Rattling On...

Cosy Up.

Here's another project from the Winter gifts book.

 

This was so easy to do and would be a great way of using up leftover yarn, I think a stripey version would be great. In the book the tea cosy is styled with ribbon on top but I made these really easy flowers. Pom poms would look good, or small pom poms on the end of ribbons. Endless options.

As Easter is coming up I also thought an egg cosy would make a fun present and I made up this pattern...

Using DK and 4mm needles cast on 32 stitches.

K1,P1 to end

P1,K1 to end   Then, moss stitch another 20 rows.

(Note: When the pattern says Moss1, it's just doing a knit into a purl, or a purl into a knit- the opposite of doing a ribbing!)

Shaping:

Row 1. Moss1,(K2tog,Moss 3)to last st, Moss1

Row 2. Moss1,(P1,Moss2) to last st, Moss1

Row 3. Moss1,(K1,Moss2) to last st, Moss1

Row 4. As row 2

Row 5. (K2tog,Moss1) to last st, Moss1

Row 6. (Moss1,P1) to last st, Moss1

Row 7. K1, (K2tog) to last st, K1 (9sts)

Row 8. (P2tog) 4 times, P1

Row 9. Cast off

Sew up seam.

 

The little flowers are made as follows:

Using DK & 4mm needles Cast on 5sts

1. Sl1,K3,turn

2. P3,turn

3. K3,turn

4. P3,turn

5. K4

6. P2tog,P1,P2tog (3sts)

7. K1,K2tog,pass 1st st over, cast on 4 (5sts)

Repeat to give required number of petals (3,4,5 etc) then cast off. Draw up petals and secure.

Add embroidered centres or a bead, button etc...

The shaping resembles that on the tea cosy so they make a good set, I think. It would be fun to give with a chocolate egg!

Take a note.

On my birthday we went for a "run out" as it's termed around here. We stopped off at Chatsworth Farm shop and got some beef, cheese and a few veg. It was heaving with shoppers. The area has been extended over the last couple of years- a much larger shop and instead of the quaint tea room a substantial restaurant. There used to be independent shops in the courtyard but these have gone to make the space. It's great now, but I miss browsing round the art shop, the gift shop (that sold Medici cards, some of my favourites) and the others.

Another of my much visited shops is in nearby Baslow- Avant Garde. Who have also extended into 2 shops now. They sell lovely things. Linens, jewellery, soap, ceramics- you know. And notebooks and journals and suchlike.

 

This is one I bought- and here's why...

 

I have that cooking range...I have that dog! Granted I am a lot untidier and the dog (Bunty) wouldn't oblige with a pose but someone has been spying on me.

Back to notebooks, which I love and buy with abandon. Actually, it's the lists and notemaking that I love and therefore facilitates the need for...notebooks.

 

Here's another (!) I bought recently. These will probably be used for pleasant notemaking, maybe when knitting or if I have a present to think about (I would write down ideas, then). For the more mundane notes in life, recipes etc. I have stacks of these...

 

I like a good backup supply, you never know when you might just need to get it down on paper. But you wouldn't call them pretty.

Speaking of pretty, I was walking past the local Scope charity shop and saw they sold greetings cards. Well, you can never have too many cards on standby ...

 

These were really inexpensive, £1.39 was top price, good quality, and mainly blank "for your own message". Always handiest.

The Colour Purple.

I never used to "do " purple. I really didn't like the colour at all. Especially some shades. Then my sister painted this picture for me...

 

 Anyway, it must have grown on me because I then started buying other purple items.

 

This enormous jug was a junk shop find and now resides in the bathroom. In summer I have flowers from the garden in it but resort to pot plants in winter- which hereabouts amounts to quite a bit of the year.. It looks particularly effective with sweet peas tumbling out. I have to stand a jar inside on top of another upturned jar as it's so deep.

 

It was then only a matter of time before it started creeping into the wardrobe department. A bag here, a necklace there. A scarf- then a full on cardigan. Harry the cat seems to like it as well, he wouldn't be persuaded to get off the table.

 

This crocheted number is from a 70s magazine freebie that has several maxi waistcoat patterns. It's a deep aubergine colour and was ridiculously easy to make (in crepe yarn, which holds the shape really well). It's almost knee length and looks great over a trousers/tunic combo. I like fastening it either at the waist or near the top with big brooches or lengths of ribbon.

I liked it so much I made one in red.

Can you play balalaika?

 

I was always interested in Russia, fascinated really, and when I was in the 6th Form there was a County Council Educational Visit organised. I had to go. I had a weekend job and some money saved so I signed up for it. About 8 or 10 other 6th Formers went, teachers and students from all over the county and (surreally) several nuns.

