Imagine this blog post with smell

The weather is getting ridiculous. It's just stupidly cold. On the plus side, it seems to be fairly quiet in the courts this week so I have been largely staying at home with Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book, getting into some Easter baking & using my new-ish electronic scales for something other than weighing wool & samples (working out nos of balls for grading - being me I have got a spreadsheet for this & everything). I have been knitting a nice summery cotton sample for Knit Now, but frankly its entire unsuitability for wear in the current Arctic conditions has been making me feel chillier if anything.

So I have made Hot Cross Buns for the first time ever:

 

 

Two missing due to us eating them before I took the picture - rather good I have to say. I have been telling myself that kneading and mixing is a sufficient exercise substitute for actually going out and doing anything.

 

Also Simnel cake:

 



It doesn't look like Simnel cake in the book, as Waitrose had obviously had a run on golden marzipan and I had to get the white. (They had also had a run on almond essence, which is my excuse for not making my own instead). So it then didn't seem worth doing an egg glaze - it would look a bit strange, white marzipan with yellow eggwash. I suspect it will not taste much different though! I also quite like the fact I have a slightly misshapen apostle/marzipan ball. I've used marrow and ginger jam instead of apricot as I need to use it up (it tastes quite nice, but I don't think any of my prospective preserve eaters think it will, so although I didn't make very much, there is quite a bit left, and no sign of any takers).

While I'm here I'll say a public thank you to the good people at Owen Barry Bags. I managed to loose the toggle on my rather lovely brown suede bag and they sent me one for free.

Bounty from darkest Peru. And Buffy the Vampire Slayer

My husband has just got back from a business trip to South America which included a few days in Lima, Peru. Thanks to the wonder of Ravelry I found out about the Michell Alpaca shop in Miraflores and he dutifully went there with a list of possible requirements. They didn't know what Aran or 4-ply were but he got me lots of baby Alpaca DK:

 

really so beautifully soft! and a cone of unidentified very fine laceweight which he was told is 8km long...

at a fraction of the retail cost here. Plus a tartan-y woven alpaca scarf which is gorgeously soft.

His return has meant we can continue with another project, watching Buffy-from-the-beginning. We are now midway through Season 4 which means last night we got Hush, one of the best episodes ever made, and also at the zenith of Spike's Imperial phase.

I commend this wool to the House...

It's not often anything woolly (other, than occasionally, the thinking) makes a foray into legal London. Other than the occasional post-Inner London/Blackfriars trip to I-Knit, wool and my job don't tend to come together - the wigs are made of horsehair, not wool. So on finding myself with an hour or so to kill in Chambers it was a delight to find that Woolhouse, the Campaign for Wool's exhibition had landed just down the road at Somerset House.

First plus point - Sheep in the courtyard!

 

 

Frankly I'm a sucker for any event with a herd of sheep outside. I didn't know quite what would be inside - I knew there would be a spot of very impressive crochetdermy, and some chairs. But it was all just fascinating.

 

Compared with your average exhibition, it was very tactile. So much fabric and wool to handle, and of course it's utterly amazing how different woollen fibres can be - one moment thick and sheepy, the next light as air. The exhibition has four bits, sort of - art (fleece tapestries), handcrafts (spinning, lots of balls of wool, dyeing, and Jason Collingwood (http://www.rugweaver.co.uk/) weaving amazing rugs (WANT ONE!!!)), fashion, and furnishing.

 

(That was a complicated sentence.)

 

I was pleased to note a large display of Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds in the handcraft section, including the Mid Brown Jacob yarn I used for my Capstan Cowl in the extremely well-timed Best of British edition of Knit Now. Made me feel sort of part of things...!

 

The fashion section included a room full of Savile Row suits. If you have ever invested in a 25g ball of Arctic Qiviut, you may like to speculate on how much an entire bespoke Qiviut and Cashmere suit would cost you on Savile Row. It seems such things are available.

 

Furnishing is probably the biggest section with a suite of sample rooms put together by various designers using wool for walls, floors, furniture and accessories, ranging from traditional:

 

 

 

to ultra modern:

 

 

 

Probably my no. 1 most desirable object was this chair..:

 

 

 

It was in the bedroom section but the not included on the list of suppliers on the wall! Again... WANT ONE!!!

 

There's also a fab kids' bedroom by Donna Wilson - beware of taking your children - they will also be bellowing WANT ONE!!!

