Shiny, happy person

I've been buying shiny items again. I was wandering about the pages on Ravelry looking at shawls (again) and found the instructions for putting beads onto knitting with a crochet hook. All week I've been obsessing about beaded shawls and wondering whether I should try this technique. Then I came across a pattern for a mini version of the Annis shawl. I weighed the leftover wool and think I have enough left to make one, so I've got some beads for it today, and a selection of crochet hooks. Naturally it might have been sensible to get beads for only one mini shawl. However, I lack the sensible gene, so of course I got beads for two other projects at the same time. Even though I have no earthly idea whether I will manage the technique successfully. On the plus side, I now have plenty of beads with which to practice said technique.

Whilst searching York for the correct size of crochet hook to use with the beads, a variety of other items made their way into my bag; two zips and two cute zip pulls (for my new denim skirt), two balls of brown and cream variagated wool that were on special offer, the beads shown above and, the piece de resistance, these beauties. Half price in the sale. They felt like slippers when I put them on so they had to come home with me.

I got a copy of Harpers Bazaar the other week as it had a catwalk trends section. I was pleased to note that camel appeared to be going to be in vogue. It just so happens that I was planning a brown/camel wardrobe for autumn/winter, mainly because there was a little capsule of brown toned fabrics in my stash, and I am trying to sew from stash this year. So these shoes are to work with that planned capsule. So now I will have to make the capsule.

Another thing which the magazine said was all over the catwalks is shearling. I have a sheepskin flying jacket that looks rather close to some of the catwalk items shown. I don't know if shearling is just another word for sheepskin, or whether what I've always referrred to as sheepskin is shearling, and sheepskin is something else entirely. But anyway I have one, and was extremely pleased to see it was making a return to fashion. I've worn mine lots, whether in or out of fashion, because its the warmest coat I've ever had. But it will be nice to have the added bonus of being fashionable whilst wearing it.

I have had two, almost identical ones over the years; the first was bought when I was at College doing A Levels. I bought half of it, and my parents paid for the other half for my Christmas and birthday combined that year.Which probably tells you just how much of an investment the original coat was. I think it was £125, which was a huge sum at the time and I recall going in and out of Lakeland (the shop it came from) every weekend for about three months, checking it was still there whilst I saved up for it. I think I was earning about £10 a week at my part time job at the time and it seemed a huge achievement to get this coat. It was my first "good" coat, and I wore the thing constantly. I wore it out completely, the skin actually tore on one shoulder where my handbag straps had rubbed it and the fur came almost entirely off the cuffs and parts of the inside. I was utterly gutted when it finally fell apart, I even tried to get it recut into a sleeveless style but it wasn't possible because it had wide sleeves. I seem to recall I wore it for some months with an enormous hole in it, because that coat had been everywhere with me and I couldn't bear to part with it. I then spent years searching for a replacement, and when I found it, it was from the same shop the first one came from and only the cuffs and bottom band are different to the original one. I petted that coat all the way home in the car. It was almost as though my youth had come back with the coat and it always makes me feel good when I wear it.

Its odd the way our lives can become bound up in objects, and the oddest things can make us feel young, or happy, or contented.