Seeing double?

My tea cosy has a lookalike! I enjoyed making the first tea cosy so much that I decided to make another one as a birthday gift for a lovely friend of mine (Happy Birthday Jayne!). The new one is the one at the front and it has a different mix of flowers to the original. I really loved making the roses - so the next cosy I make is going to have loads of roses on it I think! I am still pretty hopeless at knitting but the process was very therapeutic.

Here's the view from the top. I want a cup of tea just looking at it!

I also made another one, for myself this time, for a cute green teapot I already had. This is another of Alice's gorgeous patterns. It was so very quick to make! I absolutely love it.

I love that the knob on the teapot lid pops through so nicely!

The shape of my teapot meant the cosy could fit over it perfectly without needing a button fastening. I also decided to leave the handle and spout openings plain on this cosy (without the scalloped edge) as the edges looked so nice in their stripey gorgeousness.

Something about these colours reminds me of lollies (sweets to you lovely UK folk!). My small folk helped choose the colour combo - which meant we had an awful lot of balls of wool on the floor while their decision making process took place - very cute!

I'm not sure if it's because the weather has changed and it's getting pretty cold here, but we've been motivated to make the house feel a bit cosier recently. So the first part of the house to see some changes is the dining area. The chairs that were around my table were driving us nuts as they were really big and heavy. So I've been on the look out at my local op shops and I have had some recent success. I really wanted to have a collection of lovely old mis-matched chairs and that is exactly what I have got! I found the chair above for only $10 and another very similar one for a steal at only $5. Both were in pretty rough condition, covered in paint splatters and stains. The picture above doesn't quite show how bad they looked in reality. So a few hours spent with some steel wool and furniture oil and the wood has come up beautifully. I love bringing old wooden furniture back to life with a bit of TLC - it's so very rewarding. The seats were a bit beyond salvation in the cleaning department, so I bought some fabulous bright cotton fabric and had a go at covering both of them.

For my first attempt I am absolutely thrilled with the result! I am a bit obsessed with the orange/red/pink combinations at the moment aren't I? The fabric has a lovely texture to it and the colours make me cheerful.

Turning the table around so that it is up against the window has made a huge difference. There is something about sitting next to a window on a rainy day, while you're cosy inside that I absolutely love. I am sitting there right now and I'm pretty sure this is now my favourite spot in the house. I think my creative juices will flow better when I'm perched here! I didn't get a pic of it, but on the other side of the table is the most fantastic bench seat that my great grandfather made. It was in my bedroom as a child but has been in storage recently until I realised it fit perfectly under my table. It's so wonderful to be putting it to good use again. The top is hinged so it has a heap of storage too - what a very clever great grandad!

And speaking of being cosy inside .... I think this is someone elses favourite spot in the house. This is my other wee girl, Bella. She is very, very spoilt and has such a lovely cushy life! It was so bitterly cold here yesterday that she didn't even drag herself away from the fire to sit on my knee when I got my hooks out! Mind you, I could have sat beside the fire all day too given half the chance ...

Have a fab week.