Lotusen

Crafting, South African style

2012-02-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

Wherever I go in the world, I can't help but poke my nose into the local craft scene. This time around I did a little more Googling than usual before heading off to Knysna, mainly in an attempt to find out if there were any interesting creative classes to get stuck into.

It seemed as though classes were in short supply (Knysna is a small place after all) but I did stumble upon the super-cute Peg & Thread website which piqued my interest. Having spotted a gap in the market for craft kits which would appeal to both children and adults, the two founders launched a variety of packages which include everything needed to get creative and make a specific item. They also offer a range of haberdasheries from ribbons and buttons to locally-produced linen and Liberty bits and bobs.

I was initially concerned that the whole operation was entirely online, but a quick email query to Nicola set me straight and got me heading in the seemingly unglamorous direction of Knysna's 'industrial area'. I was prepared for factory units and concrete, but was met with this:

Rather charming for being 'industrial' don't you think? Nestled between a salvaged furniture store, rusk bakery and interior design shop lay Peg & Thread.

I was met by the lovely Svelka who positively bubbled with creative enthusiasm and from whom I had to tear myself away amidst chatting about the London craft scene in order to explore the little studio.

Pretty display units housed the different craft kits:

Here are some they made earlier:

The other side of the studio displayed various haberdashery items such a ribbons, Liberty fabric buttons and other knick-knacks. The guy in the background was furiously packing craft kits for a bulk order. Having roots in the advertising and design industry, Svelka had mentioned Peg & Thread to a friend who passed on the idea on to a key influencer within a large advertising company. Suddenly Peg & Thread had an order of several hundred kits on their hands which were to be mailed out as special client gifts!

It's clear that there is a growing hunger for all things crafty on a global scale. As London now has it's fair share of craft workshops from Make Lounge to small independent designers, it's hard as a Londoner to remember a time when your every craft-related whim was not catered for!

Of course for some, having to research and individually source each project component is part of the joy of creation. However, even within a sprawling metropolis this can sometimes be a challenge. How often have I succumbed to the temptation of either buying a kit, or going to a class where everything is provided for me? Let's just say on more than one occasion..

In any case, I wish the ladies the very best of luck with their operation. It seems to have gotten off to a flying start, and there are rumours that there might soon be classes going on at a local cafe.. Very exciting indeed.

In my search for Knysna craft classes, Google did assist me in finding the Knysna Pottery House. I was actually looking for somewhere to learn how to 'throw' i.e. use a potter's wheel within a small group, but was open to suggestions on other clay-related activity.

Having spoken to Craig from Knysna Pottery House on the phone, he urged us to simply 'come over and have a look' one afternoon - very relaxed and bohemian. Once again heading over to the 'industrial' part of town (surely it should be called the 'quirky quarter'?) we tracked them down:

They did offer various classes such as ceramics painting and mosaics, as well as one-to-one 'throwing' classes. As we had just picked up my niece from school, it was a little late in the day to get started on anything except a little ceramics painting, but that could be fun too.

We began by picking out a plain ceramic item:

I chose a small bowl and got sketching. Hm, a Koi Carp perhaps?

Sadly I forgot to take a photo of the pre-fired piece, but here's how it looked when we picked up all the items a couple of days later:

Not too bad for a bit of spontaneous ceramic art, although I annoyingly forgot to paint on Mr Koi's feelers.. Anyway, here is the rest of the collection by my mum, niece, brother's girlfriend and her mother. Very enjoyable and extremely good value!

While passing through Oudtshoorn (about an hour and a half from Knysna) for a roadtrip, I happened upon a rather quaint looking textiles shop. As we had a little time to spare, I decided to explore. M told me that the sign in the window saying 'krapwinkel' generally means 'rubbish corner' in German, which of course only spurred on my curiosity even more!

Initially it seemed pretty dull: lots of rolls of tacky animal prints for the tourists...but right at the back of the store, something more colourful caught my eye:

Look at the pretty colours!!

To me, theses fabrics embodied Africa much more than the unimaginative leopard and zebra prints. And they were 16 Rand per metre (that's just over £1). Of course chaos and indecisiveness ensured.

In the end I got a metre of the following:

Erm, there *may* have been another visit to this charming krapwinkel on the way back to Cape Town a few weeks later. Just to complete the collection you understand.

In my mind it was exactly this combination of mad colours which held the appeal, rather than just one or two standalone prints. Gosh, will this be the year when I start quilting for the first time?!

Back in Knysna I also fell in love with this print from a local restaurant interior:

Thankfully Knsyna is a small place, and the local (i.e. *only*) local interior design shop was able to order a couple of metres for me. Exciting!! Sadly the fabric didn't arrive before I left, but my mum has promised to deliver it to me in a couple of months when they are back in the UK. To be honest I have plenty of fabric to keep me amused until then anyway!

My final craft stop was also a surprise. A tiny yarn store in the tiny town of Montagu, about two hours drive from Cape Town. With this crochet fellow sitting outside, how could I not go in?

As with many yarn stores in South Africa, acrylic prevailed although there were also some nice balls of cotton and bamboo. There was a small stash of 100% wool, which the owner insisted 'never sold'.

Admittedly I didn't see anything which I particularly fancied, although ended up picking up a couple of stitch holders which I have been meaning to buy for ages. I nattered with the owner for about half an hour, and attempted to introduce Ravelry into the conversation but she told me that she had long given up on trying to get an internet connection. No wonder she had so much time to create the huge and colourful crochet blankets casually draped around the shop!

I left her to arrange a myriad of squares for her next blanket project, feeling just a twinge of sadness that she would only get to share her creations with the small number of locals as well as the odd passer-by like myself. Crafting is often about self-expression and personal satisfaction, but at least for me there is also a joy in sharing tips and projects with anyone who is willing to listen.

In any case I am quite satisfied with how the creative juices flowing already this year and look forward to further discoveries and inspiration to come!

Dear Sothia,

2012-01-31T01:38:00.000-08:00

It's been fun having you around, but to be honest your fancy ruffly ways did begin to grate on me towards the end.

Despite looking dramatic while stretched out on the spare bed, you're not as perfect as you think (although I did my best to work your flaws).

I won't deny that we had some fun in the sun, but I think it was definitely about time that we cast off and moved on.

Maybe we can still hang out occasionally? You do go very well with denim after all.

With love,

Canine couture continues: Schnitzel's jumper

2012-01-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

After forcing all and sundry to view my photos of Mr Honk in his hoodie, it seems that the hand knit doggie jumper phenomenon is spreading. After inflicting the images on our friend S, she politely asked whether I could put together an outfit for Schnitzel, her mother's Miniature Dachshund.

After a little research, I thought that this patten might work rather well. So after a couple of days work, the little jumper was popped in the post and soon after I received images of the recipient:

Is that a wagging tail?

Well, little Schnitzel looks warm and toasty just as he should. Hm, perhaps time to start looking into the Spring/Summer 2012 collection?

Honk's hoodie

2011-12-28T05:50:00.001-08:00

Just before Christmas, I completed a project for my friend Mr Albus Honk. I knew that he dislikes the cold, and also that he has a keen sense of style so it was a no-brainer really. I dipped into the Bernat website and came up with this:

Confused? How about this picture?

No? Ok, here is a picture of Mr Honk modelling the goods:

Exhausting business, modelling.

Oh and here is one of the hood in the upright position:

And a side shot of course.

Despite a couple of my colleagues threatening to call the RSPCA after seeing these photos, I can honestly say that Mr Honk seemed to enjoy his new hoodie and its warmth. In fact, soon after these pics were taken, he snuggled up on L's lap and fell asleep which is not usually the sign of an animal in distress.

This also means that Albus has something to wear underneath his natty Barbour jacket to keep that nasty chill away, good and proper.

Curiosity update

2011-12-20T05:40:00.000-08:00

So glad that my curious 'victim' liked her parcel! See her reaction here.

It feels oddly voyeuristic to see your own package being unwrapped, but very satisfying too. Glad to bring a little extra festive cheer!

The Curiosity Project

2011-12-11T04:59:00.001-08:00

Have you heard of the Curiosity Project? Personally I think it's run by someone who felt that there were simply not enough interesting packages sent through the post anymore. I vehemently agree, and therefore signed up.

The concept it simple; when you sign up, your address is sent to another like-minded member of the Curiosity community along with a short description of yourself. A few days later, you are sent an address and description of your own 'target'.

It is then up to you to put together a little box of curiosities for your target (spending limit around £20) and send it off to them in time for Christmas. A lovely idea I think. Especially as, after an initial fit of creativity, I completely forgot about it until a large, wonderful mystery parcel arrived for me a couple of days ago..

Even the box was hand-decorated!! Curiouser and curiouser indeed.

Inside the box was an array of Christmassy items:

- Nana's Christmas biscuit recipe, complete with Christmas tree cookie cutter.

- An advent candle.

- A pair of silver bells.

- A pot of shimmery, cola flavoured lip gloss.

- Christmassy ribbons.

- Hand-made candy cane earrings.

- Hand warmer.

- Christmas buttons.

- A chocolate 'sanity clause'. This one I found particularly touching.

I'll let you read the notes for each, but I really was amazed at the time and effort that 'J' had put into this very personal package. This definitely injected some Christmas spirit into my life!

And made my get my behind into gear and send my own parcel. My target described herself as very creative and crafty, so I didn't find it too difficult to think of items to include.. As regular readers will know, my Christmas crafting is well under way, so I thought I would include a couple of samples:

- One boxy pouch for creative projects.

- One home-made jar of orange, plum and cinnamon jam.

- One silver apple charm (made in the silver clay class).

- One length of vintage trim to be creative with.

All fitted inside a box and nestled into some tissue paper and sparkly stuff:

I hope they enjoy unwrapping it, as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Wreath encounter

2011-11-29T12:42:00.001-08:00

Ok, first of all apologies for the shamelessly cheesy title - I just couldn't help myself. Second of all, where did November go? Surely the proliferation of comedy moustaches should have been a warning in itself.. Oh well, time to get into the Christmas spirit.

And nothing gets me into the Christmas spirit more effectively than a visit to the countryside at this time of year. You may remember last year's wreaths? It was once again time to raid my parents' garden for greenery and get busy with the green wire.

As usual I didn't really have a set idea of what I wanted, but gradually something resembling what I was after was built up:

The finished article:

Of course it not only has to *look* like Christmas, but also *smell* like it. Hence the need to realise this 'pain d'epices' recipe. Mmmmm..

A bit like gingerbread, but the type you can legitimately have for lunch with butter and cheese!

At least a little of the Christmas spirit was spread to London:

I feel slightly more ready for December now.

Invasion of the boxy pouches

2011-11-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, the Christmas present production line continues!

This weekend, several more boxy pouches popped into being:

I've tweaked the pattern slightly to make the design more seamless and avoid any raw edges on the inside. I'm just a bit particular like that.

Obviously you'll recognise the Hello Kitty for Liberty fabric, but I also recently fell for some wonderfully quirky and colourful whale print fabric from Saints and Pinners.

I might have to keep at least one of these for myself..

Christmas chutney production - Batch 1

2011-11-10T03:36:00.000-08:00

Apart from my brief introduction at The Make Lounge, I have never actually made chutney. I never before saw the point of putting stuff on cheese, which in my opinion was already rather tasty. In recent years though, probably due to my more regular visits to various London wine and cheese establishments, I have warmed to the idea.

After one such visit the other evening, I decided it was time to have a go myself (and perhaps some home made chutney could make good Christmas presents too?).

Ok, the first thing about chutney is that it seems to involve a lot of chopping. This lovely recipe for pear, date and cinnamon chutney really put me through my paces. Chopping up 450g of shallots resulted in a little breathing difficulty, although the veggies themselves were very pretty (perhaps I was a little high on onion fumes by then):

Bubbling away on the stove, the chutney smelled a lot like Christmas shot through with vinegary tones. It struck me that I wouldn't really know if the chutney was a 'success' or not straight away as I'm told that the jars need to 'mature' for a month or two before being eaten. Oh the stress of potentially giving away something rank for Christmas! I guess it's a possibility I'll have to live with..

After sterilising the jars in the oven, it was simply a matter of ladling away until all the little containers were full up. Nine jars in all - not bad for an evening's work.

Now all I need is one of those fancy chalk pens from Ryman's and a little fabric for prettifying. Oh and a month of 'maturation' time..

Cinna-nom

2011-11-06T09:41:00.001-08:00

Cinnamon has to be one of my absolute favourite spices, both for sweet and savoury dishes. Hence I have been carrying this recipe for Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake around in my bag for a couple of weeks. *Finally* this weekend I got my behind in gear to make it. I mean, does it get much better than a fusion between cinnamon rolls and cheesecake?

The faff of three different mixtures was intriguing enough to spur me through the seemingly endless washing up of bowls, and soon the cheesy, vanillary, cinnamony creation was puffing itself up in the oven.

The end result was satisfyingly golden brown and fragrant:

After four (excruciating) hours of cooling off in the fridge, it was time for the cream cheese frosting:

I think I made the frosting a touch too runny, so shoved the whole thing back in the fridge pronto, before the topping could make a dash over the edge of the cake..

Final result? An interesting mixture of cakey cinnamon roll and gooey vanilla cheese cake - yes it's as good as it sounds! I'm off to have my second slice of the evening.

Kitty Christmas

2011-11-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

Time for a small celebration: my first Christmas present has been created. Out of the fabled Hello Kitty for Liberty fabric, no less.

So that's one down and ... how many to go?!

