A pot of Murchie's Afternoon blend with cookies, milk and bachelor's buttons.

I cleared off my desk and did some scrapbook last night. I've been noticing that the layouts I like best are a little simpler and not very fussy so that's what I was aiming for. I love this picture of Abby with her chin on Rob's leg. He was probably eating something she wanted a bit of. The paper and bits and pieces are all from Studio Calico kits but I can't remember which ones.

The strip under the photos is a piece of Fabrips which I found totally cool: it's a medium weight piece of fabric with adhesive on the back and some notches at the top to make it easy to tear. I like the slightly frayed edges - they're straight but not perfect. The paper was a piece of plain kraft cardstock that I livened up with some mists (Mister Huey's in Piglet and Lemonade). I love the look of layouts with lots of white space but can never comfortably do it myself; the mists let me fill in space without actually putting anything there to clutter it up. I really wanted to use a stamp for the date on the side but the date stamp I've got only goes up to 2004 so it was no help and I used a pen instead.

The cardboard shapes in the bottom corner were just right for this layout. They added some texture without being loud or bright but mostly they are there because Abby likes them. To eat. Cardboard and brown paper are among her favourite treats and when she discovered these little shapes in a box of supplies by my desk she started rooting through it to pull them out. I'm not sure how many she got before I noticed but there a still a lot left so probably only one or two. 

After how excited I was about this yarn and this pattern when it arrived you'd think I'd have cast on my socks in less than two months but I got distracted and, though the ball was wound a while ago, I only just scrounged up some waste yarn for a provisional coast on. This is the first of my Unisex Slip socks in the Rockin' Sock Club May colourway Maia. The pattern actually calls for a regular cast-on but I prefer a provisional one for a knitted down hem - what better way to ensure your cast-on is not too tight than to simply not have a cast-on.

I've been working on the pattern for a quite a while in a different yarn as a pair of toe-up socks for Rob but it is nice to finally be using this yarn. Each way I see it it seems more lovely. I often like a skein of hand-painted yarn a smidge less once it is wound up and the colours are all mixed together but this one didn't diminish. It's fantastic to knit with; every colour is my favourite for as long as it lasts and when it pops up again it is like a wonderful little surprise. The pattern is great - mostly plain, quick knitting but with a simple, easy to memorize pattern for just a few stitches. It keeps me entertained without being at all difficult. This is already a go-to pattern. I mean, I'm knitting it into two different pairs of socks for two different people … at the same time … and I'm not bored. Part of me wants to use July's yarn in this pattern too but I think I should give Fences a try first.