#31things: the coziest red cardigan.

My sister bought it for me a while back. I hadn’t worn it much until this winter. But it’s keeping me warm and stylish on these endless chilly days at home. 

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August Break 2017: favourite colour

This one was easy: I’ll always choose red. And I’m snapping so many photos of flowers (of every color) these days.

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August Break 2016: red

It’s no secret that I love red, and my new kitchen shelves bear witness to the fact. That tiny espresso cup is from the Ground Floor, long ago, and it (and everything on these shelves) makes me smile.

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#AugustBreak 2015: art

Pressed red leaves from my first fall in Boston; a red shelf from a favorite shop in Texas that holds a few treasures; and a print of Sally Lunn’s Buns in Bath, England, bought there on a freezing day trip long ago.

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Winter knitting: all the red things

I didn’t do a lot of knitting this fall, aside from a few hats for Nest Maine and my annual batch of wee hats for Innocent Drinks’ Big Knit. I only reached for my needles while watching TV, using up scraps from my multicolored stash.

I know the pitfalls of a huge Christmas knitting list, so I limited myself to two pairs of slippers. My mom’s birthday is at the end of January, so I started knitting her a big, cozy cowl this fall, knowing I could save it for her birthday if I didn’t finish it in time for Christmas.

The slippers, the cowl and the three projects I’ve started since Christmas all have one thing in common: my favorite color.

This is the cowl I made for Mom – the pattern is Julie’s Stockholm Scarf pattern, simple and squishy and so cozy. (Now I want to make one for myself.)

These wee slippers went to my girl Bethany, who has size 5 feet and gets cold easily. The pattern came from this book of slipper patterns. I made a similar pair for Abi, in red, to replace the now-worn-out felted pair I made her several years ago.

My sister requested a pair of boot toppers like the ones I made for Mom last Christmas. She wanted red, and I was happy to oblige:

I’ve also been doing a bit of selfish knitting: a cozy ribbed cowl in a deep red and a bright pink cabled hat. Because I need some color to combat the relentless white and gray of winter.

Are you making anything colorful during this gray month?

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I never get tired of red, either.

“I’d never get tired of red,” said the Story Girl. “I just love it—it’s so rich and glowing. When I’m dressed in red I always feel ever so much cleverer than in any other colour. Thoughts just crowd into my brain one after the other. Oh, you darling dress—you dear, sheeny, red-rosy, glistening, silky thing!”

She flung it over her shoulder and danced around the kitchen.

—L.M. Montgomery, The Golden Road

I ordered a copy of Red is Best for a friend recently, and tried to make Jeremiah guess whom it was for. (He hates guessing games, but usually goes along with mine.) “Whom do we know that loves red so much?” I asked. He stared at me and answered, “You!”

Ahem. Well, yes. I bought a red v-neck sweater this weekend, after searching for the perfect one for months. I’ve knitted seven red items (though four are gifts!) since mid-October. My long red wool coat has made its winter debut; I rock the red wellies whenever it rains; and my red Evangeline mitts are getting plenty of play on these cold days. Not to mention my red bathrobe, our red bath towels and dishes and couch slipcover, and all the other red things in our house.

Me in my "Valentine coat"

“You suit red,” my housemate Lizzie used to tell me – though she and other housemates have made fun of me for having enough red and pink laundry to merit its own load. But like Sara Stanley, above, I love red. I do feel cleverer in it – and, even if it’s not Christmas, I also feel festive and jazzy.

Do you have a color you never get tired of? (Any fellow red-lovers out there?)

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autumn colours week: red

Jan over at Poppytalk is hosting Autumn Colours Week again this year – and she’s starting off with red. It’s my favorite, so I couldn’t resist sharing some happy red bits of autumn with you.

I’ve been hanging out in the Public Garden, wearing my Ishbel shawl:

And admiring one brave red little maple:

I’m still rockin’ my red wellies when it rains:

And savoring every single one of the apples we picked this weekend with friends:

Where are you “seeing red” (in a non-angry way, I hope!) this fall? (P.S.: you can check out the Autumn Colours Week Flickr pool for more photos.)

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list #2: the red things

(This is a Paris collage by Little Brown Pen – and no, I don’t own it yet, but oh, I’m craving it.)

It’s gray over here. Gray and misty and cold, and the only things that are keeping me from complete and utter despair are copious cups of tea, a new pair of boots (lined with fleecy faux shearling), and the music of The Swell Season – which, if you haven’t heard, you should go buy immediately. These two are the stars of the movie Once and their music will make you dream and lift your heart, and put a lump in your throat. Beautiful.

Anyway. I’m continuing the list project with the red things, because I need some cheerful red today. Like L.M. Montgomery’s heroine Sara Stanley (the title character in The Story Girl), I “never get tired of red. I just love it. It’s so rich and glowing.” So here are the red things I own:

1. A fat little teakettle, a gift from Jeremiah which has boiled untold amounts of water these past few years.
2. A mug with hearts etched on it, a gift from Bethany.
3. Two sweaters, a crisp button-down, a hoodie, a linen top bought in Paris, a Gap henley, two tank tops, and two cardigans.
4. Three coats – a belted trench bought in Valencia, Spain, and a fleecy coat given me by Mom. And the wool one I bought for myself this winter.
5. A necklace and earring set, handmade by Abi (in exchange for the gloves and hat I made her).
6. The beret I made myself for Christmas.
7. A couch slipcover.
8. A toaster, a rice cooker, several pots and pans, and a Crock-Pot. (I may have a slight problem.)
9. Half my Fiestaware dishes are red (the other half are a rich cobalt blue).
10. My geranium, which is hanging on through the winter, though it’s grown a bit leggy and spindly.
11. The guest-room bedspread.
12. My favorite ballet flats.
13. A thick, chunky scarf I knitted myself during my first semester in Oxford.
14. The Valentine Cowl.
15. Personalized stationery – a Christmas gift from my sister.
16. Two canvas magazine bins.
17. A set of little bowls that I use to carry food to work. (And my mixing bowls.)
18. My current journal – red-brown stamped with gold.
19. A set of sheets and all our bathroom towels, and some of our kitchen towels.
20. Numerous Christmas ornaments, and other decorations.
21. My kitchen countertops (though those were red long before we moved into this house).
22. A plump cinnamon-scented candle.
23. An Eternal Threads lace table runner.
24. My wallet, bought at Sam Moon with the coffee girls.
25. A pair of tights.
26. The chiffon dress I unearthed at a charity shop and wore to the May Ball at St Aldates, where Lizzie and I and our mates danced the night away.
27. A beaded letter-opener from Dots by Audrey.
28. Both pairs of my slippers.
29. A pair of pj pants sprinkled with white hearts.
30. Lots of socks and unmentionables – so many that Lizzie, and Joy before her, used to tease me about having enough red clothes to do a whole red/pink load of laundry.
31. The tray that holds my teas.
32. My sugar-and-cream set.
33. My car’s ice scraper.
34. Some stash yarn, ribbon and scrapbooking supplies.
35. My yarn basket, also a gift from Jeremiah.

I’m sure there are more – but this is just off the top of my head. Anyone else have a thing for red – or another colour that crops up, over and over again, in your house and your clothes and your life?

**Edited to add (because I went home and found MORE red stuff):**

36. My old fleecy bathrobe
37. The kitchen clock
38. A polka-dotted cream pitcher
39. Two cookie jars, one shaped like a strawberry and one shaped like a basket of strawberries
40. My laundry hamper
41. Three rugs
42. Several sofa and bench pillows
43. Tomatoes, nectarines and apples in my kitchen

(I’m sure there’s more…but wanted to share these extra bits with you!)

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