frayed at the edge

A bit of fun!

 

We all know we have to eat lots of fruit and ....

 

.... lots of vegetables, but lets face it, it can get a bit boring.  So, here are some more interesting ways to eat your 5-a-day ...

We start with a blueberry muffin for breakfast and follow it for elevenses with a piece of carrot cake.  For lunch, a little piece of lemon meringue pie.  In need of an afternoon snack?  Why not have strawberry cheesecake.  For dinner, what could be better than chocolate and sweet potato brownies (trust me, absolutely delicious!)  Think you still need another helping?  Then settle down for the evening with a glass (or two or three) of wine .... it's made with grapes!

Well, I did tell you at the start it was just a bit of fun!

A busy day!

 

Yesterday got off to a good start, when I managed to take a photo of the woodpecker on the fat-ball feeder.  Most times, it flies away while I fetch the camera, or I scare it off when I try to get close to the window to take the photo.  However yesterday I got the camera in time and edged carefully into the lounge, then set the zoom to maximum and finally got a photo.

 

Then it was time to get ready for my house group, Kist.  The woodburning stove has to be lit, the coffee pot put on, space to be made on the worktables.  As you can see, fromleft to right  Tricia, Ali and Lorraine are all working hard (Lizzi is away skiing).  I was working on Sunset over the Bay, but haven't made enough progress to take another photo!  You may notice that the tables are different colours.  They were bought from Ikea at different times and I was sure I had bought the same colour ....  They are super tables, the legs simply unscrew if you need to move them to have more floor space, you don't need to worry about pins scratching them and best of all ... they were very cheap!  The quilt on the wall is called Crazy Lady Stars and Stripes - no, it's not a description of me, but the name of the shop - Crazy Ladies and Friends, where I bought the fabric some years ago when I was in Santa Monica, California.

 

And now, the grand finale of today's post (roll of drums, fanfare of trumpets please) .... yes, you see before you the start of my 2-at-a-time socks.  It took three attempts to get under way (and perhaps a naughty word or two!), but I think I've got the hang of it (at least until I reach the heel).  Before you think my colour sense really is defective - they are supposed to be different colours, as suggested by the author to make it easier.  They are just little child-size socks, so it will be no big deal to do another two!

A plethora of socks

 

We were in Morpeth on Saturday, which of course meant a browse round Appleby's book shop.  They always have a good selection of craft books, some of them at bargain prices.  I was delighted when Malcolm bought this book for me.  I have never knitted one sock by the magic loop method, never mind two at the same time, but I will give it a go (although it may be some time before you see the results of my efforts).

 

Sunday found me out in the studio, working hard on my Delights of the Sea piece.  I have moved so far out of my comfort zone with the method I am using for this that I'm almost on another planet!  It's going to be all raw edges and big stitch quilting.  To show the contrast with my usual style, this is last year's entry ...

 

... Bonnie Baskets, with hand applique and embellishments and machine quilting, which you can see in this detail ...

 

The working title for this year's entry is Sunset over the Bay, which is better than the working title of this one ...

 

... which was Taking the P*** .... it was at a time when lots of quilters were doing weird things with raw edges, burning holes, using anything and everything - generally creating 'art quilts', so this was my (rather tongue in cheek) art quilt!

 

Sunday night saw me finish the Happy socks.  I am very pleased with how they turned out, although the Channel Island cast on does not have a lot of stretch, so I don't think I would use it again for socks.  The bamboo feels lovely and silky, so I am looking forward to wearing them.

 

I'll finish with an update on the new kitchen.  You can see how much lighter the new wall units are, compared to the old floor units.  We are also replacing the black worktops with much lighter ones, so hopefully the kitchen will look lighter and brighter.

Split personality

 

Why am I standing in front of a big stone? 

 

If you look at this side, you are facing England .....

 

..... and on this side you are facing Scotland.  I was born in Scotland, have lived there for most of my life and have always thought of myself as Scottish. But.... my Dad was Scottish and my Mum was English, so I suppose I should feel at home south of the border too, but during the five years I lived in England, I always felt 'foreign'!  Malcolm was born in England, but has lived most of his adult life in Scotland.  If you ask us our nationality, I say I'm Scottish, Malcolm says he's British.  Hmmm - is this significant?  Probably not, but I just thought I would share it with you.  And one last thought - if the sun always shines on the righteous, I think you'll find in the photos that it's shining on this side of the border!