Probably *this* many:

At least I had the presence of mind to cut out a load of fabric to the correct sizes while I was at it:

So now all I have to do is find a free weekend.. *slightly hysterical laughter*

An evening with the Minotaur

2011-10-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

I have frequented the Old Vic Tunnels once before for a play, but last Friday it was time to return to experience it in a slightly different, more culinary way called 'Pret a Diner'.

The experience was a collaboration between gallery group Lazarides and catering provocateurs Kofler & Company so therefore included an arty bit and a dining bit. We arrived a little early to have a poke about the tunnels and happened upon some very interesting pieces.

The below kaleidoscopic work is by Zak Ove:

Surreal portraits by Michael Najjar. We never did work out whether it was photography, or hyper-real painting:

Atma is behind the installation below:

Vhils describes his technique as 'vandalism art', having chiselled this portrait directly out of the wall.

Stanley Donwood is apparently Radiohead's official artist. Behold his mine made of rats:

In case you didn't believe me about the rats:

One of my favourite pieces was Doug Foster's ever-evolving projection. Oddly mesmerising and relaxing, it was possible to let your imagination run wild and see everything from faces to jellyfish, ever changing and reflected in the water beneath the screen:

We also found a labyrinth. Obviously you can't have an art exhibition centred around The Minotaur without one. It seemed dangerous:

Thankfully it wasn't all that scary. Just a lot of darkness, black lights, weird noises, mirrors and the odd flashing lights.

The Minotaur herself? Nope, just me and my glowie teeth.

Ah, so then came our turn to dine. One of the side tunnels had been decked out in a sumptuous, baroque-derelict style:

It was rather hot and humid in there, but we were soon brought refreshment in the form of wine, and a bag of bread:

There appeared to be two set menus to choose from (Ollysan & Nuno Mendes), each with three courses. Sadly two of the courses from each menu appeared to feature fish, much to M's disappointment (he generally feels that fish reminds him of public loos and is hence unable to bring himself to eat it). The waiter helpfully informed us that there was no alternative, and that we weren't able to 'mess with the food' as he eloquently put it.

I am a huge sushi fan, but can understand that it's not to everyone's taste so couldn't quite fathom why they didn't at least have a veggie option..

More fish-fest:

Half-way through the meal two manager-looking types stopped by our table and asked whether everything was alright. When we mentioned the fact that it was a shame there was no veggie alternative they looked shocked and told us that of course there was a vegetarian menu! Argh. None of them actually offered to bring it to us though.

Oh well, when the third course arrived M could finally tuck into some very nice steak and we all agreed that this was the best of all the food we had enjoyed that evening - even though it did take an age to arrive.

In the end we got a free bottle of wine, 20% off the bill and various serving staff coming up to us and make heart-felt apologies about either the waiting time or the lack of knowledge about the veggie menu. We were also offered one free dessert, but what use was that when we were six people dining? We did all have a fabulous evening though, despite the slight service disaster.

On the way out, we spotted this sign combo: "This is not a pop-up restaurant. This is a dining experience." You can say that again! Time to head for the exit..

We were secreted into the 'graffiti tunnel' that links Lower Marsh to the Southbank and took a while to admire the various layers of spraypaint. We also took in 'the car that wasn't there':

Then we dispersed, sated and happy after an interesting evening of weird art, waiters with weird moustaches and weird food. We all felt very urban-cool indeed.

P.E. and the Bunny Nuggets

2011-10-01T12:46:00.001-07:00

So it was E's Birthday and I was feeling crafty (and for once I actually had enough time to make something without giving myself a stress-related hernia). I recently stumbled upon this little pajama eater pattern, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

One magenta zip purchase later I was ready to get started! The pattern was fun and easy to do, leaving me with one creepy/cute creature. Let's call him P.E.

Obviously my creative urge wasn't completely sated, as I then decided that E needed a *knitted* Birthday card in the form of a Bunny Nugget. And I decided that M needed a one too, as he usually looks enviously at all the knitted animals that are hastily wrapped up and rushed out of the door to live with one friend or another.

Introducing the Bunny Nuggets:

And here is P.E. with the Nuggets:

They seem to like each other:

Ha ha, yes it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye isn't it?

It was almost a shame to separate them, but E seemed happy with her gifts so it was all worthwhile. M also seems very attached to his new knitted companion which keeps cropping up in various places in the flat when you least expect it...

Kitty madness

2011-10-01T12:20:00.001-07:00

Ok, I probably like Hello Kitty as much as the next person but when said mouthless cat is combined with Liberty print fabric and made *limited edition*, that somehow counts as a 'must have' in my mind. Hence Friday's impulse trip to Liberty.

Sign says: "We've joined forces with every girl's best feline-featured friend Hello Kitty, who has invaded our iconic Liberty floral prints as part of this exciting collaboration. The result is five gorgeous fabric patterns in eight colour ways. The Hello Kitty Liberty Art Fabric is exclusive to Liberty."

Liberty has always had a special place in my heart (that oak panelling, those balustrades, that lovely flower-shop entrance), even though I hardly ever have occasion to go there on account of their slightly out-of-my-league prices. Even when they shrunk their haberdashery section for no apparent reason, I still forgave them (I'm not forgiving John Lewis though - what were you people thinking?! Crafty people DO NOT want to share floor-space with crap for children!!).

So although I have yet to buy an actual item of clothing from Liberty, I have been known to moon around the yarn, ribbons and fabric, occasionally treating myself. Well, now it was time again.

Not surprisingly, the fabric had proved quite popular despite having only landed last Sunday:

I was after the 'apple' prints which I eventually found in both colours on a cutting table. After some agonising minutes, I decided to go for a metre of each as I just couldn't decide between the pink and blue.

I made it home without one of these though:

Or any of this, cute as it was:

So here's the swag:

And in close-up:

The idea is that these eventually are manipulated into boxy, zipped project bags a bit like the one made for D a while back. Well that's the idea anyway. I may just drape it somewhere prominent and marvel at it's prettiness..

It's a wrap

2011-09-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

I've had fun wire-wrapping jewellery for a number of years, but without any official instruction. When my friend C suggested we book the 'wire wrapped jewellery' course at Make Lounge last week, I saw this as a sign to stop fudging it and learn how to do it properly.

Our instructor was the ever-patient Tara who also teaches Design Technology to secondary school pupils (which I can only assume accounts to her infinite patience) and designs her own jewellery - more than qualified then, to teach a bunch of craftily inclined ladies over a glass of wine on a Wednesday evening.

We began by doing a series of test wrappings using the various tools and findings:

All pretty straightforward, so soon we were all crowded around the array of beads laid out for us to choose from in order to make our own projects. I tried not to drool too much.

Here were my chosen materials: pearls of various hues with 'antique gold' findings and chains:

Much wrapping later and I had what I wanted:

There was still a little time left over so I also swung together a long necklace with extra chain bits which I thought could be quite fetching:

Oh and I also took a cheeky snap of the instructions seeing as my brain seems to mainly consist of teflon nowadays:

A very nice and relaxed evening, and I certainly have my beading mojo back as well as my interest in Make Lounge. In fact I may be back very soon to try my hand at the various other classes they offer..

Freddie Platypus

2011-09-01T03:53:00.001-07:00

You may not know this, but some people's favourite animal is the Duck-billed Platypus. I actually saw one in captivity while in Australia and they certainly are fascinating creatures. Did you know, for example, that they have sharp spur on their hind foot which is also delivers venom? Awesome creatures indeed.

My colleague A recently left us to go on maternity leave, and it so happened that she is one of those people who love Platypuses. Well, it seemed obvious that I should knit her one of her own. Complete with dungarees.

In the end it turned out better than expected, as I found that this pattern was actually from a children's book created by Joanna Johnson. Of course I had to give her the book too.

So here is the finished Freddie hanging out on the balcony:

Has anyone seen Phineas & Ferb? Rather cute little Playtpus called Perry featuring in that too, albeit a funny teal colour..

Bye-bye birdie

2011-08-17T07:19:00.001-07:00

This birdie from MochiMochi has been in the metaphorical pipline for some time. All I needed was an excuse to make one.

In the end I thought he might brighten the day of a friend, so followed this pattern and free-styled the trimmings a little.

I didn't see the pipe-cleaner feet as strictly necessary, especially as he had no problem sitting up thanks to his lentil filling.

It did cross my mind that you could knit a great set of 'Angry Birds' characters with this pattern, and use this one for the pigs. All you'd need then is some wooden bricks and you'd be sorted! Hm, maybe one to plan for a Christmas present, circa 2020 (by which time no-one will remember what Angry Birds was).

Radiance Revealed

2011-08-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

Quite some time ago now, the talented Craft Actually published her very pretty Radiance pattern. I had never really given semi-circular shawls much of my attention before, but this one was different. This one had ruffles. This one had and attractive bands of varying pattern and texture. I was sold.

So it was from humble beginnings at Singapore Airport that my Radiance began it's development.

Worth noting that beautiful bright saffron colour which H decided to use for her first Radiance, while I nurtured my rebellious side and decided that my Radiance should be a contradictory BLACK. The selected super-fine yarn came from my adventures in Stockholm.

So after much work and just a couple of mistakes, Black Radiance was born. (Apologies for the atrocious blocking towels):

Just in time to complete my look for E's wedding:

The shawl went perfectly with the vintage dress nicked from my mum and slightly modified by me. Apparently she wore it to a wedding about 3o years ago, so I think it only fair that it get a second nuptial outing.

I heart Maltby Street Market

2011-07-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

It doesn't happen very often that you find something amazing right on your doorstep. Usually it's all about some interesting restaurant in Notting Hill or cosy pub in NW19, but not this time. Today we joined the smug crowd wandering around Maltby Street Market and just revelled in it's sheer nearness to our front door - about 3 minutes walk to be exact.

I used to get told off by friends for not visiting Borough Market more often, seeing as it's pretty much just down the road, but soon they too realised that over the years it's become over-priced, over-crowded and mainly full of tourists. This viewpoint is also shared by the sellers, who after too many run-ins with the management, decided to up sticks and start their own market thank you very much. There's a great article about the 'Bermondsey Seven' here, along with a bit more background info.

In any case, we met S just outside St John's arch on Druid Street to pick up some crusty bread and obligatory custard-filled doughnuts. Already at 10am there was a sizeable crowd forming.

Proceeding around the corner, we hit Maltby Street proper:

Next stop Monmouth Coffee:

Coffee was sipped and custard doughnuts consumed with gusto while sitting in the sunshine and watching the Bermondsey hipsters go by with their dogs and toddlers. Is this where the old Shoreditch crew go when they grown up?

Continuing down Maltby Street it's clear to see that it's certainly a bit more gritty than Borough, but personally I rather like that! Maltby feels a bit like Borough's younger, hipper and slightly more edgy younger sibling.

We passed arches full of old radiators which reminded me of school days.

There were also salvage shops, reclaimed flooring experts and antique sellers all crammed into their own little cubby-holes, waiting for you to walk by and peer inside.

I already knew that I wouldn't be leaving the market without some cheese. The only question was which sort.. Following a couple of tastings at Mons, we settled on a Epoisse-like variety.

S found some gorgeous-smelling sweet-peas further down Maltby Street at a very pretty veg store.

The attention to detail when it came to laying out the produce was impressive, and of course that lovely smell of fresh vegetables was everywhere.

Just next door was Kernel, offering super-local beer brewed right there in the arch! We didn't indulge this time, but I'm sure there will be more opportunities.

Around the corner and back on Druid Street, we picked up a morsel of Cumin Gouda and some lovely fresh duck eggs.

Apparently they are great for baking.

More fruit and veg, this time at slightly more reasonable prices.

After poking around in various antique dens, we happened upon a sign enticing us to visit The London Honey Company which harvests it's produce from local hives including Wapping and Harrow. Stumbling up the steps into a nearby warehouse, the sweet aroma of wax and honey hit us almost immediately. Inside the workshop-cum-shop, we found slabs of honey-comb and bees wax laid out alongside jars of honey and honey-comb portions from various locations.

The large kitchen area jostled with various (I assume) honey refining paraphernalia, including interesting conical flasks and huge pans hanging from the ceiling.

Ah, and then it was homewards to reap the rewards of our urban foraging. By this time, things were getting even more crowded, so the 10am start was just right.

This is one market I would certainly get out of bed for every Saturday. There are always afternoon naps after all :)

Rock the (Knit)Nation

2011-07-26T04:05:00.001-07:00

July 15th-17th marked a rather special event in the typical knitter's calendar: KnitNation. Last year I learned how to make two-at-a-time toe-up socks, and have made erm, zero pairs of those in the past 12 months.. Oh well, maybe this year's class would result in slightly more applicable skills?

It was actually rather easy to choose which class to do, and this time E and L were also in agreement: colourwork. Something all three of us were equally useless at, usually ending up with a lumpy piece of yarny rubbish after hours of *really trying*. And L still needed to knit that llama jumper for her husband...

Who would come to our rescue? None other than Susanna Hansson, queen of stranded knitting and Bohus Stickning.

So, far too early for a Saturday we congregated in one of the lecture theatres within Imperial College.

Looking studious in the front row!

We warmed up with a little intarsia. Previously I always ended up with an island of coloured yarn surrounded by a moat of loose stitches and general awfulness. This time around it actually all seemed to work out - it's all in the wrapping apparently.

We then carried on to try some fair isle, which was immediately a little more challenging. It basically involved trying to knit continental style with one colour, and English with the other which means that whichever one you prefer, you're going to struggle. I managed alright, although apparently my 'floats' (the yarn carried on the back of the work) were still a little tight.