It was December and snowing and cold when we landed. Perfect. We stayed in the state run hotels for foreigners in both Moscow and Leningrad- we are back in Communist times, here. I went on every trip and visit, to every opera and ballet on offer; assuming this to be the trip of a lifetime.

I enjoyed every minute of it.

Four years ago, my husband came home from work and said he'd been offered a posting in Moscow, did we want to go? Our children were 8 and 12 at the time. We went. And stayed over two and a half years. All our friends and family thought we were mad, not least because the terrorist incidents had just happened.

I soon found out I had to learn to speak Russian. Things were very different from Home. We knew (that is my husband knew) all of two people over there.

I could write for hours, days, on all our adventures, but for now will concentrate on some of the mementos I brought back.

 

We used to go to the British Embassy once a month for a ladies' coffee morning (more of this later- I ended up joining the American Women's Organisation!) to try to do a bit of networking and actually find a friend or two. I made some friends who are very special. They invited artisans to come and sell their crafts to us, and this babushka with her cat is one of my favourites. I met the carver and his family who did all the painting. The Russians adore their pets and lots of these carvings had dogs, cats or chickens. (I was once in a shoe shop and a lady got a baby ferret out of her handbag.)

 

My matrioska doll, with 13 ladies who stack inside each other, is broken. She has an enormous crack in the outer lady. I keep her to remind me of the day I got stuck in the metro door- she took the brunt- at Novoslobodskaya on the way back from Stitch and Bitch at Christine's apartment.

The Russians knit and crochet like demons and yarn is ridiculously cheap at the factory outlets. I have a major stash that I brought back with me. They like funky colours as well. Oh, and they knit the most marvellous shawls in cobweb yarn, on thin copper wires. They also collect dog hair and spin it. I have a pair of dog-hair socks. Sounds odd but they are a lovely colour and incredibly warm.

Which, considering it was -40C the second year we were there, is important.

Buns.

 

We all needed cheering up yesterday, so I baked some cakes. They are actually in muffin cases and I'm not sure whether it's because we're so used to everything being supersized these days but they looked, well, small.

 

They also rose to alarming peaks, so look like sweetie islands in a sea of fondant icing. Nigella always slices off the unruly tops before icing them, but it seems like a waste of perfectly good bun to me. I like nice side plates to serve them on but if there are lots I may put them on one of these...

 

Which has a proper name that escapes me for the moment! 

Whilst looking for a cloth to put them on I noticed just how much I seem to like tea towels with a red theme.

 

My very first kitchen colourway was red and white (so 80s) and I still use the red garlic press. It's back "in" again and I still love it.

Lurking at the bottom of the drawer were these lovely linen cloths. I'm not sure whether they're tray cloths, hand towels or tea towels. I got them at a flea market and they are obviously very old.

The labels say Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co. The linen is wonderful quality. They hadn't been used when I bought them and were grubby but washed a treat.

Perhaps they're supersize napkins.

Out and About.

 

I walked into town yesterday to get some veg and flowers from the town centre. This is The Crescent, a beautiful building sadly standing empty and gradually decaying. No-one can decide what to to do with it. There have been numerous proposals for hotels, spas etc. but it's still just waiting. When I was at school it used to house the Library upstairs in a magnificent room with a ceiling that looked like an iced wedding cake. Most of the rest was an hotel, the St Annes, where a genteel older lady played the piano and took requests.

The University of Derby, I believe, expressed an interest. They took on and renovated another of our unique buildings, The Dome.

 

Originally an open air stables built by the 5th Duke of Devonshire in the 18th century, the roof was added in 1882 and the building became the Devonshire Royal Hospital. The dome is bigger than that on St Paul's Cathedral! It's now part of the campus of the University and the old hydrotherapy pools have been reopened and are part of their spa. The restaurant is excellent- according to my parents who went there recently. It's staffed by students doing catering qualifications.

 

I walked back through the Pavilion Gardens. The buildings here host lots of events like farmers' markets, antique fairs and occasionally boxing matches! It's a lovely walk and there are always lots of visitors, dog walkers and children in the playgrounds and feeding the ducks. This view used to be a bowling green but it flooded so often (the river is in the background) and was waterlogged so much, they gave up.

 

The Octagon (a large hall, one-time ballroom/concert hall) is where most of the markets etc are held. The Beatles played there in 1963. It looks exactly the same these days. My school prize-giving was held there every year. I stood on that same stage to receive my O and A level certificates- not such a good crowd on those occasions.

