New Pic on the Blog

Courtesy of a colleague at work, she who is sometime known as "La La Lady" and other times as "Pumpkin", I have a portrait.

I absolutely L O V E IT but I'm not sure if she is trying to tell me that I need a ... doctor or a hairdresser!

Some of My Best Friends are Jewish

Way, way back in the Middle Ages, before marriage, children and all that, I was an au pair. I know what you are thinking, but as you can see from the pic in my profile, as well as not being Swedish, I am definitely not blonde. I lived for a while in Geneva, Switzerland with an Indian Muslim family but that, as they say, is another story. What I am getting around to telling you is that when you are away from home and homeland, you pine for certain things. I'm a lover, not hater of Marmite, so that was near the top of the list. Strange though it may seem, living in the land of cuckoo clocks, cheese and creamy Swiss chocolat, I missed a nice strong Cheddar cheese and Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate, oh yes, and English books.

If you can remember back to the beginning of my ramblings you will have noted that I lived in Geneva. It was really quite difficult to find a genuine Swiss person where I lived close the UN, the ILO, GATT and all those other acronyms. Diplomats from around the globe huddled together in international enclaves and the working people of Geneva provided this elite with their every need. A brief stroll away there was a tabac that did a roaring trade in The Daily Telegraph, International Herald Tribune and ENGLISH BOOKS!!!!

Bear in mind that this was the mid to late 70s and Mr Waterstone probably hadn't even been born, or was still in short trousers, so there wasn't a three-for-two deal to be seen or the delight of a rummage in a Book Barn. Instead there was one tall twirly rack outside the tabac so my selection of English reading was predetermined. On one occasion my withdrawal systems were so severe that I decided to part with a large proportion of my miserable monthly francs. Foreign books in the town with the second highest cost of living in the world didn't come cheap but sometimes a biblioholic has to buy what a biblioholic has to buy. An orange spine and the penguin seal of approval suggested a reasonably safe choice so I skipped home with MY NAME IS ASHER LEV by Chaim Potok. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. As I said, "some of my best friends books are Jewish".

Another one bites the dust? Not yet.

A touch of deja vu? Through the door just before six. Slim puffy white envelope lying on the floor. Ripping of aforementioned envelope reveals COSMETIQUE DE L'ENNEMI par Amelie Nothomb.
At one hundred and twenty pages this again is a very light read, so why haven't I finished it yet? Well this book hasn't yet been translated into English and so I am reading it in the version originale, in FRENCH!!! Mon Dieu!

So, I'm sure you will excuse me for only getting as far as page 30. As well as physically taking me longer to read it also requires the brain to work much harder and it is not as easy to filter out the normal sounds of family living. I could have carried on reading all night but it was the final episode of "Desperate Housewives" and I signed on the dotted line weeks ago to promise that I would watch every episode with the youngest offspring, snuggled up on the sofa together.

I'm not sure if I will try to read any pages on the train this morning. It could be disastrous. If I became too engrossed I could miss my station and find myself up in London with the grown-ups!

Small is Beautiful

Who cares if the family starve? Not me.

I walked through the front door just before 6pm. Waiting on the doormat was one of those puffy white envelopes ..... containing another book by Ms Northomb. Just one hundred and seven pages of irresistable, un-put-downable reading. Thankfully for the health and welfare of my family by 7.10 I had finished reading ANTICHRISTA. How can a non-entity become more of a non-entity? How can those who should love and value you more than anyone else turn instead to someone else? What can be more painful than being sixteen and having no friends. Read ANTICHRISTA to find out.

LAB (London Architecture Biennale)

I'd like to pretend that it was my intellectual side that made me suggest to the youngest offspring that we hop on a train up to London town and visit part of the LONDON ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE. However, I must come clean and confess that it was actually the lure of sheep, in this case, Herdwick sheep from Cumbria and ........ knitting.

The two young architects shown knitting are JENNY WYNESS & ERICA CALOGERO, part of the team that envisaged and realised this project. More information can be found at
http://www.knittingsite.org/ and from info@knittingsite.org
They are keen to cooperate with other groups and maybe even more into crochet as well. I asked their permission to put their photos on here (something we should all remember to do).

