Wednesday 29 August 2012

Cath Kidston Shopping

I spent the last few days flat hunting back in Bristol and whilst I was there I found time to pop in the Cath Kidston shop near the University. Although I didn't buy anything (I'll wait for the sale!) I did snap a few pictures to show you as I know some CK fans don't live near one of her stores. Just click on the photos to make them bigger!
 From the outside you can see the front of the shop focuses on bags. I keep spotting people all over bristol using CK bags and I have one of my own. The picture below was just one of several displays sporting bags of lots of different sizes, shapes, colours and prints. I love that some of the display cabinets were old wardrobes painted blue or pink and so were the period features of the building such as the pink archway you can see on the right of the photo below.
After I walked past the bag displays I found myself at the till with baby products on my right, followed by rails of clothes and shoes. I couldn't get any good pictures of these as it was too dark. I did get a snap of the nightware and toiletries display below. Everything was very expensive, just as you would expect from Cath, but browsing these delights just made me so happy and really cheered me up after having a rather dismal morning. 

 Next a ascended a small flight of steps and was greeted by this pretty table setting.
Next to that was a gorgeous array of teatowels and aprons that begged to be tried on. If I had this stuff in my kitchen I'd find any excuse to wash dishes!!
The next photo was my favourite corner of the entire shop. I lust after CK bed linen and when I am earning my own money this is at the top of my list to spend my first paycheck on. I really, really wanted to buy something at this point of my shopping trip but at £16 a cushion cover it would be a waste of money when I can make one myself.
Now onto the crafty bits. There were sewing boxes, rolls of ribbon, fat quarter packs, books etc but they were so over priced for what they were I couldn't justify getting anything.
 And there were sooo many rolls of the most divine fabrics. I stroked them, I moved them around and eventually my boyfriend had to drag me away for a flat viewing but I could have spent hours in this shop. If you are ever in Bristol you should try and check it out. Also, it's near a homeware shop called Guild I would highly recommend.
And if that wasn't enough CK for you, I spotted a small store in St. Pancras train station on my way through and took a quick detour to check it out.
 It had pretty much the same stuff as the Bristol store but was a lot smaller.
 I did spot these cute teddies, all in a row, guarding a basket full of sweet plushies.
 And then on my way out I nearly jumped up and down on the spot in front of everyone! The armchair below is upholstered in patchwork. How amazing is that? I would love to curl up in this and do some crochet in the evenings. I didn't have time to move the bags from it for the photo but you can see it really is gorgeous

So I hoped you liked shopping with me today and that you'll be back for more. I probably won't be able to post the pattern I promised you last time until late next week because I have exams but I have not forgotten about it.

Love Em xxxxxx





Sunday 26 August 2012

Catch up


I can't believe its been more than a month since my last post! Now I have a camera and I'll be moving into my new place soon my posts should become more frequent. The picture above is a beautiful pink/purple orchid on my mum's kitchen table. I've loved watching the petals slowly unfurl every day whilst I've been studying. Even though I've been busy I've fit in a lot of crafty time and over the next few posts I'm going to try and bring you up to date.

If you check this post from the wonderful Lucy of Attic24 you can see two granny blankets at the top. This was my inspiration for my "Summer Granny Blanket". I wasn't that keen on the Sweet Flower blanket but her Blanket Statement is beautiful! I've tried this pattern out a coupla times with Rico Essential Cotton DK and James C Brett's Kool Kotton but I never really loved what I was creating. It just didn't match up to Lucy's creations or what I imagined it would be like. I was thinking about having another go with some Stylecraft Special DK until I saw Debbie Bliss Prima reduced to £1.98 here. If you haven't visited Black Sheep Wools yet you should. They have some fantastic deals sometimes, including some Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk for just £2.50. I love finding yarny bargains on the internet.

Left Column:
Dark Blue 21
Pale Blue 11
Periwinkle 39
Aubergine 23
Lavender 40

Middle Column:
Sea Green 34
Mint 20
Moss Green 29
Light Green 33
Yellow 19

Right Column:
Magenta 37
Red 06
Coral 32
Carnation 38
Pale Pink 17

So anyway back to the yarn, it's 80% bamboo and 20% merino and its is lovely to work with. It has the beautiful sheen pure bamboo yarns have but is less slippery and is warm and squidgy just like merino. It is definitely a blend I will use again. I picked up a few extra shades on eBay from this brilliant seller for £1.75. So now I have 21 shades to play with. After I made some squares I found two of the colours just werent blending in with the rest. The Coral 32 and Bright Pink 26 were just too bright and almost garish. So I ripped back a few squares and now I am so much happier with it. I don't know what to do with this leftover yarn, maybe another Amineko or some wrist warmers for a gift? I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

Left to Right: Jade 15, Bright Pink 26, Pink 07, Pale Lilac 25, Cornflower Blue 16, Reddish Orange 30

And as of today my total square count is 7/9 large and 20/64 small. I did want to make it the same size as Lucy's Sweet Flower Blanket but I don't think I'll have enough yarn.



So, what do you think? I am so completely head over heels in LOVE with these beautiful grannies.

Well, I suppose I should get back to my revision (my exams are in less than 2 weeks!!)
Thanks for reading,
Em xx

PS. I've got my very first pattern along with a photo tutorial for my next post :D