Comfort=wool+ stew
Today’s haul from Little Woollie: 14 balls of Drops Big Delight for a cardigan (see above) and a pile of jolly coloured Jarol Heritage DK, which I swear by.
Polenta and venison stew with chestnuts from Knole and venison from Allens butchers in Mayfair.
Trying to decide what’s on the menu for our popup cafe at next weekend’s Vintage Social. Thinking soups, pulled pork rolls, quiche, maybe pizza, alongside the usual biccies, cakes and bread.
8.9kg chestnuts to play with… Shelling furiously… Will report back on success with the following… Apologies to deer at Knole!
1 Paradiso Seasons chestnut and carrot cannelloni
2 Wild Garlic Denis Cotter cabbage timbale of celeriac & chestnuts with porcini & oyster mushrooms
3 Ripailles Chestnut & mushroom omelette
4 Telegraph Chestnut & Apple soup
5 Chestnut stuffing for turkey – natch
BEFORE:
Our lovely friend A– had left this out for someone to adopt. It caught my eye because it’s one of those projects everyone did at school – my mum made one, my little sister made one. But I never did….
DURING:
Used 2 balls of Jersey yarn I cut from old tshirts and a 50p charity shop find elastic threader to do my weaving. I found that an extra loop round the frame at the end of each row kept everything taut.
AFTER:
New stool!
In the St Christopher’s hospice shop Bromley a lovely lady was knitting these little chicks whilst serving at the counter. Not only are they cute they also contain a creme egg. Too cheap at £1!
This was fun… Some plastic toy figures, a clean jam jar, some glycerine (from the supermarket near all the food colouring), some glitter, tap water, superglue or sugru. We stuck the figures to the jar lid and let them set overnight… We used sugru but you could use superglue. Then put less than a teaspoon of glitter into the jar (the flaky large glitter works best and you can mix colours), add water, a dash of glycerin (it thickens the water and makes the glitter fall more slowly), seal the lid and shake. We topped the water right up to the top so there was next to no air in the jar when it was sealed. You could glue the lid on but we’re living dangerously!
Happy Christmas!
Number 2 has just reached a certain state of maturity (age 4) at which this occurs to him…. “I can’t eat the face!” We reply “But it’s just a gingerbread man. You always eat it all up.” But Secondo cannot be persuaded. He has turned on a dime from bloodthirsty thug on a testosterone high into sensitive soul. Waitrose’s seasonally themed gingerbread range are always a source of pleasure in our house. But this is the first time they’ve sparked a philosophical debate.
I’ve always wanted to crochet. I find the textures wonderful. I’ve tried following books and you tube clips but always ended up with a dispiriting knotted mess. Instead of all that rubbish I’m taking a short course at Little Woollie in Shortlands. It’s wonderful. Tips that really helped…. Seeing how to hold the work, making a chain with a hook 1/2 size bigger so it’s easier to then get the proper size hook into, use pale yarn to get started because you can see the stitches better…I can dc and tr and I think I’ve invented a few special stitches too.
I am carrying crochet round and practising on the tube, in the train, waiting outside school, …. I’m going to take a knitting course next and finally learn how to do more than knit one, knit one, …
Meet ladylike Barbie. She cost £7 but arrived looking like, well, a bit of a slut. Mattel could so so much better. I made this dress for her so she is presentable. I then put her back in the box and resealed it. Hoping ‘Prima’ won’t know the difference. Can’t do much about her vital statistics though. I have given in to Barbie but feel the change of clothes is meaningful. The reason I have given in is precisely because of the clothes in fact… It was because I made things for our Barbie and Sindy when I was a kid that I taught myself to make at all. And I managed to come away without any freaky body issues. Notes to Mattel… Give the girl some pants, cut her hair properly so it’s not all different lengths, give her some decent clothes that cover her ****…
…Do you think Number 1 will consent to me making some more couture pieces?
My porcelain pencil sharpener… Take one 50p boot sale Royal Worcester porcelain pot, one pencil sharpener and half a sugru sachet. Sugru’s that mouldable silicon that air dries as a flexible waterproof tough heatproof form. Think useful plasticine. Think ‘I can mend or hack anything’. So now all the pencil shavings collect daintily and usefully in the pot. Hurrah. Sugru is wonderful and inspiring.
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