Sock It To Me

In what alternative Universe was I in, when I thought buying this book, (a bargainous £3.99 from TK Maxx), and having a go at knitting Japanese stitch inspired socks?

Knitted Socks East and West by Judy Sumner

 I am knitting the socks on the cover, 'Fuji', specifically because they were designed to be worn when doing a pedicure.

 

One of the 2 things that I kept doing all the time I was at my lowest ebb, (very low for a very long time!), I painted my toenails. I may not have bathed for a week or washed my hair forever, but my toenails where always dapper.

(The other thing was keeping all 'the paperwork' in order...bills, bank statements etc, all filed and tickety-boo.)

 

 

But I just can't get the 'hang' of this at all. Even when I hit a 'respite row' of just knitting every stitch, it drives me nuts!

 

To start with there are 4 needles, then you go down to 3. I bought a new set for the size and thought "what'll hold a lot, will hold a little". Big mistake as Julia Roberts says in Pretty Woman. Big, big mistake. Too much needle length. But having said that, when using two shorty needles from my stash, I am forever losing stitches off one end or the other.

 

You can see how thin the needles are next to the pencil above.

 

Also, I can't see the stitches very well with my varifocal specs, so when they drop off I just watch the rows unravel before my very eyes!

There IS a stitch pattern, but I've got to the point of if there is the right amount of stitches on each needle at the end of a row I'm happy.

 

Regia Design Line Ombre Stripe 4 Ply - Frost Colour (04480)bought from deramores

But, it is very beautiful yarn.

Designed by my beloved Kaffe Fassett.

 I am wondering, as the yarn is so lovely, that I should bypass the stitch pattern and just knit it up

 in plain knitting.

 

What do you think? Any ideas, please.

Zxx

 



A Little Bit O' Shopping

Well...come on, Manchester, a shopping Mecca!
 

A visit to Abakans, of course, for fabrics and notions.
 

Jaycotts

Having been given an overlocker just before we went away, I needed some stretchy fabric to use it on.

Tipped off by Char about Jaycotts, I ordered some half price Simplicity patterns. A cosy cammo sweatshirt-y fabric and a denim blue stretch with a very pale pink glittery sheen.

 

A whole host of goodies from TK Maxx and Homesense.

 

The yellow bag of Dreamies was a present for the cats from Kathy of Rockers. So kind! Got a couple of pressies for Mr B for Christmas from her shop on Oldham Street.

 

 

TK Maxx jewellery afforded me this lovely Bibi necklace and this beautiful hematite 'tusk' necklace.

 

 

Don't know the make but its' rrp was 195 quid!! It was in the sale and it was less than a tenth of that price.

I like hematite and I find it a very healing crystal.

 

 

 

And of course...shoes. By the end of Monday I had blisters on each of my little toes and my right heel.

 Not the best start to the week.

Ouch!

(And that's with packing tried and tested footwear!)

Zxx

Holiday Kickback

 

New shoes!!!!

I first saw these in TK Maxx in Milton Keynes; just one lone pair in a size 6, that were too big!

The cheapest place I could track them down to was ASOS.

This was the first time I have ordered from them and they were brilliant!

The de Havilland order packers could learn a lesson from them on how to pack a box of shoes so they don't arrive in a battered box!

Celebrating Mr B being on his summer break by having drinks at Starbucks today.

 

Which is sort of my 'excuse' for not blogging or commenting.

But I have been reading your posts!

 

 

 We went to Birmingham on Friday and saw this wicker jumping horse on a traffic island outside the Indoor Market.

Rather lovely isn't it?

Some of you may remember my 'Wicker Wednesday' posts?
(Here, here, the Wicker Wednesday Whicker Island post and some more Brummie wicker here, to give you a taster!)
Hope the links give you a giggle.
Zxx

A Vintage Kinda Gal

 Saturday was the Vintage Fair at St Matthews.

Lots of goodies bought, (that need photographing), friends caught up with and new ones made.

Sadly my 'twinnie' has a chest infection and wasn't able to make it but we've sent each other best wishes via Trevor!

At last, the perfect weather to wear my 'new' vintage Burberry that Mr B brought me from Scout in Sunderland.

as we call it, The Burberry Museum

Cannot believe that one was ever made large enough to fit me! The most brilliant thing for me is that, what some people would hate, the shorter sleeve, is the perfect 'bracelet length' for me and saves me having to roll back my sleeves, which I do with most of my jackets.

The yellow brolly I bought at TK Maxx, for a fiver, ages ago.

 My wonderful vintage poker print scarf was a giveaway win from Char, again, ages ago!

Isn't it fabulous?