I don't think I'm quite there yet, but hopefully a couple of projects later I should get the hang of it... I think we all felt the frustration of wanting to be able to do it NOW, but Susanna patiently explained to us that no-one can be an expert after their first go. Grrr, mutter, mutter..

We then got some *free yarn*!! It's a well known fact that certain things you can never really have enough of. Shoes and make-up are a couple of examples, and in the case of knitting obsessives, yarn is without a doubt another such example. Susanna had very kindly brought us over some Prism yarn from the US which was very pretty indeed. She had actually bought so much that we in the end got to choose about four mini skeins each:

She then got us to try slip stitch knitting with two colours, which resulted in some rather Chanel-like texture:

Not really sure what I would use this stitch for exactly, but it was definitely fun to try.

Apart from being very friendly and helpful (and Swedish ;)), Susanna got bonus points from us all for her immaculately prepared hand-out which contained all the info we needed to keep up our new-found skills:

Surprisingly exhausted after our day of intense learning (and despite the half-time crepe), we just about had enough strength to potter around the yarn market once the class was over. Of course I managed to pick up just one little souvenir of silk from the Natural Dye Studio. I'm considering to knit it double with some cobweb weight merino I bought in Stockholm - watch this space!

So are we colour-knitting experts now? No. But are we feeling more confident? Definitely yes.

And I think L is just a little bit closer to that llama sweater..

Sweet charity

2011-07-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

The other day I had a Facebook message from a friend asking whether she had correctly identified me in The Pretty Hunter blog. Ah yes, that'll be me putting waaay too much effort into icing a gingerbread cookie. Well, it was all for charity. Great Ormond Street to be exact.

This message reminded me that I've been awfully slack at recording that particular event, which actually took place quite a while ago now. So here goes:

At the beginning of June, the office was a-buzz about a local event: the Incredible Edible Gingerbread House at the Brunswick Centre built by Alma-nac Collective Architecture. We were promised an actual life-sized gingerbread house complete with chocolate furniture, nibble-able wall tiles and lickable curtains - how could we resist?

So off we stomped to the Brunswick:

But oh dear, it was a little more crowded than we thought:

The queue seemed to stretch on forever, far longer than our little lunch break would allow.. After some loitering, I finally mustered the courage to chat to one of the PR ladies on the door and gush on about how we were from an innovation research company etc etc and proffering a business card in a super cheerful manner. Miraculously, she then proceeded to let us in! How's that for blagging, erm I mean *marketing* skills??

And what an awesome sight it was (note that each red balloon was held down by a hot cross bun - genius!):

Complete with meringue clouds:

Edible curtains:

Munchable wall-tiles:

And a sweet shrubbery:

The whole contraption opened a bit like a doll's house.

There were also cake-acious borders as well as edible mushrooms and what looked like a large chocolate catapillar making it way up a mound of croissants. Now that's even spacier than 'Alice in Wonderland' surely?

All around the house was a frenzy of activity with various groups of children being entertained by host Shirley Bassett (haw haw) or one of her friends.

Here a group are treated to a story from the 'Gingerbread Journal':

Shirley on form:

A guided tour (unfortunately grown-ups weren't allowed too close - boo!):

Before leaving we all had a go at icing a gingerbread item. Apparently Lily Vanilli was on hand to instruct icing classes later on - rather an odd choice perhaps, as the last time I heard about her she was making Halloween horror cakes and marketing her book: 'A Zombie Ate my Cupcake'. Anyway, my colleague K was particularly pleased with his tie:

The house itself was just amazing. Such attention to detail and sheer inventiveness! Sadly some of the surroundings of the house were not so inspiring.. It could possibly have done with a couple of rolls of plastic grass to cover the concrete flooring.

Still, a very cool experience, and I hear that over £5,000 was raised for GOSH. Now that's what I call sweet charity ;)

Heart to heart

2011-07-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

Ah, it seems I forgot to post the final item I made in the silver clay class: a present for my mum:

With the addition of a couple of wire-wrapped Swarowski crystals it almost resembles a necklace she sadly lost not that long ago.

Hope she wears it because she likes it, rather than through feeling obliged. At least it's not made of pasta shapes ;)

Whimsical winnings

2011-07-05T12:29:00.001-07:00

I'm usually not one for entering competitions (usually because I never win), but there was something about The Make Lounge's tempting promise of giving away the new 'Everything Alice' craft book that made we want to just have a go. The concept was easy enough: just say what you love about 'Alice in Wonderland'.

Being a huge Wabberjocky fan, I cobbled this together:

"Callooh! Callay! All things Alice bring me such frabjous joy, that not many things can outgrabe. Having a passion for all things quirky and creative, this book will have me galumphing to the craft shop and whiffling back home to get started on some brillig project or other!"

Poetic no? Well, I thought no more of it until an email from Jennifer at The Make Lounge graced my in-box last Friday and announced I was one of the lucky winners! That did make my Friday :)

The nice folks from Quadrille Publishing were pretty quick in getting the prizes sent out too, for already today I could be found leafing through the pages of 'Everything Alice':

Very inspiring indeed, and a great mix of projects to choose, from jewellery to tea-pot cakes. I'll keep you posted on any upcoming projects, and thanks to The Make Lounge and Quadrille for their generosity! I'm off to my vorpal sewing machine..

Surrey Studio Spy

2011-06-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend various Surrey artists threw open their studios and invited whoever felt so inclined in to see their work. So off we went to exotic Dockenfield.

What we found was an idyllic country cottage, surrounded by a wonderful garden, bustling with flowers, grasses and vegetable patches. The whole place had a wonderful bohemian feel: loved and maintained, but not obsessively groomed. Woven willow play-houses nestled on the lawn like pixie houses.

On entering the cottage, we were greeted by Judith, creator of the play-houses. She told us that currently there were four artists in the building including herself. We could find an oil-painter in the living-room, a printmaker in the conservatory and a knitter/yarn-dyer upstairs.

It was all a bit like a children's book: 'Oh, look who's in the living room! It's Ruth working on one of her impressionistic landscapes!' Ok, so maybe not a *conventional* children's book.. Anyway, we did indeed find Ruth working away on one of her heath and hills landscapes, using a comb to add texture and the impression of grasses blowing in the wind. Finished paintings hung around the room, and although not all were my cup of tea, many had amazing depth and you could almost see the movement of the grasses and the shadows of clouds moving across the land.

Next we visited Shirley Ann who was busy gouging lino in the conservatory. She told us all about various print methods, how best to line up multiple prints and even how an old metal tobacco box is a viable tool of the trade. Some very charming prints, ranging from Inca-style to African.

Time to venture upstairs. First we took in the view of the enviable veggie garden:

No doubt the 'heads' were made by an artist friend, if not by the owner of the house herself who we were hoping to meet next.

Sadly the knitting and dying lady herself (Alison) was away at a wedding for the day, but we were still welcome to nosey around her studio which was attended by a lady friend of her's who reminded me very much of the White Rabbit in 'Alice in Wonderland'. Very lovely, but ever so slightly bumbling and self-depricating in that uniquely endearing English way.

The studio itself was very much a working space, with yarn, tools and dyes covering every surface while a no-nonsense enamel sink crouched against one wall.

Of course I was instantly jealous of the space. Imagine having a dedicated place to make a mess and *not have to clean it all up straight away*! Amazing. Also, who wouldn't want to sit here to work on projects and enjoy the view:

A side room showcased Alison's (apparently quite famous) hand-knitted items.

The knitting techniques were indeed impressive, although the finished items were pretty, um, 'statement making'. Actually there were a couple of hemp ones which were a little more discreet.

Finally we were shown a little willow-weaving action:

Apparently it's possible to plant the vertical branches into the ground and have them continue to grow so that after a while you will get a living and leafy play-house. Very cool indeed, although apparently it takes a lot of maintenance.

The things one finds in the British countryside! I really enjoyed this rather bohemian set-up, surrounded by leafy greenness. Best wishes to all the arty ladies and thanks for their generosity in explaining their techniques and their infectious passion for their work. Maybe we'll see some of them at one of the events at Farnham Maltings soon.

Choctastic

2011-06-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

Friends are great pretty much all the time. But sometimes they out-do themselves. Like when they give you a chocolate-making workshop for your Birthday - whoo!!

Yes, a week or so ago it was finally time to head down to MyChocolate (weirdly located in the same building as the silver jewellery workshop) and begin our instruction.

We began by sampling some chocolate pieces of varying sugar and cocoa-solid content while our instructor extolled the benefits of raw chocolate and encouraged us to experiment with adding it to various savoury dishes. Chocolate and fish? Apparently divine..

Do note how *clean* everything looks here. Yes, that might change.

Having had some large metal bowls full of melted chocolate plonked in front of us, we were told that our first job was to 'temper' it. Basically we had to bring it down to the right temperature but stirring and adding extra chunks of chocolate. Fair enough.

A bit of elbow grease later and we were ready for the next stage: making a giant chocolate button. Although of course when the teacher announced that there would be a prize for the most creative 'button', all convention went out the window and everyone began work on their masterpieces:

Next up was ganache, and this is when things started to get *really* messy.. Two parts melted chocolate to one part cream, and some piping later, it was time to dip and decorate our truffles:

Utter chocolate-coated carnage, but miraculously they turned out alright in the end. I think the little cellophane bags helped a lot.

And my heart-shaped chocolate button turned out ok too, even though it didn't win the 'most creative' award. That was nabbed by the cat-head shaped one. Well, there's no accounting for taste ;)

Still, it made the perfect Father's Day present!

Thanks to the fabulous C&M and T&C for our sumptuous outing. In fact, any chance you might want to come around and sample some of the produce? I don't think we'll be stuffing ourselves with chocolate again for a little while..

More, more, more!

2011-06-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, once a get a taste for something I can get quite smitten. Especially when it comes to a new craft I can add to my arsenal. So of course I had to get some silver clay of my own to play with.

This time I wanted to make a ring or two, and the lack of know-how wasn't going to stop me. I quite fancied a chunky and irregular one, a bit like Charlotte Lyngaard's rings. The first job was to find something in my flat that I could use as a mandrel for my rings. After much hunting (and measuring, using my iPod cable - so professional!), I found something that would do: my food brush. You know, the ones you use to brush oil on chicken and such-like. Perfect.

After much cursing, this was the result:

I was intending to also create another ring and bracelet using some Fimo moulds I had created using some small twigs to make impressions. Unfortunately these kept falling apart, and I had to settle for another ring. This time a wrapped design with a 'hammered' finish created by poking the surface of the clay repeatedly with the end of a paintbrush.

Result below, supported by some twists of cling film so stop it slipping:

I was tempted to purchase a creme brulee torch for myself in order to fire the pieces, but as luck would have it, my friend J spotted a coupon for a half-price class at the London Jewellery School. She was keen to try the silver clay class, and I certainly didn't mind going again!

So off we went. Our lovely teacher Chu-Mei didn't mind me adding my own pieces to the kiln, and soon I was excitedly excavating my silver rings out from under their coat of organic binder clay.

Here's the first one:

And the second:

Not bad eh? And the best thing is that they FIT!!

I also made a series of tiny hearts in the class:

Which I later stuck together to make this:

Quite cute, but I think I'm going to need some stronger glue. The whole piece is a little bendy at the moment.

I did make one more piece in the second class, but I'm afraid you're going to have to wait until after the coming weekend for me to unveil it..

Sterling work

2011-05-19T07:52:00.001-07:00

I seem to like using the word 'awesome' with alarming regularity at the moment. This is slightly disconcerting as it's a word that I've always associated with American teenagers, or over-enthusiastic presenters. Much like 'psyched' (as in: "I'm psyched! Are you psyched?!"). In any case, awesome is really the only way to describe a new material which landed in my life last week: Silver clay.

You shape it, you let it dry, you file it, you fire it and voila it turns into solid silver! Miraculous surely? Well almost. Apparently it is made up of silver particles together with an organic clay binder. The binder gives the material it's flexibility, before being burned off during the firing process (a little shrinkage occurs) and leaving behind the solid silver. The lovely E was so kind as to give me a silver clay workshop with the London Jewellery School for my Birthday, and last Wednesday it was time.

Spurred on by biscuits and tea from their fancy machine, we learned how to properly prepare surfaces for the clay and the fact that you only have about *5 minutes* before the clay starts to dry and harden. That did slightly scupper come of my admittedly over-ambitious design plans, but the instructor was kind enough to let me go a bit free-style with the shapes rather than select one of the tiny cookie-cutters provided.

After patiently waiting for our creations to dry, we delicately sanded down the edges, drilled holes for the jump rings and transferred them to a work bench ready for firing. Armed with creme-brulee torches, we then toasted the charms for about 3 minutes each before gingerly transferring them to a water bath for them to cool down. At this point they still looked pretty unimpressive, but after just a couple of firm strokes of the wire brush the silver started peeking through - amazing!

After meticulously going through the rainbow of sanding papers, the charms were super shiny and very much solid silver.

I made three charms in the end, and it's really surprising how much you can make from just 5g of the stuff. My creations were the free-style birdie, apple (from mould) and the 'L' (from mould) which literally used up the last little crumbs of clay.

It's not often you actually end up wearing/using the things made at a crafty workshop, but I have taken rather a liking to the birdie and have even gotten a few compliments! So now E and I literally want to do every course available at the London Jewellery School. Yes, even the tiara one.

