Time goes by

Well its been eight and a bit months since I wrote here. Thats not to say I haven't been thinking about it or doing any work, but being pregnant and having to push on the house so its finished for when the baby arrives has just taken up a lot of my time. Thats fine though. We've really enjoyed planning and decorating the house and I'm so pleased with how it looks now. Its so different from when we moved in. We thought it was so lovely, even though it was all magnolia, but now we look back and can't believe we thought it was so great - its a million times better now!!! No but seriously, I don't believe you can bring out the character of a period house with magnolia paint, apart from the fact that magnolia isn't even a colour (sorry if you happen to love it). The house is really cosy now and the only room left to decorate is the baby's room, which obviously will not be pink or blue, but will be a lovely warm, earthy red. Perfect for a baby who's used to being in a little, enclosed space, though it won't be going in its own room for a few months but will sleep in the Moses basket in our room to start with. I'll put up some photos of the house in another post.

We found out I was pregnant when we were in South Africa in December and January; we were staying on Marno's grandad's farm at the time, and waited until we got there to do the test as it was such a special place for him with so many memories. Well we certainly created a new memory! Finding out you are pregnant is pretty scary, even if its been planned and you pretty much know you are anyway.View over the farm from the mountain.

View of the mountain from the farm.

So the project I took to SA was the Swallowtail Lace Shawl. I so enjoyed knitting the lace cardigan that wanted to knit some more lace so I had a browse through Ravelry and chose the Swallowtail. It seems like so long ago I knitted it that its odd writing about it now. Never mind. It was a great project for the plane and airport as it was small and I used wooden DPNs so it wasn't detected, though I did ask if I could take it on the plane on the first flight. It took about a month to complete and I ended up wearing it all last winter as we had such awfully cold weather for so long.




This shawl was so enjoyable to knit and the pattern was so clever and simple but really taught me a lot while I was knitting it; about increases and decreases and how they work in making patterns. I also enlarged the shawl as I usually wear shawls rather than scarves and my current one is pretty big. Because I knit quite tightly but wanted to use my wooden DPNs and also my Bigwigs Angora, which I bought at Wonderwool in 2009, I thought it would end up being very tiny and probably unusable, so I managed to find a Ravelry link to Mintyfresh's blog where she explains how she enlarged the shawl, as you can't just add as many rows as you like because the pattern calls for an exact number. I have to say, the number of rows I worked out to add was correct, before I found the blog, but she really helped for the last few rows where you can't get the number of stitches totally correct and have to K2tog (I think, it was a while ago...) a couple of times to get the correct number of stitches. It worked out perfectly anyway, so I'm happy, and looking forward to wearing it again this year, though I don't fancy getting baby puke all over it!

I also finished the Robin hat I was knitting from Kim Hargreaves Thrown Together book. Unfortunately this is the only half decent photo I have of it...


...modelled with the Swallowtail shawl! I decided not to attach the bobble, though I did make one, but I thought it looked a bit stupid. Thats probably because it turned out to be massive and I got little bits of red wool everywhere from trying to sculpt it into a more acceptable size. I'm happy with it as it is though. I also have to say that I'm looking forward to wearing that jumper in the photo again, and having a slimmer face. I hope its true that breastfeeding uses upwards of 500 calories a day!

Ecclesiasties 1 v 9 &10

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us."

Since moving house, I've been thinking about the Arts and Crafts movement as our house was built in 1930, although this was definitely the latter end of the movement. I remembered that a while ago we bought a lovely book, International Arts and Crafts, and have been looking through it this morning, initially with the idea of finding some inspiration for producing some new work. However, as I read the introduction, I came across a sentence which epitomised the problem I, and other artists or creators, face when trying to come up with an original project. Speaking of John Ruskin, the introduction states,

"[Richard Redgrave] stopped short of outright condemnation of the use of machines, stating that "the best tastes are to be found in those manufacturers and fabrics where handicraft is entirely or partially the means of producing the ornament." The social reformer John Ruskin, on the other hand, felt that Redgrave ahd not gone far enough. Drawing on some... of A.W.N. Pugin's ideas of design reform, Ruskin proposed a return to handcrafted workmanship as a way of dealing with declining standards, both in design and society as a whole. For Ruskin, the two were inextricably linked, and he abhorred the machine and its resultant division of labour, which he regarded as debasing factors in a sick society."

