The Weekend

Some images from the weekend:

My mother was 70, so I went to Scotland to celebrate with her.
The irrepressible Keigan sliding down the bannister, with my dad holding onto him.
Endlessly walking around.
Except when we manage to persuade him to chew some pegs. We're so exhausted from taking turns to walk him we all agree the pegs are surely germ-free.
I finally finished The Amber Spyglass while I was away and looked on my childhood bookshelf for something else to read. I ended up reading a little of each of them before going to sleep and inside Pride and Prejudice my sister had written the name 'John Dempster' over and over. John Dempster was a footballer for Queen of the South when my sister was a teenager and she loved him.
And the descent back into Norfolk. And the unfathomable question, 'Why are we here?' It won't be for much longer.

Before and After

Every so often little areas that were once tidy, turn into THIS! Included in this melee: fabric, wool, knitting books, sewing books, textiles magazines, camera equipment, and fiction books.
It's embarrassing. You'd think it would be easy to sort out, a ten minute job at most, but let me tell you a little story.

I had a friend staying with me one weekend, and on her way upstairs one day she saw a blue plastic cup turned upside down on the second stair. "Is there a spider trapped under there?" she asked. I was puzzled as to why she would think there was. She couldn't think of any other reason why a cup would be upside down on the stairs. "Well," I said, "the blue cup fell off the shelf unit at the foot of the stairs about a fortnight ago, and I really should shift it, but I just haven't got round to it because it shouldn't have been on the shelf unit in the first place. The rest of the set is in the washing machine cupboard and I should really put the cup with the set, but the set shouldn't be in the washing machine cupboard either - they should all be upstairs in the camping equipment box but all that's obviously a much bigger job than just picking up a cup off the stairs, which is why it's still there."

So you see, the reason it's taken me so long to do this ten minute tidy up is because I have a few areas that need a tidy up: the aforementioned shelf unit in the kitchen, THE KITCHEN PANTRY (that'll take a good couple of hours), all the cupboards in the kitchen, the book shelves upstairs, getting to the bottom of the wash baskets. And to do ALL of that would take several days, hence why ten minute jobs take a long time to get round to.

Anyway, this is what it looks like now:
Hagos suggested I store some of the stuff somewhere else, but I pointed out to him that once I finish all the projects I have the materials for completing in here (Gemma jumper, purple and green jumper, mittens, socks, paperweight algae skirt, Roman glass dress, headbands, toiletries bags), it will be much reduced in size.

I'll try really hard to keep it tidy from now on, and following on from my success, I might attempt to break down the rest of the little jobs I have and do them one tiny little area at a time.

Accordion Times

My friend Janie came to Norwich this week as she was playing accordion alongside a performance poet at the Arts Centre. The last time I saw performance poetry was in Stoke Newington in London about ten years ago. One of my classmates from university was involved in an event organised by my lovely teacher. It was absolutely awful and put me off performance poetry forever (so I thought). He forgot his lines early on, after proclaiming at the beginning that he didn't need to read from a sheet.

Anyway, we met Janie at the Arts Centre for lunch, and as we were parking the car I noticed a new, little organic cafe just across the road. I was so pleased because Janie likes healthy, organic food, and the cafe looked so sweet. So that's where we had lunch. I don't remember the name of the cafe, but it's on St Benedict Street in Norwich if anyone's interested.
In the evening we went to see the show. Janie played accordion to punctuate and support the poetry of Aoife Mannix. It worked really well, and Aoife's autobiographical stories were well-observed, mesmerising, compelling and funny in places, and she performed them well, using props and movement. I'm not sure, however, that it was poetry. The rhythm and pacing were good but I didn't pick up any other poetic elements. Maybe my ears just aren't attuned to hearing poetry though. I'd certainly recommend seeing them if you can. There are a few more shows upcoming.

Cat; Fabric; Reading

Isn't this the most beautiful, deep, dark gorgeous material you've ever seen? Hagos pointed out I keep buying the same material in different colours. I love it!

I have noticed my blog has been a bit confined lately: Cat; Fabric; Reading. That's pretty much it. I obviously need to get out more. Meg helping to make the bed.

Amy Butler Patterns

I have so many things I enjoy doing, and really not enough time to do them all in. I've particularly been enjoying reading again recently. I read on the bus, in the bath, and in bed. And I'm racing through books, which feels great. Currently reading The Amber Spyglass. I finished The Subtle Knife in a week. I loved the sections particularly between Will and Lyra.

I bought the above two patterns from Laughing Hens. I've long coveted the Barcelona Skirt pattern, and I've been eyeing up all the Amy Butler bag patterns for ages. I have two lots of material in my stash that I should be able to make two skirts from, and I still have my orange dress to make!

