Odd

I wrote two posts yesterday - one about snow and one about sock yarn.

I've just noticed that I posted the snow one at 11.56 and the yarn one at 23.56. How odd that I published posts at both 11.56s in the same day. A truly bizarre coincidence.

There is a lack of beads ..... but then you'd already noticed that, right? It would appear that I have started the year with a bout of bead funk. Long-term readers will know that this happens occasionally. There's nothing I can do about it - I just have to ride the bead funk wave and wait for it to disperse. I used to stress about it but I've learned that doing so just makes it worse so please bear with me and I'm sure that in a few days I'll have some glass pretties to show you.

Smooshy

Yes, Smooshy. And that's not me making up another silly word (you know how I like to do that). This is a fabulous sock yarn called Smooshy by Dream In Color. The shade is called 'Spring Tickle' and it's a wonderful array of bright spring greens. And Smooshy is definitely the correct word for this wonderful stuff. It's squidgeable, scrunchable, cuddlesome and downright lovely. I keep picking up the skein and giving it a squeeze and a hug! And yes, I do realise that I sound like a complete wrong'un but what can I say? I'm a sock freak. (Fellow sock knitters - you understand me, right?)

I ordered this from Pure Purl who have impressed me no end with their super-fast delivery and all-round fabulous customer service. My package of yarn was beautifully presented and I'll definitely be going back there to feed my (increasingly scary) sock yarn habit .....

So much snow!

And I love it. I feel like I'm on Hoth!

The snow is about seven inches deep here in Abingdon and it's still snowing now. They forecast even more snowfall tonight. I've been out walking in it (I must get me some wellies!) and it's so deep that you don't touch the ground underneath. You can't see your feet either - the picture below is of me walking along an undisturbed, pristine stretch of snow. Don't you just love doing that?

I'm entranced by the trees - they look so pretty with their branches laden with snow. I always worry about the birds in this weather so I've put a little dish of bread and seed out in the shelter of the arbour in the back garden. I've just seen a robin stop by for a snack and against the snow he looked like something off the front of a Christmas card.

I don't think Buster's enjoying the weather. Mind you, it's so funny watching him trying to walk about in the snow. Last night he ventured out and came back in covered in snowflakes. Very cute!

I'm meant to be going to Cambridge on Friday but I'm not sure if that'll happen. When I spoke to Chris last night he said there wasn't any snow. Trains are running on revised timetables this end so maybe I'll be lucky.

Remember these?

My 'Plume' beads. These are the beads that I've been trying to recreate on and off for over two years now. I've finally rediscovered how I made them ..... but is that a good thing?

These are fickle. And fussy. I think the reason I couldn't quite recall how I made them was because my mind had blanked out their annoying aspects!

Sure, they're pretty and effective and all that but my goodness, one bit of glass out of place or just using the wrong colour glass means the whole bead is doomed.

Recreating this design has been both an interesting and frustrating exercise but don't expect sets of these beads for sale. Why? Because for every decent one there are about eight failed attempts and that is NOT a good beadmaking ratio.

And this is why, lovely customers, I don't do commissions or remakes. Sometimes you just can't go back and simply remake something. I've spent two days on this design and those three beads up there are all I have to show for it. Time to draw a line under the Plume beads, methinks .....

I'm here .....

..... just not got much to say! First day back at the lampwork today - I've been trying to re-train my brain to make a style of bead that I haven't made for over two years now. Not being able to replicate this style of bead has been bugging the heck out of me but today I made a beady breakthrough and I've finally remembered how to do it.

Stay tuned to see what type of bead I'm on about .....