The reason the above verse from Ecclesiastes came to my mind is that once again, society has found itself in a place where it is questioning how it got to this stage, particularly regarding the complete decline in moral values and the realisation that mankind is destroying the planet God gave him to dwell on (whether or not they believe in God). Clearly this is what happened in the time Ruskin put forth his thoughts on the industrialisation of Britain, and strove to promote handicraft as a way of becoming closer to nature and drawing on its inspiration for art and design, which was one of the key aims of the Arts and Crafts movement. Once again we are in a society where handicraft, or "crafting" is promoted and is overwhelmingly popular, with literally countless websites and blogs dedicated to the work of thousands of people all over the world. Where this makes things difficult for someone trying to produce an original body of work is that they can see so many ideas on the internet, many of which are fantastic and inspiring to look at, and desire to produce something similar to what someone else has produced. It can be hard to get back to the inspiration stage when the finished products of thousands of creators are there for all to see; it is easy to forget that these people also began at a starting point to get to where they are now. I suppose the answer is to turn off the computer and to begin by making a list of what one is interested in, preferred mediums of work, and get out and look for inspiration... before turning back to the internet to see that your idea has already been done. That is a very negative attitute and I do not really uphold it - I suppose with the billions of people in the world, it os not surprising that a few come to the same solution.

For me, there is also the issue of not wasting time and producing something that is actually useful. This is a very subjective question, because I would say an object such as a painting is useful because of the way it can affect the viewer. Our house is full of my paintings and I still love to look at them and love the way friends look at them and wonder what they are thinking and whether they are affected in the same way as I am by my paintings. Something created by one's self will always be different in the way one views it, however, and is perhaps not the best measure of whether or not an product of art or creativity is useful.

I am going to continue to consider these questions, as i would like to produce some work before I begin life as a student and a worker again, as long as I am accepted onto the PGCE course I've applied for.

A bird and a flower

Well I managed to make a little gift for my sister in the end. Its a little bird which can be a brooch or can be attached to a bag or anywhere really. Its not particularly amazing but I don't make stuff like this usually and learned a lot even from this little project.




It is different on each side but on the red side the wing fabric started to split from where I had sewed it to the body. Next time I'll use some interfacing. Also I don't think the place I chose to leave a hole for stuffing was the best. It needs to be much more discreet. I also need to practice sewing non-straight lines on the sewing machine!


Because I had my fabrics out, I started playing around and made this little corsage to go on a green coat I have. Its ultra simple but quite sweet.

Finally finished

I'm sure I must get a prize for taking so long to finish this cardigan. I mean, it really is ridiculous. However, I hope I can be forgiven since I do in fact have legitimate reasons for such a lull in productivity, such as moving house... spending a week in London after my father in law was knocked over by a motorbike ( a terrible experience and we are all blessed in that he is recovering well)... spending two weeks in a primary school on work experience to decide whether I want to be a teacher (I do!) and other more minor things. Anyway, without further ado, here is the garment.







It is rather exciting as I really love it and keep wanting to wear it. Its a lot more practical than the last cardigan I knitted, and goes with more of my clothes, which are generally colourful. I'm currently working on Kim Hargreaves Robin hat as a simple project before I start anything major again.


Its a bit further on than this now but I didn't post when I meant to. I'll wait until I finish it for more photos.

I bought Sew Hip magazine the other day. I'd seen it several times on the magazine shelves but wasn't to impressed with the cringe name so hadn't bought it, but succumbed the other day and was pleasantly surprised. A lot of the projects are actually makeable and there was a lovely, if a little short, feature on Janet Clare, who is a general crafter but so talented. Her website is gorgeous, especially the "inspirations" sections. I was certainly inspired, and am planning to make some kind of fabric animal figure for my sister who's birthday is on Friday and she's also moving to a new house, so I thought that would be more meaningful than something bought. The only thing is, my craft room is not in the least bit ready, so i'll have to spread my fabrics on the dining table. At least we've finished the dining room.

Its such a cold day today, so I've lit the wood burner in the undecorated middle room. Heres a gratuitous photo.

Having a woodburner is very special, however, I have realised that the reason we got it - to try and spend less on heating bills - will probably not prove worthwhile in the long run. I read an amusing article in Cotswold Life magazine the other weekend when we stayed at Stanton Guildhouse in the Cotswolds, which, incidentally, is a huge house built in the 50's or 60's to run craft workshops and accommodate people, that one of the appeals of moving to the Cotswolds is to be able to be part of a village where smoke is coming from every chimney and there is the smell of it in the air outside, but it ends up being more for show and cosyness than actually helping the owner to save any money. And speaking of these lovely things reminiscent of olden days, I've just finished reading "The Old Curiosity Shop" by Dickens. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as "David Copperfield", but it didn't take nearly as long to read. I love the characters and descriptions of their clothing and their thoughts and the whole feeling of being transported back in time to when men were polite and held doors open for women, and people acknowledged each other in the street and had time for one another. So with that in mind, I'm going to try and make this 'thing' for my sister.
Have a lovely afternoon x

Progress of the fireplaces

The living room fireplace is now installed.



