Ok, so it didn't take long to determine that writing 50,000 words, in three weeks, with no pre-planning, no plot, and no time was never really going to work. And it's not like I don't have enough excuses, I started a week late, I have a humoungous knitting project to finish for christmas (more of this later), which isn't getting done by itself much to my disapointment, to make matters worse the boiler broke down a week and a bit ago, so sitting still at a laptop really hasn't felt very appealing! It's actually colder inside my house at the moment than outside!

Aside from having a chance to wear lovely thick jumpers and an excuse to wear scarves and mittens inside, having a duff boiler also means we get to have gorgeous coal fires in the fireplace, toast crumpets, and read ghost stories curled up on the sofa with a roaring fire in the grate.

Did I hear someone say marshmallows?

But I haven't been slacking I assure you! I've been sneakily working away at a couple of secret mystery projects. Now as much as I want to show them off like the proud parent of some magnificently gifted child, I can't. Else they wouldn't be secret mystery projects! But I can't resist giving you a little sneak peak of them.

I've also decided I need way more practise using double pointed needles. Damn ladders everywhere! I think we'll all agree knitting is a kind of magic, making something pretty and warm, or practical, or cute out of a ball of fancy string and two sticks has got to be magic. But knitting with DNPS must require some super-magic or ubermagic to get it to work properly. So many of the gorgeous hats and gloves and mittens and things I'm looking to knit are made using DPNs, so I'll need to get some practise in. That'll be my post-christmas task I think - learn to knit properly with DPNs.

Argh! It's the 9th November already and I've just remembered November is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for those not in the know!). I've been meaning to do this for a couple of years now, and always remembered halfway through December, or mid-spring, leaving plently of time to completely and utterly forget until it's too late again! But this yeah I'm going to give it a go anyway. 50,000 words in a month pft! Try 50,000 in 3 weeks! That is my new challenge. I can forsee many many sleepless nights, lots of energy drinks and falling asleep at my desk (sorry about that) in the weeks to come. I'm aiming for the whole 50,000 - but at least I've already got my excuse worked out - I missed a week!

Right... plot ideas anyone?!

Have you ever thought the fabrics available in your local fabric shop are all a bit old, and samey, and boring? Ever exasperated trying to find the perfect fabric for that skirt/ dress/ interior furnishing? Well I've just discovered a website that will make your day! (Well... it just made mine anyway!) SPOONFLOWER.com enables you to upload your own pattern, picture, drawing, whatever, and they'll print it onto fabric for you! You can choose your fabric, choose whether you want the pattern repeated, reflected, rotated and yeah - it's cool, so check it out. I only have one quibble with it. It's based in the states. And what with postage costs and customs charges, it'll work out pretty expensive (and not exactly environmentally friendly) to buy any of their stuff - even if my zombie pattern would look superb as a pair of curtains! I guess I'll have to wait for someone to create a similar concept over here in the UK. I wonder if they'd be interested in franchising....?

Ooh, ooh! I haven't shown you my finished pyjamas! I'm rather proud of them, you see. Pretty pictures:

Ok so I couldn't help throwing shapes!

Yesterday Mr Autumn and I went out exploring the North Essex countryside, by a little medieval village called Coggeshall. The sun shined, the birds sang, and we got lost. But only a little bit.

Cornfield! It's a wonderful feeling walking a small path through a cornfield that goes on for as long as the eye can see, on a beautiful sunny day. I had the feeling I should have been wearing red shoes though. It was a red shoe moment.

Ducks!

Just to make the day complete we also popped into the little village antiques fair and found, to my absolute delight, the perfect button tin!

(The beginnings of something wonderful)

I've always wanted a button tin, my mother had one and it was a treasure trove of little button gems of all colours and shapes, shiny ones, matte ones, fabric covered ones, metal ones, bone ones, big ones, small ones, and all jumbled together in a big red novelty biscuit tin with London Buses and royal guards with bearskin hats on it. Many, many hours were spent playing with the buttons, making up stories to go with the big yellow one, or the square blue shiny one, arranging them by size, or colour, and sorting them out into which would be my brother's and which were mine if it ever came to splitting them up.

So now that I'm determined to be more productive and creative, I decided a while ago that I needed a button tin. Not just for its usefulness in keeping all those pesky buttons together, but also as a symbol for the make do and mend creative lifestyle that made our grandmothers so cool, and the skills that many of us are learning all over again... and also to serve as a reminder of the pleasures that can be found in the simple things in life.

Oh my! I've just spent hours marvelling at the folks in the FDT group on Flickr! It's inspiring, it's art, it's silly, and I love it! I'm going to have to give it a go come Tuesday