This is a true story, a love story.
I am the only grand daughter to my maternal Nanna and Grandpa, and it's because of this, I used to spend weekends with them in their small 'two up two down' mid terrace house.
It was here that I learnt how to knit, make Christmas mincemeat and Wet Knella.
It was here that I was shown true generosity.
It was in this house I first heard this beautiful love story.
I would sleep in my mothers old bed room across the landing to my grandparents room.
My grandpa would rise early every morning to do what grandpas did, when I would seize the opportunity to slip in under the eiderdown next to my Nanna, and wait.
It was never long before Grandpa would come back upstairs with a cup of tea, and a slice of Hovis brown bread, buttered and smothered in Roses lime marmalade, cut into squares, on a small green plate.
This is one of my oldest and fondest memories of the devoted love of my grandparents.
My Nanna would let me share in a slice, and we would natter.
It was at the village church that she met Grandpa, who sat in the pew behind her to pull her pigtails, and when they were courting, he wooed her with a ribbon for her hair.
A 'crushed' raspberry coloured ribbon.
She was very particular about that detail.
She didn't stand a chance!
My Grandpa spent his 'idle' hours in the garden, where he grew roses.
Every colour.
Every scent.
A garden full of blooms.
Some he cut for the house, a display of his love for my Nanna.
So when I saw the 'crushed' raspberry colour of this yarn, I knew exactly what I was going to knit.
I was going to knit a Love Story.
Something I knew my Nanna would have adored and used everyday, something that evoked the cherished love between my Grandparents, and so the 'Love Story' collection of hangers and hot water bottle covers was designed.
A collection of lacy stitches, frothy picot edging, and an abundance of dusky pink damask roses.
The collection can be found in my Folksy shop
https://folksy.com/shops/thistledownandHOPE
I have often asked myself this question:
'Why do I hand knit good old fashioned hot water bottle covers?'
And I always come back with the same answer;
How is a woman meant to warm the foot end of the bed to keep her toes roasty warm, yet keep the cotton sheets cool for the rest of her?
But seriously, NOTHING comes close to the nostalgia evoked by the filling of a good old fashioned hot water bottle.
a night in on the sofa with; a chicks movie, box of tissues and a large packet of malteezers; log fire, bed socks and hottie, help make the world feel a good place to be in.
or after a gratifying day digging the soil and planting several rows of sweetpeas on the allotment, to finally sit down with a cup of tea, a large slice of carrot cake and a hottie strategically placed on any overworked muscle.
or if the notion of sleeping under canvas sends a shiver down your spine, simply filling a small 500ml hot water bottle and popping it your sleeping bag, can change the whole experience into one of glamping with all the creature comforts of home.
(bring on the fairy lights!)
And there's more,
or when the children are feeling under the weather, and nothing but snoozing the sniffles away will reassure them, then a hottie to hug alongside 'best' bear and favourite blanket can calmly work wonders.
So have I convinced you of the wonders of a hot water bottle yet?
All my hand knitted designs can be found in my folksy shop,
https://folksy.com/shops/thistledownandHOPE
Suzzie x
Some people have asked, why have I chosen to specialise in hand knitted clothes hangers?
and I guess it is because I love 'pretty', I like to know I can do feminine.
They say its a mans world, but that does not mean we always have to live with merely practical.
What was it Mr Ford said, 'Madam, you can have it in any color as long as it's black'!
Well I decided to champion that statement, by designing and hand knitting beautiful clothes hangers for our beautiful clothes.
There is something to smile about when I look in my wardrobe and see a row of colourful knitted or crocheted flowers nestling under the metal hook of the clothes hangers.
Bringing a little of my garden into my home.
They lift my soul.
So the question I have to ask; what do you prefer?
Nude or clothed?
Indeed I dont have to venture far for inspiration, garden, allotment, a walk along the blustery beach. Each season brings its own flurry of ideas.
Summer or winter?
Practically, a padded clothes hanger is a superior frame onto which to hang your clothes.
So having clinched yourself a Betty bargain in the sale, why not treat it to a clothes hanger befitting its original price tag?
All my clothes hangers can be found in my Folksy shop:
https://folksy.com/shops/thistledownandHOPE
Suzzie x
Some people have asked where did the name 'thistledown&HOPE' come from ?
So I thought it best to start my 1st Blog, right at the beginning of time when a shop selling my designs was just a whisper of a wish...
...it all started whilst I was making my 1st Braided rug...
When my children were quite small we watched a lot of the beautiful Beatrix Potter stories on video (!), huddled up on the sofa, under a blanket, in front of the fire, whilst the wind blew up the street straight off the North Sea. Mrs Tittlemouse to be exact, who was constantly sweeping her house out of all the thistledown that had collected there, and Mr Babbitty Bumble who came to the rescue with a quantity of beeswax to help polish away all the chaos and mess left by 'dirty paws'.
I was making a braided rug to go by my back door, something that I could pop in the wash over night, because my family and other animals insisted on coming into the house wiping their feet on a clean doormat THEN taking their shoes off, it used to drive me crazy, because I couldn't make them see that if they only took their shoes off before they came into the house I wouldn't have to continually clean the very heavy turtle mat that was there.
So whilst I was on the floor braiding away, the much loved story of poor Mrs Tittlemouse came to mind and 'thistledown&HOPE' was born.
'thistledown' because of the never ending sweeping Mrs Tittle mouse did, and
'HOPE' because that is what I have.
Now that's how it all started, and so the whispers of a wish can be found in my Folksy shop:
https://folksy.com/shops/thistledownandHOPE
Suzzie x
