Books, brook, catkins and yarns.

Here they are - finished at last. Sorry about the messy background but getting a good light was not easy this morning and I forgot about what else might appear in the photo. I must say, the books look better than I thought they would, thank goodness. They are now being pressed under a heavy weight in the hope that they will eventually lie flat.

I couldn't resist a shot of this lovely reflection in the tiny brook which runs alongside the footpath by our house. I went for a stroll the day before yesterday and noticed that the council workmen have cleared all the dead plant material from the banks so the brook is clearly visible. It is a wonderful playground for young children as I doubt if it would reach the tops of their wellies anywhere and in summer is very shallow, so quite safe. When all the leaves are on the trees and bushes they love to play hide-and-seek and make dens down there.

The flow from the drainage pipe looks quite attractive after snow and heavy rain and feeds the little brook. It slows right down to a trickle in hot dry weather.

The hazel catkins aren't ready yet but are forming and show promise of things to come, so I am making do with these alder catkins. They looked beautiful agains the bright blue sky. We went out yesterday and as it was rather misty I didn't bother to take my camera. What a mistake that was. On the way to Ledbury the mist was quite dense in places and clearing in others. It formed long strands through parts of the countryside, hugging the ground in some places while appearing higher in others. It produced some very strange and unusual effects and would have made stunning photos. By the time we were a few miles short of Ledbury it had cleared completely, the sky was so blue and everything was in sharp focus.

I have been naughty and bought more yarns - I just couldn't say no to these - the colours are so lovely. The sari ribbon at the top has such vibrant glowing colours in it. I think I shall iron it out flat and bond it to a background, then machine onto it. I 'stole' that idea from Dale Rollerson whose blog is Downunderdale. She and her husband run The Thread Studio in Perth. Sari ribbon is made from thin strips of sari material stitched or knotted together to make a continuous length. Sari yarn comes next in my picture and this is made from the threads from sari material - I believe they are spun to make the yarn. As you might imagine, the colours are very rich and glowing. I shall probably use it for couching among other things. Next comes a Colinette silk yarn - so soft and gorgeous. Finally a pack of assorted blue fibres for felting - I intend to add wisps of these to my embellished knitted pieces and hopefully build them into little landscapes. I might try embellishing with all these yarns and see what happens. No broken needles I hope - they are so expensive!