My tiny little yellow flower head earrings I bought when I was a student, so that must make them even older than vintage!

http://www.random-makes.co.uk/index.htm

The amazing 'H' the old Citroen van was a newcomer to the Fair and Mr B bought me the most apt gift from them...a cushion made from a vintage Bognor Regis and surrounding views T-towel. BR basically runs through my veins. I will do a post on that as an individual 'thing' as most of the views I have photographs of that I have taken in the past.


A large part of my life on a cushion, you could say.

Obligatory windswept hair shot



Just to remind me to get a trim and some new highlights done!

Zxx



#BEDM rather fell by the wayside; just got totally disillusioned with posting anything last week.



#BEDM "Cinco de Mayo - Let's be Mexican"

Having been a milliner in days gone by, the first thought that crosses my mind is

'Mexicans dance on their hats'.

Not particularly helpful, and no doubt there will be someone out there shouting 'that's not PC!' But that's what people of my generation grew up with and the song is really funny.

OPI nail varnish set from TK Maxx...that's a bit more like it. (Though this was actually a set for The Day of the Dead/Halloween). Came with a whole load of stickers to put on your nails too.

 



Photo Credit: chicagocincodemayo.com

I am so loving this picture that I found via Google. It's for Chicagos' largest Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the Pilsen neighbourhood.

Some of my favourite things...arty skulls, roses and even a cowboy hat thrown in for good measure. Never had a tattoo, but this sure could be a contender if I was ever up for one!

 

source

Nice hats!



Vintage tomato ketchup dispenser. Well, don't all Mexican dishes have tomato in? Home grown fruit from my lully neighbour.

 

recipe here

 This salsa picture popped up on my fb page as I follow Nadia G (Bitchin' Kitchen).

 

As she wrote...

" Don't show up with store-bought salsa this Cinco de Mayo, show up with G's fresh homemade salsa for that unique Italian-Mexican fusion! And Tequila. Everyone likes Tequila."



 You can't disagree with that, can you?

 

 This showed up as well, and, well, looks totally delish!

 

Pomegranate Tequila Guacamole recipe

So, paint your nails, add your stickers then sip a drink and eat your salsa while they are drying.

Oh, and watch the video.

Laughed?? I nearly peed my pants!!

 

 

Happy 'Cinco de Mayo' Day!

Zxx

Relieved

I think this is a 'happy' (do a little Pharrel Williams dance) face.

 

Or it could just be one of relief that I did succumb to this bargain one pound washing line in TK Maxx absolutely ages ago!

Cos, with my bed linen going round in the washing machine, I thought I'd put the duvet and the Minky blanket out on the line for an airing and a beating (ooo, Missus!).

 

Duvet on the line ...put the blanket over and it all lands in a heap on the soil-y ground underneath!

B*ll*cks!

 

So, ladies, the moral of this story is sometimes it pays to spend out on something you don't actually need at the time!

Zxx

Pink Leatherette

 

 

Taking the Pantone 'colour of the year' (Radiant Orchid), bag back out of its' storage bag and giving it an airing on such a sunny day.

 

the 'oh-my-god-hurry-up-the-bus-is-coming' face

Coat (German company, years old and a six quid bargain), bag LYDC (who?), scarf (Italian company) and shoes (Guess) from TK Maxx, blouse from Yours and trousers from Evans. I really do buy my stuff from all over the place!

Zxx

Blue 4 U

 

  Of course, I am never going to wear it, but I made the mistake of saying to Mr B "ooo, a hat in that colour" and lo and behold, it appeared on the table next to me!

 

Sorry Mitzi, I love every aspect about you, but unless I re-model it, it is firmly staying as an

 'object d'art'!

 

To balance the blue a little burst of Daring Dahlia by Barielle.  A bargainous £7 box set of 5 colours from TK Maxx. It seems to have been swapped and changed by 'customers' as the box is called REDdy to Party, and having done a bit of research, the colours I've got are a bit different than those it should be; but the colours work in my favour, so hurrah!

Not a red to be seen!

Zxx

Renes' Requisite Reading

 

A spanking brand new book with all the Vivienne Westwood i-d magazine interviews and pictures. Bought from TK Maxx for Mr B but commandeered by Rene! Cheeky!

 

Although there are some fabulous frocks in there, she still stands by the fact that she has one, beautiful, fur coat.

 (And a rather nifty Chrimbo pressie collar, colour-co-ordinated, no less!)

 

 

She pestered me no end to buy the Hello Kitty magazine when it first came out.

 

But even a Vintage-loving kitty needs a nap.

 All this reading can be very tiring!

Zxx



Oaty Goodness

 

My fave 'oaty ' recipe from Lucy at Attic 24.

