postcard #1...

we have arrived safely on the ancient soil of England... in the space of twenty four hours i have already crocheted 6 granny squares and bought a pair of boots.

my need to make granny squares became most obvious when i stumbled across the stunning work of Wood & Wool Stool, quite honestly her crafty crocheting skills leave me breathless.

until i saw her lovely wood stools with little crocheted covers i had no idea my world was lacking, but now i've seen them it is most clear that every stool across the globe should be clothed in one of her 'little bits of goodness'. of course my crocheting skills are rather basic but seeing the beauty laid out before me, i knew i needed to challenge myself beyond a plain crocheted square or rectangle. armed with my little pile of yarn leftovers and 'three torn out' pages from my 'complete novice' crochet book i set forth.

("sacre bleu" i hear you cry, "Tif has vandalised a craft book", i fear i had no choice my dearest readers, i could not bring the whole book with me. i promise to reinstate the pages on my return with a nice bit of sticky tape).

and so, i sat down to my first day on a 'small island' to study a granny square pattern. for some time i twiddled around, pretending to know what the instructions were saying. after all not only are my crochet skills most basic they are also rather rusty. after my first attempt i held it up for admiration... there was none, for it was having trouble resembling a granny square.

then i did what i should have done in the first place, i ignored my 'three torn out' pages and made it up... since then things are going swimmingly. i see visions of a wee blanket in no time for 'little olive'. without doubt i will never ever succeed in a large blanket as i have serious 'itchy twitchy' problems when it comes to long term focusing and repeating things. but for now i am most happy with my 6 little squares.

as i have no 'crochet holdall' with me i have taken to carrying around a china fruit bowl i found lurking on my mother's table in her glorified trailer home. i'm not sure it is the most sensible of vessels for transporting my yarn project but then when did 'sensible' ever come into the picture...

and before i sign off postcard #1, i must tell you i found a lovely pair of boots, i was not looking for boots in any shape or form, but they found me. of course they were the last pair in my size adding to my "but i've only just got here, perhaps i should think about it" dilemma.

then it dawned on me as i tried them on for the third time that afternoon, driving the sales lady nuts, they could quite possibly make me have an air of perhaps coming from some Scandinavian country.

now of course i haven't frequented many Scandinavian countries, therefore giving me no authority whatsoever to make such judgements upon a pair of boots and who might wear them. but it makes me happy and after all i am getting into the vacation spirit... chunky boots and yarn in tow...

she is thanking you kindly for the 'our #1' leaving the nest support and will see you next week with postcard #2 ~ Tif