This one's for Badgerboy

 

Isn't this a lovely cushion I made for Badgerboy's wedding present.

 

But it's getting dark and the woodland stirs.  Tiptoe closer and see who has come out to play!

 

Badgers galore - especially for Badgerboy!

Duvet Day

 

Oh dear .... I woke up yesterday morning to find that I had succumbed to the bug/virus/whatever that Malcolm has just had.  So once I finally dragged myself out of bed, it was only to stagger as far as the armchair.  Malcolm was out all day, so I was able to have a good wallow in my misery!  Here is my day's survival kit .... no boring duvet for me, but the first ever quilt I made to snuggle under, a good book to read, some knitting to get on with, the tv remote ..... and of course something involving chocolate!

 

As you can see, I did quite a bit of my 'Happy' sock.  I love the pattern that has emerged, especially the darker squiggle.  The Happy yarn is lovely to knit with and has a silky feel that I am sure will make the socks very comfortable to wear.

 

As promised, a photo of the aran cardi.  The smartypants (k)nitpicky observant readers will notice that the cardi doesn't quite look the same as the one in Simply Knitting.  When I finished sewing up the cardi, I decided to wash it, as the wool was a little hard ..... and it stretched!  Now, I could have frogged it and knitted it again, but life's too short for that, so I simply overlapped the front, to make it fit better!

 

Fortunately, I felt much better when I got up this morning, so this afternoon it was off to Kelso for Knit'n'natter (we're much too nice to be a stitch'n'bitch).  We used to meet in Wooly Ewe, but since it shut last year, we meet in Under the Sun, a super coffee shop, where we have been made very welcome by Fraser.  The lovely Sarah copes with our complicated order, involving a different kind of tea and different variety of scone/cake for everyone.  We had our Christmas lunch there and I can recommend the food, which is Fairtrade and organic.  The lentil curry is especially good.  When we first started knitting there, we got some strange looks, but the other regular customers have got used to our clicking away!  At this point I have to admit I bought a magazine today - if I don't tell you I know that Lizzi will leave a comment informing on me.  I know I'm not supposed to be buying any magazines, but it's the new Yarn Forward and I have become a big fan of the magazine, so I know you'll let me off!

ps thanks to Claudia Schiffer for modelling the aran cardi.

Allowed out to play ...... again

   

Yesterday morning, it was off to nearby Chesters, for the Woolgathering, a meeting of crafty folk organised by local textile artist Lindsay Roberts ,seen here at her spinning wheel.  There were ten of us there and we spent the day knitting, sewing, giving and geting advice and just generally immersing ourselves in crafts ... a pleasant way to spend a Sunday which was wet, windy and miserable! 

 

Lindsay also dyes yarn.  I knitted these socks from a skein of her lovely sock yarn which I bought last summer.  In fact it is altogether a talented family ... husband Hugh is an artist and their chocolate labrador, Ash, has her own blog - who says chocolate labs are dim!

 

I bought this yarn last week.  If you haven't yet seen it, it is 75% bamboo and 25% nylon.  It has a lovely soft silky feel, but you have to be careful not to split the stitches.  I love yarns like this, when you don't know how they will turn out.  I haven't knitted enough of the first sock yet to show you, but it's looking good.

 

I also took along my most recent books to share.  (Two of them were bought before Christmas and the other two with a book token I got for Christmas, so I haven't broken my New Year's resolution - yet!)  I enjoyed Stephanie Pearl- McPhee's book, Free Range Knitter.  There is one part where she is talking about recognising fellow knitters, which reminded me of an incident from some years ago when I was living in Falkirk.  I was walking up the High Street one day, minding my own business, when I saw a woman walking towards me.  She changed direction and it was obvious that she was going to talk to me, which was puzzling, as I didn't know her.  However, as she didn't look like a crazed axe murderer, I stopped when she spoke.  She said she had been at Purely Patchwork in Linlithgow (hmm, I wonder what they sell) and the staff had told her there was also a fabric shop in Falkirk, so could I give her directions. I told her where the shop was and we went our separate ways ..... but then I thought ... out of all the people on the High Street, why did she approach me?  I wasn't  wearing patchwork clothing or have needles and pins about my person.  Did she somehow know I was a quilter, or did I just look like a kind and helpful person?

ps - I just have the button to sew on my aran cardi, so you'll see it next time.

