WELCOMING HAROLD TO THE FOLD

It was decided recently that we should indeed purchase another caravan to go off on adventures in and see the world. Although we have the Marvellous Maude she is indeed a stay at home kitty and will live out her days at the end of the garden surrounded by all manner of flora & fauna and Stanley's macabre collection of 'stuff' underneath.

So we wanted a bit of a project, didn't want to spend too many pennies but wanted a solid van...easy peasy we thought but mmmh they are getting tricky to find at decent prices.

Luckily after getting fed up with trawling the isles of ebay I googled and found this chap on gumtree and not too far away either. Anyway the rest is history a few hiccups trying to get him home due to the car having a 13 pin plug & the caravan only having 7 but the man we bought him from did us a big favour and towed him back home...

So today I have started getting 'Harold' ship shape for a family jolly holiday...Stanley has claimed his spot and can keep an eye on who is daring to pass this travelling abode. He has been warned that he will indeed have a long 'tether' when we are away due to him not following the rules and doing as he pleases... The ponies have been introduced and there is even a sweet oven called Vanessa so I can whip up delicious feasts....or at least chuck in a pizza.

I will indeed update you of progress and at the moment am pondering a colour scheme in which mustard yellow and mis matched florals feature heavily....

KNITTING A CARDIGAN...

I love a nice cardy in fact I am on the constant search for the perfect one. Simple lines, perfect with a frock, washes well and comes in a huge range of fab colours. As you can imagine my search is still ongoing.

I have tried cheap....but after a few washes they seem to get a odd sheen to them which sets your teeth on edge after 2 washes and as I'm not a throw away kinda girl these didn't cut the mustard.

I've tried good old m&s, bit disappointed here cause the colours were a bit on the dull side, washes well and fits beautifully but a neck seam has started to come away....perfect excuse to learn to darn then.

I recently bought a Cath Kidston one...who I exclaimed would never darken my doors again due to the lack of any sensible sizes excluding a vast amount of the population....but it was the most lovely green and it kind of fitted me.

And then my latest adventure...knit my own, or trying to. I just get so fed up with the age that these things take to make but yesterday on spying that the lovely Yvestown (hopity skip over there because it simply is the most loveliest yarn to knit or crochet with) had a yarn sale I decided to bite the bullet and order a rather lovely peachy rust coloured wool to attempt a new cardy.

Hence this post, I am recording my intention for all the world to see or the 6.5 (.5 being an elderly labrador from westgate-on-sea) that actually read my blog that I will endeavour to knit myself a cardy from start to finish and not drift off after the first 5 lines after the rib part.

I shall be following a lovely pattern from the glorious Erika Knight's 'Simple Knitting' it is perfect and there are even pockets (comes out in a cold sweat) so my lovely readers I am banking on you to keep me on the straight and narrow, badger me onwards and upwards and knit for England...

I will be noting my progress on instagram as well as here on my blog with the hashtag #cardy so if you fancy having a ganders at my progress and giving me a few words of jollying encouragement i would be most thankful... just got to wait for my wool to arrive now...might even treat myself to some new sticks to honour the occasion

QUICK & EASY EIDERDOWN

Now mostly I have found that those with a penchant for all things vintage love an eiderdown...full of feathery goodness and covered in rather delightful fabrics...particularly hard to come by a really decent one that you wouldn't mind on the bed or pay a kings ransom for.
I have a few eiderdowns & bedspreads in my collection now but none that I would want to use regularly as bedding and that would stand up to my constant washing of the bedclothes....necessary when there is a dog in the house who choses to ignore the rules.

Pondering this matter I decided that making my own would be the answer but I didn't want it to take forever and a quick & easy fix was needed.

So armed with a cheap as chips 4.5tog duvet, some rather fancy fabrics, a wee bit of hand stitching and a mornings work this quick and easy eiderdown came to life.

Fancy a go well you will need the following

x1 single  duvet (if you fancy a vintage eiderdown experience then use a feather duvet)
fabric scraps
backing fabric 2m x 1.4m

1. start by measuring the duvet, in the UK sizes are pretty standard and a single should be 135cm x 200cm  (unless you go to the blue & yellow shop) and then decide how you are going to stitch the front and make a template ( don't forget your seam allowances). Strips, squares, rectangle shapes whatever takes you fancy. Some will need a wee bit more planning than others and may begin on pencil and paper
2. Cut you piece of backing fabric to size. I always use a 1cm seam allowance so for a single size duvet this would be 137cm x 202cm.
3. Right sides together stitch seams leaving a gap on one size to insert your duvet. 
4. Either overlock or zigzag you seams this will give them a little more strength. Press all you seams. top tip at this point, press open the seam allowance on your opening as it will give you a guide when you hand stitch it later.
5. Turn to the right side and pop your duvet inside giving it a good shake, making sure corners match corners..
6. Hand stitch up the opening. 
7. Then depending on how you have patched your fabric stitch some anchoring stitches so that the duvet doesn't shift about in the cover. At each corner join for patches or a simple running stitch along the seamed strips...go with what looks best

I am rather taken with these summer duvets and have plans to make a sleeping bag...of course I will share that gem...