 

This photo from 1889 shows a ladies' tennis tournament in the Pavilion Gardens. The courts are now a playground and the trees are fully mature- you can't see the houses clearly like this any more.

 

Back to where we started- sort of. This is the library today. Not quite so glam...

More tea, Vicar?

   

I can imagine this little number worn over a flouncy frock at an afternoon tea party.

I finished it today and it will form part of my sister's birthday present. It comes from the Rowan book Winter Gifts (designed by Martin Storey).

 

I knit it in Jaeger Matchmaker DK in a shade called Auburn (6 balls). The photo really does no justice to the colour. I added some vintage-style buttons and may also make the corsage.

I bought the pattern book as I want to try to make at least part of everyone's Christmas present next year, and there are some lovely projects. This cardi, though, could be knit in linen or cotton and be ideal for summer worn on its own or over a camisole.

I've already bought some yarn to make myself one!

 

Spring?

The snowdrops are doing their best to brighten up the garden...

 

but can you see our other little visitor? We moved into this house 18 months ago and it wasn't until last spring that I saw we had a celandine infestation. There are woodlands nearby and it looks lovely carpeting the floor under the trees. Not so good in the garden. I spent many, many hours last year rootling out the corms and sieving the soil. Pointless. It dies down eventually and life is really too short. I shall not be indulging in that sisyphean task this year. I quite like yellow, even though I read once that "serious" gardeners find it a naff colour. (Not sure they used that exact word, but that was the gist.)

 

Lawks a mussy! More yellow. There are lots of primulas (primulae?) in the garden, mainly from previously planted-up tubs, and in lots of different colours. The others, however, have been  got at. Birds, I think, and who can blame them. The yellow ones, though, remain almost untouched. A very discerning class of bird in our garden...

When the weather starts to warm up I'll set to tidying. We usually leave a lot of leaves and such lying around as we have frogs and toads in the garden which spawn in our very small pond. They also like to get into the cellar when the window is left open- it's almost flush with ground level. I have repatriated several...and a vole.

 

Kitchenalia.

I like old things, and things that evoke times gone by.

 

The cutlery and the butterdish are old, the other crockery is new(ish). I have a large collection of vintage tablecloths and use them all the time. My favourites are the ones embroidered with cottage garden flowers in really bright colours. I never worry about washing them as some people seem to do. Boil wash with good old Fairy non-bio powder. Mine have had curry, red wine and goodness knows what else successfully removed!

Sometimes modern designs really catch my eye-

 

-this is "love and peace" by Portmeirion. Not a new design really, it's from their archives. I love it and keep buying extra pieces. Plates next.

My sister used to be a ceramic designer for a very well-known company. She's now an art teacher. So much stuff we buy comes from the Far East these days. It's cheaper.

 

But you can't beat a dresser full of "harlequin" (ha ha,style magazines love this word- mismatched to the rest of us) china. I do change it around occasionally but it always seems to end up back in the same places. Funny that.

 

Rippling along...

This, I think, is my favourite ripple afghan - so far. There are several to choose from, and I've done some rather eccentric colour combinations. Occasionally this is to use up yarn that I don't really know what else to use it for. More often than not I buy even more yarn as something has suggested itself to me and I want to get stuck in.

The pattern is so easy to do- good for when the TV is on, or the radio, or just conversation. It does involve repetetive counting which doesn't suit everyone, but I find incredibly relaxing. I'm sure it's an underlying symptom of something or other. And it grows. This one was  organic-style as in I just picked up colours as I went along. They aren't all like that and I admit to usually liking a more regimented style. Again, a symptom...

I am a great fan of symmetry and find free-style crafting quite difficult, I like aran knitting for the same reasons. I could never understand other children who didn't mind when their colouring went outside the lines.

I like ironing too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, here are a couple more, the one on the left has a real 70s feel. The one on the right was a user-upper-of-stash. They get used all the time, especially at this time of year in an old house like this.

I made door sausages, filled with polystyrene beans, but earlier this year it was so draughty it blew them from under the doors.

On the plus side it's rarely stuffy, lovely in summer and the gas man, when checking the appliances, said we needn't worry about extra ventilation. Whilst trying not to laugh.

Fresh air is good for you.

Hugh.

 

I am a big fan of Hugh's, and have been for some time. It all started with his whacky TV programmes about eating unusual things. I particularly remember the family who cooked and ate the baby's placenta at the christening. I have followed all his antics at River Cottage in its many incarnations and have the DVDs and cookery books to peruse at my leisure.

