I have a special weakness for anything sold packaged in paper cones like this:

Oh, how deliciously cute! In the US, it was pretty rare to see these sorts of things (I think once I bought candied nuts in them), but here, they’re fairly common, and many sellers at neighborhood vegetable markets (the outdoor type) offer cones off everything from potatoes and strawberries to the Spanish nectarines (oh so yummy) and Sud Deutsch cherries I brought home today.  Along with buying eggs from straw-filled baskets, fresh packaging is one off life’s precious pleasures.

In other lovely news, I’ve been working feverishly on a pretty shawl and another knitted object (a gift for a certain sister’s birthday). I finished the shawl, and I’m so impressed with it, I just had to share. This is from the Swallowtail Lace Shawl pattern, worked with 19 repeats of the basic pattern, instead of the specified 14. It’s my first lace shawl, made of handspun, downly icelandic wool. Oh, so lovely!

I’ve been working like mad on all the projects for my new store (nothing finished yet!). There’s been a storm of wool in all states of undress: unwashed, raw wool, wet wool, creamy, clean wool, spun wool, mordanted wool, dyed wool, knitted wool, felted wool, and millions of little bits of wool strewn about. Now that I think about it, it’s rather like a feather-pillow fight, with bits floating down all around in a pool! I’ve been working a lot, learning a lot, and having a fantastic time. As soon as these gifts are finished, I’ll have some finished projects to display.

Until then, here are some pics of us, the first taken a few weeks ago on the hill at Hafengeburtstag, the second of Nick, just yesterday, and is posted purely as a display of his long Beatles hair.

And finally, if you want a visual pleasure, check out the Fairy Shoe Shop, Fairysteps.co.uk.