Granny squares

 Ok, I've changed my mind on using the Daisy Chain square for the skirt. It's a pretty square and I'll definitely use it for something... maybe a bag?... but I've realised that the pattern designers were right and the plain granny works best in this case.

 I made some quick mock-ups in Photoshop to decide if I should edge the squares in black, which seemed like a good idea while I was working the first ones. Black is always a tidy colour with which to frame things.

 

 But once again I think the pattern designers were right, and using the same colour as the body of the skirt pulls it all together. Black just makes it look tacked on the bottom.

However... I do think I'll make mine a bit shorter than this one and have it above the knee (dare I say this, after all my deviations from the pattern so far have been disastrous?) Will I even finish it? Will I wear granny squares in public? Watch this space!

 

Whilst making one of the squares, I became enamoured with this combination of soft grey and white. It felt somehow magical, and when I put it down next to the book I'm reading, the connection became clear... it's the colour of moonbeams on clouds. How beautiful, I whispered, a moonlit night blanket...

So I made this mockup to check if I really really liked it, and I really really do. Especially when I thought of adding some shell buttons to alternate squares. I like it so much I want to start on it right away, but I need that yarn for the skirt project... must finish the skirt first!

On my reading table

 Oh library, I've been missing you. Most of the libraries around town are open again but not my local, which means I had to resort to actually buying magazines. The Mobile Library has been in the neighbourhood (this is a library in a bus - very cool and I'll see if I can get some photos when I go next weekend), but it is by nature small and rather heavily depleted at the moment.

 So a couple of weeks ago I went to Borders and fulfilled my craving. Country Living (British edition) is my absolute favourite magazine, I love its seasonality and I usually get the issue that corresponds to what season we are in here in the southern hemisphere. Unfortunately I couldn't do that in the shop, so I got the January issue (which was cheaper, I guess because it was about due to be pulled from the shelf). Winter will be here soon enough, I figured. I also got Country Gardens (US edition - spring), it doesn't matter quite so much what the season is with this one as they always have beautiful photos.

 As usual with Country Living, the most beautiful page is on the cover. I wish I could get my kitchen to be pretty and functional, unfortunately it tends to be just functional and completely messy.

 Bright ideas for dark days - I like the hyacinth bulbs in the tin pots, and the bird feeder in the terracotta pot. I think I'll make some feeders like that.

 Country Gardens has cute ideas for spring posies - my favourite is the ostrich egg vase in the lower left corner.

 And a primula auricula theatre - apparently this used to be the way to display your primroses! "...the tradition dates to the 16th century in France and Belgium. Legend has it that Huguenot weavers carried their beloved auriculas with them when they fled to England. By century's end, primrose pandemonium was almost as hysterical as 17th-century Tulipmania with prized specimens going for small fortunes."

Can't say I'm all that keen on primroses, but maybe if I had a darling little theatre like that to display them in. Guess I've got all winter to construct one!