Sunday 30 March 2014

Gifts from the heart


The last few days have been very exciting! One of my dearest Ravelry friends, Kim, got married on Thursday and unbeknown to her, a group of her closest knitting friends had been busy knitting away on a beautiful blanket as a wedding gift. Kim is great friends with Anne Hanson, and it was Anne who came up with the design for the blanket. It's based on 12 knitspot patterns and uses Stone Soup DK yarn, which is one of the knitspot range of BareNaked yarns. How we managed to keep it a secret, I will never know! But keep it we did. You can read more about it and see just how beautiful the blanket is here. I cannot wait for the pattern to be released so I can knit my own version. The block I knit was based on one of my favourite of Anne's patterns - the Roger sock.
 
 
lurve blankie (3)
 
lurve blankie (1)


As well as being part of the blanket giving group, I wanted to give Kim and her new husband Jeff something just from me. A quick search on Ravelry turned up the most perfect pattern - a cushion based on the classic entwined tree motif by Barbara Walker - called Two become One. I used a Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds yarn to try and complement the blanket. I found some beautiful pebble buttons from this shop on Etsy and they finish the cushion off perfectly.

 
Two become One (3)

Two become One (6)

Two become One (16)

Two become One (8)

Two become One (7)

Two become One (9)

Two become One (10)


(Of course Florence had to see what was going on!!)

Yesterday was beautiful, so Mr JK and I headed up to the coast for a beach walk. We usually go to Wells-next-the-Sea, as there is a nice walk along the sea wall to the beach. You can then walk along the beach admiring the beach huts and head back through the pinewoods. The sea mists started coming in a little towards the end of our walk, but it was warm enough to not need a jacket. Bliss! Here's a snapshot of our walk.
 
 
Wells next the Sea March 2014 001

Wells next the Sea March 2014 002

Wells next the Sea March 2014 006

Wells next the Sea March 2014 007

Wells next the Sea March 2014 008

Wells next the Sea March 2014 013

Wells next the Sea March 2014 014

Wells next the Sea March 2014 017

Wells next the Sea March 2014 016
 
 
We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world. A walk up on the coast never fails to restore a feeling of wellbeing. The garden is also continuing to delight, almost on a daily basis! New blooms are emerging and spring is well and truly here!
 
 
spring garden March 3oth 2014 (2)

spring garden March 3oth 2014 (5)

March 2014 srping flowers (4)


This afternoon Mr JK and I visited one of our favourite gardens - East Ruston Old Vicarage. Today was the first day of the new season, and the warm spring sunshine meant there were a lot of people with the same idea!! The garden is huge though, so there was plenty of space to wander about and explore.
 
 
East Ruston Old Vicarage March 2014


I took the lady in the ticket shed by surprise by presenting her with a knitted gift - a cowl and a pair of fingerless mitts!! She sits in her hut whatever the weather and so I thought some woollen gifts might go down well!  The mitts use a tucked stitch which I'd not come across before - I do like the effect!
 
 
cowl and mitts gift (2)

caterpillar mitts (5)

Rain on a Hot Tin Roof short cowl (2)


I am busy counting down the days until the Easter holidays now! Just 5 more gettings up!! I have lots of knitting, spinning and crochet planned. Pop back next time to see what I'm up to! xx

PS Of course there was cake this afternoon at the gardens!! Despite the number of visitors, we managed to secure our slices of cake. Later visitors may well not have been so lucky and I fear that a 'cake crisis' might have arisen!!

 
East Ruston Old Vicarage March 2014 041

6 comments:

Una said...

I knitted the twisted trees panel last year as the centrepiece for a blanktet. Your cushion was a good idea. I have seen some people frame this panel as a picture. That would look great as well.

Lynne said...

Oh my goodness! The blanket and cushion are gorgeous! What a fantastic surprise. The cowl and gloves are lovely, I hope their new owner loves them. I've said it before, but crafters really are great people!

Sarah Knits said...

What a lovely cushion and those buttons are amazing! Thank you for the pictures of Wells, it will keep me going until we get back for some much needed walking!

snoopydogknits said...

What a fab post! The cushion is beautiful; just perfect for its intended purpose. Love the buttons! The garden is looking great! Hope the lady appreciated hr wonderful gift! Ros xx

melissa said...

what wonderful thoughtful gifts! all of them!!
you've been a busy little crafty gift giving bee!!
and thank you for all the garden photos - i can see my (brown) grass, but we're forcast for 6-10" of snow by friday morning... so i'm extra happy to see other people's green yards and flowers for the time being.
-melissa

Jennyff said...

The cushion is beautiful, a lovely gift, I wonder if Flo should have one for herself. I enjoyed watching the video too, what a happy lady