The gorgeous Meg getting in on the act!

I love the weekends. Friday night I mentally let go when I finish work. Saturday Hagos and I go up town and have lunch, read the papers, do a little bit of shopping and visit the library. Sunday I do some housework and then do nice stuff the rest of the day. I wish the weekend was four days long!

Reversible Headband

It's such a little thing to have made, but I really like it! Original inspiration came from bend-the-rules-sewing, but I adapted the pattern, ditched the ribbon and the ties and made it double-sided with interfacing in between. It took hardly any time. I'm sure I'll make a few more for myself and to give away. I thought about making matching headbands to go with the toiletries bags, to assist the face-washing!

I only listen to the radio when I'm driving or ironing (digitally). And yesterday I was listening to The Book Cafe, a weekly Radio Scotland programme, and the whole 45 minutes was about Alasdair Gray, one of my favourite writers. He's a Glaswegian writer and illustrator, born in 1934. The first book of his I read was Poor Things, set in late-Victorian Glasgow and a mutation on the Frankenstein story (from what I remember, it was years ago I read it). But I also loved Something Leather and his short stories. I was lucky enough to see him at the Edinburgh Book Festival a few years ago. At that time he was just about to take up post as Creative Writing Professor at the University of Glasgow, and I was so sorry that I'd just completed my own MA Creative Writing at University of East Anglia (though it was great) as it would have been amazing to study under Gray.

Sense, Sensibility, and Selvedge

Prompted by the current TV adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, I started reading the book last week. I think I have a copy in the house somewhere but I got this copy out of the library so I could read in the bath (library books don't mind being read in the bath, whereas personal books do). I'm such a Pride and Prejudice fan I usually resort to reading/watching that if I feel in need of a passionate period drama. But I got to the point today, a hundred or so pages from the end, where I couldn't put it down, and read through breakfast, lunch, and housework (well, less housework was done than usual, due to the reading). I love the slow burn of characters being revealled in Austen's books. And the strength of loyalty and attachment.

At Christmas I was so exhausted from the many demands on my time there came a point where I drew a line under what was and what was not going to get done in the way of presents for people. So, at a more leisurely pace (I've given myself the deadline of next Christmas), I'm finishing off my Christmas shopping. I've long struggled with buying-for-buying's-sake just because it's Christmas. The sheer waste of it all bothers me. So, I try to aim for modest presents that are nice in themselves. Above is a bracelet I made for a presentless person. I bought the pink polished shell squares, and the wire and clasp, and topped it up with some beads from my collection. I love the colour combination and predictably only realised it was purpleandgreen when I was putting it in the bag. My purpleandgreen fixation is as healthy as ever. Notice my hairy arm and scratched hand!
Now that my Jane Austen book is finished, I'm looking forward to getting into the new edition of Selvedge, though I really don't like the cover. The grey and the bald head disturb me.

Flat, Flowers, and The Dark Side

I've been feeling as flat as the Norfolk landscape the last few days. It's probably something to do with the helter skelter month of December being over. Too busy to think, until now. And it's winter. And I hate the retrospective of New Year. It really annoys me. And the feeling I really can't do another year of the same; treading water.

Anyway, on a cheerier note! I got this beautiful material from CottonPatch yesterday.The orange Roman Glass by Kaffe Fassett I liked so much when I made Bette's coaster and placemat from it, I decided to buy 2 metres to make a dress!! Ha ha. The green Roman Glass I only bought a quarter metre to make either wash bags (lined with shower curtain material) or a paperback tote bag for carrying one's paperback to the cafe! I have one myself, which I love, and it also doubles as a sock or mitten knitting bag. Likewise with the Carla Miller gerbera material. Gerberas are my friend Janie's favourite flowers so I'll be making her either a wash bag or a paperback tote bag, not sure which yet. She works away from home sometimes, therefore a bespoke wash bag would be useful, but she also reads paperbacks and enjoys trips to Starbucks. Hm.

I just watched the documentary on JK Rowling and I'm so glad she has her success because she seems like a properly decent person.

Sometimes I struggle with what to write in this blog. I severely edit out of it anything that is not entirely happy and good and beautiful: illness, death, the Dark Side generally. Because this is my happy place, where nothing bad happens. I have considered slashing and burning the blog and starting afresh, anonymously. Because even though almost nobody leaves a comment, I know a wide range of people read it, from my sister and husband, to friends, to work colleagues. Maybe I just need to have more courage of conviction. BUT this is not a New Year's resolution, which I also hate. Happy New Year!!!

