Oysters, Vintage shopping...and knitting

I finally got the socks finished! It only took me a month! I'm pleased with the results though - just got to wait for it to get cold enough to warrant me wearing them. They're the first short row heels I've done and quite enjoyed it. They are a lot quicker to do and less fiddly to pick up the stitches than a heel flap. They are also my first toe-up socks, and I don't think I'll be doing that again if I can avoid it. The cast on is really fiddly to get a good tight toe, and on the first sock, I cast off too tightly and couldn't get it over my heel to wear! Had to unpick and consequently have messed up the back of the cuff. Bit annoying but not really that noticeable when they're on. Here is an underexposed photo that better shows the lace detail. It was simple but effective to achieve that was quite quick to grow once I got into it.

Last weekend was the Whitstable Oyster Festival. Click here to see more photos from their website. I got this picture from Google images. It's rare to see street food looking so classy, but people all along the harbour were eating from plastic plates bedecked like the one seen here. Perfect with a Whitstable Oyster Stout. M and I had takeaway whitebait with a squeeze of lemon. A first for us in takeaway form and one I hope will one day be adopted more widely.

A highlight for us in Whitstable is always Keam's Yard. It's a little lock-up gallery on the beach that is crammed with a mix of interesting new art and vintage furniture. It is rare for us to come away empty handed and this time was no exception. We found this lovely little art deco enamel electric fire. It has a couple of red bulbs in the bottom, but would need a bit of electrical work to make safe. We are planning on leaving it as a decorative piece. It fits in brilliantly in our front room which is painted entirely white with polished floorboards and prime, bold design dotted around. That's the idea anyway...

Finally, I've been making sample squares of crochet and knitting for a while now, especially when I was first learning. It gave me chance to try different techniques without commiting to a whole project. The plan was eventually to stitch them all together to make a sampler blanket. This week I decided I had enough to make a decent size blanket for the car, so set about it. I also have lots of other projects in the pipeline and wanted to move on from this one. As you can see, Tilly is ever helpful in these matters.


Despite cat interference, which at one point involved both cats fighting and wrapping themselves in it mid-stitching, I finally got it finished. I think my favourite pieces are the slipstitch colourwork knits towards the left of the picture. The left edge, second square up is a zig-zag design, then there is the blue/white diagonal striped square and the cream/orange greek design.

Here it is adorning the back seat of my beloved motor. Lovely.