Green, meet purple

I couldn't resist.

The lure of the smooth, green needles against the nubbly goodness of this gorgeous yarn was just too much.

Never mind that I have three other projects on the go. The combination of colours in every ball is drool-inducing - reds, lime greens and blacks against the aubergine main colour is a treat to knit with. Resistance was futile.

I promised myself I would only swatch, but by the end of the evening I was a ball and a half into this mystery project (a present for a spring birthday - all will soon be revealed!) and could barely bring myself to stop. Love it when that happens.

Then I took a look at the other photos I'd taken today, and realised that something about this colour combination is clearly catching my eye at the moment.

Could purple and green be the new 'grellow'?

In it to win it

With Mr Homespun off travelling with work this week, we're settling into the welcome relaxation of half term with that slight nagging feeling that something isn't quite right. Lovely as it is to have free reign over the remote control of an evening (Back-to-back New Girl and Call the Midwife usually being a bit too oestrogen-heavy for Mr Homespun's tastes), we're missing having him around - even if it does mean being forced into watching Top Gear on a Sunday night!

So when I received a little package on Saturday, it couldn't have been better timing. I spent the weekend enjoying the anticipation and opened my book last night with a hot cuppa in the unfamiliar peace and quiet after Mr Homspun's departure. 

I devoured every page, it's a real treat for the eyes. Thank you Monica for holding a giveaway - I still can't believe I actually WON something! And thanks for pointing readers to this little corner, I'm so happy to have a few more lovely visitors! Janet Clare's illustrations and design ideas are gorgeous. It's a very pleasing mixture of vintage textiles and pretty embroidery - I must make more room in my life for sewing. 

I'm already on the lookout for a length of vintage lace curtain to make a little tutu for little squirt (she WILL do ballet, she will!!). If only I could get away with wearing it myself, I would! More proof that blogland is a wonderful place. 

In other news, I'm currently wrestling with the gorgeous Aidez cardigan. The back is complete, and I'm hoping to finish off at least one sleeve on our imminent trip to see my parents. That way this chunky cable knit should be just about finished in time for the warmer weather - always the way, my knitting timing is a bit lacking! I'm also very excited about some secret plans for this wool - a present for someone who may be reading, finished product will hopefully be coming to this space in spring. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your half term week! x

Plotting

There's much excitement here as we plan our first vegetable patch. The garden is in a pretty sorry state at the moment, as the photos show, so it's nice to have something good to aim for. 

Always one to run before I can walk, I've probably bitten off far more than I can chew, but we have plans to grow our own potatoes (in patio bags), carrots, sweetcorn, garlic, strawberries, tomatoes, peas, squash, courgettes and three different kinds of salad. These are all things either we or the kids love to eat.

This is the first time we've really had a garden to garden in, so my palms are itching to get going once this frost has passed and the temperatures begin to rise. It's been a lot of fun ordering seeds and equipment, not to mention supervising Adam with the building of the raised beds and compost bins.

I've also blow the dust off my sewing machine and whizzed up an apron for Big Squirt. Little Squirt has now got three (three!) aprons to her name, and he had none, so I thought it was time I broke out the dubious sewing skills. We had a lovely trip to our local fabric shop where he picked out his fabric. I was leaning more towards pale blues, trains, vegetable pictures - but he was fixated on skeletons. I decided to go with it. Using this great free pattern, this went together in a couple of hours, and he's absolutely delighted with it. 

 It's a great pattern as it has an elasticated neck band (great for pulling over larger-than-average heads) and a velcro tab so the wearer can fasten it themselves.

Made with a metre of fabric, there's enough left over to make a book bag for an upcoming five year-old's birthday present. A big hit all round!

Three small words

Being in possession of some leftover red yarn and some blank cards, I decided it was time to learn how to crochet some hearts to make up a few Valentines cards. I can't claim this is my own idea, as I originally saw this on Pinterest, but I have no idea where it came from originally unfortunately. So whoever you are, thank you for the inspiration!

