>A little bit retro, a little bit Christmas
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Sometimes I know I make too much work for myself. I already had a present ready for my best friend’s little girl R, who turns 3 tomorrow (3! imagine!!). It was sitting proudly in my presents box, because with all the little ones we have to buy for these days I actually have a presents box where I store things for later. But I digress. As I said, I had a perfectly good present ready to send, but maybe it was the windy cold weather yesterday that gave me the urge to make something extra to pop in the parcel. I had some Artesano Alpaca left over from the Snapdragon Mittens and some Rowan Purelife Blue Faced Leicester left over from the Pirate sweater (which still needs an arm finishing) and together they made a lovely combination just crying out to be an Aviatrix. Thinking about it, given that the recipient is unnaturally clever at finding nearly all the countries on the world map, this could be a very appropriately named pattern- future career as a pilot perhaps?!
The result reminds me of those gorgeous screen print illustrations they used to use on railway posters and the colour combination is, in my opinion, just Christmassy enough for November. I’m sure R’s clever mummy could easily add a little something to up the Christmas factor when that time rolls around. Speaking of which, that present box really needs some topping up…
>Freedom Train
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Sometimes a very simple suggestion can make the world of difference. On this occasion the simple suggestion came from my husband- why not take the train for my night out watching Anton and Erin (of Strictly Come Dancing fame) dance? It was always going to be a bit of a ‘freedom’ day and night, as P was at nursery and I was staying away for the night (uninterrupted sleep!!). However, being on the train just made it even better. The journey mostly follows the coast, in places over sandy inlets so it almost feels like you’re floating over Morecambe Bay. In addition to the views, another huge bonus of the train compared to driving is that I can knit. The journey down saw me start and nearly finish the wonderful ‘Aviatrix’ baby bonnet- a free pattern download from Ravelry. This one’s going to be a gift for my cousin’s brand new baby girl, but it’s such a fantastic, clever and easy pattern that I can see myself making it over and over again. On the journey back today I was working on the project I’ve finally found to satisfy, in some very small way, my need to support the earthquake victims in Haiti. More on that tomorrow.