The gorgeous girl smiling in the photo is the friend I made it for and you can see the finished product in her hands. It was a race to the finish line in the end, with all the tidying up of threads, washing and drying and the last bit of binding that still needed to be completed that day. I spent a good half of the day stitching away while watching a film (The Shipping News - no where near as good as the book in my opinion, and oh how I love that book) before giving it a gentle hand wash in the tub and praying the little bit of sun shining through the clouds would do its thing in time. It did, and the quilt was a success.

I still wasn't entirely certain of my fabric choice a fair way into making it, but it really came together and the binding really finished it off perfectly to accentuate the fabric on both sides. Subconsciously though, I think I knew it would work all along, because in the end, I had a very Autumn shaded quilt for an Autumn baby, complete with trees that have dropped their leaves. Meant to be, hey?

I was very proud to present it to the lovely couple. It was so touching when the mother and father-to-be were looking at it and realised the time and effort I had put in. In fact, I think I remember the mother saying, "Are you sure you don't want to keep it?!". I was certain, it was made for them especially and I hope its something they and their soon to be born baby enjoy in the years to come. 

Lots of love
P xoxoxoxoxox

The green lounge

We have bought a GREEN lounge! Yes you heard it right, a GREEN lounge, and I'm not talking about it's eco friendly credentials either. It was only after we left the store that I started thinking... I haven't seen many green lounges around. 

 

Why is that?

Have I made a mistake?

 

I started to worry that my Mad Men fuelled obsession with all things retro had compelled me to turn our Edwardian, classically styled lounge room into a 50's den. That would kind of be ok, I guess, but the lounge itself isn't really 50's shaped. It was purchased purely with the aim of providing us with somewhere comfortable, cosy, and warm to sit. Its a big lounge. I want depth. I'm not interested in shallow sofas. If your seat doesn't meet the backs of my knees, or even better, the backs of my calves, I'm not interested. I feel strongly about this. You would too if you have been sitting on a park bench covered in leather trying to masquerade as a lounge for the last 4 London winters. No, I really didn't care about the look of the thing, but I did care about the colour, a contradiction? Maybe, but that's the way it was. I think I felt if the lounge was the right colour, it didn't really matter what it looked like, it would 'go'. So it needed to 'go' with  -

• A medium shade of brown leather - its nice and soft looking (very deceptive),
• Dark wooden furniture (bookshelf, chest of drawers, side tables, coffee table, old-fashioned-oval-framed-mirror, etc),
• And mid brown, wooden, parquet floor.

Basically, a lot of brown.

 

The naturalist in me, immediately thought of trees - GREEN! Green will go great. My husband agreed, coming up with grass and tree trunks - "Grass and tree's always look good don't they?" Yes, I agreed wholeheartedly, but at the same time wondered why he had thought of grass and not the leaves for the green component?

 

Green and brown... I started to wonder about green and brown. Weren't there a lot of brown and green kitchens in the 70s? You know the sort I mean? I keep getting flashes of the Brady Bunch. This could be bad. 

The colour wasn't the only decision, there was the grade of fabric, and the fabric type itself. Decisions my mum would take weeks over, with swatches all over the house, I was left to make in 20 minutes before rushing to my upholstery class (No, I'm not going to be upholstering myself a lounge anytime in the foreseeable future, I am still working on a bed frame, and the next project is a small armchair - baby steps, baby steps). And then there were the various shades of green, from zesty limes to dark, foresty shades. Ours is somewhere in the middle, closer to zest than forest.

I have another 24 hours to ruminate over this before my 'change-your-mind-period is up. If anyone reads this - tell me what you think. Reassurance will be most welcome!

My peg bag

Continuing on with the 'look what i made' thread, i thought i would show my ..... PEG BAG! Not exceptionally exciting, but i think its just as cute as the ones i have seen in Cath Kidston, even if the fabric is a tad more mod!