I think this is my favourite of the tea cosies I’ve made for my friends; it’s got a “Roly Poly” base, (pattern from Wild Tea Cosies, by Loani Prior), but the three chickens in a nest on the top are my own variation. I did this one for my friend C because she keeps chooks.
Here is the tea cosy I made for my friend T for her birthday. It is the Roly Poly pattern (again!) from Wild Tea Cosies by Loani Prior. I know, I know, so many Roly Polies, but they are cute, no?
All polka dotty today! I can’t believe I didn’t think of this combination before; I love it! Especially as I’ve still got my Santorini Sunset nail varnish looking OK, so the orange and taupe combo is perfectly matched from top to bottom!
I had a wonderful day shopping at the fabric store yesterday, and I’ll post pictures of my purchases and plans for autumn tomorrow. I’ve got lots of lovely projects for myself on the drawing board; some of them completed, some of them in progress and some just bought yesterday. However as today I’m looking smartish for a family lunch at my husband’s parents’ place I thought I’d put in my daily outfit for today.
As posted about previously here, this top was made from a skirt I had made for a costume dinner and realised was never going to don again. I included some close-ups of the details; the hems were all finished by hand as I didn’t want topstitching. The skirt was picked up in an op shop for $3. It’s a gorgeous skirt; made in France, in perfect nick and fits me perfectly. Can’t believe someone was getting rid of it. Although I’ve tossed out pretty good stuff in the past and lived to regret it. Deeply. The skirt has two labels in it?? One says “Louie” and made in France, the other says “Rodney Clark”.
Details:
Shirt; Butterick 4985, with sleeves from another pattern, orange polka dot cotton
Skirt; Rodney Clark, op shop
Shoes; Marco Santini, from Marie Claire shoes
Nail varnish; Santorini Sunset, Napoleon
Today’s outfit is a little drab and neutral, however sometimes one feels like being drab and neutral. Especially if it’s the last day of one’s holiday (sad face). One is possibly overusing the impersonal first person pronoun here. However this is one’s own blog so one shall write however one damn well feels like it, no matter how silly it sounds…
I feel this outfit is nicely complemented by the drab and neutral tones of the tree bark in this photo. As well as by the rough weathered decking of our beach house.
Please note the floral fabric used as a facing in the skirt; a little secret prettiness known only to me, the wearer. Sometimes I like to add touches like this; plus this patchwork fabric I used is firm and flat so a better choice for facing than the thicker corduroy fashion fabric, which is a little stretchy too.
Btw, I did a double take when I looked at the photo of my skirt as it looks embarrassingly lopsided. It’s an optical illusion! I just measured the skirt and the side seams are exactly the same length, in spite of how it looks in the photo!
Notice the ancient grey cardigan, hiding behind the white blouse out of shame for its general mis-shapen shabbiness. It’s too awful for its own photo, but still impossible for me to part with this old favourite. It’s a perfect cardigan for days when I know will be several hours driving with no one to impress but my youngest son and Sienna.
Other details:
Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive corduroy
Top; Butterick 4985, selfstripe white cotton
Cardigan; Country Road
Sunnies; RayBan
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
Bag; Gucci
Beach-combing this morning; my husband was deeply disappointed that Mr Cappuccino Man seems to be taking a day off… So peaceful and blissfully tranquil out on the bay, we shared the beach with about fifteen people and everyone calls “good morning!” to each other, so nice; Sienna and other dogs sniffing each others butts politely along the lines of prescribed doggie etiquette… She trots past flocks of seagulls that chatter to each other in a vaguely outraged manner like little old ladies, and genteelly hurry along in a “don’t show them you’re scared” kind of a way. We brewed a pot of tea and had some of Mum’s muffins with yogurt for brekky out on the patio… It’s going to be a hot one today, so swimming again this arvo.
I think this is one of my favourite cafes. Perhaps the favourite. Ever. It is the Samudra café in Dunsborough, and it has all this wonderful furniture, crafted from driftwood, fallen trees and pylons from the old Busselton jetty when it was renovated. All the tables are scattered artfully about under the trees on the lawn beside a tiny creek, and they have a veggie and herb patch out the back from which they harvest the produce for the menu. I absolutely love it here. The menu says things like “hancrafted in our kitchen with love”, and the juices (all freshly picked and squeezed of course) have names like Jubilant Juice of Joy. Isn’t that gorgeous? As I’m typing this a couple of kookaburras are laughing and calling to each other in the trees nearby. What more could one want? Natural surrounds, wildlife and scrummy food. Complete bliss.
This is the tea cosy I made for my sister-in-law S; another version of the Roly Poly from “Wild Tea Cosies” by Loani Prior. I love the colours of this tea cosy; before giving it to S for her birthday I had it sitting up in our lounge room because the colours were so, well, cosy is the best word I can think of. Sort of toasty and reminiscent of the colours that are associated with an afternoon tea of cakes and sweet nibblies… Picture this in the middle of plates of fruit cake, and strawberry tarts and lemon curd tarts and you get a feel for the foody comfort factor I’m visualising here… My sister in law is a wonderful and dedicated cook which is a quality I greatly admire in others as I am so sadly lacking in this area myself. She even makes her own meat pies. And her own pastry. And a sponge cake which is always the object of awed admiration at any gathering. Respect.
I photographed this on their dining room table, with their china tea set which has a teal blue/purple/gold decal strip nicely picked up in the cosy also.
This is my version of the Chicken Little tea cosy I knitted for my friend L from “Wild Tea Cosies” by Loani Prior. I chose these colours for L because she often wears soft browns, olives and greens such as these (and looks lovely in them too), and because she is very artistic and I knew she would appreciate the lumpy rustic beauty of this tea cosy. This look is due completely to the nature of this lovely multi-coloured fleecy wool which varies from sometimes very skinny to sometimes very fat! A bit of a challenge to knit as you try to avoid getting “patches” of fat or skinny areas appearing, but are aiming for an overall even spread of thicknesses somehow. However managed this successfully and I think the outcome is rather gorgeous, if I say so myself!
The cosy is photographed on L’s outdoor table, with her china.
My husband and I had breakfast and went for a lovely walk along the beach this morning with friends, and did masses of housework this weekend also, so a mixture of fun and drudgery; but I’m looking forward to doing some more dressmaking this week and making a start on the fabric I bought on Friday! Also I’ve nearly finished a dress I’ve been working on for a few weeks, so will post pictures of this in a few days, with luck. I’ve even remembered to take progress pictures this time, a first. Getting out the camera and snapping pictures of my stuff has never been something I’ve ever done in the past, but it’s been fun even if my pictures are less than professional! Well, can only improve with practice….