Meg's Christmas

Playing with a Christmas star (to stop her wrecking the rest of the tree).
Helping to unwrap the presents.
And finally, finding somewhere comfy to sit on Christmas Day:
Both couches, her beanbag, and her rugs obviously weren't comfy enough.
I'll post properly soon; but these seem to be the only photos I took on Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas from Meg

Holiday Sickness

I finally succumbed to some pre-holiday illness, after congratulating myself on missing out on all the sickness bugs and colds that were going round the office, striking everyone down. I got the sickness bug, along with the rest of my family who I had just visited in Scotland this weekend. The only good thing about having this bug is that I haven't eaten anything for two days, which, for someone as 'cuddly' as I've become, is a good thing (we constantly tease my nephew Stuart about being 'cuddly' - he was cuddly as a baby and is still cuddly now. I must get that photo of him wearing his blue tights to publish in the blog). Luckily, I managed to finish Bette's Christmas present before the lurgy struck.I used embroidery transfers from Sublime Stitching; the lovely material in the centre is Kaffe Fassett's Roman Glass. Absolutely gorgeous. The placemat and coaster are backed in this material too.

It was lovely seeing my family in Scotland, though I think most of us now have, or have had, the bug. Keigan is an unstoppable climbing-machine, and it took about seven adults to herd him away from the more dangerous climbing routes in the living room. This is him attempting to scale the back of the chair, with my dad holding onto him.

My sister and I managed to visit a couple of coffee shops while finishing our Christmas shopping, and I loved this star on top of my decaf mocha so much I didn't want to disturb it (I'm easily pleased).Meg has ignored the Christmas tree for the last week and a half, until this morning when I found her hiding behind it, before she launched herself into it, scattering baubles and tinsel. I had to move some presents round to the back of the tree to stop her returning there again and again, to do the same thing.And finally, Keigan and my brother-in-law Robin playing at swings:

Red and White

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These are my finished mittens from the Folk Mittens book. I absolutely love them. The red is RYC Cashsoft 4-ply, the white is Jaeger 4-ply. I think using two different types of yarns caused a little bit of tension between them. They've turned out okay but not as even as my Scandinavian mittens, where I used Jaeger 4-ply for both colours. The RYC Cashsoft has less elasticity than the Jaeger. I think I'm going to give them to Hagos's mum, Bette, for her Christmas. She's knitted loads of things for me and Hagos over the years. I must photograph her garish (deliberately) Kaffe Fassett waistcoat she gave me a few Christmases ago. Kaffe Fassett knitting is already OTT, but Kaffe Fassett interpreted by Bette Haggarty is off the scale!

The Make-it-Yourself Secret Santa present I made for Anna. I'd been obsessed by placemats and coasters since I got the Bend-the-Rules book in the summer. And when I saw the John Lewis Christmas material I couldn't resist. It's different on both sides so she can choose if she's in more of a red mood or a white mood. Beautifully modelled using my own table, cutlery and glassware.
I got a really sweet email from Anna saying she really liked it (it was obvious who'd made it), which makes making things worthwhile. Altogether I used a metre of fabric and some medium interfacing. I had expected to get four placemats and four coasters out of the fabric, but eventually I decided to make two generous-sized placemats and four coasters instead, so they can be special Anna-and-Chris placemats. I was off the day the presents were opened so I have no idea what anyone else got or what I have.
I finally caved in and bought The Gentle Art of Domesticity. And just to prove how domestic I am, my mittens just happened to be beside the book when I took the photo.
I saw this photo on someone else's blog. It's from a kntting magazine, I think from Germany. I SO want this dress. Actually I want the whole look, the wellingtons too.

I seem to have been in a red and white mood lately, looking at all the photos in this post. Except, of course, there's always a bit of ginger in whatever I do. Hagos is in France this week with MF and Meg always becomes more clingy when he's away. Maybe she's worried I'll go away too. This is her playing in her box.

Action cat!

And finally, a gratuitous photo of decaf mocha, which I enjoyed yesterday while listening to a children's brass band playing outside the library in Norwich. They were so out of tune and out of time it was fantastic.

I was straining and willing them to keep time and hit the right notes.

Well, that's all for now. I don't feel very effusive. Will hopefully feel happier when Hagos comes home.

Jane Brocket Envy

Before I went to bed last night I looked at Jane Brocket's blog, Yarnstorm, in which she describes her latest book she is working on. It's a recipe book based on the food that appears in children's books, like those written by Enid Blyton. And I think it's such a great idea, I wish I'd thought of it myself. I recently had some acupuncture done, to help combat tiredness, and one of the unexpected side-effects of the acupuncture was that I recalled vivid feeling memories from my childhood. So it wasn't particularly memories of things that had happened, but more how I had felt within the memory of things that had happened. When the days stretched, and I had all the time in the world, and all the space in the world and I read a lot. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a very safe and supported environment. My parents had moved into a newly-built housing estate when my sister was very young, and all the other houses were occupied by other young couples starting out, with small children. All the children in the neighbourhood were looked after by all the adults, and we were in and out of each other's houses all the time. It was a very social place to live. The kids were friends, the mothers were friends, the fathers were friends, it was great. We also had extended family living fairly nearby too, so there was lots of visiting of cousins and aunts, and we visited my Granny every Saturday.

