The best shop in Burford and the phantom yarnstormer of Chipping Norton

Hello all, do you remember I mentioned that Wonderful Man and I had managed a few days away in the Cotswold's? Well we certainly crammed a lot of places into those few days including trips to London and Oxford but lets start with this little gem. This is the beautiful little town of Burford in Oxfordshire. Even on a rainy day in August it is beautiful.
But the best shop of all was the this one!

Are you ready girls?

Embroidery threads and needlework kits...

craft books and patterns...

every available space crammed with stitchy goodness...I've never seen tapestry canvasses this big before! The largest one, which was a small rug size was priced at £1800 but it was absolutely gorgeous and once completed would certainly become a family heirloom.

At the top of the stairs this room contained sewing gifty items like pretty needle boxes and unusual tape measures and around the corner was...

YARN!

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

I must admit after the needlework shop I don't really remember much about the other shops in Burford but then... why would you need to? lol.

Next is Chipping Norton and keeping the yarn theme going Wonderful Man spotted this as we got out of the car (as you can see I have him well trained)...

A little bit of yarn bombing. You may remember I've dabbled in a little bit of guerrilla crochet myself in the past.

And then further along a little bit more guerrilla knitting.

and the more we looked, the more we found. Check out the duck feet at the bottom of the post.

Unexpected chunks of woollyness all over the high street.

The cheeky mistress of the yarn had even been here in this cafe window too. And do you know how I know it was a 'mistress' as opposed to a 'master' at work? Well Wonderful Man spotted her speedily stitching a piece onto a bollard!

It turns out the lady in question is the lovely PetaX who you can find on Ravelry. Chipping Norton love Peta's yarn storming after several articles in the local paper had brought the phantom yarn bombing to light. Peta's current yarny exploits had been requested by the local theatre company to guide the route to the theatre and their latest production. OO! It makes you feel all warm inside doesn't it? I must apologise for having no photo of Peta in action, I can't believe I didn't get a snap of her in action, I was so cross with myself when I got back in the car and realised.

I must just mention an absolutely scrummy little shop in Chipping Norton, RosieB's, full of the prettiest gifts and vintage gorgeousness. The lovely lady behind the counter assured me that she would have a website up and running in a couple of weeks. Now then, I'd love to share the web address of this pretty shop with you but at the moment the little card with the info on seems to have been misplaced, a bit like the 7 balls of cream yarn I'm missing!

OOPS!

Edited to add. Rosie B's website is www.rosiebinteriors.co.uk

Hooky Ta-daa!

Hello all. Things have been very busy here in the MarmaladeRose household lately. Wonderful Man and I have just returned from a lovely little break in the Cotswolds. (One of my favourite places) But more about that another time. Not only has child #1 found himself a full time job but he's also passed his 2 year diploma course and earned himself a place at his chosen university, HOORAH!

I've just had an email from a Portuguese interior design/craft magazine asking to use 3 of my crochet projects in its next issue! Friends and family are queueing up to come and visit over the next couple of weeks so it's not going to get any quieter around here for a while yet.

So today I thought we'd keep it simple and have a quiet meander through some crochet loveliness.
I've had these crochet circles multiplying in my in my woolly yarn corner (it's actually 3 shopping baskets stuffed at my end of the sofa in the sitting room) for months now with the idea of making them into a blanket. Only I seem to have misplaced the cream yarn that was to join them all together. Yes friends, somewhere in my attic there is a large bag with about 8 balls of cream yarn that I have carefully stashed away in a safe place for about the last 7 years. It even moved the 120miles with us when we moved house. Can I find it now though?
Nope! Not a chance.

Never mind. Lets do something else with them instead. Cushions!

Now I have to confess I'm not a lover of crochet cushions.

But I do love these! They've just grabbed me and given me a big warm squeezy hug! Mmmm...I'm really quite taken with them.
Beautiful soft double knitting yarn, a mix of easy care acrylic and warm soft wool... delicious.

I took a leaf out of Lucy's book over at Attic24 and used a woolly jumper to make the back of the cushion. Check out that neat hand stitching, I was a quite amazed how good it looked too, lol.

Plumply stuffed with brand new feather pads. Not bad for the side you never see.

All colourful and cuddly, I just need to stroke and caress them a couple more times....

Lovely!

Colin Firths Breeches.

Ah Ha! I thought that might get your attention. After my last dressing up/costumey post, I thought we'd stay on the same theme and all go on a jolly to the Barley Hall in York to visit this splendid exhibition of TV and film period costumes.

A word to the wise - if you go to the exhibition yourself, keep your entry ticket as this entitles you to revisit for free for the next 12months. Yipee!
I'll keep the words to a minimum this is definitely a visual post.
Cate Blanchett wore this one in Elizabeth in 1998.

Keira Knightleys gown from The Duchess

sleeve detail.

I found it very difficult to take photos one moment needing the flash and the next having to turn it off.

Back to those breeches. Who wouldn't recognise these costumes! Pride and Prejudice 1995.

The dress fabric here was used wrong side out as the print on the right side was too bright for the period.

Miss Bingleys hat worn by Anna Chancellor in Pride and Prejudice.

Sense and Sensibility. This is Emma Thompsons costume as Elinor Dashwood.

Gemma Jones hat as Mrs Dashwood.

This one has to be my favourite! The colour was beautiful.

Worn by Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs Jennings in P&P.

This scrumptious hat is from the 1995 film Persuasion

Worn by Phoebe Nicholls as Elizabeth Elliot.

Cranford. Worn by Judi Dench as Miss Matty.

I'm sure you all recognise this one too. Larkrise to Candleford. Worn by Julia Sawalha as Dorcas Lane.

Now this one was new to me but absolutely stunning.

Elizabeth Taylor in Toscanini

The little white stripes around the trim on the over skirt are actually painted on!

Another one I'd not seen before. Nicole Kidmans gown from The Portrait of a Lady

A teeny tiny waist! I reckon I could get both hand around it.

Time for a bit more Colin Firth.

and Helena Bonham Carter, The Kings Speech.

Sequins galore, Claire Bloom as Queen Mary, The Kings Speech.

Detailing on the sleeve.

Downton Abbey. Worn by Maggie Smith as the Dowager.

The costumes we free standing so that you could look all around them, but it was soooo difficult not to touch!

I bet you won't get this one... Sweeney Todd. Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin.

Not to be out-done...

My mum and I...

Couldn't resist a little dress-up of our own!

I hope you enjoyed rather a loooooong post, we also visited the Quilt Museum but unfortunatley or maybe fortunately for you, lol, we weren't allowed to take any photos.

x