A tale from a travelling hat

Last month I had a very special weekend away at The Petwood Hotel in Lincolnshire. I went with my family and our family friends. It was special as a baby was born in each family in 2013 and this was the first time all of the three generations would get to meet up. It was fabulous to see everyone and have the babies meet each other. We enjoyed ourselves so much!

The Petwood was planned in 1905 as a bungalow which is hard to imagine when you see the first photo. These extensions were added from 1908 and Petwood was the home of a Baroness Von Eckhardstein. It is located in Woodhall Spa which was a very popular place for spa treatments in Edwardian times.

During the Second World War the Petwood was requisitioned by the RAF and was the Officer's Mess for the 617 'Dambusters' squadron, who I talked about in this post. The hotel has lots of related memorabilia and aside from being a beautiful place to stay it is also an interesting place to poke around.

The weekend was special for another reason - I had a treasure in my possession which I thought would look particularly at home in the hotel and I was hoping to get some good photographs of it there. My visit had luckily coincided with my turn to have Tanith's fabulous travelling hat. If you have not seen this before get over to Tanith's fantastic blog and catch up on the people and places that the hat has travelled to so far. Having watched it make it's way through blog land to me I was so excited to unpack it and try this gorgeous little hat on for myself. Do you want to see it?

Let us go in the front door.

We better study the map to get our bearings.

I think I know where I am going. 

Always important to locate the dining room!

Getting my order in at the Squadron bar.

Looking at the memorabilia.

Going to investigate the rest of the hotel.

A most comfortable window seat with a good view of guests arriving.

Having a chat.

Admiring the wood panelling.

Catching a glimpse in a handy mirror.

Heading downstairs.

Catching the sunshine.

Resting in the lounge.

Warming up by the fire.

Considering a turn around the grounds.

Back inside.

I enjoyed my time with the travelling hat very much, I loved wearing it. I paired it with a modern but vintage appropriate dress, a vintage brooch in matching colours and my felt leaf belt which I hand sewed from a 1940's pattern. Thank you so much to Tanith for creating this hat and sending it out on it's travels around the world. I look forward to seeing where it goes next!

Vintage treasure hunting

In the past couple of weeks I have had success in my vintage treasure hunting. I am always on the look out, I rummage, I act on hunches, I dig through piles, I grab anything that looks interesting, I examine,I check regularly and I ask. But often, it is just simply a case of being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes you have great success, sometimes you walk away empty handed. I always enjoy the hunt though!

These are from a local charity shop.

Perfect for Kate-Em! They need a clean up and the mounting needs sorting out but I couldn't leave these cross stitch pictures behind. They are Kate Greenaway figures and I already have the K one as my Godmother stitched it for me when I was born!

Charity shops are a fantastic source of buttons, once you have dug through all the little plastic bags of men's shirt buttons and random oddments. I don't know what I will use these on yet so into the button tin they go.

This piece of fabric was hard to photograph as it has a slight sheen to it. It looks a bit like a brocade but I don't think it is. I liked the delicate pattern and there was a decent length of it so I snapped it up.

I collect Stitchcraft magazines so when the lovely Lucy from 1940's style for you was selling some recently I was able to fill a few holes in my collection.

Very glamorous! Wish I looked like that answering the phone. Love the jumper.

Camels! Need I say more!?

Fabulous hat and mittens set.

Great hair, twinset and parrot!

Beautiful. I think I might like a nice fluffy bolero.

The vast majority of this haul I found at the fabulous Hebden Bridge Women's Institute Rag Market. This twice yearly event is run by some members of the WI and is a fantastic place for crafters to go shopping. The hall is packed with stalls piled with craft related goodness; fabric, wool, buttons, thread, patterns, notions, paper, books etc. Some of the stall holders are selling their stash, some are shop owners, some are selling the contents of their granny's attic. Everything is priced reasonably and it is a great place for a rummage. The recent market was so very good that I spent my budget by 9.45 (I was helping set up, it didn't open until 11am), and I had to pay a visit to the bank! It was worth it.

I found some fabric:

Gorgeous colours, heavy weight and a really good length for £2!

Modern John Lewis but looks very Mid Century.

Some small pieces of tweed for a project that is half formed in my mind!

I found some knitting patterns:

Apart from the lovely gloves I love the styling of this one.

I will probably be selling this one on as I am fairly sure I have it. Great hats!

I have to try this and see if it can indeed be knitted in 2 hours.

Intrigued by the peculiar cone hat which can be styled slouched or straight up!

I love the Growing up in Sirdar range for their colours and styling as much as the patterns.

I had to get this as the socks match the yoke of the jumper.

 Just a lovely set.

I found embroidered goodies:

Tablecloth with baskets of flowers in each of the corners.

Tablecloth with garland of flowers in each corner.

An oval cloth for a dressing table.

A really gorgeous tray cloth.

I found books:

I found buttons:

For 1950's Tyrolean knits.

Magnificent!

I found some random bits and pieces:

Boxed embroidered hankies.

Close up.

A marvellous crocheted doily.

Close up. Look how fine that work is.

A lovely cheery tin.

I found Stitchcrafts:

Great jumper and hat set.

I was very happy indeed with all my finds! Lots and lots of projects and ideas to be getting on with!