SOME DAYS..

everything is made better by a trip to the seaside

FROM CURTAIN TO COAT

In a few days I will be taking a trip down to the big smoke to speak at the Cyhber blogging event. Obviously this calls for a new frock and i do believe a new coat is in order. Now as you know I am rather a fan of coats and those especially with a granny chic vibe.

Very recently I did a swap for these curtains....I do like a good swap, this is why I will never be business woman of the year and forever skint. Any way back to the curtains now when I first saw a picture of said fabric I was beside myself, vintage sanderson already has a rather large chunk of my heart and in a colour way of turquoise & green there couldn't of been a more perfect fabric in my eyes.

I had the perfect project in mind. Carefully the seams were unpicked, pressed, washed and ready for cutting. Pattern was laid out...the first cut, not yet double check again and then for a 3rd time, do I have enough for the all the pieces, is everything facing the right way. Its so hard to cut into such a lovely fabric but i did and everything was okay...phew

I love this pattern size 181/2 which is obviously the perfect vintage size for me and the raglan sleeve seems to be very flattering to my sloped shoulders and slouchy ways. A dream to stitch it is almost done and I just need to decide on a lining...stitch a few button holes and it will be ready for the off....

NATURAL SKIN - ROSE GERANIUM FACE CREAM

Many moons ago I trained as an aromatherapist and one of the offshoots from that was I learnt to make various creams and potions. So today I thought I would share my everyday, good old reliable face cream recipe for you to try if you should fancy.

Now truth be told when I started training I really disliked the smell of geranium, the middle 'c' of essential oils, the oil can help to balance the hormonal system, lift the spirits and generally help put things back in balance. Well this didn't bode well as it would often be an important part of a blend for treating all manner of things so I just had suck it up.

Oddly today it is one of my favourite oils, it grew on me from bearable, to pleasant and then making it into my top 5 favourite smells...sadly it will never take the number 1 spot as my heart will never budge from the glorious rose.

It is the active ingredient in this cream as it it useful for all kinds of skin conditions, balances sebum, excellent for sluggish, congested & oily skins but also calms blotchy dry skin...

To make the cream you will need the following -

a clean sterilised glass jar with a lid
a wooden spoon
small saucepan
a double boiler ( a heat resistant bowl & a pan of hot water are ideal)
stick blender

125ml sweet almond oil
10g beeswax (i used clean beeswax straight from my hive but pellets or grated from a bar is perfect)
25g lanolin
10 drops geranium essential oil
30mls rosewater

1. Gently warm the rosewater in the small saucepan.
2. Place the sweet almond oil, beeswax & lanolin in a heat proof bowl (or top pan of double boiler) over a simmering saucepan of water stir until all melted and combined together.
3. Remove from heat and place stick blender into mixture. Start to blend and pour the rosewater into the oil in a slow steady stream.
4. Blend until smooth & creamy.
5. Stir in the geranium essential oil and spoon into jar.
6. Store in a cool dry place, use when needed.

Although this is a very simple recipe if you have sensitive skin it is advisable to test a little first before slathering it all over you face and regretting it for a few days after.

It is quite a heavy so maybe use at night or on a eau natural day when you don't need to wear make up.

NATURAL SKIN - ROSEWATER FACE WASH

My skin is random to say the least, one minute its sore because its so dry, the next I'm covered in spots....not what I had in mind in my forties so I am always desperately trying to find the perfect face wash that will do the job whatever the skin condition that week.
I thought I would share this recipe here as so far my skin seems to be a-okay and not having any issues or blotches. I use geranium essential oil for its balancing effect but you can change it for another if it would suit your skin better.

bits & bobs you will need

• 50mls unscented castile liquid soap ( i use Dr Bronner's)
• 50mls rosewater
• 8-10 drops of rose geranium essential oil
• A small bottle 

1. Pour the soap & rosewater into the bottle and give it a good shake
2. Add the essential oils into the mix and then shake again
3. Shake the contents each time you use it.

Now the perfect companion for use with the face wash are these natty wee face cloths. Ideal for those cotton wool haters out there and for those that find exfoliating face washes a little too harsh for the face. I made 14 so I have 2 sets one for using & one set in the wash. Brilliant for using up those pesky ends of yarn that are always hanging about. Do use a natural fibre such as cotton or linen otherwise your cleansing experience maybe akin to that of nails scrapping down a blackboard...

cotton or linen yarn scraps
4mm crochet hook

1. ch 20 turn
2. in 3rd ch from hook 1 dc
3. skip 1 ch and dc in next to end
4. turn, 2ch and then repeat step 3
5. once you have a square fasten off and sew in ends