It looks lovely and will be so cosy in the winter. Check out the teacup cushion on the blue chair as well. Makes me happy to look at it as its so pleasant.

Here is the progress of the middle one.



The builders were here all day yesterday, and some of this morning, coming again tomorrow, Thursday, and we're finally having the wood burner installed in the hole on Saturday. I say finally but actually its all be rather quick. We didn't expect them to start until next week so its going pretty quickly really.

For the middle room we also have these awesome chairs.

They have quite a history as they belonged originally to my father in law's father, who is 90 in January, who was a doctor. He had them in his consulting room. Then my parents in law had them in their flat when they were students (this is all in South Africa), then they moved to England and the chairs remained in storage for years, until they came to Wales on a van last weekend. We're going to give them a sand and some treatment and I plan on making some nice cushions for them. They'll go either side of the wood burner and add to the cosiness :)

I was sad this morning as I have been reading David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and I finally finished it. A truely amazing book, I don't understand how somebody can have the lives of so many invented characters in their head, and pull all their stories together and not leave any loose ends. The book is very heavily based on Dickens own life, which you can tell as he writes about each situation as if he had actually experienced it. It is also comforting to read as it goes back to the time when men had manners and were polite and well mannered to women, and women were gracious and kind. Ohh, if only people were still like that. There were also, obviously, disadvantages to living in the period, such as the great discrepancy between classes, and the thought of the character of Steerforth and his mother that the lower classas have no emotions and can handle any situation as sadness barel affects them. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and plan to come by some more of his books. I've taken to reading the classics recently - I read Dr Zhivago not long ago, which is nothing like the film, at which I was surprised, having seen it so many times. And when I was younger I read most of my Dad's collection of Dostyevsky's.

Our new house

Here are a few photos of our new house. We've only decorated the living room so far and are having a couple of fireplaces installed. An open fire in the living room and a wood burner in the middle room which is kind of a second living room.


View from the back patio.

Dining area with paint samples on wall and freshly cladded lower wall, to be painted.

The middle room, aka the Africa room. This will be painted yellow and be very cosy. This is the room which will have the log burner.

View of same room from other end.

I'll post some more pics soon but the fireplace men are here at the moment so I don't want to disturb them by taking progress photos around them!

It was my husbie's birthday on Saturday we had a Masquerade breakfast and I made American blueberry pancakes which went down very well :)



I like this photo because I think the paint samples on the wall look quite unusual and
make the roses stand out.

Not much to show for a whole two months!

We've been staying with my parents since 1st July as we're moving house but had to wait to exchange and complete. Hence I've had loads of time this summer to do loads of work. I did a lot of knitting at first, but got more and more frustrated as the exchange on our house was taking so long and couldn't concentrate on anything. My poor cardigan has been neglected for some weeks now, with a finished back and fronts and one nearly finished sleeve. Not a good effort at all!

However, I have finished something, though even that's only in the last couple of days as I determined I had to have a complete "thing" to show.


Yes, its my spinning! I love how it looks on the spindle. Its funny because the colour of the yarn goes really well with the colour of the wood.


I wrapped it round the back of a chair after soaking it in tap hot water with shampoo for a while.


As you can see, there is way too much twist in it after drying. I think I've been rather too generous with my spins and need to spin far more gently.


I rewound it once dry to pull it tight again to try and get rid of the kinks but I don't know how this will knit up. I'm planning on leaving it like this for a long while so hopefully it will just stay in this position when I remove it.

My lucky parents have the product of my art foundation and fine art degree courses in their garage, and I've been looking though my old paintings and found one I'd forgotten about.

Its of one of my old housemates and I remembered when I saw it that she had it on her wall in our student house in third year. I don't know why it's come to have spent so long in the garage but I plan to take it to the new house and find a home for it.

We've been spending a bit of time making little design boards for each of the rooms. An old friend has recently renovated a house a similar age to ours and has used Little Greene and Farrow and Ball paints. They're such a beautiful finish; so highly pigmented and nothing like Dulux, which I suppose we'd have used if it hadn't been for seeing our friends house. We're so excited about moving in and making it our own.