new colour this week...

I think my family are getting the message about my love of colour! (It has only taken a tonne of bright crochet cushions, blankets, mugs etc to make them realise neutral not realy my thing...!)

I was lucky to get some lovely things for my birthday last week...

These pretty little Marrakesh-inspired tea light holders were from my sister.

Cheerful stripes to match my charity shop mug from R - not that we're really posh enough to use a milk jug on a regular basis but I like the idea and its very cute. 

I had been wistfully eyeing up roses as I didn't have any in the garden at all and R came up trumps here too! This is a lovely, fragrant old fashioned shrub rose called 'Buff Beauty' which the label says flowers over a long period - now I just have to work out how you are supposed to look after a rose...  

And in the garden this week, the lobelia in the window box is flowering an electric blue...

The nasturtiums are fiery...

I found the first water lily hiding in the pond...

Then today I had a naughty yarn treat...

Yesterday was payday...which doesn't really make any difference, because its all accounted for already but I excused myself on the grounds that if I master the sock-knitting thing I might make some for pressies (I know, way too early to be thinking Christmas but it is entirely possible it will take me that long to knit them, how does Alice do it???!). This is Opal 4 ply sock yarn, which slightly scares me and slightly thrills me at the same time - I NEVER use 4 ply because it seems so thin after my usual yarn and I am worried I may get fed up before I ever finish anything! But... I think it might make better socks and I am determined to get at least one pair right! And it is pretty and lovely and squishy. So in my book that little splurge is ok...

I am still plugging away at my second pair of socks with the DK yarn...

I'm liking this top-down pattern on DPNs better (although I haven't got to the heel part yet!) and although I like the colours in this yarn (its not actually quite so orangey-bright in reality), I do thin its a bit chunky for socks really. But I had the yarn and I wanted to try to get the pattern sussed in my mind so am plugging away at it. I do quite like that its a portable little project that I can easily stop and start, I just might have to be disciplined to complete the second sock...!

Think my computer is about to go on melt-down - the fan seems to have stopped working and it is now too hot to keep on my lap, I'm sure this is not a good thing... so will call it a day here!

Til next time then,

Sx