Knit one, saved one

Lovely weather, lots of gardening, not a lot of sewing. Friday was quilters lunch at The Herb Patch and the start of a lovely weekend. Then it was on to The fat Quarters where I made this little gift bag from the pattern on the Buttonberry blog. I went to Rosarama bead craft for the glass beads and ribbons. It was the first time I had been in and they had lots of lovely beads and jewellery making stuff.

After a trip to Hexham on Saturday to visit the new M&S store (and a good chin wag with Piece-maker) we started on the garden. It just really needed that spring tidy up but had got a bit out of control. The geraniums I bought at great expense a couple of years ago are just starting to flourish and here is a close up shot of the beautiful purple flowers.

On Sunday we went to the open day at the Alex Clark gallery where Jenny bought these fab prints for friends birthdays. Hope they aren't looking in. It was good to meet the artist too. Just across the road from the Herb Patch I am sure we will pop in regularly.

Finally I have been knitting again this week. I have completed one hat and hope I have saved a baby, hat number two is on the way.

Mrs Perkins

Hello Mrs Perkins.
This week I have finished this great Melly and Me giraffe. This was the first time I had used freezer paper to transfer a pattern. It was quick and easy to do. My stuffing technique needs some work however as she looks like she has varicose veins with lumps in her legs. Margaret was right the doll making needles weren't long enough and putting the legs on was a bit tricky, but as you can see she stands up beautifully.

Last week was school holidays and Jenny and I had a day trip to Edinburgh. The weather was completely lousy and Edinburgh Castle was lost in the rain clouds.
We shopped til we dropped. Lots of refreshment stops too, firstly at Henderson's for lunch. I remember this vegetarian restaurant serving wholegrain, vegetarian and vegan meals from my student days. We had a great meal in the bistro and I would thoroughly recommend it. The food was delicious and huge portions too.

Then after more shopping we stopped at Costas for a coffee and Jenny sampled a traditional Scottish beverage.

I also bought some wool to start a quick knitting project. I was taken by this article Knit One Save One in the Women's Weekly magazine about how knitted hats can save the lives of newborn babies in Africa and other poverty stricken countries. If you would like to knit one too, check out details on the Save the Children website here.