Things I Heart Tuesday

Some days are just made for hearting.

Don't you agree, Beaver?

Today, I got a job two minutes from my house, doing what I love: reading, writing, and correcting people's grammar!

Hopefully, it won't be anything like this:

Today, I got the most beautiful birthday card in the post from my Mum, by the super cool artist David Kessler.

Today, Justin's coming home for lunch, and I've got us some sushi as a surprise. His favourite, with eel, and my favourite, with avocado and crab. Yum!

Hope you're all having a great day, too!

Beaver in a Bow Tie

What happens when you leave a beaver alone with the moving boxes for an hour?

She's been feeling a bit cheeky ever since I made her that little red bow tie. It was meant to go on her head (so that everyone stops thinking she's a boy beaver) but she kept slipping it off, so it ended up going round her neck. Very dashing!

I've been out, scouting the local knitting shop. Thus far, I've only been buying my yarn from Michael's (and the first few from the infamous 'Peter Jones' in London! Ooh la la!) and it was such a treat to walk into Kiwi'sKnitting company in Tucson, Arizona, today and see colour! All colours! I walked around for a while with a gorgeous spotty muted pink (which reminded me of raspberry ice cream), then I switched it for a lovely eco-friendly banana yellow, then I switched that for a so-soft alpaca grey on sale, then I put that back and got these:

(Please excuse the moving boxes... it's the only backdrop I have right now!)

It's Peruvian Kettle-Dyed Cotton, made by Manos del Uruguay, and I think it's the new love of my life. So soft, lovely earthy colours, and it's got this wonderful natural wave to it. The lady in the shop asked me what I planned to make with it, and I told her,

"To be honest, I really just want to wear it as it is!"

After which she kind of gave up on helping me and disappeared into the backroom!

I do want to make something... and that something is almost defintely going to be a scarf. A striped scarf. I'm just wondering whether to do a normal horizontal repeating stripe, or try a vertical stripe. I think big blocks look best with special colours... hmmm. You know, with three of these skeins, I've probably got enough to try it both ways! When in doubt, avoid choosing! :)

Yes, so that is what I'll be doing on our 18 hour road trip to Texas... (Justin says I'm not allowed to drive the U-Haul... which is probably a good idea) or for as many as hours as my fingers can take it! Endurance knitting... can I go the distance?

Things I Heart Tuesday

I tried my hand at inventing a knitting pattern today, and came up with a rather deformed, but pretty recognisable heart! I couldn't really find a pattern for knitted hearts anywhere online, and my goal was to work it out and put the pattern up for others to use, but I think it still needs a bit of work before people would want to! But, hey, it's got personality. :)

So, here are three things I heart:

Mrs. Beaver, willing model and great company-keeper while I knit!

Rusty things in general... I love that aged metal orangey-brown colour

Reading! And writing! And books! And bookshops! And stacking my books... these really should never have been unpacked, but I couldn't bear to not see them for three months!

The Brightest Feather

So, these days everyone has peacock feathers clipped in their hair or hanging from their ears. I've got them, I bet you've got them, and Fatty McBeaver wears hers all the time.

But maybe it's time to try peacock style in a more subtle way. Is that possible? Well, from the fun finds listed below, I'd have to say yes yes completely yes.

Maybe you take it to the opposite end of your body... down to your feet with these funky Royal Peacock Vintage Pumps (my size, don't you know!) by norakaren.

Or, bring the focus to a different part of the bird, like in this Garden Peacock necklace by ConnorInspiresAmy, where the neck is way more beautiful than the feathers (which are still nice, too!).

Or just don't wear it at all-- snuggle up with peacock on the couch! This hand silk-screened pillow by sewluckygirl comes in regular peacock colours, too, but I just love the orange and pink together. (Reminds me of curry... and Tibetan prayer flags)

But maybe you think I'm crazy. Maybe you're saying "I just can't get enough peacock!" and wearing your feather clips and earrings day in, day out (yes you, Fatty McBeaver)... well, then, this is for you!

A peacock feather bustier by neworleansmagpie. Wow! (Do you think you could turn it round and have a skirt, too? Or a lamp shade... take note IKEA hackers!)

Poached Brooches

I've never really been a brooch person... it never really occured to me that brooches could be anything other than dull-coloured flowers in chinzy frames. But then I saw this darling little thing, made by LePetitCadeau and my opinion changed completely!

...And, of course, I had the urge to buy it immediately. (As you all probably do now!) But the large stack of felt by my desk said "Astrid, hey, how about you use me and try it yourself?" Oh, stack of felt, you never let me get away with anything! So I tried it. And it was hard. I still want Le Petit Cadeau's... but I'll have to wait until my birthday, maybe!

Not quite so classy as Le Petit's, but here are my attempts, modeled by Mr. Monkey and Fatty Mc Beaver:

Smile, Monkey!

Try not to look quite so gormless, Beaver.

I haven't bothered to find proper pin-backs for them, so I'm just using a regular pin! (It's on the back! Who will know?!)

And yes, well, now I'm pretty excited about brooches! Mine aren't for sale... (Monkey and Beaver would never part with them now!), but check out these other awesome brooches that are up for grabs:

Back Where You Belong Brooch, by tinatarnoff

My Kimono Brooch, by munieca

Armando Portrait Brooch by Utter Rubbish

So, get adorning those cardigans! (Or stuffed toys...!)