A Coffee and a Yarn

On the weekend I went out for a yarn and a coffee at, funnily enough, A Coffee and a Yarn; a new concept cafe in Newtown. The concept being add some coffee and public space to your crafternoon and get those knitting needles on show. The cafe is open and spacey with little hubs of working bee kids and ladies. Unfortunately I don't knit, but that didn't mean the novelty mushroom needles, walls of wool and patterns went to waste on me.

If there's more than two of you, you may need to swoops for a table, as once people start knitting, they tend to get stuck into it for quite a while and tables are limited. Or you can do as I did and invade a couples personal space by joining their little love nest. (What? They weren't even knitting.)

My crafty kittens made me feel inadequate as they chatted, ate, sipped tea and knitted all at once. Meanwhile I looked around and gulped coffee and marveled at knitted squares and the beginnings of lace-wool scarves.

A lovely, wholesome way to spend an afternoon, and you're also pretty much guaranteed an afternoon with just the girls.

Head to 413 King street Newtown and find out if you're a crafty little minx.

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Surry Hills Markets

For my first weekend of 'Market Month May' I hit up Surry Hills. I must say this isn't a market I frequent often, and when I got there I remembered why.

Now, I love a good rummage just as much as the next girl, but, the stalls at Surry Hills seem to swing between junk and over-priced 'vintage'.
I don't know about you, but I'm not will to part with $300 for a pair of sunnies unless they come with a receipt, a warrenty and the store owner is wearing a suit as opposed to ripped tights. Nor am I going to pay $40 for a pair of secondhand peter alexandria pajamas (gross). There were some nice things around but money was required.

This is not to say that the Surry Hills market doesn't have an appeal. The location is key, with all neighbouring homes making sure they have garage sales happening, there's cafes galore and pubs right next door which is handy after a long morning of digging for treasure. Plus, Surry Hills is the suburb of beautiful hipsters so people watching is always pleasurable.

I'm glad to say that I stuck to my $20 challenge! (well, within the markets anyway) and I scored a hella cute black and white dress with horse shoes and horse heads on it and a caramel leather bag, both for only ten bucks each! How well did I do?

I spent the day with a girlfriend and had a fabulous day, but the market itself was definitely not the highlight.
Basically, if you're gonna head to Surry Hills markets, I would be more inclined to make it a Surry Hills day and do all the cute boutiques on Crown street, have a feed at The Clock hotel, and then browse through the markets.

Overall, I'm gonna be harsh and give Surry Hills markets only 5 of out 10 cactus's, it's prickly out there.

Save your pennies,
cactus
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