and so...

i had wished so much today to be bringing you reports from a trip to Bath, but alas the weather has thwarted our plans again...

my dearest youngest brother (but let it be noted he is still older than i, that is the beauty of being the youngest of all, you stay forever the baby) is 'artist in residence' for one day at the fine art gallery in Bath...he has an exhibition there and they thought it rather a grand idea if he sits in the window and 'does his thing' to entice some extra punters in. i do believe it is a rather genius idea unless of course the town in which you are 'sitting in a window' happens to be hidden beneath snow and full of tricky hills and narrow roads...so i must be content with just reading his 'twitterings' over here and hope to have better luck in seeing him in the summer.

so instead i bring you news of my few thrifty finds and my latest 'crafty' creation...i have for your perusal today, the linens i picked up in the antique mall along with a lone doily from the charity shop, all very usual so to speak.

but i also happened upon some knitting needles, the sort of needles made of plastic in lovely vintagey colors that just warm the heart looking at them...i gathered up the best of the lot, four pairs and as we left the place my mother pipes up

"i seem to recall that your grandmother had some just like that..."

"what" says i "plasticky ones in pretty colors" (a little choked, i don't mind adding)

"ummm, yes i think so" she replies in a far off 'thinking' voice.

now my dearest grandmother Jane was a gifted lady, she had a talent for dress making that few could match. she was capable of making pretty much anything she turned her hand to, but sadly i do not recall seeing her knit...

so we scurried home and after a wee while my mother appears with a box and tells me to take a little looky as she thinks they are in there.

i lift the lid and it was like one of those moments in a movie when the treasure box has been dug up and they take the top off...a beam of light flooded out and i swear a lone angel sang (you can ask my mum if you don't believe me, after all she is my witness) and lying at the bottom amongst a few other trinkets of Jane's (my grandmother) was a 'bounty' of plastic knitting needles in a rainbow of colors. it was too much to take in at that moment...for years these lovely needles had stayed hidden under a bed unbeknowst to me...just waiting...knowing that one day they would be held and loved again.

i have now sorted through them all, marvelling at how many needles one lady requires to knit, but then it became clear, many were 'singles' having lost their mate a long time before, thus causing my grandmother to go out and buy new ones, adding to her collection all the time.

i have commandeered a fitting 'container' for them to be admired by all and have high hopes of 'smuggling' the jug, along with the needles out of the 'thatched' nest without my mother noticing.

on my return to mossy shed, grandma's needles and mother's jug will be placed upon the mantelpiece in my studio so that i may gaze upon them at times of 'feeling faraway' and it will warm my heart...

now onto a 'crafty' note ("blimey Tif, you've got a lot to say today")...

the thing i like about where my parents reside is the lovely quirky shops that keep on going, despite good times and bad times they seem to manage to stay alive and i like to think this is because a lot of people in smaller towns and villages really do their best to support local shops and i say "thank goodness for that"...

and so on friday i happened to find myself in one of these little shops, just 5 minutes walk from the 'thatched nest'. it is full of 'twitchy lace curtain' fabric, embroidery thread, doilies, yarn and so much more...

now if you can believe it, i actually travelled without yarn, this wasn't because in my state of 'is she or isn't she going' i forgot to pack any but more to do with staring at my three suitcases that house my yarn stash and still not finding a single ball of yarn that 'spoke to me'...

i had thought this not to be a problem as we had 'jammy packed' plans for all of my trip, no time to sit idle and play with yarn. but of course dear readers, this has not been the case, so i was looking for yarn that 'spoke to me' and amazingly amongst the small selection, up on the highest shelf it 'spoke'...

the largest ball of yarn i have ever seen, 897 yards long in my fabby fav color of the mo...SLUDGY TEAL! what luck...i checked the contents and even better only 25% wool, putting paid to any allergy worries whilst crocheting. the price £6.95...that has to be value for money...if i was super duper mathematically quick i would calculate the cost per yard, but we know that would not be good for my little 'cogs' so we will all just have to agree that it sounds like very good value for money even if it isn't...

(here's a picture with my little 'paw' in, so you can see for your own eyes the size and then say "ooh er, i won't have believed it unless i'd seen it with me own eyes"). i had wanted to do a classic ebay pic where there is a 'quarter' lying next to it, but alas i have none with me, so the 'paw' it was...

even then it doesn't do my big magnificent 'ball of yarn' justice. i am now having to carry an extra large bag around with me so i can bring my 'new' friend out and about knowing that at any given chance i can whip him out and progress with my 'new blanket'...

she's hoping the snows go soon as tuesday she 'up sticks' and moves on ~ Tif