(And check out all her beauteous creations and colour-loveliness while you're there)

 

 

With added almond slivers and coconut shavings. Which I toasted beforehand in a skillet. Makes them so much more tasty.

 

 

A rather solid slab of flapjack!

 

 

Could find my usual recipe, which, really, I should know by heart. So, I tried one from Anthea Turner's "The Perfect Christmas" (The most pretentious video ever...worth watching for the 'curl-up-with-embarrassment' factor, but quite a nice book really!); a bargain find at TK Maxx ages ago.

 

This had shredded coconut in which is okay but with no timings given it was a bit-play-it-by-ear; I think if I'd put it into 2 baking dishes rather than the 8" one suggested, making it thinner, it would've been so much nicer. But it won't go to waste...these are the only ways you'll get me to eat porridge oats, so it's a pretty good breakfast meal!

 

I've been rather unsociable blog-wise recently. Stinky cold-type thing and feeling as though I've fallen at the third hurdle of my CBT, so not been in the best of places since coming home.

 

But...cooking, at least that's a start!

Z xx

FOTD or NOTD?

Foot of the Day?

 

 

Nail of the Day?

 

This is what I wore on my footsies for yet another dental visit today!  This was my annual 'check up' and hygienist appointment. Clean bill of health but a filling needs re-doing.

Lunch in the park again. Yay!

 

 

Varnish colour achieved with one coat of yellow, Brick Road by Leighton Denny followed by 2 coats of Limoncello by Borghese. This looks such a wonderful colour in the bottle, but when it dries on the nail it is a very watered down version, which is a shame, because who wants to bother with a base coat, top coat and 3 coats of colour? Mih!

 

 Sandals and nail varnish from various past shopping sprees at TK Maxx.

Ditsy Belle #29 - Eyeshadow

Can I pick just one? Can I, heck! 

l to r

 Carine Roitfield for MAC - Sahara Dust, Cactus Thorn, Desert, Carbon; MAC palette - Mink Pink, Bruised Plum, Black Tulip, Jungle Moon; MAC Packed To Go (6 cool smoky eye shadows) - Seedy Pearl, Tendersmoke, Satin Taupe, A Brown Suit, Beauty Marked, Carbon (written about here)

 



Hello Liberty Kitty palette, see here for my original post, written before I bought mine in the sale at Boots! (Bargain...couldn't resist)

 

l to r

 Cinder Ash, Mehndi Brown, Onyx,

Diamond, Tsarina, Pasha

 

Goodness, this palette is ancient, but if I could only take one set away with me, (as opposed to enough to fill a beauty counter), this would be 'The On'e. It is by Diane von Furstenberg, who I didn't even know did make up!  I found it in TK Maxx when it first opened in Birmingham.

Totally love this set.



l to r

Full Frontal, Glamazon, Socialite, Boy Toy, Skinny Dip, Lucky Charm

plus a tube of Shadow Insurance base

 

And, finally an eyeshadow kit by Too Faced. I found this earlier in the year for £6.99 in TK Maxx. A lot more zingy colours than above.  Looks good? Any one tried this?

Z xx

Ditsy Belle #17 - OOTD

 Oh yes...another day, another version of iced coffee!

Starbucks iced coffee frappe. No cream, no ice cream, lots of  crushed ice and very, very nice.

 

 

Mind you, sitting in the drive-thru coffee shop, it was raining that really fine rain that soaks you through, (Peter Kay joke there), and it looked bloody miserable and wintery outside. But of course it would...it's The Balloon Festival weekend! 



Blue T-shirt & shoes, TK Maxx

Khaki trousers, Evans (I think)

Eiffel Tower necklace, Briony @ the Vintage Fair

(Present from Mr B)

Z xx

Ditsy Belle #12 - Nail Polish

 

At the moment I am wearing "You're Such A Budapest" from OPI.

 

I had to use 3 coats and the coverage isn't great, but the colour makes me go 'wheee' every time I see it.

 

 

 

I bought this set the other week from TK Maxx for about nine quid. I think it was from a Halloween 2012 collection. The colours are fab; I very rarely paint my fingernails as they are pretty rubbish, but I tried out the black, 'Mourning Glory' on one nail and think that is going to feature a lot this coming Autumn!

Drum roll please...

I have to say my favourite nail polish is by the wonderful Leighton Denny.
 

 

 

 

 

Colour Of The Year

 This has been deemed, by those 'in the know' as The Colour of the Year.

My bargainous Essie nail varnish, Turquoise & Caicos, about a fiver in a pack with their ridge filling base coat, from TKMaxx.

 

 

'In the flesh', so to speak.





 

The sky this early morning was not as blue as it looks in this hastily taken, sleepy-eyed, photo.

It really was the colour of the year...a green sky!
 

Spooky!