It really was special, our little Cornish Vintage retreat in Porthcothan.  On arriving I recognised the place, later to realise a TV program had been made about it.

The Red Buoy, was the wonderful home of artist & film maker Jane Drake.  Who’s husband made the film The Wrecking Season, an insight into the life of a fisherman, beachcomber and wrecker, gather the interesting finds of north Cornwall beaches.

The place was full of objects found and tracked back to there origins, be that the Amazon or Florida.  It really is an interesting watch.  I am yet to watch her current film the Art of Catching Lobsters, a look into her life during her husbands illness and death, though it seems like an emotional insight into grief and love.

The house was perfect, vintage, quaint, and exactly what I love.

I went out and bought some  Mirasol Yarn Cotanani, which is beautifully soft and will be wonderful to knit with.

I set about with various plastic cups of dye, plastic take away containers and spirals of wool. (Not forgetting the rubber gloves!) It went really well, though I mixed the dye with way to much water and my wool had a high cotton content, all adding to the less viberant colours.  However, I was please.

Originally the wool was going to be used to make myself a little jacket, but the colours turned out a bit to pale so I am going to shelve it and use it for baby clothes.

The pictures above show it looking a bit brighter, but it dried much lighter as you can see below.

Spring seems to have been and gone, a few weeks ago when the sun was shining I did a bit of vintage bargain hunting in Surrey.  It was the first time I’d explored the area near Hampton Court and what shops it had to offer.  To my surprise there were a massive selection of great antique, junk and vintage shops.  It was hard to stop myself spending a fortune.

The shop in the pictures had a great selection of goodies and is now my favourite vintage shop in London.  I’ll be heading back when the weather in good to hunt out some exciting new bargains.

The ideas are still in the making but going well so far.  When I can figure out why my sewing machine has given up I can making some soft toys.

It was great, and I have all the information to sign up for July’s event myself.

The July event seems to have a 40’s theme, something close to my heart, so I will be truly looking forward to it.  I am hoping to have a stall with my mother in law who will be selling her vintage inspired knitted cake’s.  I have thinking about a theme for my stall and it has to be 40’s garden party, similar to my wedding.

I have started creating a few new projects, knitted brooches with recycled wool,

I’m thinking, sunglasses cases, keyring’s and all my usual goodies.  I’m trying to think of some interested 40’s twists still though.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

I need to go on a sewing & dress making course myself, I am in need of cute hand made items for my home.  If you know of a course in SW London feel free to let me know.

Aart from the poor lighting in the picture, I thought they weren’t bad for a first attempt.  They taste pretty good as well.

Any advise on knitting slacker would be welcome.

After an afternoon in blacksheepwools new barn, I purchased way to much wool with no idea of projects.  The Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran in lovely bright pink, a massive pack of bargain pale pink cotton, lovely Rowan Country in green tones, for possible felting and some baby wool.

The pink aran was used to create my very own Shalom cardigan.  I changed the pattern a little, added a bit of extra length, and changed the design to close at the front and added a row of pattern to form cap sleeves.  I am pleased with the results, though still need to find wooden buttons.

I added a little crocheted flower for detail whilst waiting to find the perfect buttons.

I now have a queue of 5 projects to be completed, the first being a poncho that purchased Sirdar demin ultra for and then a few things for summer.

After the tricky start they tasted great, especially when warm with a nice cup of tea!  I’m going to try a few more things from this book when I get some ingredients. Yummy!