My version is rather more 'homespun' than the original (as ever), with the heart pattern based on this one from Attic24. I stuck the heart down using a hot glue gun, which worked a treat.

I hope my husband isn't reading this - he may not be very surprised on February 14th if he is!

I think this idea would work better with finer gauge wool, as the heart is a little bulky. I used Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere as that's what I had in my stash, but next time I think it'd be nicer in Rowan Handknit Cotton, with a couple of different shades of red and pink. Time to go and do some refining, I think!

Orange crush

I am a huge lover of marmalade, but I've never considered making my own until I saw a huge and tempting-looking crate of Seville oranges outside our local greengrocer earlier in the week. Then when I saw a very beautifully photographed recipe in this month's Sainsbury's magazine, I took it as a sign.

Yesterday was dull and cold, so I put smallest squirt to bed and starting chopping. I think I finally understand what Nigella means when she talks about the soothing, therapeutic effect of monotonous slicing. It's not a quick job, but with a little help from a certain wee girl after she woke, we got there in the end. Stirring the orange rind around the enormous preserving pan kept Edie amused for nearly an hour. Granted, I did find two spoons at the bottom of the pan about two hours into the cooking time, but it all adds to the flavour (ahem).

A quick taste-test last night proved that it's well worth the effort. 1 kg of oranges, 1 lemon, 2.5 litres of water and 2 kgs of sugar (1.5 granulated, 500g soft brown) and there you have it - 7.5 jars of delicious marmalade. One of these is destined for my marmalade-loving brother in law, another for home produce-loving friend of ours - and I shall be hoarding the rest! It should keep us in marmalade until next January (if I can stop eating it, that is!).

Cake & Honey

My current favourite scarf is the very same one that nearly killed my knitting mojo.

This is the Honey cowl, a free pattern by Madeline Tosh, knitted in Madelinetosh Pashmina. The yarn is absolutely amazing; a bit of an indulgence as it's not cheap, but it gives the most fantastic drape. The subtle colour variations in the yarn are really beautiful, and this pattern really shows them off. The cowl also manages to be warm but light even on a freezing day like today. I wrapped it three times round my neck today, rather than just twice as shown in the photo, to keep out the chill winds in Richmond Park and it worked brilliantly.

However, knitting the very simple slip-stitch pattern over 220 stitches for 300 metres of wool did try my woolly endurance skills to the limit. I think it was worth it though. Testament to this is the fact that I've hardly had the thing off my neck since I finished it in November - and only managed to photograph it yesterday.

This one would be a great pattern for a fairly confident beginner knitter wanting to make something special for themselves. Especially if like me, you spent a lot of time marching around pushing a buggy, and chunkier cowls take you from too cold to too hot in the blink of an eye.

In other news, a fantastic new cake recipe was discovered today: Spanish Almond Cake, from Rachel Allen's Favourite Food book.

I added orange zest as she recommends, and it was delicious with custard after Sunday lunch. I'm already looking forward to trying it with coffee tomorrow morning (you've got to love a multi-purpose cake). And who said January was all about dieting! Pah!

Colour pop

I have always been a great lover of muted tones.

Dusty blues, muted browns and various shades of white have dominated every house I've lived in. We're currently deciding which shade of grey to paint our hall; grey-green, grey-brown or grey-pink?

So working on this granny stripe blanket from Lucy of Attic24's pattern has been a revelation. I can't put it down. It turns out bright colours are just what I need at this time of year - just a few rows of lovely hooky a day and I feel soothed and more cheery.

I've even managed to find a colour pop bargain in my local charity shop - two of these beauties, perfect for containing my yarn stash. I'm also thinking of casting on for these gorgeous mitts which I first read about here - in the turquoise and orange combo, quite a divergence from my usual choice of taupe or grey!

The blanket was supposed to be a gift - but I think I'm going to struggle to part with it. Perhaps painting the hall in rainbow stripes is the answer.