Avidly assessing Autumn buys, whilst Wisely still wearing summer styles...

[notyummy]

Evening all!

Shouldn't have posted link to dress as I will probably end up wearing something "safer" as I have no idea yet on how to make the dress not look too office-y/formal...

Welcome back icey!

ollie If your parents are not up to babysitting your DSs for the weekend, could they stay with friends or do you have a babysitter who could stay with them at your house for one or two nights?

amber and emo Hope you have good weekends sans DHs! Treat yourself to something nice once the DCs are in bed?

Happy belated birthday rufus!

portia Great you have booked your flights. I am getting ridiculously excited about seeing you all again and meeting new W&A ladies too .

Have a question for you all: Is there a nice countryside hotel not too far away from London where I could stay with DH and DD for a couple of days?

Hi all! Gosh I really love the Davina in tweed

Windy here today after storm last night.

Yay to new shredders. I am dreaming about doing a treble shred next Tuesday night! I dread to think how much weight I've drunk/eaten in cheese/ pate/croissants/one pain au chocolat/pizzas/steak frites...
My own fault. But if my new black dress doesn't fit for work Thursday I shall cry.

Hi Icey welcome back!

Met friend in Mayfair instead so we could go to Stella McCartney and check out the knits. I still really fancy this chunky scarf in another colour. But just so much ££. And saw a really nice big knit green jumper .

Then swung by our venue. Wanted to check the bar (not sure really, might find somewhere else). Saw some very well-dressed hen do attendees . There is a big private room and nice tea rooms. I'm sure it won't matter either way, Ollie will pm you in any case.

Fritzi your dress is so gorgeous. It will look stunning.

Mad weather here too, pouring one minute then sunshine the next.

marsha You could knit such a scarf easily: in the colour you like and for a fraction of the cost .

bloss Maybe a few days of a lighter diet plus multi-shredding and you will fit into your fab new work wardrobe without any problems!

Terrible weather here, too. We were supposed to picnic in Parc Monceau with friends this evening, but will be picnicing in their apartment instead - even if it isn't raining now, it is very damp and cold. Grrrrr.

The good news is that DD can wear her new AW11 look out tonight - navy ribbed over the knee socks, her black Start-Rite riding boots, navy cord winter shorts and a white/pink print Bonpoint blouse. She shows a small amount of bare thigh and was delighted that DP made a big fuss about not letting her out of the house like that... (though he is really very proud of how sweet she looks).

Fritzi's right, Marsha - that scarf is lovely but ridiculously overpriced and could be knit by someone (not necessarily you) for a fraction of the price. How about putting an ad up in your newsagent for a knitter? An old lady might be glad for the job!

I know, It is far too expensive for a knitted scarf.

In fact I have knitted two already! One in baby alpaca (plum) and a big pure wool one. I bought very good wool, but the thing that bugs me is the colour. I have come to the conclusion that seasonal colour is very hard to find as wool is often the same year on year. So baby blue etc

I am quite pleased with them but then put the Stella one on and I thought now this is a scarf! But still it must be possible, maybe in off-white.

Bonsoir your dd's outfit is adorable.

Marsha have you ever been to 'I knit' on Lower Marsh, near Waterloo? or 'Loop' Camden Passage? Certainly, Loop should be able to track down what you want.

Marsha that scarf is such a rip off I used to design childrens knitwear in another life, I had little old ladies all over Ireland knitting cashmere cardigans long before Gap started doing it! I'm still on the phone, we have laptop issues, so can't link, but google Blue Skies silk & alpaca yarn, I am knitting with it atm and it is soft with a beautiful sheen and lovely colours. You could double the yarn and knit on bigger needles to get the chunky look.

Hope you had a lovely day yesterday Rufus. Did you make any purchases?

Ollie we both did family trips for our 40ths, we went to London for mine so I could see Swan Lake at Covent Garden, and spent a week in Paris for dh's 40th. We have great memories of both trips.

Bloss you are supposed to put on weight on your hols, that's the rule. Wear Spanx under your dress on thursday

Bonsoir love the sound of dd's outfit. I am a bonpoint/bonton fan too.

Fritzi hope your cold is improving.

Icey sounds like a lovely holiday and Red hope the trip to the ILs is going well.

wan I hope someone fell in love with your house today and offers over the asking price House buying/selling is sooo stressful.

I was up early this morning, and set up a cashmere clinic. I darned, washed and shaved of bobbles my navy cashmere collection (8 items!) and told the dc to confiscate my cards if I suggest buying anymore navy knitwear!

yy I saw Loop mentioned on here so hotfooted to Angel tube. It is a gorgeous shop and where I bought the baby alpaca. It is really soft. The colour is just a bit off, so I could do another (if I don't think about how much I have spent on wool ).

Verity! cross post. Sounds fantastic. I secretly considered doing the same and have bought a domain name

Did you love it, do you miss it?

Yes and yes!

Aww I'd love to see your stuff. Will have to chat at the meet up.

Marsha, you could dye your scarf navy. I also have a domain name but not for knitwear .

