Wild and Woolly

Deep and crisp and even

Yes, more of the white stuff has fallen and everyone is off school again. Actually, it isn't, strictly speaking, a snow day for me, since this is my day off anyway. I have to say that the novelty value has well and truly worn off. Everything does still look very beautiful smothered in white, but I am no longer enjoying walking a mile to where I have left the car in the morning and back up the hill again in the evening. Dancing on Ice had nothing on me yesterday, as I did a series of triple salchows with toe loops on the icy slopes!

George got chilblains on his toes (snowballing and sledging in trainers) and I took his mind of them by showing him this little book as we searched for a remedy:

Published in 1839, it provides wonderful evidence of what daily life in Victorian England was like, not least the hazards of serious illness and the homemade 'cures' used to treat them. The treatment for chilblains (the application of, among other things, vinegar and honey) was one of the less worrying. More seriously, the fear of falling into abject poverty pervades the book. The Poor Law Amendment Act had recently been passed (1834) and with it came the end of any help for poor people outside of the workhouse. So the book is full of ways to scrimp and save and make the most of everything - not that different to today's recycle, reuse, DIY philosophy. Except, being Victorian, The Frugal Housewife combines handy hints with a good deal of moralising about the 'reasons for hard times' - much of it, apparently, to do with the extravagance of women with regard to 'ribbons and trimmings'...

I hope my attraction to wool and knitted adornments will not drive us into the workhouse...A nice little package arrived yesterday, despite the snow, from www.garnstudio.com with the Drops Alpaca I had ordered to make the garter stitch jacket from Drops Designs (free pattern here). I am making it longer by casting on 100 stitches (the pattern is knit in one piece, sideways-on, using short row shaping and garter stitch). The alpaca is sport weight, so is used two strands at a time (on 5mm needles) and I am combining two shades of green. Already, the small amount I have worked feels and looks fabulous. This is now going to be the first of my 12 sweaters for the IntSweMoDo2010 on Ravelry (see last post for details). I didn't like the original project I had started and have ripped it out (extravagance, again)!

 
 And finally, I have started a pair of Knotty Gloves, this time using up some Fyberspates wool I already had. I need these now but they will not be rushed. Four needles, fine wool and cables, it was lucky our TV wouldn't receive a signal last night or they might have lived up to their name!

Comfort blankets

Maybe because the weather this summer seems to be getting colder and wetter by the day, I am drawn to making blankets.  The Hap Blanket I made earlier this year is so cosy - it's often wrapped round a child who is reading or watching telly in the sitting room.  So I have embarked on two throws and both are working up really quickly and so are comforting and satisfying to work on, too.

The first is the crocheted 'Stripy Throw' from Erika Knight's Simple Crochet. I'm using the yarn (Rowan All Seasons Cotton) and the colours exactly as in the book.  The thick cotton (with a bit of acrylic) is lovely and soft to work with and, although I'm a crochet novice, I have picked up the stitch fairly easily (after a few false starts!).

 

 

 

The other project is 'Blythe' from Jane Ellison's Noro Family. I'm working on my first square of this patchwork style blanket.  There are to be twelve in total, each worked with two colours, each square different. The finished effect looks stunning in the book's photograph.  Unlike the crocheted throw, this knitted one is a long term project. I see myself working on a new square from time to time over the summer and autumn - Noro yarn (Silk Garden in this square) is expensive!

 

 

I'm also enjoying the new Rowan Magazine: beautiful photo shoots in Thwaite Mills and a turn-of-the-century Voewood House. I have my eye on the fairisle 'Shetland' cardigan in Rowan's new Felted Tweed Aran (there is a woman's and man's version of the style).  Some of the new teenager styles look really nice, too 'inspired by the colours of the American wilderness'.

Stopping by the Woods on a Frosty Morning

  

   

I seem to have had a bit of a holiday from blogging but I'm back now ready to report on the new year.  We started 2009 with a magical walk in Standish woods.  Although it was frosty at our house, the transformation when we climbed up to the woods was breathtaking.  Everything was white with a coating of hoar frost.  Isn't it beautiful how the leaves have an icy edging to them? 

We started the Christmas holidays with a wedding in the Lake District (my nephew's), had a lovely Christmas at home and then went to my brother-in-law and his family in Kent for a weekend.  It has been nice having time to cook, read (I've been hooked by the Stephanie Meyer books, following in the footsteps of my daughters) and knit (finished Jared Flood's Turn a Square hat, still working on two Kim Hargreaves projects 'Boris' and the shrug from the Heartfelt Collection - pictures later) and sit by the fire.  School goes back on Monday so this weekend will mean having a look at my timetable and getting everyone ready to slip back into the usual routine. And I have a ten-mile race on Sunday morning which I'm sure will reflect all those mince pies and other festive fare I've enjoyed over the last two weeks!

   Hat Pattern: Jared Flood Turn a Square

www.brooklyntweed.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going for gold

It was fantastic to watch the mens coxless fours winning gold in the Olympics this morning.  We were all screaming at the telly (as instructed by the BBC commentator!) and it seemed to do the trick.  The question now is whether to stay up late tonight to watch Paula Radcliffe in the marathon.  I don't think it starts until after midnight and I have a race myself tomorrow - not quite in the same league but still quite a tough one.     

'Super Saturday' in the Olympics was the perfect excuse to lounge around and catch up on some knitting.  Frustratingly, I ran out of the pale blue yarn I needed to finish the sleeves on the baby fair isle, so I went all out on the Retro Rib Socks instead, finishing one and making a good start on the other.  Hannah made some enormous peanut butter chippers from the Totally Cookies Cookbook.

  

Absolutely scrumptious but twice the size they were meant to be!  No one was complaining though...and they were the perfect accompaniment to watching people being very energetic on the telly!

Later, our friend Anne brought three of her four little boys round to see the chickens; and Chris and George got busy making a movable fence that can be used to make a big run for the chickens in different parts of the garden.

I, too, got busy in the kitchen and made this for supper: Beetroot, Potato and Goat's Cheese Gratin from Bill Sewell's excellent vegetarian cookbook Feasts from the Place Below.  Before you cook the dish it is this rather violent pink colour but it is a very good recipe for fresh beetroot (which we had from our organic veg box this week).

 

Once it is baked, the grated cheese and breadcrumbs on top give texture and subdue the colour!

 

I also heard via Ravelry that my downstream partner in the Caffeine Swap had received her parcel from me.  She was really pleased with it and I'm really glad that she liked the things I had put in.  I seem to have made a new convert to Green and Black's Maya Gold chocolate!