Around the world yarns

2011-05-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

After a bit of a hiatus I'm finally back from our round the world whistle-stop tour! Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and California all in one month was pretty intense to say the least - but totally amazing! I think I'm still trying to digest all the impressions in my head.. But I won't bore you with the details. Instead, let me tell you about the lovely yarns I picked up along the way. You can't expect me to travel the world and *not* purchase any yarn surely?!

First stop was Wool Baa in Melbourne, as recommended by a friend who lives locally. After following her hand-drawn map, complete with tram instructions, I made it there safely.

Wool Baa had a mix of yarns including the usual Rowan and Debbie Bliss, but they also had some nice local produce. I ended up succumbing to two hanks of Pear Tree 6ply in 'Moss':

After picking up a fist full of brochures from the tourist office in Federation Square, my interest was piqued by a store called Onabee which *looked* as though it was not too far away...
Turns out that the map was rather misleading, and after a 1.5h walk I finally found the place - only to discover that it was right next to a train station. At least I got home again quickly.
It was worth the slog though, as Onabee housed a very cute collection of Oz only yarn as well as pretty Etsy-style jewellery and cross stitch kits.
In the end I plumped for a skein of super-local Lara Downs 4ply Fine Kid Mohair and some Ms Gusset (heehee) sock yarn.

Having arrived in New Zealand, I was hell bent on finding some possum yarn. Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long, as a (admittedly rather touristy) shop in Queenstown had the wares I was after: Touch Yarns Possum/Merino.

The final yarn stop was ArtFibres in San Francisco. Such a lovely shop/studio! I was initially rather overwhelmed at the sheer choice, but after some methodical investigation and groping, I managed to pick out two faves: Tantra (100% Tussah silk) and Carezza (30% Silk, 30% Alpaca, 40% Merino).

Anyone for roving?

Ah!

The nice lady even let me browse Ravelry in order to work out how much yardage I needed - now that's proper customer service!

Linea the Second

2011-03-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

I know just how annoying it is when someone (usually someone you don't even know that well and who doesn't have a clue about crafting) comes up to you, grabs whatever item you're currently working on, and declares: "Can you make one for me?!" Usually in the tone of a small, petulant child. Yes I love making things, yes I enjoy making stuff for friends, but do you have ANY FRICKIN IDEA how long it takes??

I am however, also guilty of such outbursts from time to time. One such incident recently occurred on Facebook, when my friend B posted a fabulous image of an object he had just created. The petulant child in me stirred.. "I want one!" I blurted out. I am ashamed to say that I even added the sting of emotional blackmail by mentioning that it was my Birthday soon. Oh shame on me.

Approximately two seconds after having uttered this demand, I felt I should really offer something in return - an exchange of skills if you will. I offered B that I would knit something of his choosing. He chose a cat. Genius!

So fairly soon the cat started taking shape:

I really love making toys because they are generally fairly quick, and oh so satisfying. I had been requested to make the cat in the image of a dearly departed feline who was much missed: Linea. Seeing as B enjoys all things steampunk (as do I), I felt that Linea should have a steampunk inspired collar detail. After all, there were all those watch parts from Etsy which were still waiting for a project...

Collar in place, limbs stuffed and features embroidered. It was time to pose for the camera:

Ready for his close-up:

Bye Linea, I'm sure you will find a good home in Pennsylvania!

D day

2011-03-15T10:25:00.001-07:00

So what does one send an avid knitter for her 50th Birthday? Well, if one should happen to know that said knitter has a penchant for intarsia and general colourful knitting, then it's easy: lots of colourful mini balls of yarn!

Under the direction of a nice lady on Ravelry, myself and friends of Birthday girl D were instructed to send our little parcels of scrap yarn to her for collation in Germany (D kindly helped us along when we were yarn tourists in Sindelfingen). Great idea!

Me, being rather convoluted in my thinking, immediately thought of what to package the little yarn balls in. The solution? A little boxy zipped pouch, which could also double as a project bag for smaller WIPs.

After finding, and later abandoning various unintelligible boxy pouch tutorials online, I decided to fudge it myself. Miraculously, it seemed to work and after much cursing, this appeared:

Not a huge interior space, but enough to cram in some yarn surely?

Curious about the fabric? It's actually from a shirt that M got while at a Disney 'Creative Camp' in the US (apparently they had to wear it to meet with John Lasseter). It depicts various scenes from the movie 'Bolt', which I thought was fitting seeing as D is such a dog lover.

So.. on to the winding. It really amazes me that a modern knitter actually *needs* to have both a ball winder and swift in order to function independently. Ok, so you could argue that one could have the yarn wound at a yarn store for you, but I'm sure that would probably be frowned upon if you didn't actually buy the yarn there.. So here I am with seemingly antiquated knitting equipment, trying not to get myself entangled:

Three skeins of Wollmeise Lace later, and I've had quite enough of 'quaint' knitting equipment. I did however, now have three little balls of Wollmeise Lace, ready to go. I added another three hand-wound scrap balls, and the zippy pouch was at capacity.

All full!

So all that remained was to hand over the little package to the lovely L, who in turn will add her yarn contribution and send it over to Ravelry lady. Happy Birthday in advance D! Hope to see you soon for more German yarn fun :)

Are you an Icecreamist?

2011-03-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

I had the honour of being invited to The Icecreamists launch of the new shop in Covent Garden last week. Have you perhaps missed the the phenomenon which is The Icecreamists? They had a pop-up in Selfridges last year which made quite a splash, and I have been following their progress since then.

They were extremely generous in offering a free ice-cream cocktail and free regular ice-cream per person. Double dessert before dinner? Oh yes!

I had a 'Molotoffee Cocktail' and M had a 'Sex Bomb'. The Molotoffee involved dulche de leche ice-cream smothered in banana liqueur and topped with meringue which was *blow-torched* at the table, and then sprayed with rum from an old fashioned perfume spray bottle.

The Sex Bomb had Fior di Latte ice-cream blended with Ginko and other 'natural stimulants', and topped with a shot of absinthe dispensed from a nearby IV drip.

Don't believe me about he IV drip? Here it is:

The Molotoffee was delicious, but the Sex Bomb was a little too medicinal - and at £15 per serving it was rather lucky that it was for free! We should have chosen the 'Toast Mortem' instead which appeared at a neighbouring table: chocolate and hazelnut ice-cream with Frangelico which was to be spread on an accompanying slice of Panettone. Slight desert envy ensued.

M eyes up the Toast Mortem:

We were then asked about our next ice-cream selection, whereupon we decided to share one 'Choc and Awe' which turned out to be very dark chocolate ice-cream, without the drama this time. Very good, but we were pretty ice-creamed out by that stage so couldn't even finish it between us.

I must say that I was surprised by how small the place was, in light of the fact that the biggest appeal of The Icecreamists creations (apart from the crazy flavours) is the theatre and drama that takes place at your table. We were lucky to get a table at all, seeing as there were only three in the whole place! Ok, so there were also bar stools but if I was paying £15 for an ice-cream (no matter how enhanced) I would also want a comfy seat.

A very interesting experience, and I do wish them all the best if only because they have such a (literally) cool brand. Oh, and I hear that their 'Baby Gaga' has now been banned..

Sunday lunch at Battersea Power Station

2011-02-14T09:30:00.001-08:00

The Secret Garden Party held their first winter event at Battersea Power Station last weekend. It was certainly interesting, but I can't help but feel that it could have benefited from a little better organisation.
Initially the 'Sunday Roast' was supposed to be a dinner from 7pm.. then it changed to a lunch from 3pm.. I got an email from Secret Garden saying I should pick up the tickets at a nearby pub, followed 10mins later by an email from See Tickets telling me that the tickets were available at the venue. Argh.
Half an hour was spent on Sunday morning unsuccessfully trying to get through to See Tickets in order to clarify. Finally, we decided to meet at the pub, and that was lucky as this was indeed the pick-up point for the tickets (otherwise we would have had to trek 15mins from Battersea Power Station to the pub and back again in the freezing drizzle). I could go on, but I think you get the picture..

The venue itself was very impressive though. A sort of huge tent had been erected in the middle of the power station to house a raised terrance of dining table, stages, bars and a variety of workshop rooms. There were also signs to 'hot tubs' and 'ass-trology' which had their own smaller tents.

Having proceeded down the impressive entrance, we sat down at our table and ordered some drinks. On the table was a note: "We will come for you at x o'clock. Be ready, be discreet. /Mr M"
Hmmm. After about 20mins, a couple of Thunderbird style red-uniformed chaps with 'The Trust' badges arrived to 'take us to see Mr M', and ushered us outside the tent into the freezing interior of the power station. We had to replace our shoes with clompy boots, don hard hats and dress in high-visibility vests.
I guess the health & safety aspects of this event must have been a nightmare, but the uniformed chaps managed to make it fun and part of the process of meeting Mr M rather than simply following H&S guidelines.

Stylish:

Then off we went, single file into the station itself with our red-uniformed guides babbling happily about 'the movement' and 'how exciting' it was. Having been exposed to a range of experiential theatre events in the past, I found it surprisingly easy to switch off from the non-sense chatter and instead try and get as many photos as possible while not falling out of the all important single-file format. Proceeding up through a dirty stairwell, past aging exposed girders, graffiti-clad concrete walls and plastic mesh, we were hearded into a tiny windowless room. Again we were treated to a load of non-sense about 'The Trust' movement, how there had apparently been 'victories on both sides' and that 'careless talk costs wives'!

Non-plussed we were escorted into the Machine Room which was impressive indeed. Row upon row of switches, handles, knobs and dials. Very retro-future looking.

Single file please!

A slightly unhinged-seeming lady in a white lab coat asked us to 'trust' before introducing us to Mr M himself in all his frizzy-haired glory.

Unhinged lady:

Mr M talked earnest codswallop for about 5 mins, before the following conversation happened:
Mr M (looking beseechingly at one of our group members): Tell me, what sort of mouse are you?
Group member (looking perplexed): I'm not sure I'm any sort of mouse.
Mr M: You're not sure you're any sort of mouse?
GM (not wanting to disappoint): Maybe...maybe a harvest mouse.
Mr M: A harvest mouse! You are a GOLDEN MOUSE!!
He then made us hold hands and sing along with him: "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm not angry, I'm a golden pony..(repeat)"

Sing-song with Mr M. (I think the blurred nature of this photo reflects the weirdness of the situation rather well):

Soon after, we left the Machine Room with the unhinged lab coat lady calling after us: "Remember, sometimes 'trust' is spelled with a 'y'!" Scuttling back down the stairs and corridors, I again tried to steal a couple of moments just to look around and wonder at the huge decaying building. It really was quite overwhelming!

Spot the tent!

What was not so overwhelming was the roast dinner which was awaiting our return to the table. It was certainly edible, but not particularly exciting. Lunch was over at about 5pm, and was followed by a couple of rather bizarre floor acts: Dangerous Dave and Jizzum. Dangerous Dave proceeded to swallow a long pink balloon, before pulling a brown balloon animal out of his trousers. A 'poo-dle' apparently. Most amusing.
Jizzum were two ladies dressed as sperms. They erupted out of a large pink tube and proceeded to try to burrow into a large white yoga ball before stepping out of their white 'sperm suits' dressed as babies. All rather bizarre. And then the entertainment stopped.

Jizzum in action:

Wandering around the space it was clear that nothing more was going to happen until later that evening. There were little rooms with maps encouraging you to place a drawing pin and note at the location where you 'lost your love', an unopened stall promising to hand out locks to girls and keys to boys (if the right lock found the right key, there were Secret Garden gig tickets to be won), a cushion-filled room promising love stories etc etc.

Map of lost loves:

Sadly we couldn't be arsed to wait around much longer so decided to call it a day. To be honest, the main attraction was the power station itself and we were happy just to have seen that.

Should The Secret Garden Party decided to put on future events in London (especially in the Battersea Power Station) I would be happy to attend again, but perhaps arrive a little later. And not on a Sunday.

I can't help but think that London should really make more of this current infatuation with derelict spaces and do some proper tours. Could you imagine how much they could make from taking people around old tube stations, neglected historical buildings and the like?

Islandic/Danish/Swedish/English/South African shawl

2011-02-08T05:35:00.000-08:00

This shawl started it's life as a boast. My mother picking up an Icelandic-looking shawl in a Danish yarn shop, asking me whether I could make her one, and me boasting that of course I could. My mother duly purchased the pattern and yarn, then the fun began.

The first problem was that the pattern was in Danish. I could understand most of it, but wanted to be absolutely sure that I didn't misconstrue something crucial. Therefore I solicited the help of the very patient L, who is the only Danish knitter I know, and after a few emails we were all clear.

Thankfully this pattern is worked from the bottom up i.e. the cast-on row is the v of the shawl and you work towards the top/middle. This way, your rows get shorter and shorter as you work - rather than longer and longer which seems to be the traditional way of knitting a shawl (and incidentally makes the knitter lose the will to live near the end).

The only problem was that either I was doing something fundamentally wrong, or the pattern wasn't 100% correct. I just couldn't seem to make the number of stitches add up. Still, after *a little* free styling on the pattern front (and about 10 months later), the shawl was finally finished!

Here it is pre-blocking:

During blocking:

And hanging out after blocking:

In the end I think it's safe to say that this shawl has a rather international flavour: Inspired by Iceland, purchased in Denmark, begun in Sweden, worked on in England and finished in South Africa!

What's that coming over the hill?