Allowed out to play

 

Having been a good girl, doing ALL the ironing yesterday (including the sheets!) and the housework this morning, I was allowed time off for good behaviour, so headed off to Borderland Fabrics in Jedburgh, for their Friday afternoon Patch and Chat.  The shop opened last year and has become very popular with local quilters, with lots of classes and staff who are always friendly and helpful.  There is even a "husbands' waiting area", where they can have a cuppa, while the wives shop.  As you can see, there is a fantastic selection of fabric, lots of notions and a good selection of books ... and as for the threads .... yummy!

 

I spent the afternoon stitching away on blocks for a chicken quilt which I am making for Malcolm.  This is an ongoing project (yes, that means I've been doing it for months, if not years).  However, I am now working on the blanket stitching on the last few blocks, then I have to go back and embroider the legs, beaks and eyes.  After that, there is rather a lot of sashing to piece, before the whole thing finally gets put together.  Fortunately, as there is so much detail in the blocks, it will only need enough quilting to hold it together.

 

Of course, no group of women could get together for the afternoon without stopping for a cuppa and as you can see from the photo, cake may have been eaten!  Although there is a lot of chat - and a lot of laughter - we do get a lot of work done and there is always someone who can help when problems arise.

Have a good weekend!

Knit One Stitch Too

 

Yesterday was the first meeting this year of my house group Kist - yes, it's an acronym for k1 stitch too.  Kist is a Scottish word for a chest - particularly a hope chest, where in previous times, girls would store their beautifully embroidered linens ready for when they married.   Two members were absent (with permission!), but the other two came along armed with knitting and sewing - and that most important thing - lunch.  I started sewing up my aran cardi - it's on the front cover of the latest Simply Knitting.  The unusual edge is created by using the Channel Island cast on - I've been knitting for over forty years and I have never encountered it before!  The heavy rib also looks good - 1st row knit into front and back of each stitch, 2nd row k2tog, p2tog.  I think it would make a good cuff for a sock - I may try it on the next pair.

 

Since Malcolm took early retirement in August 2005, we have got into the habit of going out for lunch on Wednesdays.  Today we went to nearby Lilliesleaf, to visit Jammy Coo , a recently opened coffee shop/art gallery/gift shop.  We both had soup - cream of mushroom and celery, which may sound an odd combination, but was absolutely delicious.  There is a choice of home-baked bread or scone - we both chose the scone, but I suppose one of us should have had the bread, for reporting purposes!  I had a lovely pot of tea and Malcolm had a caffetiere of coffee.  The china has the Jammy Coo logo on it - and you can buy a mug to take home - maybe next time, as this time I bought one of their Jammy Coo shopping bags.

 

Today's last photo shows what I will be doing tomorrow afternoon - yes, the ironing basket is overflowing and I can't ignore it any longer.  ( I'm working on the theory here that if I tell you I will be doing the ironing, I had better do it in case you come round and check up on me!)

As Rolf Harris might say....

..... can you tell what it is yet? No? Me neither, which is a bit worrying, as the assortment of fabrics and embellishments has to be turned into a wallhanging with the theme of "Delights of the Sea" by the end of May.  Every time I enter a competition, I wonder why I put myself under the pressure of a deadline - but I never learn my lesson and keep doing it!

However, I shall be as snug as bug while I am sewing, as I have a wonderful log-burning stove in my studio - it was so windy yesterday, it was burning well.  I am so lucky to have this dedicated space to work in.  For years Malcolm had said that one day we would buy a house with outbuildings which could be converted into a workroom for me (the architect called it a studi on on the plans and the name stuck!) so you can imagine how thrilled I was when we moved here just over two years ago to a house with outbuildings, which were converted into an office and workroom for me.  It's great that I can just shut the door on the mess the evidence of crerativity and head back in to the house at the end of the day - and Malcolm is delighted that there is no thread trailed through the house!

I sit at the kitchen table to do my posts (oh the joys of wi-fi broadband), but right now chaos reigns, as Malcolm has started fitting out new kitchen - this is a little sneak peak.  The colour is actually a little darker than it looks in the photo - it is called French Grey.  It will be super to have lots of storage space and the cooker which we bought when we moved in will finally be pushed right back against the wall - at the moment it sticks out, as the existing base units were installed a bit squinty and the space narrows towards the back.