Random thoughts of a would-be knitter

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Getting Craftier

Cheadle and Buttons
It may only be the end of October but my thoughts are already turning to Christmas! At work, I am organising a charity craft fair with the incredibly talented and stylish Juliet, for everyone to sell their homemade goodies, whilst raising a little bit of extra money for the National Literacy Trust. I'll be selling button jewellery as I did last year, which means that for the next four weekends I'll be creating, threading and glueing a new collection. This is the first batch and I'm really liking them so far. To see more of Juliet's work, check out her Jules and Clem shop on Folksy - it's gorgeous!

Pale and Pretty Buttons Bracelets

Bubby for Acorn
I've also been doing quite a lot of knitting and even some crochet. I've picked up Cheadle again and have finally managed to finish the plaited centre panels. (If you look really carefully, you can see a bit of them in the background of the photo at the top of this post.) I'm a little bit nervous about picking up an even amount of stitches above the central panels, but I am so determined to wear it this winter that I really am going to go for it. D and I are heading down to Cornwall in a couple of weeks' time, so I shall take it with me so that we can have a little bit of quiet time together - wish me luck! I've also made a second Noe Noa scarf, this time for my sister's birthday. I'd sort of forgotten how to crochet so the first couple of rows weren't quite perfect but before too long, I got right into the swing of it, although as the birthday approached I still found myself hooking right up to the wire! I completely forgot to take any photos, so Amanda very kindly got two of her dogs to model it – here are the results!

Tiggy Looking Lovely

Not so much a model as a prop.


"Look at me, look at me!"

Proper Posh
In other, very exciting news, D has graduated from Henley Business School with a very well-earned MBA! Last Friday we checked into the very-fancy-indeed Hotel du Vin for a couple of nights' of utter luxury. And as wonderful as the hotel was, the ceremony was even more amazing! I felt so proud to see him walk boldly across the stage, shake hands with the vice-chancellor and collect his certificate. We were joined for the day by D's twin and celebrated afterwards with champagne in the bar. Heaven. If you've never been to Henley-on-Thames, I can assure you that it is well worth a visit. It is such an idyllic location on the river with lovely pubs, bars and restaurants. (And the poshest loo in the world...)

Last but not least, I continue with the books and the baking. I've just taken a lovely tray of flapjacks out of the over ready for a picnic in London town tomorrow with my mum, dad and sister. Right now, I'm trying very hard to resist the urge to scoff the lot. The recipe is one of the easiest you could imagine. Melt 150g of butter in a medium sized pan with four tablespoons of golden syrup and 50g of brown sugar. When it's all mixed up add in 275g of porride oats and pour into a buttered and lined brownie tin. Bake at 190 degrees for 20 minutes (or until it looks yummy), leave for ten minutes to cool, cut up into snack sized squares then wolf down with a nice cup of tea.
Flapjacks - Yummy!
Last but not least, I've read quite a few books since my last post that I would heartily recommend: The Glass Room by Simon Mawer, The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas, No and Me by Delphine de Vigan and The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Keeping it Cozy

Mellow in Autumn
 Autumn is well and truly here, and what a beautiful season it is. D and I took advantage of our location a few weeks ago and went for a long, lovely stroll through the New Forest. The sun was shining and the light through the trees was amazing. Wherever we walked there were fallen leaves and the most amazing mushrooms. D was incredibly patient as I stopped every few paces to capture yet another fine specimen on my new camera. We saw literally hundreds, in all shapes and sizes; in circles and rings; on trees and in hollows - they were everywhere!

We also made friends with quite a few of the gorgeous New Forest ponies, that roam through the woods and on the common land, but the best thing we saw was the Landford Village Autumnfest. I'm not sure that I have ever seen anything quite so bizarre as their scarecrow competition! Outside every other house in the village was a homemade scarecrow, some modelled on famous people; the Pope, the X-Factor judges, Wayne Rooney, some based on fantasy characters; all manner of fairies, the cast of The Wizard of Oz, Shrek, Borat(!) and some ordinary people; the cellarmen outside the Landford Poacher and the couple getting married outside the old chapel. It was brilliant - click on the link to see the overall winners.
The Finished Mittens 

On the needles, I have now finished my winter mittens, and just in time too! Already, I have to leave for work in the dark, and that extra little bit of warmth will make all the difference as the days get colder. I've also made a little something fro Emily from the Poultry Cross Knitters who will soon be giving birth to her little acorn! I'm also embarking on another Noa Noe scarf for my sister and I am determined to finish Cheadle before cables go back out of fashion! It has been lovely seeing in all the glossy magazines just how much knitting has been shown on the catwalks of the various fashion weeks around the world - here's hoping that more people get knitted and join one of the most gentle crafts going. Mittens crossed!

Messing about with my iPhone!
I'm still completely smitten with my iPhone and happy downloading apps left, right and centre! My favourites so far include Hipstamatic, the Man Booker Prize app, Nike+ GPS for tracking my running and the LSE Mappiness social experiment app. Hours of fun, and my life is way more organised too!

Beautiful Oddness
Something else that I have enjoyed, almost beyond measure was The Enchanted Palace exhibition at Kensington Palace. I visited this weekend with my sister and it was quite possibly the best exhibition that I have ever been to.  It was everything that I would imagine for a dark, beautiful, fairy tale brought to life in an enchanting setting. It contains dreamlike installations, fashion beyond compare, from the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Stephen Jones and William Tempest, a bewitching quest to uncover the stories of seven real-life princesses and contemporary art and poetry from some of the most talented modern artists. It's on until the 28th of February next year - if you can get to London, I urge you to go. Check out this blog of one of the characters Peter the Wild Boy.

One last thing - I have discovered a new passion - the joy of muffins! If only I had known years ago how easy it is to bake these lovely little beauties...  So far, I have tried raspberry and white chocolate, banana and mile chocolate buttons and double-chocolate chip. I shall soon be as big as a house - but very, very popular!

Yummy!