2011-01-18T04:07:00.000-08:00

Yes it's a monst-ah, it's a monst-ah!! Actually two monsters:

These two are soon to be given to my colleague J who is imminently going on maternity leave - somehow thought they was appropriate! They are of course Rebecca Danger's 'Daphne & Delilah'.

Annoyingly I didn't have any white felt, but the gold leather seems to work too!

Gloves of love & lucky pigs

2010-12-21T08:07:00.000-08:00

For this year's Christmas present swap, my dear friends L & A decided that we should (for creative and budgetary reasons) make the theme 'hand-made'. How fortunate that we are all creative and resourceful individuals ;)

As A is spending much time working to set up her exciting entrepreneurial venture Anna Mae, L and I thought it would only be appropriate to create presents which would tie in with this nicely.

To keep A's hands toasty while she serves up the tastiest, tenderest pulled pork with home-made BBQ sauce at her market stall, I felt that a pair of Andrea's Mitts were in order. Who says you can't look good and stay warm?

Here they are blocking out:

Seems to be a good fit..

Luckily A liked them very much, as we exchanged pressies in a Soho ice-cream shop - it was about -3 outside at the time, so that probably says a lot about our obsession with ice-cream..
L had out-done herself creating a little mascot for Anna Mae's in the form of a very cute fluffy piglet, complete with name tag which I felt was a touch of genius.

A, I hope you don't mind if I nick your photo?

In return we received the most enticing jar of flavour combinations I have seen for a long time:

Having just about made it home before ripping the lid off and sticking a finger in to try, I can say that it tastes amazing! A little blob of this awesomeness is all that's needed to transform my morning porridge from bland to yum. Who knew that salted caramel and rosemary worked together so well?!

In other Christmas gift-giving news.. My Secret Santa target at work happens to love pigs, especially small cute ones. How could I therefore not knit up a trio of Chichesters for her?

Happily she loved them, and I do hope that they will bring her a trough full of good luck for 2011!

Sinful Sponge

2010-12-06T06:25:00.001-08:00

Some say it's a sin to put it in.. the microwave that is. To be honest I always believed that the combination of baking and microwave could only really lead to disappointment. Even the initial excitement of purchasing a pack of 'microwave mug muffin mix' waned as the rather pallid and wobbly mushroom-like muffins emerged from the microwave.

So it was with some trepidation that tried this recipe for yes, MICROWAVE syrup sponge! Syrup sponge is one of those recipes that I've never really bothered to make before as it seemed to involve complicated things like steaming, so the whole microwave thing actually sounded justified.

Apart from all the syrup migrating over to one side of the sponge during cooking, it actually turned out pretty well and even looked edible:

Might also be worth noting that I didn't bother with risking cling-film (or Saran wrap as they call it in the recipe) in the microwave, favouring just to plonk a small plate on top of the bowl during cooking.

Highly recommended, especially with lashings of custard.

Ice Queen & the Forgotten Cowl

2010-12-06T06:20:00.001-08:00

Ah 'tis the season for Secret Santa! I was lucky enough to receive this beautiful lace cowl from T last week at our knitting Christmas dinner.

A beautiful specimen of Ice Queen:

It is already a staple in my wardrobe as the cold snap persists.

In fact I usually wear it underneath this chunky seeded cowl, which I admit I was intending to give away for Christmas. Alas it proved much too snuggly and warm so I decided to be selfish. In fact I started wearing it as soon as it was finished and hence completely forgot to (b)log it..

I have no idea what that piece of rubbish under the chair is either.

Looks almost like chain-mail.

Although it sometimes feels as though I'm wearing a neck-brace with these two around my neck, the warmth is just amazing.

Christmas spirit (finally)

2010-12-03T08:24:00.001-08:00

I have to admit that sometimes the spirit of the festive season can pass my by, so I was as shocked as anyone to find myself laying out carefully wrapped presents and sellotaping fairy lights to my bookshelf the other day. How did that happen?

Well, I believe that it may have started last weekend with my parents. Having nabbed a free copy of the new IKEA cookbook I was quite curious to give a couple of the recipes a whirl. Spending a couple of days in Churt gave me the perfect opportunity to do just that.

First up: Jitterbugs. My granny used to make these funny, meriguey, biscuity creations. Chewey, crunchy and *very* tasty. Possibly also the weirdest method of making biscuits I've ever experienced, involving rolling up the dough like a swiss roll with the meringue inside and chopping it into slices. Slightly messy:

Post baking (not that much of a difference appearance-wise, but believe me the texture was *very* different!):

Next up: Cinnamon Buns! These weren't actually from the IKEA book in the end, but from the Swedish domestic cookery bible which is the Rutiga Kokboken. That volume tells you how to cook ANYTHING.

Much more appetising after a short spell in the oven:

Having gotten the creative juices flowing by this stage, I suggested some wreath creating.. After raiding the garden we had neat piles of Holly, Ivy and various ever-greens:

Probably worth noting that I have *no* previous wreath-creation experience, so Lord knows why I suddenly decided to have a go.. Anyway, after some battling with various greenery and lots of metal wire, this was produced:

Not too bad for a first go. My mum made this pretty one:

On returning to the big smoke, the next problem was attaching it to the door.
This seemed like a good solution...

...until I considered the health and safety aspects :/

In the end, this prevailed:

Hope the postman doesn't hurt himself on the holly..

Damn you boyfriend hat!

2010-11-26T03:14:00.001-08:00

I am sure you are all familiar with the 'Curse of the Boyfriend Jumper'? Girl meets Boy, they fall in love. Girl happens to knit and wants to show her affection by knitting a jumper for Boy. Girl works tirelessly to create her masterpiece, foregoing social life and friends in order to reach her goal. Giddy with delight, she hands over her finished object to Boy. Boy says 'It itches. And it's lumpy. Oh and did you see the slight mistake in the seam here?' The relationship is now doomed.

It was therefore with some trepidation that I commenced work on a beanie for M. He is not really a huge fan of knitted clothing so really I'm not sure why I insist on trying to convert him to the joys of being fibre-clad. Anyway, it was all going to be fiiine.

After having sped through the pattern, and used nothing less than 100% cashmere, the hat was ready to be tried:

Huge problem: ladies and gentlemen, we have *earlobe*. It seems that in my rush to complete the project I had scrimped slightly on the length. I had already extended the ribbing, but obviously this was not enough.

Intent on not being beaten, I furiously frogged the decreases and added another couple of centimetres. Ta dah!

Finally all is well again in the household. Sadly this little hat didn't quite withstand the -22 degrees in Germany last weekend, but it will suffice for London's current cold snap.

Felting fun at Harvey Nicks

2010-11-26T02:51:00.000-08:00

While accompanying M on his (unsuccessful) mission to find a tweed suit at Harvey Nichols last week, I happened upon some mannequins wearing interesting felted headgear. Please excuse the slight motion blur, I was a little concerned about being rugby tackled by staff.

Who says that felting isn't an art form?

Slightly reminds me of the animal masks from the Abattoir Pages Halloween event last year.

The headpieces are the creation of the slightly eccentric Barbara Keal of 'Kealworks'. The smaller ones with ears are £80, while the larger horned pieces are £150. Though apparently she is also selling 'Animal Hat promises' for Christmas, where recipients may choose their own design.

At last something to do with all that roving which is skulking around in my yarn stash. That'll be me getting an antler stuck in a Tube door then...

Ishbel the Second

2010-11-24T07:57:00.001-08:00

After spying my first Ishbel a few months back, my mum declared that she would like one just like that for her Birthday too. So what could I do if not oblige?

Last weekend it was finally handed over:

Next shawl is already on the go - an Icelandic creation apparently. Deciphering the Danish pattern is taking some time, but I would rather go slow and get it *right*!

Pie-eyed

2010-11-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

Having perused one of my favourite feminist-inspired websites Bitch-Buzz yesterday, I happened upon a lovely recipe for courgette and gruyere tart. I decided then and there that it would be mine!

A quick shopping trip later and I was ready to go. Really, why don't I make tarts more often? It's so easy! Especially if you use pre-made puff pasty (or is that cheating?).

Pre cooking:

Post baking:

Yum!

Cacophony of Cake

2010-11-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

There has been a slight theme when it comes to the past couple of weeks: CAKE!

The first encounter was Miss Cakehead's 'Eat Your Heart Out & the PRETOX Potion' pop-up cake shop featuring rude and disgusting-looking cakes - the first over 18s only cake shop apparently. Of course there was a queue when we arrived..

First up, road-kill cake:

Mysterious-masked-lady-meets-a-bloody-end cake:

Who hasn't felt like this during a particularly boring lesson?

Various gross cakes, which were selling like er, hotcakes..

---

Next up: pumpkin cookies of my own making. These actually came about because of American/UK portion size discrepancies.. Having successfully scored some tinned pumpkin, I carefully followed on the on-tin pumpkin pie recipe, pre-made pastry case in hand. However, after having filled said pastry case I found that I had about 3/4 of the mixture still remaining..

Well, I wasn't going to waste some perfectly good pumpkin pie mixture. I therefore piled in some flour, butter and baking power until it began to resemble something akin to cake mix. After spooning and baking, the result was a cross between a cookie and cake:

Taking inspiration from Cookie Girl, I created some of her marshmallow-esque filling and got spreading. The result? Pumpkin and marshmallow sandwiches:

Not bad, although next time I might make them a little smaller. Also, the marshmallow mixture had a tendency to creep out of the sandwiches and ooze onto the grease-proof paper.

---

Lastly some bat-snacks made with my niece last weekend - ok they were from a mix, but I think we lent them some originality with our icing skills:

Cake, such a flexible medium.

Bustle hassle

2010-11-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

For those unfamiliar with White Mischief events, let me just say: the costume's the thing. You can spend hours getting ready for these events, feel like a Christmas tree all the way there and then finally arrive, take a look around and suddenly feel under dressed.. Then again, I'm one of those people who gladly spends more time than is strictly necessary planning my outfit, checking that I have the right false eyelashes and make-up, perhaps crafting a couple of items for the event.. I even have a little costume rehearsal a day or two in advance to check that everything is in place. I can't explain it, I'm just a costume geek.

Therefore, when I spied a bustle tutorial on Cut Out and Keep I knew I would have a reason to wear one before long. After initially struggling with the metres of silky material, I decided to do myself a favour and not be too much of a perfectionist. Things went a lot better after that, although I did manage to snap two sewing machine needles. It was worth it in the end though.

Apologies for the slightly dubious photo quality. Shiny textiles and flash obviously do not go together too well..

The front:

The back:

The whole thing:

I don't have many pictures of it being worn, but hope this one will do:

The cabaret acts were a bit of a mixed bag this time around (the Irish rapper was one of my faves), but the people-watching was pretty amazing. Always good to be around like-minded costume freaks.

Piglet

2010-10-19T04:27:00.001-07:00

As soon as I saw this tiny pig pattern, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist for long.
Isn't he the cutest?

He really is remarkably small:

So quick to do. Perhaps some people might be getting pig-shaped Christmas presents this year.. After all, they are a traditional Swedish Christmas decoration!

Big in Japan

2010-10-06T02:15:00.000-07:00

Japanese pop culture event Hyper Japan took place between 1st-3rd October. It was a heady mix of fashion, food, gadgets, all things anime and more fashion. How come I didn't know about it until about 3 days before the event?! Clearly I'm losing my touch..

Or perhaps not, as it turned out I was able to nab a press pass through work and escape for some 'serious research' on the Friday afternoon - yay!

I kicked off my taste of Tokyo street culture with an interview with Misako Aoki. Don't know who she is? She undoubtedly has one of the coolest job titles in the world: Japanese Ambassador of Cute. I am not joking. In addition to miscellaneous duties connected to this, she splits her time between working as a model of Lolita fashion (more of that shortly) and a nurse. Oh yes, only in Japan folks.

So what does the Ambassador of Cute look like? Well, positively doll-like:

Don't you just want to go 'aaw'?

After being grilled with questions such as 'don't you ever get tired of being cute?', the interviewer moved on to Tania Tanzil, who apparently is the queen on Lolita fashion in the UK:

Rather impressive hair!

The final guest with Naoki Matsumura, Supervising Editor of Kera Magazine - Japan's top Lolita fashion mag. Here he is looking rather at home between the two lovely ladies:

As you've probably guessed, there were plenty of Misako admirers in the audience and they had even gone so far as to create a little scrap book for her with materials amassed from UK Lolitas. So Lolitas do 'scrappin'? Who knew?

And then all the Lolitas in the audience were asked to come up on stage for a photo opportunity. Tidal wave of cute:

Worth noting that most of the audience had made an effort. This was the view from my seat:

Once the show was over I picked my way through the exhibition, checking out cutesy clothes with kittens and strawberries on. Worth noting that one of the very pretty shirts I picked up cost £125. Yipes! Looking cute obviously does not come cheap.

I'm not sure who this antlered dog was, but I blame him for what happened next..

Just as I had finished photographing the above mentioned deer-dog, I nice lady came up to me asking whether I would mind being interviewed. I hesitated for a millisecond, but then thought 'well, how bad can it be?' Hmmmmmm.

I was brought over to a big screen and introduced to two presenters who indeed seemed to embody the 'hyper Japan' vibe. They began by asking me a bit about myself and I told them I was looking for innovative bits and pieces for our Global Innovation Reports which they seemed to find quite exciting.

Soon I noticed that in addition to being able to see myself on the screen in front of me, there was also text flowing over the picture (mainly in Japanese). I didn't realise until later that I was in fact being broadcast live on the Japanese video sharing/streaming website Nico Nico Douga - 13th most popular website in Japan, if Wikipedia is to be believed. This is Lotta, live from London.. This also made what came next infinitely worse.

