Whenever I get my hands on a new knitting book, I go through several stages.  First, drop everything and leaf through.  Next, sit down with a cup of coffee and give it a closer look.  Lastly, I put it by my bed and take an evening or two to read through the patterns, my favorite bedtime reading.  I have three lovely new books to share with you in the next week or so.  First up is the clever Bespoke from the girls at the popular knit store baa ram ewe in Yorkshire.  The book is a collection of patterns for the whole family, and even a few for your bike!  Bespoke celebrates the Tour de France that will start near their shop in Yorkshire this July.  So lets begin our own tour of this sweet little book!

Well, well, well.  Now isn't this just PRETTY!  You can knit Picycle by Karie Westermann  in either a full circle or half circle, the pattern includes both.  It's knit in Kidsilk Haze,  that is a plus as it would be lightweight yet warm and of course beautiful.   KSH, a blend of silk and kid mohair, comes in dozens of colors (4 dozen to be exact)  and I am thinking it needs to be made by me in that beautiful grayed out lilac, Majestic.    I've always wanted to make a pi shawl, so now maybe it's time!  Pi shawls are knit from the center, out.

Just one of the ways you can trick out your cruiser!  Chop Chop by Verity Britton.

Hercules is designed by Sarah Hatton.  Sarah was inspired by the tracks and patterns left by tires in the mud which translated into these beautiful elongated cables. Looking at the pattern, I think it's possible to use the "knitting without a cable needle" method, if you like that sort of thing and I do! A lovely pattern that produces beautiful cables without a lot of bulk.

Maillot Jaune pullover by Alison Moreton is knit in machine washable Rowan Pure Wool Worsted.  The sweater is knit top down and comes in a whole family of sizes,  from child size 6-9 month to a men's XXL!  Love that!

I'm kinda swooning over this grannied bike seat.  Peachy by Ruby McGrath is knit in Rowan All Seasons Cotton.

Frame Mitts by Rachel Coopey was inspired by the geometric shapes of bicycle frames.

I like this very fun crocheted bike bag designed by Julie Graze. Wickerton uses only one stitch,  the double crochet  and would be a good beginner project.   Julie cleverly uses a wire coat hanger to shape it then adds a pretty rose!

22,000 miniature jerseys have been knitted by members of the public to be strung together as bunting ready for the Tour de France when it hits Yorkshire this summer.

We've been gone for a few weeks on a cruise through the western Caribbean.  Since my husband planned it I only had a rough idea of where we were actually going until we got on the ship and I read the itinerary.  It was kind of nice that way, letting him plan the whole thing.  We went on board in Miami, then on to Key West, Cozumel, Mexico, Guatemala, Roatan, Belize and Grand Cayman.  It was a wonderful trip visiting Mayan ruins and meeting locals, plus we took advantage of the area's famous sport fishing and the Belize Barrier Reef, the second largest coral reef system in the world.  The weather was great, the ship was fantastic, the people on board were super friendly, and I found a whole new sub-group of people that I didn't know existed: Cruisers; retired people who spend up to half their lives on a cruise ship!  They go on back to back cruises and may not even get off the ship for weeks at a time as they love the ship so much!  Three month cruises and around-the-world cruises were popular, as were repositioning cruises.  All of these people were friendly and outgoing, and none seem to have strong ties at home.  No pets nor garden to worry over.  They certainly didn't worry about any dinner invitations to extend or accept or care a bit about missing any golf games or missing their church family, let alone their own families.  I heard several times, "they know how to get a hold of me in an emergency!"  Of course they were all retired and most likely very wealthy, I couldn't help but think how very different I was from them.  I missed my routine, and while I loved the break, I was looking forward to getting back.  On one hand I envied their lighthearted attitude, they seemed so nonchalant and carefree, but I know that's not really me.  I do realize that most of these people are coming from very cold weather places and were absolutely delighted to be in sunny weather.  But me, coming from California,  I couldn't wait to get back home and see my garden, I missed it so much! And the weeds are not going to pull themselves, are they?

Hey!  We haven't gone to a dinner party in a long time have we?  Well, let's put on a little lipstick and one of our prettiest sweaters because Kathy and Lee have invited us over!  It's always FUN to go to their house.  We have had plenty of laughs with this fun couple and some of my funniest memories are when we've been with them.  Kathy rolls her eyes when I tell this story, but I can't help it.  Once when we were clothes shopping together the sales lady ran up to her and begged her to try on their new leggings, because she would look perfect in them, she being tall and beautiful and all.  Kathy's response?  "No, I really can't wear those, my legs are just too long and thin."  Don't worry, I gave her a good slap for that one.  Being somewhat vertically challenged I cannot imagine that legs could ever be too long or thin.  Ahem.

Well, on to the evening!  The table was so pretty set with their collection of Vietri Campagna.  I have another friend who owns this set too and the table really looks best when you mix and match the patterns up.  This is an old pattern and has been in production in Italy for hundreds of years. 

I love a big bay window behind the kitchen sink.  Plenty of room for pretty flowers and plants.