Gabrielle Vary Knitwear in the press for September

September seems to be hotting up outside but in the magazines things are getting considerably cooler. I was lucky enough to be featured in two different autumnal magazines this month showcasing my range of knitted scarves for that cold winter snap.

The first was with Country Living magazine, showing that my scarves are unisex by being modeled on a man in a beautiful autumnal photo shoot.

The second magazine I have been featured in is the lovely Country Homes and Interiors magazine where I was given a full page spread with a little interview about me and my business as part of winning my award!

Yep and if you read closely even my border terrier gets a mention!!

Brand New Knitted Scarves

I have been knitting away working on a new winter collection of knitted lambswool scarves. They have just been launched on my website, so take a little peek at the new collection.

http://www.gabriellevary.co.uk/#!scarves/cs06

Everybody's free...

This has been passed onto me by a fellow designer/ maker and I think the lyrics are so great, many of you will probably remember the 90's song Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann. The speech was originally written by Mary Schmich and if, like me, you need a Monday morning pick up or a bit of inspiration then have a read of these great lyrics. I hope you enjoy!

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99 
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be 
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by 
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable 
than my own meandering 
experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not 
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. 
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and 
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before 
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you 
imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as 
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing 
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that 
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm 
on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with 
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes 
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with 
yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you 
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your 
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they 
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year 
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe 
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky 
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t 
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your 
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, 
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people 
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever 
own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for 
good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the 
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you 
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and 
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you 
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live 
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will 
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize 
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were 
noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, 
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one 
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will 
look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who 
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of 
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the 
ugly parts and recycling it for more than 
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

My Country Business Awards Winners!

I am so over whelmed to announce that we have won the My Country Business Awards!! We are in complete shock and are so excited to be honored with this award. As part of the prize I get business expert mentoring and a three day course at the creative business start up school which I think will be invaluable! Thanks so much to Country Homes and Interiors Magazine! Take a look at their blog to see the other winners.

http://country-days.co.uk/2014/06/09/my-country-business-awards-winners-announced/

Finding a colour pallet

The start of the year means, for me a new fresh collection waiting to be designed. I always start off January desperate to start something new. As Christmas is so hectic with stock piling and sending out orders, there's never a chance for designing so I always wait and leave it to January and February when I have more time for discovery and creativity. This year I have found it's taken me a while to get back into the swing of designing again, and to find my inspiration.

Last week there were some beautiful sunsets so after snapping away on my camera (as always!) I found merging of colours created some really unique colour combinations. I loved the purples with the greys and the oranges and pinks, all mixed together.

From this I then started trawling my trusty friend pinterest to find some images to help bring my colour pallet together. Here's the mood board I came up with. So far, I'm in love with the peachy pinks, I've never used pink in my work before so I'm excited to see how this comes out. The other colour that also has to make an appearance is the acid yellow. I love my mustard colour that I use constantly but this year I'm also going to invest in a more lemon tone to add a great striking contrast to the soft peaches and mauve.  

Now it's onto finding the perfect wool and then onto the machine, designing the patterns! Wish me luck, I'll keep you updated.

I started decorating last night and while we were striping back the walls, I found this pattern that I'm slightly in love with! I just have to find a way to knit it!!

Follow me on pinterest here: http://www.pinterest.com/gabriellevary/

Happy New Year!

I hope you've all had a fabulous Christmas and New Year. This post is very belated, apologies! Here are a few snaps from what I've been up to. Christmas was a lovely mix of family, friends, eating, drinking, walking, relaxing, drinking some more, then eating some more...

 Presecco with Christmas Country Living.

 Christmas tree shopping in East Sussex. My favorite family tradition!

 Cosy nights by the fire. Bliss!

 Christmas decorations, the more the better!

New year was great too, I spent some time visiting my family in Devon. It rained everyday and the drive home was quite flooded, but the scenery was beautiful! Oh how I've missed the west coast!

I decided to make a few resolutions too, I love the idea of a fresh new start, a change, a chance to better.
*To worry less.
*To not be so hard on imperfections.
*To enjoy the stress, and embrace things that are out of my comfort zone.
*To work harder and to strive for perfection. Always.
*To be more aware of where I buy my food from. Especially meat, eggs, milk and butter.
*To give up alcohol and coffee for January. And to be more healthy. (standard)

What are yours?
Happy New Year!