I was interrupted during my Global Innovation monologue by one of the presenters who said: 'Are you married? Are viewers would like to know!' I then noticed the over-layed text flowing across the screen, containing the words 'pretty' and 'beauty' along with lots of '8s' which I took to mean that lots of Japanese people were indeed sending me little happy messages from the other side of the globe.

I stammered something about living with my boyfriend, and the screen suddenly filled with little 'yay' and 'boo' messages. Incredible! The presenters then asked if I knew any Japanese music and whether I would sing for them. Erm, hello? A) I don't know any Japanese music, or even any Japanese for that matter B) I cannot sing to save my life. Of course I had to drop myself in it though, by gleefully saying: 'Oh, I don't know any Japanese music, but being from Sweden perhaps Abba would be more fitting?' Me and my big mouth.

The presenters proceeded to do lots of hopping about in excitement and said in unison: 'Yes! You sing 'Dancing Queen!' One, two, three go!' Oh crap. So I had no choice but to perform approximately one verse of 'Dancing Queen'. Live. Oh dear.

They then asked me about my favourite Lolita fashion style, to which I replied that I actually preferred Steampunk. They seemed confused by this so I, obviously beyond mortification at this stage, got my digital camera out and showed them a pic from the last White Mischief party. Obviously one presenter grabbed my camera and proceeded to shove it into the lens of the recording device. The screen filled with 'ooooooo' and 'eeeeeeeee'. I sensed it was time to go.

Walking around the rest of the exhibition, I felt oddly liberated. There were a lot of stalls selling very pink cutesy items:

And pink cutesy foodstuffs (I have no idea what that woman is wearing):

The only other point to mention was that I has to stop by the Kera Magazine stand and purchase a copy or two of the infamous publication. I even had them signed by Miss Misako herself, so there!

Otherwise that was quite enough excitement for one day. However I was back on Sunday for just a little bit more.

Misako and Naoki were back in action, rocking new outfits:

Tania this time sporting a more Gothic look:

Both looking pretty as ever though:

It should be noted that at this point, my camera decided to call it a day and pack up. My iPhone did a grand job of filling the gap, but the remaining pics are slightly more dodgy in their quality - apologies.

There was then a brief fashion show from the main Lolita fashion houses as it were. First up 'Innocent World', showing something of a classic, yet understated Lolita look:

Then 'Sexpot Revenge' showed the punkier side of Lolita fashion:

Lastly, 'Angelic Pretty' showed the popular 'sweet Lolita' look:

Next we were introduced to Mami Honda, Lolita hair and make-up artist extraordinaire:

Mami proceeded to add about 4 hair pieces by 'Loves Change' to Tania's willing head:

Producing something spectacularly bouffant:

Having been lured by the promise of humongous hair volume I decided to check out the 'Loves Change' wig stall and had Mami herself clip some blonde hair pieces into my mane. After a bit of styling, she looked at me and pronounced me 'kawaii'.

It's clear that for most who dress in Lolita fashion, it is only a bit of harmless dress-up fun, although it does worry me when I read articles like this that allude to the darker side of it all.
Personally I am intrigued, and although I may not be sporting dresses with sweeties on any time soon, it was so much fun to experience just a little of Japanese culture ahead of my trip next year.

Take 5

2010-10-05T12:26:00.001-07:00

I love a good pop-up event, and Innocent's 'Five for Five Cafe' didn't disappoint.
First the facts: the cafe was open from 1-7 October and housed in a rather cosy location known as The Tramshed, just near Old Street Station.

The aim was to serve 5,000 people their full five-a-day portion of fruit and veg in one meal, for just £5. Lunch was served 12:30-3pm and dinner was procured in two sittings, 6:30-8:15pm and 8:30-10:30pm. We were lucky enough to grab a ticket, so moseyed down to the shed to see what was instore..

Thoughtfully there was also a 'take-away' area where busy people could pick up a veg pot and smoothie if they didn't have time to stay for a whole meal:

Inside The Tramshed:

The atmosphere was warm and rustic (the fairy-lights helped) with just a dash of community spirit, lent by the communal wooden tables. It felt a bit like a huge informal wedding dinner!

Interesting wall of salad, not for the colour-blind:

Here was the menu of the day, created by TV chef Gizzi Erskine. Diners could choose two dishes from the menu for their £5. The sweet potato brik was by far my favourite.

To raise spirits further and keep the crowds entertained, these lovely gentleman played some bluesy numbers for us. I have to admit it was a good choice of Innocent to choose slightly more *mature* talent, rather than plumping for the usual barely-out-of-their-teens musicians. Much more authentic and on-brand.

There was also a little kid's corner where badges could be made, but no children were to be seen during our visit. I would have been rather tempted to have a go myself, had my self-consciousness not gotten in the way.

On our way out, we were given a little pack of take-home recipes:

A nice touch to round off a nice evening. Maybe I'll give that brik dish a go myself..

Bootie call..

2010-10-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that's it's really been almost 7 months since my friend T announced that she was 3 months pregnant! This means not only that she and her husband will shortly have their hands very full indeed, but also that I shall be attending my first baby shower this weekend.

With it being my first one and everything, I wasn't entirely sure what one does on these occasions (or indeed what one should bring), so I am falling back on my universal strategy of cake and knitted items. They always seem to go down well.

Hence I pulled out my trusty Saartje's Booties pattern and got to work:

Yarn is from my stash of left-over bits and buttons are from Kleins. So small yet so satisfying.

Return to Trinity Buoy Wharf

2010-09-24T10:14:00.001-07:00

Contrary to how the title may sound (rather like a horror/thriller methinks), our return to Trinity Buoy Wharf (location for Hotel Medea, as you might recall) included a good deal of pottering around, checking out art studios, climbing up lighthouses and exploring buildings made of shipping containers. Oh and scoffing burgers. Rather a good way to spend an active yet relaxing Saturday.

Exploring London has always been one of my favourite things and getting to go inside usually restricted buildings holds a particular thrill. It's a way of satisfying my urbex impulse while keeping my sensible side happy.

We began with a tour of the 'experimental lighthouse' where a Mr Faraday used to spend much of his time experimenting with electricity and light. It is now also home to the intriguing Longplayer: "A computer generated musical creation from Jem Finer designed to play for 1000 years." At the time of writing, it has been playing for 10 years, 266 days, 5 hours, 23 minutes and 32 seconds. It sounded rather like whale song, with melancholy drawn out notes echoing around the lighthouse turret it a rather haunting fashion.

Stairs to lighthouse:

View of Canary Wharf from lighthouse:

Random desk by the lighthouse stairs. Is it me, or those this look like a scene from some sort of surreal Terry Gilliam movie? "Why yes, we have been expecting you.."

We then had a poke around a couple of studios, finding some very varied pieces of work. Including this one made with fruit flies:

Rather cool and gross at the same time. Some fishy art going on:

Apparently they are made to be lit from the inside - much like those cocoon-like IKEA lamps (the artist would probably slap me if he heard that).

Next we had a look at Container City and Container City 2 which are all made from, you guessed it, old shipping containers! Most are live/work studios, and although tiny they are perfectly livable and normal looking from the inside.

I rather wanted to check out the Zahira's Boudoir studio for a free leather working workshop, but unfortunately it was closed. They make some rather cool leather corsetry and even run classes.. Tempting!

Did you know that Trinity Buoy Wharf even has a primary school? Well, now you do. We had a look around Faraday School, which had a rather funky rooftop play area. Here was the view:

Loved the cloud-shaped cut-outs!

And as the school is also built using containers (as well as brick), there is the possibility to expand upwards if they need to!

We rounded off the day with a malt shake and burger from Fatboy's Diner. The diner was great, as was the milkshake, but the burger was a little disappointing as it was of the frozen beefburger + white bap variety. Still, only a small disappointment during what was otherwise a lovely day.

We might just be back. Again.

Mr Abominable the Second

2010-09-16T03:55:00.001-07:00

You may remember Mr Abominable. I created him as a Secret Santa present for P last year, and is characterised by a permanent despondent air. Since then, M has been subtly hinting that he would like a Mr A of his own, so for his Birthday this year I decided to oblige (under the pretense of making him for a pregnant friend).

So here he is, Mr A the Second:

M seems to like him a lot, and I must mention that the below pic was totally unposed:

Turns out that Mr A is the perfect accessory for hanging out in bed playing 'Angry Birds' on your iPhone, while feeling a bit coldy. Who knew?

Yarn tourism - Swedish style

2010-09-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Ok so maybe this title isn't quite correct seeing as we were in Sweden for reasons other than yarn acquisition also, but I did manage to visit quite a few fibre shops during my stay.

The first was Tant Thea in my home town of Helsingborg. Now, Helsingborg isn't exactly a yarn mecca but this new store was definitely an improvement on the existing offering i.e. a tiny shop selling mainly acrylic (I can see you wincing). Tant Thea has a pretty good offering, and I succumbed to some nice Drops Alpaca which was discounted by 30%. The discount was due to the owner being fed up of being bossed about by Drops, who were trying to tell her exactly how to market their goods in store. I actually thought this was normal practice, but held back from pointing that out as she seemed pretty fuming over it. Oh the drama behind yarn!

Behold the Alpaca (dark grey/black and murky blue/green):

I had the pleasure of spending a day in Copenhagen and actually had no intention of going yarn shopping - honest! We did however, stumble upon a cute yarn shop called Bette Design and thought it rude not to go inside.. My mum fell in love with a pretty shawl which I (probably much too hastily) said I could knit up for her. We left the store with some gray wool and a knitting pattern for the shawl..in Danish. I might just have to ask L, our resident knitting Dane to help me with the translation. Either that or I'll just have to hope that my mum doesn't quite remember the exact design.. ;)

Next on the cards was a trip to Stockholm. We stayed in a very cute hotel called Sven Vintappare in Gamla Stan (The old Town) which dated from the 1700s:

Our room took up the entire width of the building, so it was lovely and bright with windows on both sides, but being from the 1700s it was also rather wonky! I found it all quite charming. Even the lethally steep stairs:

Before I launch into more tales of yarn, I should probably mention a couple of other highlights. The food in Stockholm was exceptional, and although rather pricey, it was worth it. My favourite restaurant was Djuret (The Animal) which specialises in seasonal meat. The menu changes every couple of months, depending on which animal is in season and then serves about 5 dishes of various cuts. We enjoyed some succulent reindeer. Great restaurant detailing included meat hooks on which to hang your coats, tablecloths displaying diagrams of meat cuts, and meat grinders which had been turned into table lamps. Do I have to mention that they have *no* veggie options?

You may not know this, but I am slightly obsessed with cinnamon buns. Whenever I go to Sweden I *must* have one. At least one. I have been known to bake my own in London, when withdrawal reaches it's peak. So after reading that Saturnus Cafe sold the biggest cinnamon buns in Stockholm, I made a beeline.
On entering the place I was at first distraught to see that there were none on display, but the kindly lady at the till informed me that they were currently baking a new batch and that they would be ready in 5 minutes. So after an impatient wait the steaming package of cinnamon loveliness arrived. And it was HUGE. I'm not sure the picture really illustrates this fact clearly enough, but perhaps the coffee spoon helps a little in terms of scale. I had to call it quits after half of it and pack the rest away discreetly in a doggie bag, as I would otherwise had done myself and internal injury. But man was it good!

We also stopped off at a rather random junk shop in Gamla Stan. It didn't seem to have a name, nor did the owner seem too interested in customers being able to walk around it in. We spotted lots of interesting items from old fashioned pilot helmets to dashing vintage army coats, but erred on the side of sensible in the end.

And so to the yarn! First stop was Litet Nystan in Soder which I really liked. Easily identified by the yarn 'flag' outside:

A great selection of pretty yarns and friendly staff on hand to explain things. They were also hosting a book launch that day. It was one of those cute crochet books which makes me feel like I really should learn how to crochet properly: 'Valkommen till Virkligheten'.

Of course some purchasing occurred:

Two skeins of Merino Extrafine Lace by Tedman & Kvist (about 1,400m each) and some pretty blue Merino Silk with aloe, jojoba and vitamin E (apparently it's kind to your hands!) by Viva.

On the way to the next yarn store, we met some would-be escapees looking to fly their undignified confinement.

Next stop was Anntorps Vav in Gamla Stan, run by a charming lady who does a lot of her own spinning and dying.

Again lots of pretty things, but I fell in love with one sort in particular: Östergötlands Ull. Handspun and dyed locally, I was hooked. Oh and the colourway (called 'karamell' = sweets) totally won me over.

Colour close-up:

With approximately 1,500m of it, I should be able to do something interesting too.. I'm toying with the idea of creating project bags for myself. Choosing a pattern from my file (stuffed) and selecting some corresponding yarn from my stash (considerable) so it's all ready to go. It might just cut down on the time wasted on faffing. Knitting efficiency here I come?

Puppy power!

2010-09-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

My colleague M left for her maternity leave last week. She absolutely loves dogs, as could be seen from her appreciation of the Bramble I created for C some months ago. So this time I thought I would challenge myself and create something a little more representative of canine anatomy. Would I live to regret this?

After some hunting around on Ravelry, I found a rather charming Alan Dart pattern which looked vaguely do-able. Shame I had only given myself about a week to do it in.. Anyway, after scoring some cut-price Rowan during a John Lewis fly-by I got to work swiftly. In just a couple of days, most of the bits were done. They did however, (in their non-seamed state) appear more like beige Humboldt Squid pattern pieces than Labrador components.. I regret not taking more photos of the process, but time was of the essence (poor excuse I know).