It's been a long time ...

since I read a whole book in one day. It's not quite 3pm and I've just finished page 126 of THE BOOK OF PROPER NAMES
The book had something in common with both THE ILLUSTRATED MUM by Jacqueline Wilson and THE TRAVELLING HORNPLAYER by Barbara Trapido. I can't really explain, that something in common is intangible, just a feeling or a flavour. Delight tinged with sadness. Fantasy / tragedy. You'll just have to read all three to see if you agree with me.

And finally a brain teaser, along the lines of those posed in the "Round Britain Quiz" that used to be broadcast on Radio 4 and probably on the "Home Programme" before that:
What is the connection between writers Amelie Nothomb & John Steinbeck? I warn you, it's a very tentative link because as anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm a devious character.

The Postman Never Rings Twice

He never even knocks once so I just have to be alert for thudding noises or, more often than not, wait till I get home from work and hope that any packages left on my doorstep don't decide to wander off with a passerby.

I digress.... this morning THE BOOK OF PROPER NAMES by Amelie Northomb arrived. You know some rich and famous people have personal shoppers, well I have something better than that ... I have a personal book advisor. She is DOVEGREYREADER who works her subliminal charms upon me. Years ago I always had my head in a book, or two, or three but now whether it is the pressure of work, family life, old age, the call of fibre or my addiction to online groups and blogs I hardly seem to read at all. When I do read, however, it is quite often something that DGR has floated into my brain. She is responsible for my current book THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin and of course my decision to dip my toe into the waters of Amelie Nothomb. Not that it is all one-sided. I do credit myself with introducing her to the delights of the American Jewish author, Chaim Potok and if anyone reading this has not encountered him then I urge you to seek him out soon.

Meanwhile, back with Mlle Nothomb's book. I couldn't resist starting and I have already read 3 pages. It is such a slim volume and so easy to read that I suspect I may allow Ms Chopin's book to slumber a while till THE BOOK OF PROPER NAMES (originally published in French as ROBERT DES NOMS PROPRES) is devoured.

In an interview,in French, Amelie Northumb says "Je pense que si je peux amener les gens à lire, c'est la plus belle mission que je pourrais avoir sur terre." Loosely translated: I think that if I am able to lead people to reading then it is the best thing that I can do on this earth.

Art Show

It's Art Show time of year, this time at my daughter's school. The pieces shown above are a 3D portrait and a sculpture reflecting on war and conflict in modern times.

SPINSTER with a key

Three books ago I was reading SPINSTER by Sylvia Ashton Warner. (see link in column on right)

Written in 1958 (the year after I was born)it is the fictional account of a teacher who recognising that each person has their own personal key vocabulary is able to reach the Maori children in her school who previously had been dismissed as slow learners.

The book is based on Ashton Warnner's own career as a teacher in New Zealand and the reading scheme described is her own highly successful method of teaching reading for which she became internationally known.

As well as fiction, she wrote two autobiographies, had a biography written about her and a film made about her life in 1986.

Warpy-wefty flower

As usual I start with a disaster. I warped up my newly acquired rigid heddle loom but stupidly I used my own-dyed, own-spun unplyed yarn for the warp. Not strong enough so calamity ensued .... warp and wefty bits surgically removed and confined to the furies of FreeForm.....

By public demand - More about the SHIBORI FELTING

Oh OK then, by Dawn rather than public demand .....
The original "fabric" was very loose knitted with fine (4 ply / fingering?) Shetland wool.
It was 3 times the width it ended up.

Materials:
loosely knitted wool (NOT superwash) "fabric"
glass nuggetty things that you use in flower vases (mine were blue) or I believe pebbles / coins can be used
cling film / saran wrap cut into squares about 3 times the size of your nugetty things
rubber/elastic bands

Method:
Hold a glass thingy UNDER the fabric
grab it from the TOP
place cling film over top of fabric above glass thingy
wrap elastic band around cling film & fabric combined to trap glass nugget

repeat with more nuggetts + cling film + elastic bands probably in a RANDOW arrangement
to suit your eye

Put (now heavy) fabric in a net bag used for washing delicates or an old pillowcase (probably need to roughly sew this closed)
Put in washing with a small amount of washing powder & put through a washing cycle.
I put mine on 60deg - this may have been too long. 40deg quick cycle MAY have been better.

