"Legend has it that you don't fully quality for your West End passport unless at least one item in your house comes from Relics."
I have only lived in Glasgow for four years, but by that standard not only do I carry a West End passport, I'm an ambassador for the West End. I love Relics and visit a least a couple of times a week - which you need to do in order to snap up the really good stuff. Through the years I've picked up vintage buttons, Dave's bought me the best knitting bag, we have found Soviet ceramic tiles, a Muirhead Bone drawing/lithograph from the trenches at Ypres (behind the vase), and dozens of other small pieces.
This week I found this beautiful 1930s vase you see in the photo. It may look a bit naff in the photo, but in real life it has a wonderfully subtle glaze and the flowers have a gentle glow. I fell in love with it the second I saw it, but it was not until I saw a woman pick it up saying "I might get this later.." that I realised that it had to belong to me or it would haunt me as The Vase That Got Away. And so I forked out my £3 and went on my merry way.. It is now sitting in front of the living room fireplace. I absolutely love it.
But sometimes my secondhand purchases get slightly out of hand. Today, in a different secondhand shop, I picked up some 1950s sewing patterns. This is all well and good, except both patterns are for 32" busts and my sewing machine does not work. I am pondering listing them on eBay, so they can go to a good home and I get (some of) my money back. Or I might hang on to them. Because I tend to hang on to things.
A few links to tide things over until I finish some projects/we have enough light for decent photos/anything to happen:
- The Language of Fashion - do crafters/DIYers use a different set of words to professionals?
- Do Typefaces Really Matter? - yes, they really do and I once wrote 106 pages about that. Good times.
- Weaving In Ends as You Knit - blog post in Norwegian but with instructive photos.
- Skirt Week - Inspirational Links to free sewing projects of the skirty kind.
- My Fault, I'm Female - stories of women who've been made to feel it's their fault that they are female at work, at home, or wherever.
- DK: KNIT - the Danish Cultural Institute, Edinburgh, is hosting an exhibition on new knitwear from Kolding Design Academy. I'm going!
- Crowded House makes frontpage on Metafilter. I rejoice despite not liking their new album.
Next up: dinner. Slow roasted pork shoulder in jerk sauce with baby potatoes and a fresh garden salad. Rainy days always make me eager to cook proper food.