 

Everything was fascinating - everything was desirable. But what's this? There was NO SHOP. I heard some ladies asking on the way out if there was a shop and they were told "No. A lot of people are asking about that, and they did consider it, but they wanted to be completely uncommercial".

 

Totally uncommercial - and in the heart of London. That's what I call a breath of fresh air. Although I did in fact want to buy nearly every exhibit.

 

The exhibition is free, and on until March 24th. There's a LOT more to see than I've covered here. Anyone who likes fashion, design, textiles, wool or sheep will love it.

 











Capstan cowl thoughts!

I'm so proud to say I have a pattern in Knit Now's new issue, in the shops this Thursday, which is their Best of British issue!



photos (c) Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing

Look, there it is - not the main picture, but the cowl being worn by the lady in the nice purple coat. It's called the Capstan Cowl and is part of this month's Designer Challenge, which involved Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky.

The yarn, which is thick, textured and comes, without wishing to refer to a novel I have no intention of reading, in several shades of grey. It made me think of ropes, and harbours, a bit like this:

 

Source: flickr.com via Miranda on Pinterest

So, the yarn itself is twisty (like the ply on the ropes) and the ropemaker twists it into a rope (like a cable) and then the sailer twists it again around his capstan... maybe I could do that!

And of course anyone with a passing interest in the history of British knitting knows how entwined our knitting and nautical history is.

The finished piece is a small cowl - more of a spring or autumn piece than a full blown cosy snow-replling cowl - and takes literally a couple of hours to knit (Yes, there is still time for mothers day, just). It also doesn't use much yarn.

When you're knitting it, you may find yourself a bit concerned that it will look very weird, as the cable unravels. But fear not! Even if you are opposed in principle to blocking, this is one pattern where a very simple blocking process will weave magic over your cowl. If you haven't got fancy blocking stuff, don't worry. All you need is a towel, some safety pins and maybe a biggish book.

Soak your knitting in lukewarm water for 15 minutes or so. Roll it in your towel to remove excess water (If you've used the recommended yarn, you will be AMAZED by how quickly the water goes. Wool is remarkable stuff). Then pin it out, pinning each cable out flat, onto the dry bit of your towel.

 

Fold your towel over it (especially if you have a pet who is inclined to sleep on blocking projects). If you like, sit your heavy book on it. Leave it to dry.

 

Unpin, then take half the length of your cowl (easiest way to measure is to fold it in two) and pin this into a loop:

 

 

Then wind the loose end 3 times around the loop (3 is the right number. I tried doing more and it just got too twisty and lost the effect of the cables). Make sure you are winding in the same direction as the cables.

 

 

Pin the ends together, then join it using backstitch (you need a good strong seam). If you squiggle the twists around, the join won't show at all. If you don't like seaming, you can use a provisional cast on and join by grafting or 3 needle bind off.

 

It would also make quite a funky headband.



Little lost sheep

The other morning, I got to Ealing Broadway station. As usual, the first tube out was already full. I sat down on the other, put down my bags, opened my Metro... and realised something was missing. My precious Kate Davies Sheep Heid. My first Fair Isle project, AND a birthday present from my mum... Well, for that hat I get off the tube and hunt. Back down the platform and out. I know the most likely place I left it is on the E8 bus. There's still an E8 parked over the road. The driver lets me on to have a look, but I've got a feeling it's not the same driver as on my bus before. Either way, no hat; nor does it seem to be anywhere on the ground. I've got form for loss of hats, but I'm particularly upset about this one.

I know there's no point phoning the bus garage yet, but I use my phone to register on the TFL lost property, and head for Stratford magistrates court, rather later than I was intending, as the tube I had been sitting on is of course also full.

End of the day, no reply.

Have my sheep gone for good?

Next day, I call Brentford bus garage. My husband has just texted me to tell me he is taking me for dinner in Richmond to cheer me up. Man at the bus garage "What colour is it?". Me "It's hand knitted. It's got sheep on it." Him (repeats) "What colour is it?" Me "It's all different colours..." (I am clearly going to need to settle on a colour) "Brown". Man "It's here"

Hurrah!!

I stop off en route to Richmond that evening (bus driver kindly lets me stay on the bus as far as the depot, rather than getting off with the very drunk men and walking up Commerce Road).

And here we are, reunited, on the train to Richmond:

Whether I will ever dare wear it anywhere again is another question...