Thankfully my lovely knitting ladies came to the rescue and showed me their seaming skills in between bites of Carluccio's finest pasta. Phew almost done! The stuffing and final assembly was a little rushed, but I think in the end it turned out alright.

Obligatory mug shots:

M seemed more than happy with the result, which of course made it all worthwhile.

Not sure I'll be making another one any time soon though!

Sylvanian nostalgia

2010-08-25T03:18:00.000-07:00

So who else used to play with these when they were little? Aren't they just the cutest??

I liked the baby ones best, and had a small collection of them which I used to make tiny clothes for and take on 'camping trips' to the pond in our garden. Unfortunately they would inevitably end up with bald patches as pond water and the adhesive in their fur didn't mix very well. I didn't mind though.

L and I had a shared love of our furry Sylvanian friends and regularly pooled our collections (my bald ones with lumpy clothing and L's immaculate ones) and played 'blind date' with them. Ah, those were the days!

Anyway, for the sake of nostaliga I thought I would include this little bonus bunny along with the shawl for L. Hope she likes them both!

Belated Ishbel

2010-08-17T04:44:00.000-07:00

So I've finally conquered my fear of lacy shawls - by knitting a wee one. Actually it wasn't that hard, I just had to engage my brain and concentrate for more than five minutes at a time.
That's not so say that there wasn't a bit of 'un-knitting' going on, but on the whole Ishbel (from Ysolda's 'Whimsical Little knits') was kind to me.
Here it is hanging out at my parent's place:

I guess it helped to be knitting with some gorgeous Wollmeise in the shade 'My Old Blue Jeans'. I swear that just a sniff of that Perwoll is enough to keep you going! Either it's a coincidence or Wollmeise understands the power of sensory branding. Or it's just my yarn fetish playing up.
Draping suggestion:

Anyway, what also spurred me on was the fact that it was a late Birthday present for lovely L so will need shipping across the Atlantic which is always time-consuming.. Actually, I also need one more thing to add to the package. Will update once it has been acquired!

Welcome to Hotel Medea

2010-08-10T08:35:00.001-07:00

As those who know me can attest, I am a big fan of the old 'immersive theatre' craze which seems to have been sweeping London's theatre scene in recent years. It started with Punchdrunk's 'Faust', continued with 'Masque of the Red Death' and a few dalliances with The Lyric's 'Contains Violence' and the slightly warped 'Abattoir Pages'. Even White Mischief tried to get in on the act, although not with complete success.. Having recently taken in the latest Punchdrunk offering, 'The Duchess of Malfi', a friend suggested we up our game with The Arcola's 'Hotel Medea'.

We thought we had seen it all. Wander around in dark rooms, wearing a mask and trying to find actors? Been there. Sit on a roof-top wearing headphones and checking out the acting in the office building opposite? Done that. Try to find the prohibition-style bar hidden somewhere behind the scenes? Sooo yesterday. What could stimulate our jaded palates if not an all night theatre performance in the middle of nowhere near Canning Town? When I say all-night, that really is the truth. Try 11pm-5:30am, propped up only by the promise of coffee, biscuits and breakfast at dawn.

So there we found ourselves, at 11pm at North Greenwich Pier with our snacks and water bottles, not entirely sure what to expect. A charismatic Brazlilian named Jorge welcomed us on the boat, and swiftly pulled out his iPhone: 'Is ok I film you?' Well, who could say no to that charming Brazilian accent? He asked what our expectations were of the production and I waffled something about hearing that the energy of the actors in Hotel Medea was enough in itself to keep the audience awake and engaged, never mind the coffee and biscuits. I later found out Jorge Lopes Ramos was the Artistic Director and the creative driving force behind Hotel Medea.

After a short hop across the Thames, we were deposited at Trinity Buoy Wharf (more of that later) and put through our paces in small groups to prepare us for certain elements of the production such as the 'call and response' singing, spontaneous rhyming, and some simple dance moves. We were worried. Though after having been plied with the first round of the promised refreshments we were calmed and ready to take on whatever the night would bring.
Instead of an in-depth description of the entire production (which can be found here and here), I'll instead impart to you my personal highs and lows of the night:

Highs:
- Helping to prepare Medea for her wedding ceremony to Jason by washing, clothing and anointing her with fragrant herbs. Men and women were split at this point, creating a real spirit of anticipation and audience participation.
- Being put into pyjamas (over my clothes), tucked into a bunk-bed, given hot cocoa and read a story by our 'maid'. Then it was time to 'sleep', while overhearing Jason and Medea arguing over their deteriorating relationship - an effective way of having the audience experience the action from the point of view of their children.
- The use of CCTV style viewing of the action from the 'focus group' room - a clinical intimacy if you will.
- Experiencing 'Club Exile - the club exclusively for heart-broken women'. Men were allowed to infiltrate (having been told to 'gather evidence of Medea's betrayal'), wearing wigs and lipstick which provided some well-needed comedic relief.
- Running around like lunatics, trying to hide under a blanket in an alley-way at about 5am.

Lows:
- Slightly forced audience participation in the first act. We needed to warm up a bit before feeling in the mood to jump around to Brazilian beats.
- Being stranded somewhere near Canning Town at 6am. The promised minibus proving throughly useless, with the driver eventually dumping us somewhere near All Saints with the comment "I think there's a bus stop down there somewhere." Admittedly he was confused by the closure of several roads due to a triathlon, but ANY tube station would be been better than none. Thank God a taxi made a timely appearance.

On the whole I would warmly recommend Hotel Medea, especially if you are as particular with theatre as we are. We prepared well by sleeping in, and having a nap between 7pm-9pm so it really was surprisingly easy to stay awake. The Trinity Buoy Wharf area was actually really fascinating too. It seems to be something of an artsy quarter, so we may well be back to take in future events. Once the sun was up, I took a load of pics.

Some cute office space for rent:

'Container City':

We'll definitely be coming back here!

Funny mechanical wing contraption. We managed to make it flap v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

This is where the action took place:

Our breakfast feast (breakfeast?):

Needless to say, we collapsed into bed as soon as soon as we got home, but by about midday we were perky again. Almost felt like a long weekend!

Don't be a sinner, be a pinner!

2010-08-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

Damn you Springwise, for bringing to my attention the pretty wares of Cloud 9 Fabrics! I'm sure some of you will have heard me wittering on about a couple of particular prints, and after (not much) deliberation I decided to make it my mission to acquire some.

(Un)fortunately Cloud 9 made it rather easy for me to find a nearby UK distributor, in the form of Saints and Pinner s - can you think of a better name for a fabric shop?!
About two days after my order, this charming package arrived for my delectation:

Now I *know* I'm in love. Cute packaging, with or without a bonus lollipop/free product sample/sweet message gets me every time.

The contents: Let me introduce Sandpiper and Coral Weed.

Ready for their close-up:

Sandpiper might become this dress when it grows up, while Coral Weed will become something along the lines of this one. We will see. In the meantime, I am quite happy just to look at them as they are and then curse as I try to wedge them in the cupboard with the rest of the fabric stash..

Knit Nation 2010

2010-08-03T06:58:00.001-07:00

If you are not intimately familiar with knitting (or indeed knitters) you might be forgiven for considering the craft still somewhat niche and, despite a resurgence over the past several years, with a rather limited following. I believe that Knit Nation goes some way to dispelling this belief.

Knit Nation was arranged by Cookie A, sock designer extraordinaire and Alice Yu of Socktopus. Hats off to them for making everything run so well with only some minor technical glitches. Taking place at Imperial College in South Kensington, it offered knitters of various degrees of obsession a chance to shop amongst the yarn stalls, take courses to extend and learn new skills, and also just to revel in the knowledge that it's not just you that has a borderline fetish for squooshy yarn.

Thursday saw the opening of the yarn market for a 'preview' of the mouth-watering wares. I was not there at the initial opening, but I hear that it was quite well-attended. No pushing and shoving, but perhaps some dainty trotting over to the Wollmeise stall in order to grab some prettiness. Fibbertygibbet and Craft Actually will tell you more about the (controlled) dash! I had to make do with excited emails and texts from my ladies on the ground keeping me up to date with what was going on until I could leave the office :)

By the time I was on the scene, it was rather calmer. Check out that Wollmeise stall!

The vibrancy and colour range was just stunning!

Mind you, apparently they did bring one metric ton of yarn with them from Germany, so there should have been plenty to go around.

Cute detailing!

Having signed up for the all-day course in knitting two toe-up socks at a time, I had to peel myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of about 7am on Saturday. It was worth it though. Our lovely teacher was Chrissy Gardener, rather a big cheese in the sock-knitting world! Her endless patience with us was admirable, and by lunchtime I had managed to churn out these:

After (another) quick visit to the yarn market and lunch with friends, it was back to it and time to turn the heels. After that it was pretty much plain sailing and I ended up with these beauties:

I would say that this class was a good level for me and I learned a brand new useful cast-on for socks as well as a great stretchy bind-off. In addition it was good to revise the heel technique so I was happy!

With our courses now done, we toddled off for an early dinner at easily the best Polish restaurant I've even been to. Daquise offered exquisite food in fairly posh surrounds and at a reasonable price - what more can one ask for? Everything was freshly prepared (sometimes at the table) and lovingly scooped onto your plate. Delicious!

With the time now approaching 8pm, we wandered back to Imperial for the 'Ravelry Party' - or to put it bluntly, the Ravelry Party goodybags. Yes we are shameless freebie hunters.

Here are Jess and Casey, the Founders of Ravelry, about to begin the raffle.

We did end up having a raffle winner in our group, so it was worth sticking around for ;) We also piled into the photo-booth, with (for me at least) disastrous results..

"So where's the swag?" I hear you cry. Below we have some undyed cashmere, angora, silk blend from Artisan Yarns, followed by four skeins of Wollmeise twin sockyarn, two in 'My Old Blue Jeans' and two in 'Neptune'. I actually also got two more sock skeins, but they will remain un-photographed as they are to be delivered to a friend in Sweden and I'd like the colours to remain a surprise..

Here's the cute goodybag from Ravelry, along with my Wollmeise lace in 'Dunkel Kirsche' and 'Flaschenpost' (love that name!).

As we were one of the first to arrive at the Ravelry Party, we also got a nice Knit Nation bag to carry everything home in. So not a bad haul!

With a successful Knit Nation complete, our only question is when the next one will be?

Jacques Town House

2010-07-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

Now I 'm not usually one for celebrity parties. That is to say; I don't usually get invited to them. Sometimes the universe does work in mysterious ways however..

Having read about the 'erotic' life drawing classes at boutique hotel 40 W inks I dropped David Carter a line to book. I have met David a couple of times now, and he really is one of the most dandyesque people I know. Complete with top hat, vintage suit and 'dahling' accent ("Always a pleasure dahling, exquisite to see you!").

Through my work we have publicised 40 Winks, and I wrote to him that we intended to include Jacques Townhouse (he designed the interior) in our upcoming innovation report. I also mentioned that I would be popping along to have a look next week.
I was most surprised when along with my tickets to life drawing, came the offer to attend the Jacques launch party! Unfortunately no plus one though as apparently it was 'press and celebrities' only. Oh well, I'm sure I could amuse myself unaccompanied.

So after gratefully accepting the invite and stressing over an appropriate outfit, the day came and I tottered off to Fitzroy Square in my ridiculous heels. Upon entry (so far so good) I had a golden key and small tea-towel thrust upon me, somewhat inexplicably. It turned out that the tea-towel was your map of the various rooms in the house and the key was the access your free drinks. Thankfully I stumbled upon Mr Carter quite early on in the proceedings and he kindly showed me downstairs to the Benefit make-up area, where false eye-lashes were studiously being applied to a clutch of willing ladies.

I was introduced to Benefit events co-ordinator Lisa, who soon had me as ease and picked out some rather stunning lashes for me - super long, with white beads at the tips. She also gave me a quick make-up refresh while I was there. So what was next? Dressing up of course!
Also downstairs was a veritable Aladdin's cave of vintage apparel treasures.

Pan left:

Pan right:

I was rather quickly pounced on by an enthusiastic lady who insisted I try a particular back dress, complete with long necklace and fascinator. Well, who was I to argue? Soon I found myself on the 'Jacques set' posing embarrassingly like the best of them.

Ahem, anyway moving on.. Once back in my own clothes again, I mounted the stairs to the first floor. Loving the suspended pouffs!

Conveniently the bar was my next discovery, along with a gorgeous table of cakes.

Cute cupcakes courtesy of Vintage Patisserie, but more of that later.

See any celebs yet?

I actually did pass by Sophie Ellis Bextor and her entourage at this point and later also spotted Jodie Harsh, in even bigger lashes than mine! Otherwise I'm generally pretty rubbish at identifying famous people.. I should probably watch more tv.

Moving past the bar, I found a little whimsical forest just made for loafing. It even had a lady who would read your tarot if you asked her nicely.

Love the cushions!

And the dangling china..

Finally I could let my feet rest for a bit and enjoy some of the free cider (I recommend the pear and peach variety).

Upon exiting the 'forest' I came upon Mr Cater being interviewed by someone or other and took a sneaky shot of them perched on the stairs to the 'boudoir'.

One of the waitresses in funky uniform.

Wandering back down to the ground floor, I overheard a lady chatting to the concierge about a 'secret room'.

