Sunday 7 October 2012

Autumn is in the air!

Well, Autumn has certainly arrived and I love it!!

There's a nip in the air first thing in the morning and a wonderful, earthy smell which, to me, signifies the autumn.  I love this season and the way the landscape slowly changes from lush greens to rusty reds with an almost golden sunlight.

We took full advantage of the bright golden sunshine yesterday and headed to Needham Lake.  On a quite day, like yesterday, it's a very tranquil place.  People fishing or taking a walk through the trees in the dappled sunlight.  The leaves here have just started to turn to beautiful shades of rust, red, brown and orange.  Some had even fallen and we were able to walk on a crunchy, crispy, autumnal carpet of colour. 



We love it here and spent a happy time watching the ducks and geese before collecting some conkers.  Conkers, in our neck of the woods, have been in somewhat short supply.  I don't know whether it was the appalling spring we had which knocked off the blossom or whether it has simply not been a good growing season.  Whatever the reason, the girls were very happy to find a lone horse chestnut tree bearing these excellent specimens.


At 4 and 6, with good aim not yet being a skill they have honed, I think playing conkers is a little beyond them and so tomorrow, with the help of some sewing pins, glue and sequins, they'll be making conker monsters.  

I remember playing conkers while waiting for the school bus and being so proud to defeat my opponent.  It was serious stuff and we would soak out conkers in vinegar (I don't know why) while others favoured drying theirs in the oven.  I'd take my foursy (a conker that has smashed 4 other conkers to pieces) on the bus proud as punch, only to have it splintered into pieces by someone else's monster at morning break.  I was a horrible younger sister when I played conkers with my brother and would purposefully take aim at his knuckles - how mean was I?! 



This morning, we awoke to thick mist/fog (I'm never sure which is which!), the first of this new season.  Tucked up by the warm radiator, (npower will love me!!) I watched the girls play in the garden, their feet soaked from the dewy grass.  Mr Y has a very busy time coming up at work so has spent the entire day working, but I don't mind.  An enforced day at home with nothing to do has finally given me the chance to start cataloguing some of my knitting patterns. 

I started with the biggest number in my collection - my much adored Stitchcraft magazines.  These are the ones I always turn to first when I want to try a new pattern and simply marvel and the beautiful colour wools they had.  Here are some of my collection.



These magazines have proved an invaluable source for exceptional knitting patterns.  They contain a wealth of information and are, therefore, incredibly sort after.  A quick search on eBay and you'll see what I mean with early examples reaching over £10 a piece. 

There are quite a few gaps in my collection, mostly from 1939 backwards.  I have made a list of the ones that I'm missing and have been very efficient as it is now pinned it up in the kitchen (hoping Mr Y will take note) and a copy is also in my journal so I can, hopefully, fill in the gaps :o)

On the knitting front, things are moving along nicely.  This is what I'm currently working on.


It's a cardigan which is being knitted in a charming shade called petrol from the King Cole range.  It's very pretty and I'm on the penultimate piece!  Oh, the spider??  Well, that's one of Cadbury's Halloween treats.  Clever Cadbury's, always thinking of something new to snare people like me! :o)  I shall be devouring it with it's green crispy middle later on this evening while I watch Downton Abbey! :o)

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend too!

12 comments:

  1. That is an impressive Stitchcraft collection :)
    I really miss conkers and Cadbury's over here. Firstly they just don't have conkers. And secondly, Cadbury's is made by Hershey's here and doesn't taste right :/

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    1. Hello Rachel :o)
      No conkers! That's so wrong! :o) You simply can't beat Cadbury's. I'd be more than happy to send you a gift of some of these tasty treats :o) x If you send me your address via email, I'll pop some in the post to you - I'm sure you can send chocolate overseas?

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  2. wow what a collection of patterns!! I love autumn too :) x

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    1. I'm glad I'm not alone in that - I simply love it. Preparations for the months ahead, bonfire night, Christmas....I could go on :o) x

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  3. I see you love those magazines too! I have a few of those ones
    Julie xxxxxxx

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    1. I have an unhealthy obsession with these magazines too. Storing them is the problem! xx

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  4. I am a complete novice when it comes to knitting and wonder if you can recommend a Learn to Knit book? It's a skill I'd really like to master.

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    1. Hello Alison,
      I actually learnt to knit using a weekly magazine called "Learn to Knit". I started with 6" squares which were plain and then got more complicated. There are some tutorials on YouTube but there should be a very simple book in your local library. It took me 6 months to fully master it and within a year I was able to do more complicated things. Keep at it, it takes a lot of time but is so rewarding in the end :o) xx

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  5. Gosh I’m mightily envious of your stitichcraft collection- you have some real crackers and so many of the early war mags too- I think I counted about 38 that I own (yes I’m sad!) which in honestly is not bad going. I too have made a list of all the one I own (along with the needlewoman /craft) so Ma and Pa know what I have! : D
    It’s been quite depressing to see the prices they are reaching on the internet because I cant afford it : (…. Still hoping for it to all go out of fashion again- doesn’t look like it will happen any time soon though!
    It's still quite green here, but I'm looking forward to it changing.... Happy autumn
    Tupney x

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    1. Hello Tupney,

      I'm glad I'm not the only one obsessed with these brilliant magazines. This is only actually a small selection because I also have all of the magazines from 1944-1949 except July 1948.

      Great to see that I'm not the only one who has a list - I love lists!! I was incredibly lucky and collected most of them before they became stupidly over priced on eBay. Having said that, I still paid, on average, £5 a piece - madness!!

      I'm determined to collect all of the 1940's ones but not through eBay!!

      Happy autumn to you too :o) x

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  6. Hi Lucy,
    I too love these little magazines and have about 30, most are from the 50's with a few from the late 40's, I also have quite a few of the Needlewoman and Needlecraft magazines like Tupney.
    I've never paid a lot for them, some were pence up to a couple of pounds, and everyone was worth it, one buyer recently paid £50.99 for April 1938 on ebay, how crazy is that!

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    1. £50.99?!! That's just madness. Even if it was the only one I needed to complete that year I still wouldn't pay it :o)

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