Last year the whole family went down to Dorset so that I could go to the shop in Axminster. (They are very understanding.) It was a great short break. We stayed at a lovely hotel in Lyme Regis (which has some great independent shops) and also visited Monkey World, which Annie was obsessed with at the time.

Then, off to Hughie's shop. Not quite the massive emporium I'd been expecting, the restaurant looked good but was serving full lunches and we couldn't just have tea and buns for the fun of it. We bought some cider (reports were good on that), some eggs and other sundries. Then I spotted the wool- from Hugh's own sheep! Natural and undyed (and I may say a little on the shall we say rough side). I had to have it. I did have it- in all colours. The young man at the checkout said no-one had ever bought it in that sort of quantity.

I got it home and pondered what to do with it now the adrenalin rush of buying Hugh's own sheep's wool had abated... and so to another of my obsessions. 

The crocheted ripple afghan.

(I use the American term afghan as "blanket" sounds so mundane and has absolutely no atmosphere.)

The above is my Dorset Ripple. A reminder of our mini-break and my homage to Hugh.

Day Out.

                                   

Yesterday we went off to Manchester to the Whitworth Gallery (above) to soak up a little culture. We hadn't been before so checked it out on-line first http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/ . I did notice that there was a session called "Toddlertastic" but also noted that it finished at 11.30am. Not so. My enjoyment of the wallpaper displays was tempered by said toddlers and the bongo drums, singing and such.

I am not against this type of going-on and think it's a great use of the space and a wonderful place for the toddlers. But. I would like to view the displays without negotiating pushchairs and nappy bags, and without being scowled at by the parents/ carers/ nannies for wanting to look at the gallery contents. I refrained from scowling back.

We then went into Manchester for tapas and a bookshop trawl. Annie (aged 12) came away with a modest 7.

I also had a quick sprint around the House of Fraser cosmetics department. I needed a heavy-duty moisturiser as may face appears to be falling off. Decleor, once again, seems to have come up trumps. I am a devotee, not least because I do care what I slap on my skin.

I also added another chapter to my search for the perfect red lipstick (my own personal Holy Grail). I must have every red variant ever produced and was sent into a cold sweat at the Chanel counter to be advised a new range of reds will be out in March. Bet they'll all look horrific on me as well, but you have to keep plugging away at these personal challenges. It is the British way.

Of course, it never stops at one thing in these places, does it?

I have been taunting myself with this fragrance for some time now. I love everything about it, including the great presentation. So, I bought myself just a little bottle and sneaked it home. It looks right at home on the dressing table and what's more, and more important as well, it smells good on me! Things don't always turn out like that- the allure of a nice bit of packaging can end up a disaster in the "How it smells on Me" stakes. I'm sure we've all been there.

Happy Valentine's Day!

                                          

Did you get any cards?

That Friday feeling.

                                            

The 13th of February has never been a problem for me, Friday or not. Simply because the day after is my birthday!

Work was also good because today is the last day of term and also an INSET day so no, er, students.... The canteen was trying out new recipes on us and the beef stroganoff with noodles was lovely. Really. Nothing remotely like I remember school dinners- mashed potato dished out with an ice-cream scoop, pink custard, and the all-pervading cabbagey smell. Although at my junior school they made fabulous stew and dumplings.

I often opted to take sandwiches (and often swapped with a friend for her Tupperware beaker full of mashed pilchards) which started off alright but rarely avoided becoming sweaty after being in a locker all morning. I still usually make my lunch to take in but go for salads, occasionally bothering to grate cheese for a sandwich.

I also take my own mug, milk and teabags. No-one will take on the responsibility of collecting tea money. Basically because no-one ever paid up. So, the staff room is awash with bottles and packets and not a little petty pilfering goes on. No-one admits to it, of course... We will return after half term to a fridge stuffed to bursting with rancid milk and the festering long-forgotten remains of goodness knows what. Because it's no-one's actual job to keep the fridge organised. We are all in denial.

We do, though, have a birthday list. Thanks to which I have an impressive haul of cards for tomorrow. Which makes me feel very thankful to work with such a nice bunch of people.

Kinky Boots.

                             

My parcel from the Plumo sale arrived today containing a pair of these rather groovy clog-boots. I fancied the idea of them but wasn't too sure when I opened the box. They are comfy, and the leather is exactly the same colour of rich brown as in the photo. I think they are keepers.

Not so the lovely green, sheer tunic top. Which looks like a sack on me. Despite (or because of?) the sequins at the neckline.

I'm obviously a clog-boot kinda gal.