A revamped suitcase and an egg.

Hello my lovelies. How are you today, I do hope you are all dry and cosy. My heart goes out to all those poor people who have been flooded up and down the country this week. That's one consolation about living on top of a steep hill, you may be gasping for breath by the time you've walked home but we're safe from flooding.

Anyway I digress. A big thank you goes out from me to you for the Boxing Hares love on my last post. You are all so important in my creative journey. I don't know quite where I'd be without your feedback and encouragement, so thank you for sharing with me.

I don't know if you've noticed while you've been reading but the photo above is of the top of the chest of drawers in my hallway. The chest holds the families hats and scarves etc, all the stuff you need to grab on your way out of the front door. On top of the chest is all the usual paraphernalia you might find on a hallway chest, telephone, my purse, a tape measure, junk mail, a lamp, sunglasses and of course because this is the MarmaladeRose household, a sewing machine, a vase of knitting needles and plenty of dust. Nothing surprising there then, but what caught my eye was the newly laid hens egg next to the measure tape. Why is there one brown egg sitting on my hallway table? Who knows! Just one of life's little mysteries I suppose. I didn't move it. No I just left it there for who ever might come back for it. I hope someone does come back for it!

 Something new to show you... my first attempt at knitting a lacy shawl. Because my laptop has died, it's taken a little while to rescue my picture files from it, so I'm only just getting around to show and tell with this one.

It's made from a pretty blue sock yarn that I bought from a local wool shop and the pattern is from Ravelry.com. I'm a little disappointed at its size, I thought it would be a little larger than it is. On me it 's even smaller than on the mannequin as I'm quite a lot fatter. But I did enjoy making it...I may have another go. A little hank of yarn followed me home from the Knit and Stitch show at Harrogate last week ;)

 Changing the subject again, I have been invited to take part in a Christmas craft fair on the 1st Dec. Panic! Panic! So I thought this old suitcase might come in useful for displaying some of my goodies. Obviously it needed a little TLC as its been stored in my parents loft for the last umpty-something years. I know this because it was full of mine and my childrens primary school art work. Parents do keep some junk, don't they.

 It had been lined previously with some old wall paper which I ripped away to uncover this rather unpromising stripy grey stuff. So out came the glue and an old out of date map of the Lake District that I picked up in Kendal for £1.

 Tadaa!

I've also added some old luggage labels to the outside and I must say it looks almost too good to hide under my craft stall stock!

Talking of the craft stall, I better get back to it. Still lots of stitching to cram in before the weekend. I'll just leave you with this photo that I took as wonderful man circumnavigated this HUGE puddle that covered one side of the road. Someone has sense of humour, the life buoy...nice touch. Made me laugh!

love Fi x

PS. Would the lovely Hilary who emailed me about commissioning her very own Gilbert the Gnome bag please email me again as I no longer have your email address since my laptop died. The special 'safe' file that I stored it in seems to have vanished!