mirrormirror

Desperate Housewife

 

As an often frustrated stay at home mum who loves colourful things, this gorgeous editorial from Vogue Italia spoke to me at a visceral level.  After all I do spend an awful lot of my time hiding under the sink wearing killer stilettos and a cocktail dress.

Welcome to my world.

 

Thanks to the ever fabulous Tom and Lorenzo for this dose of pretty.

Things I Am Loving - Stripey Kenwood Stand Mixers

 

After the the Husband, the Minx and the wedding album, I do believe my Kitchen Aid stand mixer would be the next thing I’d rescue in a fire.

However, that’s not to say that I can’t still admire these Kenwood Stand Mixers from afar and be grateful that someone is having a little fun with kitchen design.

 

 

Would you have one in your kitchen?  Or am I just succumbing to my inner five year old again?

 

 The Firecracker colourway is also available from John Lewis. Unfortunately I don’t think Kenwood has arrived in the US. 

Adventures in Knitting – Missoni for Me Scarf

 

 

If you’re still feeling battered and bruised from the whole Missoni for Target experience, you may want to take solace in a nice soothing knitting project.  This is delightfully simple but an incredibly satisfying knit which I think ended up being a little Missoni-esque in flavour.

 

 

As with so many other knitting projects, I have Ravelry to thank for this. Someone organised a swap whereby twenty-two of us sent in one skein of gorgeous Sundara sock yarn and then received back twenty- two little mini skeins in different Sundara colours. I mixed these colours in with my own sock yarn leftovers to create a random pool of about thirty colours. You don’t need so many though. Others on Ravelry have created the scarf with a much more restricted colour set and it still looks fab – you just need leftovers in the same weight of yarn throughout.

 

 

After that came the really fun bit. I then just wallowed in the colours choosing one colour per row and combining them using a stitch called ‘linen stitch’ which is not hard and ‘weaves’ and mixes the colours together ending up with an approximation of woven fabric.  It was fascinating to see how the colours changed and interacted and looked so different depending on the other colours near them.

I knit through the back loops on the first and last rows and then pulled the ends tightly to create a self fringe.

Take that Target!

Full details here on my Ravelry page. Come and be my friend.

Orla Kiely for Babies

 

I’m wondering if the Minx would still have such appallingly bad taste if I’d started her off on these?

 

 

These great new baby gifts are available here.  I WISH Orla Kiely would open a US online store. 

Neon Bright Satchels

 

These satchels, yes or no? And if yes, what colour?

I’m old enough to have had one of these in chestnut to take to school when I was very tiny. Why on earth didn’t I keep it? It was deeply and BEAUTIFULLY distressed too. 

Adventures in Knitting – Mystery Shawl Clue 3

 

The clues are coming thick and fast and I’m really liking how this one’s shaping up.  The pattern is reminding me a bit of Turkish carpets and I think the two bead colours work well with that idea.

 

 

There are apparently three more clues to come, so it should all be done and dusted this month.

Look here for clue 2 and clue 1.

Corners of our House - Missoni Cube

 

I thought you might like to see how nice the Missoni for Target cube looks in situ. 

 

 

I am so pleased with it.  It’s sturdily built and covered in printed cotton canvas with a cool contrast piping detail and provided a useful extra bit of seating at a recent dinner party.  If Target manages to get more in stock it seems well worth the money.  In fact I’d go as far as to say that it might even be worth braving eBay to get hold of one (or one of the other fabulous designs). Apartment Therapy agrees with me.

 

 

Unfortunately there’s nothing like putting taking photos of a corner of the house to highlight stuff that still needs to be done. Highest priority currently is replacing the ugly-ass front door and I still need to do something about the jellyfish light fixtures and find a striking bit of artwork for above the sofa.  I’ve also been looking for a throw to cover up the huge telly (given that our basement with TV room remodel is not looking like it will be done any time soon).  This could be the perfect opportunity to actually start crocheting the Babette blanket, instead of just hoarding yarn for it.

 

 

Still, it’s looking a heckuva lot better than it used to.