If you have a top-loader then of course you can open the machine and check progress.

When it came out of the washing machine it looked amazing. The edges of the cling film had been ripped during washing and was like thin pieces of ribbon floating from the "bubbles". Some of the cling film overthe top of teh bubbles had worn through and the blue glass was glinting like bright blue eyes.

AND THEN I REALISED ...... the nuggets were trapped!!! How on earth was I going to release them?
In a couple of places I had put a group of 5 or 6 nuggets all cuddled up together to make a giant bubble. I gently poked a small hole from THE BACK of the scarf and helped these to escape. With most of the small bubbles, I could encourage them to escape through the loose knitted wool fabric. I had to cut a tiny bit to allow a few of them to escape...

I wonder what the correct way of getting these out is? ...... or did I imprison them too securely?

Dawn wanted to see the "bubbles" more closely. Apologies for blurry pics - i think I was a little TOO close.

Sat-Prudence Mapstone Freeform Workshop & Sun- Shibori felt at home

On Saturday I managed to finally get myself to the other side of: Heathrow Airport, the M25 the M4. Now that doesn't sound like much of an achievement but haven't you ever tried to just "be" on the other side of a BIG GROWNUP ROAD and the whole universe seems to conspire against you?
I must have been on Level 7 of this computer game called Life because I had to contend with three obtacles at once. Anyway, I managed it and only arrived at the Church Hall in Iver, Bucks two minutes late.
Now I did meet Prudence briefly at Ally Pally 2005 but she was rushed off her feet with the usual mixture of groupies and neophytes buzzing around and drooling over her garments AND the new book. This time I was attending her workshop and then went on to have dinner with her in the evening.
Now on to my main reason for attending the workshop - MEETING MEL!!! I have exchanged emails with Mel G from Connecticut in the past and she generously sent me a huge package of info about "Tossed Salad" knitting & crochet and how to make a Ruana shaped garment. She is known thoughout the Freeform world for her vast knowledge of textile books and articles, especially FF.
Surprise, surprise she was dressed in her favourite colours of eggplant, as she calls it or aubergine as those on this side of the pond refer to it. I also met two people from the UK Handknitters group, Sue & Dawn. Sue dashed off to Australia on business as soon as the workshop finished but I was stuck with Dawn (& Mel and Prudence) till gone 10 o'clock at night! Dawn and I have since exchanged a flood of emails and I think we will have difficulty getting rid of each other!
Oh yes - workshop was arranged by Tracy & Jo of Taj Crafts They are lovely people and their shop is well worth a visit. I challenge you to go into their shop and come out empty-handed!!



There was another follow-on workshop on Sunday but I thought that I had better not neglect the family two days in a row but that didn't mean I had to be a martyr to family life. In between the washing and feeding and "being there" for people I had a go at SHIBORI FELTING ..... and made this

Watch this space....

Last weekend I bought a 2nd hand Ashford 800mm (32 in) rigid heddle loom.


Tomorrow (Saturday) I'm doing a Freeform workshop with Prudence Mapstone and Mel Gill from the FF Crochet group. (PM is over from AUS & MG is over from the USA)

Hanging on for dear life..

In response to Juuli's kind comments about my yarns & spinning. I use powdered acid dyes that I bought from The Handweavers Studio in East London . That's all I know about the dyes because they have a handweavers Studio label on them.
Incidentally that is where I learnt to spin almost a year ago to the day.

I think the way to get the boucle effect is every now and then to "hang onto the yarn" too much. if you overdo this tho' you will end up with barbed wire!!

Let the sun shine on

hand-dyed, handspun yarn.

I opened the curtains this morning and the sun streamed in on a box of my yarn bringing back happy memories of dyeing and spinning sessions.