Bloss, are you ready for Thursday? Having resigned myself to being an Apple developer (mystery job a few threads back ), I've only gone and got an interview for a 0.4FTE post. That's 2 days a week, right? It's not teaching but education related.

Verity, best of luck to your DS for Monday - and to you.

Bonsoir, my DD is 10 and I don't think she could get away with that type of outfit anymore . Bet your DD looks lovely.

WAN, it took us ages to sell our first house but by the time we had the asking price on this place had gone down. Don't worry too much about it all .

Fritzi, you have to wear that dress. We'll help you to get the look you want.

Enjoy the , it is Saturday after all.

hi everyone - feeling more upbeat today and hit the shops briefly to look for "things which are not black". Got a navy cardi in Uniqlo but apart from that came away somewhat uninspired - I think I need to work out what I NEED and stick to a list.....
olly I saw a very small Maison Scotch concession over here - got very excited but they had very little on sale and nothing which was for me this time.

fritzi not sure what the budget is, but check out Calcot Manor, or the Four Seasons in Hampshire or there is a Waldorf at Chiswick Park just opened!

Marsha, what colour are you after? Off white should be obtainable and the new autumn ranges are now in at Liberty/John Lewis. For pink, Rowand discontinued a pure cashmere last year which had a shell pink, you can still find packs of it for sale online, which would make a fabulous scarf.

Good luck pickled! You know the way it is: I've been very lucky indeed, but the A level stuff only came to me because I took the 1.5 hours a week job last November when the teacher got sick. You never know what can happen. I have two teacher training days next week, but I had everything organised before I went away. Spanx in one drawer... Lists of which spanx to wear with which outfit in another. And a table full of work stuff in my new 'space' - the grown up room downstairs with big squashy sofas, flat screen tv is now my office (and gym!) We have a split level house and live upstairs in the kitchen/tv room/playroom area normally.
Can't believe all the knitters! I may out myself too!

Aha Bloss you too!

Florence thanks. Pure pink cashmere sounds divine will google. Ecru possibly. Only problem is have spent so much another bunch of wool will take it to £100, which I fear is nearly the price of a decent scarf.

Pickled navy sounds great. Stella M had a navy one. Hand dying could be good. We can swap domains too, hard to think of a new unused name I found (my own actual name was a lot easier).

Am watching The Tourist with dh. better go.

Back from a meal with DH and x2 neighbours at a local Greek restaurant. Lovely food but at total lack of plate smashing! DH has popped next door for late night drink but I have to be up at 7am to assemble DS1's pirate bday cake for his party which is tomorrow morning (pirate party at aquarium) so heading to bed.

I test drove a Fiat 500 today with DS2 and DH. Its like a tardis - far roomier inside than I thought it would be! Loved how zippy it was but v noisy so have arranged another test drive this week with a quieter engine. Sales guy was quite frankly a bit of a t**r (thats the ouzo talking!) - when I mentioned the noise, he said it was all part of the authentic experience! Whats Dutch for 'bollocks to that"?

DS1 lost his first tooth today - swallowed it whilst eating lunch! Thankfully didnt make a fuss and was happy with writing the tooth fairy a letter explaining what had happened. He dictated it to me and started off with ""Dear Tooth Fairy, you never guess what happened today!" Really made me laugh!

Marsha so lovely that you popped into venue for a reccy - will PM you tomorrow with thoughts! I can't knit but admire those who can!

I booked my flights for the meet up today and fly in and out of different airports - will someone please remind me of that on the day - you know how ditzy I can be!

After one caipirinha and a glass of white wine, may I suggest we start a W&A knitting club .

Marsha

one possible source - cashmere is not cheap (still cheaper than £350). another source there seem to be more here Buying online is always a bit of a gamble but you can ask for a sample/see if you can return.

For alpaca - Mirasol do some lovely yarns which you can find in JL.

I have to admit I've always separated my knitting and my S&B interests before!

Now has anybody looked at this blog before: which is apparently for women 35 and over?

Evening all

making the most of DH free time watching SATC movie and planning how to spend eBay funds. Hard to decide what on my 'list' to buy first!

marsha you have inspired me to enlist my mum (an accomplished knitter) to knit me a nice chunky scarf for Xmas. She need to crack on and finish the 3 cardis I have requested for DCs first though (I don't really use her as a knitting slave - she also does childcare)

Feel slightly despairing as the house is a tip and I have guests tomorrow and should really be tidying while the kids are asleep but just have no energy

Argh, just received call from DH - he is lost, in Paris. What exactly am I supposed to do about it? Men

Morning all. Ended up staying at ILs - posting from bed whilst listening to DH trying to persuade his nephews to eat something other than hot chocolate and biscuits for breakfast .

Amber hope DH found his way...

Welcome back icey, glad you had a good time; have heard lovely things about the IoW from some friends. May pick your brains for places to stay.

Exciting times Pickled, when's the interview? Bloss you sound uber-organised. Excited?

Hope the party goes well Ollie. Can you point out to the salesman that a hefty discount for having to endure his company is part of the experience??

Can any knitting circle include novice tutorials as part of its remit please