The concierge promptly summoned a bell boy (again, nice uniform!) to take her to said secret room..

Well, I had to ask too and guess what? I got my own bell boy to guide me! The secret room turned out to be a small room with DJ decks and a couple of tables which were all pretty empty seeing as it was still early evening. But I did find the lovely Angel, who runs the Vintage Patisserie and recently appeared on Dragon's Den to successfully pick up funding. I commended her on the cupcakes (I have tasted many in my day) and had a nice chat about her future plans etc. I hope it goes well for her!

So.. I had been 'lashed', made-up, dressed up, plied with cider, fed cupcakes, photographed and had made small talk. What else was there to do? Oh yes, have my fortune told.

On the ground floor were two ladies encased in a lace booth (sorry no pics) each armed with crystal balls and mystical cards. After a bit of a queue I finally made it. I won't disclose the details, but basically I need to set daily, weekly and monthly goals. Ok then..

Time to go, before I make more of a fool of myself, but one last parting shot:

Hang on, isn't that the guy who was on 'The Salon', who now runs Blow, who.. oh never mind.

Lace revolution

2010-07-21T03:44:00.000-07:00

You may recall this dress from a while back. It was a great charity shop find, accompanied by lovely G. It's been on a few outings already, but L's French Revolution themed Birthday garden party demanded something a bit more out there. With lots of lace.

With a rough idea of where I wanted to go, I laid out the dress and began to prepare for its surgery:

First the sleeves. They were disappointingly lacking in lace, and I needed something which would swish prettily. Thankfully Soho Silks obliged me with a cheap off-cut of lace, while another customer wittered on about how she's currently having to wade through hoards of teen girls to get to her current client: one of the Jonas Brothers. Quelle hardship.

Right, after chopping off a slightly random length of lace I ruched it and sewed it in place:

Much better! My wonky sewing was later covered with some lace salvaged from the collar, but more of that later..

Next it was the neckline. The current collar was a little too demure for my 'Renaissance heaving bosom' mental image. We definitely needed more decolletage:

More lace was cut and pinned in place:

Handily, I had a length of pearl trim with was almost exactly the correct length. I took that as a sign and hand-sewed it on after machining the lace:

That was pretty much it! My enthusiasm definitely made up for the 'I don't have a clue what I'm doing' and somehow it turned out alright.

But now I needed some fru-fru shoes..

New Look obliged with a cute pink pair, but they needed to be prettified. Out came the trimmings and lace boxes!

Some bows were constructed, necklace butchered and hey presto!

I sewed a brooch back to each bow to ensure that the shoes could be de-prettied afterwards and attached 'em.

So now it was down to the final bits, thank God for Claire's Accessories!

This You Tube video was also ace for helping me with the hair. I knew that afro wig would come in handy!

So there we go. Not as hard as had imagined! I think this will inspire me to grasp the scissors with a little more confidence next time.

Fashion Police strike in SE1

2010-07-13T02:06:00.000-07:00

Ambled past this rather striking vehicle on my way home the other day. On closer inspection I see that it belongs to none other than Mr Waterfall himself, or at least one of his Social Suicide cohorts.

M is a huge fan of the fashion brand Social Suicide, and is the proud owner of several wacky SS creations, including the 'Beaufort Scale' jacket. Bummer that they only do men's wear..

In the Loop

2010-06-22T09:37:00.001-07:00

It's 10:45am on a Saturday morning - why on Earth are all these people queuing? Is Apple releasing their iPhone 4 early?

Oh no. Something much more important: Loop was about to open it's new store in Islington. Who needs Apple, when you can go bananas over yarn?

After an impatient wait, the door was thrown open and the hoards invaded (pausing only to grab a goody bag):

Despite my love of knitting, I am hardly what I would call a yarn expert. I will therefore refrain from trying to rack my brains remembering exactly what was in the goody bag, although Old Maiden Aunt and something resembling Opal sock yarn springs to mind. In any case I make no secret of being a shameless fan of free stuff so thank you Loop for the generous freebie! Oh and there was cake.

Loop has always been a very pretty shop, but the new store is even more of a haven for those of a knitterly persuasion. Two floors chock full of yarn gorgeousness, and there are even sofas if it all gets a bit much.

Things I saw today..

2010-06-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Bit of a random one today. Just a few things I saw out and about, both physically and on the web, which I rather liked.

On the way to the station this morning, I was impressed by Southwark Council's creativity:

At lunchtime I passed my favourite paper store, Faulkiner's Fine Papers, to find this beautiful creature in the window:

Not quite sure that my photos do it justice:

Also, this seems to have appeared outside the Imagination offices on Store Street:

Meanwhile in the virtual realm, this post from Burda caught my eye. Wonder if there's an adult-size pattern??

Bramble

2010-06-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Last Friday my colleague C left to begin maternity leave. For once I was prepared!
C has never struck me as someone who would want to faff with hand washing oh-so-soft but oh-so-impractical little baby garments. She also has a very cute and well-behaved black Labrador called Bramble who we all adore. He occasionally visits us in the office, sniffing his way under desks and checking out the biscuits on offer before finally curling up behind someone's wheely desk chair and running the risk of having his paws flattened.

So all I needed was to find the perfect dog pattern.. Ravely obliged me by suggesting Rebecca Danger's cute 'Doxie'. I had to refrain from the plastic eyes and nose though, in case the baby were to ever grab it, instead opting for an embroidered nose and leather eyes.

Here he is off the leash in my parent's garden:

And posing with collar in more urban digs:

He seems to have a fan club already. M (who will be the next colleague to go on maternity) has subtly hinted that she would like a Doxie of her own..

C seems pleased anyway, which makes me happy! Her testimonial: "Lotta your knitted dog is just gorgeous and worryingly Bramble is eyeing it up already, so it's hidden away in a drawer till I buy a dog proof play-pen."

Mighty mitts

2010-06-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

I just love receiving big brown padded envelopes through the post. They carry with them a promise of fabulous things like books, yarn and the odd item of clothing bought on impulse. But sometimes, just sometimes it contains something even better.. a hand knit present for me!

The other week that is just what happened when L sent me the fabulous Endpaper Mitts which she had made me in exchange for Mr 70s Owl. They are exactly as I wanted - grey and white, giving them something of a Norwegian look. Love them!

I hope that L doesn't mind me nicking her Rav photos for this post - my camera is temporarily out of action due to my inability to remember to charge it..

Pretty pattern:

L, thanks again! We must get planning the next swappage soon..

The owl has landed - 70s style

2010-05-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

I recently received word that the 70s owl has been sighted in Sweden, so it is without further ado that I can formally introduce you.
Front view:

Rear view:

In good company:

He may have been loathe to fly the nest, but I hear from L that he seems to be getting on splendidly with Gunnar the knitted hedgehog who also resides in L's flat. I have a feeling it will be the beginning a beautiful friendship based on mutual appreciation of forests and worms.

Swapsies Take 2 - Owl for a Mitt

2010-04-30T02:35:00.000-07:00

Lovely L spied my sleepy owls and dropped me an email with a proposition: would I make her an owl in exchange for a knitted item of my choice? Hell yes!

A couple of emails later, the deal was done. One owl with a 70s feel (she likes oranges, browns and greens) in exchange for one pair of Endpaper Mitts (my colour work sucks). Watch this space for the fruits of our labour..

In the meantime, some 70s owl colour-scheme inspiration:

Cherry blossom season

2010-04-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

Is it me or is everyone suddenly pregnant? As friend after friend shares their exciting news and officially become mothers-to-be, my main concern is how I will ever have enough time to knit them all baby clothes..

I have made a valiant start however, in the form of this little cardi for G's little girl-bun which is due out of the oven this summer.

Modelled here by our obliging baby-clothes mannequin:

As all the cherry trees around London seem to be in full bloom, it only seemed apt to choose Sarah Franklin's Baby Cherry Blossom pattern. To take it one step further, cherry blossoms also represent life's changing nature in Japanese tradition and I guess there are few changes in life as big as having a baby!

As promised..

2010-04-07T05:12:00.000-07:00

I actually had a more productive weekend than anticipated, managing to complete all the projects I set for myself - a minor miracle. It may well have been due to having a little more time on my hands over Easter combined with spending the long weekend with my parents. If I had been at home, I would no doubt have been distracted by all that dull housekeeping stuff..

A promised, the owls:

One is flying off to my Granny in Sweden later this week.

Too cute?

2010-04-01T03:40:00.000-07:00

The random stuff you discover in London if you actually open your eyes! En route to John Lewis I stopped to check out a little shop which I had not paid much attention to before - actually it was the cute dresses in the window which caught my eye.

So simple, yet so pretty. Again I had to fight my 'I could make it' reflex.

The only question is whether they are a bit 'young'? Could just be to do with the fact that the models look about 14 on the website: http://www.minauk.com/

Seems like my summer fashion sense has been roused. All I need now is some summer!

Slow start

2010-03-31T03:51:00.001-07:00

Oh dear, I can't believe that this is the first post of 2010.. Please forgive me, things have been rather hectic with various international trips, social events and of course work getting in the way of craftyness. And of course there is the fact that I seem to have an inability to *finish* projects..

Anyhow, enough of the excuses. I was walking past Heal's the other day and saw in the window Donna Wilson's charming owl cushions reclining the window:

As any crafter will recognise, my immediate thought was 'how cute! I bet I could make those myself!' Usually when this happens it is followed by a substantial amount of time spent not doing exactly that. This time around I decided that they might actually make good presents, so got to work making three experimental owls out of fabric scraps.

Here is one looking rather 2D:

After running out of stuffing (M was looking at me with some amusement while I stuffed the poor things using a large knitting needle) an emergency trip to John Lewis is now on the cards. Promise an update after the Easter weekend, when the little owls will hopefully have become a little more 3 dimensional.

Summit to write home about

2009-12-14T08:48:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending an event in Copenhagen, centred around climate change. When did I become a political player you ask? Well, actually it was the Nordic Fashion Industry's 'Fashion Summit', so more fashionistas than politicians around.

It was however, very interesting and I had a great time learning how to be 'NICE' (Nordic Institute for Clean and Ethical fashion), listening to prominent fashion bods, taking in a 'sustainable' fashion show and erm, *trying* to network.

The fashion folk converge on the Copenhagen Opera House:

I shan't bore you with all the details, but there were some very interesting presentations indeed. My favourites included:

- Laurent Claquin, SVP of CSR for PPR Group
PPR group includes Gucci, Puma, Stella McCartney, Valencia, YSL so Laurent gave an interesting view on how luxury and eco does not have to mutually exclusive - indeed luxury should 'lead the way' according to him.

- Christian Kemp-Griffin, CEO of Edun Group
Edun was started by Bono and his wife as an attempt to create a viable and commercially sound sustainable clothing line, created exclusively in Africa.

- Vanessa Friedman, Fashion Editor for the Financial Times
A sharp-tongued lady who no-one in their right frame of mind would like to get on the wrong side of! Made a very interesting point that fashion needs to be consistent with the wording they use. Does 'eco' mean the same as 'organic'? Is 'sustainable' the same as 'green'?

- Julie Gilhart, SVP & Fashion Director of Barney's New York
A very sweet lady, showcasing past, present and future sustainable initiatives of Barney's - all in her captivating southern drawl.

After a couple of breaks (during which I attempted to launch into conversation with anyone unattended) we were also treated to a little opera music which was delightful!

Here are some pics from the fashion show at the end of the day to give a taste of how 'eco fashion' actually can be fashionable.

Lovely and floaty (on a comical note, notice how the commentator on the left of the picture is frantically trying to retrieve her notes which somehow ended up all over the floor):

Power shoulders - part 1:

Power shoulders - part 2:

Something for the fashionable eco-gent:

*Love* this dress!

More floatyness:

The cupcake fascinator I can't help but want:

Yes, not sure about the bunched up knitted trousers look:

Lovely dress again:

A rather far-away shot of the contributing speakers. If I've managed to pique your interest, you can listen to the speeches here: www.fashionsummit.tv

Is it me, or does the Opera House look more like a pumpkin wedged in a ventilation shaft?

Anyhow, I left feeling very much inspired and pleased to have been given the opportunity for an insight into the challenges currently facing the fashion industry.

Happy Lucia!

2009-12-14T07:45:00.001-08:00

The 13th December marks the celebration of the 'return of the light' in Sweden. This involves ladies dressing in white gowns, holding candles and singing the traditional Santa Lucia song. The one lady chosen to be Lucia herself, wears a red sash and a crown of candles in her hair in addition to the white gown and gets to lead the procession.

Usually this ceremony happens in most schools and/or churches and is one that I have always liked (any excuse to dress up). Indeed, I think we still have a small gown and plastic wreath with electric candles which I used to wear when I was little - real candles are a bit hardcore, as I can only imagine that picking wax out of your hair afterward cannot be fun.

Anyway, to the most interesting part - the baking! Lussekatter (saffron buns) are very traditional and below is the most commonly shaped version which gets handed out after the Lucia ceremony.

Pasty:

Pouffy:

They weren't as hard to make as I remember, so perhaps I am getting more patient with the years. You do need to leave them to rise twice for 30 mins each, but it's rather satisfying seeing the little backwards 'S's slowly becoming more and more bold.

As with most of my Swedish cooking, the recipe comes from the good old Rutiga Kokboken. I got this from a friend at my graduation in Sweden and it became indispensable pretty much straight away. It tells you how to cook *anything*, and has something of a cult following. I am relying on it for next week when I need to tackle my first vat of rice pudding ever..gulp.