My favourite author when I was a child was Enid Blyton, and because the acupuncture evoked these childhood memories I recently re-read most of 'The Mystery of...' series, which stars The Five Find-Outers, and Dog. Again, it's a safe world, where the children solve mysteries, with a regular smattering of outings to cafes for macaroons and ginger beer.

I'm not a great cook. Hagos does all our food shopping and cooks all the main meals (he is a great cook - he can find an old onion in the fridge and turn it into a delicous meal) but I am a good baker and have made many gorgeous cakes in my time, which is why I'm so envious of Jane's idea and book deal. To spend every day reading favourite children's books, make a list of recipes found there, and then make the recipes and write the book sounds like heaven to me. What a truly lovely way to spend time. I'll definitely buy Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer when it's published.

Picture Stamps and My Boy Jack

It isn't something I think about much, but I really like picture stamps and always ask for them when I buy stamps at the Post Office. I think I like them because they tell a little story in themselves, and they're much more colourful and interesting than the bog standard Queen's head stamps.

This year I'm trying to be ahead of myself with the whole Christmas thing (presents, cards) and so in October I looked on the Royal Mail website to see when this year's Christmas stamps were being issued (Nov 6th), and put a note in my diary to buy them. Last year we had snowmen, this year it's some kind of angel with 'peace' written across it in a banner. I like both, though I prefer the snowman.

I also really liked the Harry Potter stamps and bought a full set and also the war stamps. I used them all except these two, which I realise I'm keeping.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite Harry Potter book. I kept the stamp depicting the 'Observer Royal Field Artillery 1917' because lately I'm more interested in the 1st World War, partly because of programmes like Who Do You Think You Are, and because I believe my papa fought in Palestine in the 1st World War (I really must find out more about that), and because I like the 1st World War poets.

I watched My Boy Jack on Remembrance Sunday, a drama about Rudyard Kipling's son Jack. I knew the story already but thought the drama was really well done and even Daniel Radcliffe was understated and pitched it just right. At the end of the programme the actor playing Rudyard Kipling spoke the poem 'My Boy Jack' and it was heartrending and so powerful.

My Boy Jack (1916)

'Have you news of my boy Jack?'

Not this tide

'When d'you think that he'll come back?'

Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

'Has anyone else had word of him?'

Not this tide.

For what is sunk will hardly swim,

Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

'Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?'

None this tide, nor any tide,

Except he did not shame his kind

- Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,

This tide,

And every tide;

Because he was the son you bore,

And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

A Cosy Night In

I got the new edition of the Selvedge magazine. It's about Scandinavia and it's lovely. There's so many things to look at and websites to follow up. All very beautiful and gorgeous and inspirational. I love it.

I have a day off today and really felt the urge to sew something, but I don't have any material. I want to make a Simplicity dress, from the same pattern I made my two tops from. I design it over and over in my head. From a straightforward Amy Butler or Kaffe Fassett material, to plain material with embroidery round the rim. I thought about polar bears or even a poem! Or the beginning of a poem. A war poem perhaps. Or something written in a foreign language. In the Selvedge magazine one designer designs an Advent skirt every year, which I like the idea of. I also really want to make the lounge pants in Amy Butler's In Stitches book.

Hagos is in London today, so I decided to watch Brigadoon! It's a film I remember from my childhood. I haven't seen it for at least 20 years, probably longer. I just remember something about a Scottish village (it's an American film, with GREAT Scottish accents) that only emerges from the mist every hundred years for a day(?) then disappears again, and Gene Kelly falls in love with a Scottish lass (understandable) and has a dilemma whether to leave or not before the mist closes in and he's either trapped there forever, or can never go there again. It's great! I love old singing, dancing films. Or just old films that are about relationships and gentleness and love.

This is what I've been knitting for the last wee while. I love Scandinavians at Christmas. They do it really well, and these are Scandinavian colours. I was considering giving them for my make-it-yourself Secret Santa present, but I made something else instead. I'll probably give these to a friend for Christmas.
Meg looking lovely by the fire :)

Secret Santa/Silly Slippers

I finished my Secret Santa present at the weekend. I can't unveil it until I've given it to the recipient but above is the material it's made from, with some ginger help as usual.

On a whim I decided to make a pair of slippers. I just had enough scraps of material left over. Voila le results! They're very snug. I like them!