Can I just say that I'm not quite that dumpy in real life, nor am I quite so blotchy. Blame my camera, it doesn't like low light levels. Not so impressed with the new camera actually, it's a Fuji S5700, which in daylight is great, not so great with artificial or low light. The flash isn't bad though. It's ok. It might be me, I've not twiddled all its knobs (snerk) yet. I'm about due a session of knob-twiddling I reckon.
Anyway, Sonnet! To be honest, it's not quite finished. It's currently blocking, then I need to sew the buttons on and resew the shoulder seams. Crocheting the shoulders was Not A Good Idea, it makes me look like a rugby player. Other than that, it's good. Cute pattern.
Speaking of buttons. Working from home today, I realised I had miscalculated somewhat on the supplies front, and had run out of bread and the milk situation wasn't looking too clever either. So a quick run out to the village was in order, and it meant I could try to get buttons for Sonnet as well.
Let me tell you about the village. It really is a gem in a lot of ways. Its suffered the ravages over the years, with lack of employment as has much of North Ayrshire, but its bouncing back really well. It is now the Craft Town of Scotland, and amazingly is mercifully free of tartan tat. The main Gallery is notable for showing more challenging and varied craftwork than you might expect, and although I have one or two minor issues with the project, which I won't bore you with as they're purely personal, in all I think it's a really good idea. So what else is there? Well, I had a quick wander today as I had to go to opposite ends of the high street for my shopping, so I thought I'd do my tourist guide bit.
We have three mini-supermarkets! Three! Spar, Keystone and the Co-Op. In fact, there's another one too. Make it four. There's a proper bank branch (RBS, natch) a library (quite good, and open late some nights), chemist, doctor's, vets, two hairdressers, a grocer / florist, a haberdashery, a bakery, butchers, an electrical shop, a craft / card shop, a deli, a charity shop and second-hand bookshop and a pub. I'm sure I've missed some as well. The local Community Initiative have a gallery-shop as well as the main gallery, and they use the former church (the Barony) as a second-hand furniture saleroom on Saturdays with the profits going back into the Initiative. There's also a basketmaker and a textile artist on the high street. I'm thinking tomorrow to see if I can do my shopping, which I would normally do at the supermarket 7 miles away, entirely in the village. It seems rather rude not to make use of all these great facilities on the doorstep.
All this meant that going no further than the local village, I came back with buttons, two pints of milk, yarn, some tempera paint and a loaf. In how many places the size of West Kilbride could you have a shopping trip like that? I love it here :-)
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