Half a walk is better than none

I decided to follow in Dovegreyreader's footsteps and share a walk with my virtual friends.
Rule No. 1: make sure your digital camera is fully charged! I actually did the WHOLE walk but because of not living up to the Girl Guide's motto of "Be Prepared" alas I am only able to share half of that walk with you.

The lovely Dovegreyreader lives in an area that has been designated of "outstanding natural beauty". I live just inside the M25 (London's orbital motorway) and not quite under the flight path of planes from HeathrowAirport. However, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what I can show you during an hour's roundtrip on foot from my house. Don't forget now, on this occasion I can only show you approximately the first half.
So... let's step out of my house .. and turn right.

This is the road that I live in. The redbrick wall belongs to my next-door neighbour, the Methodist Church and just beyond that you can see the Scout Hut. Further along and across the road is the Junior School that all my children attended, and just beyond that the level-crossing and the railway station. No school run for me and now I can almost fall out of bed and onto the train in the morning, I hardly have to walk at all.


Standing by the side of the track at the level crossing this is the view towards the station and on up to London town

Here's the postman who cycled so fast he was almost off the village green, that used to be water filter beds, and heading for our local branch library before I "snapped" him.

On a little further and glancing back we can see the old redbrick Police Station from where the traffic police now operate so you can't pop in and get them to nab a cat burglar for you. Back in the days when the children were small I did however, drag in No.2 child and tell the Duty Officer that he kept sliding out of his child seat. They weren't exactly helpful, they didn't threaten to lock him up as I had hoped, instead they let him try on a helmet and gave him a sticker. Needless to say he carried on with his Houdini tricks.

Enough of looking backwards, we pass a row of prettily painted houses.

and head towards St Mary's Church on Station Road which runs parallel with the RiverThames.

Just before we get to the T-junction, a quick glance at the houses across the road.

A hop, skip and a jump and here we are right by the River Thames but no chance of catching a pedestrian ferry across, the sign says, "CLOSED".

Well we've managed it as far as St Mary's Church and it's reassuring to know that "God Believes in You".

The leaves are coming in to bud but haven't yet obscured our view of the river.

It's obviously just the weather for "messing about on the river".


Unless you are in a car heading for the airport

Or in a bus off for a little retail therapy


However, we are out for a walk and maybe just a smidgeon of culture. Across the road is the house of the famous actor, David Garrick. You may have seen the portrait of him as Richard III by William Hogarth. When the road wasn't quite so busy there was a tunnel underneath from Garrick's House to the part of his garden that ran down to the river. And here it was that he built his temple to Shakespeare, now known as Garrick's Temple.


It can be seen from both the river and the road and is open to the public at the weekends in the summer season.



Soon we will be able to get away from the infernal combustion engine and go looking for rabbits.


Yes, there's an urban rabbit there, somewhere in Bushy Park, which is a Royal Park.
With an area of 445 hectares (1,099 acres). Bushy is the second largest of the Royal Parks.


Here we are off the road and just inside the park. Just in case we get lost, we have a map. We entered through a gate at the very bottom left, where the blue River Thames almost flows into the green Bushy Park.

Here is that part of the map in more detail and with our route marked out in red. We will barely nibble into that big blob of green.
You can only come with me as far as where the red line goes across the white flower symbol because that's where the camera's battery runs out! I'll have to make my own way home from there.

If you are really interested, you can download a pdf map of Bushy Park.

Off to the right is the direction in which we are going to set off. In the distance is the Diana Fountain, dedicated to the goddess, not the late Princess of Wales.

Back to the left you can see the house that is part of Bushy Park stock yard from where they do whatever they have to do to look after the deer in this Royal Park. If you have really good eyesight, in the distance, to the right of the house, you can see St Mary's Church that we walked past earlier.

Now we are entering a park within a park, the Woodland Gardens, so you will have to leave your bike and your dog behind.

We've just missed the daffodils

and the rhododendrons and azaleas are over

but we can still enjoy looking at all the shapes between the branches

I'm off home now, with my cloak of invisibilty on, you'll have to stay here
till I come back for you with a recharged battery ..........