My roller skates finally arrived, so after work on Friday, Tom and I hit up Kensington Gardens to go for a skate. The good news is that I didn’t fall over but it will take some practice. My Mum did rollerderby back in the 70′s and my Dad use to play ice hockey professionally, so balance should be in my genes. We rewarded ourselves with a sushi picnic afterwards as we watched the sun set over London. As it was getting dark, there was a lady doing yoga in the grass and an Italian man skated past us, did a double take at her, looked at us and then said “ah, it must be summer, I loves it!” and skated off.

We met Oxfam DIY at Fashion Week and they told us to come and check out their store in Camden, so we stopped by on Saturday and T found a pair of brand new twisted Levis. I loved their knitted granny square dressing room curtains.

We discovered peanut butter pretzels while we were in NY and have been craving them ever since we got back, so we took a very long trip up to Muswell Hill, where they have a shop that sells them. It was a lovely posh area of London, which had lots of antique shops.

We then walked up to Alexandra Palace (or Aley Pally as we locals like to call it), which always remind me of the Dr Who episode with it in.

The view was pretty but the streets surrounding it were filled with boy racers blasting their stereos – that reminded me of home.

Afterwards we went for milkshakes at Tinsel Town Diner in Farringdon, where I had a Reese’s peanut butter cup milkshake. You can order any chocolate bar and have it turned in to a milkshake – I want to try a Mint Aero and Dime Bar next. It was a pretty tacky diner, but if it’s your birthday, you can order an ice cream sundae with sparklers and they present you with an Oscar, while the TV screens show a clip of celebrities wishing a “happy birthday to everyone at Tinsel Town” (which really misses the point).  We wouldn’t go for our own birthdays, but maybe we’ll celebrate CO+K’s next birthday there.

On Sunday, Tom took me on the hunt for the perfect gin & tonic (to be served with cucumber), which he’d read was at The Clifton, a fancy old pub near where we live.

On the way home tonight, Tom saw Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud struggling to walk in heels on our cobbled street, which makes me feel better for falling over on my heels all the time.

This week I’ve been super crafty. My first project was a couple of Union Jack pillows for the bed. “Someone” brought me a heap of Chanel ribbons to use and they worked really well.

I made a mermaid tail as my costume for Mardis Gras. It has a zipper up the back at the bottom, so I can unzip my feet and walk. My favourite movie when I was a kid was The Little Mermaid, so I’ve always wanted a tail and now I have one

The secret cafe at Westfield has closed down but we discovered a new little place called Ca’puccino which serves yummy Italian food.

There were floating shelves of books everywhere, which made me feel at home.

The mugs and napkins had a lined paper pattern and now I really want a set.

CO+K has been getting lots of press this week and has been in a bunch of magazines. This article was in Craft Business – they call me a well-known journalist, hehe.

There was also a little mention in MakeJewellery magazine. We’re also in the new issue of Sew Magazine, so if anyone has a copy, could you please send me a scan with the bit about us? I’d love to know what it says.

Finally, someone else has made a version of my kitty hood scarf, I’m going to have a little army soon.

Time to start packing, we leave for New York in less than 48 hours and I’m so excited. If anyone has any NY tips, please send them this way!

I’m back in London now. Tom met us at the airport which was such a nice surprise. I’m going to miss the sunshine.

I forgot to post photos of the hotel before. It was really nice and right next to the pool, which was the best bit. We would sit out on the balcony at night and watch movies on my laptop.

Someone on CO+K has already made a version of my Kitty Hood Scarf. It took me over a year to finish and they did it in just 1 week! It looks fantastic too.

Today we brunched with Lynz, Claire & Emma at Plan 9, had the cheapest round ever at the Warrington and then went for cupcakes at Hummingbird.

On the way home I spotted this shop covered in bows. I want to do the same to the Mews!

My Dad gave me a voucher for Christmas to go and have as many macaroons as I could eat. My parents have been down visiting for the past week, so we headed along to Harrods today to have some at Ladurée.

I had a pistachio milkshake and my Dad ordered  hot chocolate which was literally thick chocolate melted into a liquid. Tom ordered a tasty praline cake.

We got a big box of macaroons to share. My favourites were the praline, black liquorice, chestnut, salted caramel and pistachio flavours.

No sleep tonight – we’re flying to the Canary Islands early tomorrow morning, so I have to leave for the airport in a few hours. I added my Kitty hooded scarf pattern to CO+K incase anyone wants to knit one too…

I’ve been working super hard this week because I’m not really going to be around for the next two. The bad weather has stopped us from doing too much, though it has encouraged me to finish knitting my scarf, which now has pockets as well as a hood with cat ears. I really can’t wait until the end of the week, when I’ll be relaxing in the sun of Santa Cruz, Taco & La Laguana – frozen margaritas ahoy!

We did a best projects of 2009 list for CO+K. There were so many amazing projects last year, the site is growing so fast.

My Lady Dragon shoes arrived last week and I love them so much but I’ll have to wait until the weather improves before I can wear them out.

This weekend we hung out with Lynz & friends and met up with our old high school friend John, who’s living in London now, and catch up on the past 6 to 7 years. Also, the ladies at Plan 9 wrote us a big checklist of places to visit while we’re in New York, I can’t wait!

There’s an interview with me in the latest issue of Sew Hip magazine. It’s also got my how-to and the pattern for making Louis Vuitton style rabbit ears. You can pick a copy up in WH Smith and you’ll know it’s the right issue because it’s got the ears on the cover!

On the subject of crafting, I’ve almost finished my kitty ear hooded scarf, which I started knitting in Paris well over a year ago. I’m just making pockets for it now. It’s sooooo cosy! I’ll post the pattern on CO+K when it’s finished.

In an attempt to eat super healthy in 2010, I signed up to Graze, who deliver healthy snack boxes filled with nuts, fruits and seeds every week. Let me know if you fancy a free box and I’ll give you a code!

Tom got me a couple of late Christmas presents from the Vivienne Westwood sale including an awesome rosette and wrap scoop top, I love them both so much.

The snow has been preventing us from going out as much, so we’ve been raiding the DVD store and having movie nights in with Emma. We did have a trip to Ikea, where we got a new TV bench, magnetic knife rack and rails so that we could hang the bus blind up. This photo reminds me that I need to work on my costume for Mardis Gras – I’m thinking of making a mermaid tail.

If you’ve ever wondered where I come from, here’s an awful video showing Fife at it’s “best” – you can see why I left.

I seem to craft so much faster when it’s cold outside. This week I finished my patchwork quilt, which I had started back in the summer. I had the bulk of the work finished in two days and then left it for months until Monday, when it was so cold, I decided to get it finished. It’s really cosy having the extra layer on the bed and it’s good to snuggle up with in front of the TV and knit.

It’s been another busy crafty week. I’ve finished knitting my scarf, but I want to add pockets and John Lewis have ran out of my shade of yarn, so I’ll have to wait until I’m back in Scotland to get some more. On Wednesday, Tom’s boss Malcolm was hosting an evening at the office, where he showed off the video of Hugh Grant shaving off his moustache. It was really funny and I’ll post it when it’s live.

Alex gave us an early Christmas present last night, which is a really pretty candle holder made out of a tree trunk.

We’ve been making eggnog and ginger beer for our December party this weekend. I’ve also finished my Christmas shopping, which I’m really happy about. I do more shopping in December than I do in the rest of the year.

This week has been Yes week, so I’ve been accepting all kinds of offers and opportunities to see where it takes me. I ended up in Heathrow Terminal 5 (Tom has a an ambition to visit every tube stop by the end of the year), went to a very scary class that I don’t want to go back to…

was interviewed by Pink of Perfection, commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of my handbag, travelled to E17 (of East 17 fame) to go to a craft night, met Deborah of Craft Guerilla,

gave a lady who was knitting on the tube a Moo card for CO+K, interviewed an organizing consultant, had dinner in Hampstead, travelled to the end of the Northern Line, finalized the layout of the mew, and have jogged for at least half an hour every day. Phew, that sounds like a lot but it’s been loads of fun. Saying yes doesn’t end there though, I’ve agreed to attend all kinds of events over the coming week too and I don’t plan on saying no anytime soon.

In a couple of hours Ikea are going to deliver huge boxes of new furniture and we’ll spend the afternoon being DIY experts. I think we’ll reward ourselves with a movie after.

Handsome and Special, our neighbours cats have been hanging around the Mews a lot, while their owners are on tour. Maybe it’s our cooking.

The last recipe I tried out was for a lemon and pine nut linguine by Jamie Oliver from his book How To Cook.

It tasted really good and lasted for several days.

I’ve also been knitting my scarf, it’s growing day by day.

I saw my first piece of Knitta action today and I was so excited. Today was spent at Bust Magazine’s Craftacular in Euston. It was a big craft fair / party, filled with vendors, djs and things to make and do.

I got to meet Amy Lame in person finally. She is going to be the cover star for the next issue of Snippets. She was really lovely and gave me all kinds of yarn balls for making pom poms. I also got to meet the lovely Zoe, from Love From Hetty & Dave, who will also be in the new issue.

The most awesome thing that happened was learning to cross stitch again. I’d learn to do it as a child but had forgotten just how relaxing and fun it is. A lovely, and very drunk, Irish guy taught me how to do it again, he also gave me a hoop and everything I need. I’m addicted. He runs a night called Cocktails, Cupcakes & Cross Stitch, which I can’t wait to go to next year.

I also got to have a really good chat with Laurie Henzel, who is one of the other main people at Bust. I’ve chatted to Debbie before, so it’s nice to collect the set. I’m looking forward to working more with Bust in the future.