Ruby's Button Tin

A nifty gift idea and other odds & ends ...

If you're looking for an original and colourful present for someone, why not take a peek at Felicity Hall's needlepoint kits on www.felicityhall.co.uk.  She's offering a 10% discount if you quote the following code 135638FHCN (just key it in on the order confirmation page of the website). 

      

I love those moody blues and metallics.

These are brilliant too, so vibrant.  

I haven't even given any thought to buying gifts yet, having stubbornly refused to 'do Christmas' until at least December 1st.  I know what I'd love - a subscription to Selvedge, lots of fabric for my stash, lots of gorgeously coloured Rowan wool and endless pieces of Emma Bridgewater china.  Santa, are you listening!!!??? 

Finally, this is an article that appeared in The Times recently, it's about Loop, the North London knitters haven.  How fantastic does that place look?  If that shop was in my neighbourhood I think I'd practically live there!   

 

 

 

A mixed bag

Thought I'd better write something as it's ages since I did.  The 2009 Art Trail has been and gone, and it rained for virtually all of the weekend.  That may've meant numbers were down a bit, and people - including myself - definately thought that visitors were spending less.  On the plus side though I did get to have a wander round some of the open houses, picking up a few reminders on the way ...

The standard of work you see is so high, it's a great yearly event for Totterdown and long may it continue!  Since the trail, I've been to my book group where we discussed Bruce Chatwin's 'Songlines' (most felt it was rather detached, interesting but not entirely satisfying, perhaps more of a man's book?) and seen a fantastic performance of Richard III.  The play was held at the Alma Tavern, a tiny theatre space over a pub with a stage the size of many peoples living room.  There were 19 people crammed onto this stage, and it was just terrific.  Sometimes Shakespeare's language can get in the way of you enjoying a play, but this time - maybe because of the small, intimate space, maybe just the skill of the actors - it felt real and immediate.  A great evening.  

Finally, as a keen needlepointer I like to enthuse on the subject, so if you want to buy a contemporary needlepoint kit take a look at www.felicityhall.co.uk.  Her cushions are a far cry from needlepoint's usual image of twee floral patterns that your granny used to sew.  On my next post I'll include some images of her work and give a code that'll enable you to get a 10% discount off her work.  Just in time for Christmas. 

  Meanwhile, here's a lovely mosaic I did of my own stuff.  Flickr, what'd we do without it!
 
 

Art Trail coming up ...

Autumn gold

I'm sitting here drinking a cup of Cranberry & Sanguinello Orange tea, looking out of the window at a rainy Sunday.  There are leaves of every shade of gold and brown flying through the air and coating the pavements, and it looks windy and a little chilly out there.  Good!  Lately the weather's been freakishly warm.  I mean, I know it's a freaky time of year anyway, what with Hallloween and all those ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties and things that go bump in the night.  But yesterday I was wandering around in a short sleeved summer top, and on 31st Oct that was just too weird.  So I'm glad the autumn colours are everywhere ...

Colour is so important in our lives.  I love the intense blue of this image.  There's something so uplifting about seeing vivid blocks of colour - whether a wooded area carpeted with bluebells or a field of lavender or a sea of poppies wafting in a breeze.  

The other image I have today is another shot of my knitted cakes.  I've nearly finished a baker's dozen.  

 
 
I thought the cherries looked good backed by the reds and pinks of this simple quilt. 

 

Bright Star

I'm really looking forward to seeing Jane Campion's 'Bright Star' next Friday.  I love 'The Piano' and 'Portrait of a Lady' and she always creates such beautiful films with images that stay with you long after the credits have rolled.  To get in the mood I bought an edition of John Keats's complete poems and selected letters today, and I'll be dipping into it over the next few days.  

On a completely unrelated matter, I was given a stash of thread, spools of every colour of the rainbow.  Crafty clutter can look so good ...
  

Books for Autumn nights ...

Now that the clocks have gone back and autumn leaves are making the pavements slippery, it's time to browse the bookshelves and settle down with a good book.  So I've got a couple of recommendations. 

I've started reading 'The Heretic's Daughter' by Kathleen Kent which has fairly recently come out in paperback.  It's set around the time of the Salem witch trials, and the time and landscape come vividly to life.  Those kind of small, ultra religious communities must have been suffocating to anyone of an independent wayward, nature, and I'm really looking forward to learning more about the mother / daughter relationship which seems - from what I've read so far - to be at the heart of the book.  Another recommendation is from a much later period in history.  It's 'Hearts Undefeated', an anthology of writing by women about the 2nd world war.  The excerpts from letters, diaries and news reports includes both famous womens voices and those of 'ordinary' women, no less valid.  They cover the span of the war - from prelude to aftermath - and include both the uplifting and the harrowing.  Ultimately you marvel at the resilience of the human spirit.  The book is published by Virago, edited by Jenny Hartley.  (Not Jenny Hart!!)

Finally, just a 'still life' of a crafty corner in my sitting room.  Looking unusually neat ...

 

Cakes unlimited ...

I'm still knitting cakes, and these are a collection of 'em waiting to have labels sewn on them and some of them haven't even got their cherries on the top!  They're going to be for sale at November's art trail in Totterdown, though I've no idea how well they're sell or what I might charge for them.  

 Between knitting and the odd bit of patchwork I've been reading Beth Saulnier's 'Ecstasy' which is a great 'crime' novel with a gutsy independent female lead and a very believable setting and gripping plot.  I've read a couple of other books of hers, and really enjoyed them.  I do love a fictional murder!  I've come to an absolute halt with Muriel Barbery's 'The Elegance of the Hedgehog'.  Just finding it soooo dreary.  Finally, before I go I just have to say I'm loving the new Autumn / Winter fashions.  Lots of dramatic black and highlighted by sequins everywhere, faux fur (the only kind that should be worn) and jewel colours of teal, purple and ruby.   Summer's fashion seemed - like the hedgehog book - rather dreary, so it's good to buy 'Grazia' and leaft through saying 'like that', 'like that'.  Was looking at coats today in Primark, and for £30 you can buy a pretty decent one which is fantastic value.  I find with Primark's coats or jackets that you need to swap the buttons for something classier, but that's a simple thing to do and worth the extra pound or two. 
  
 
 

Knitted cakes, coming along nicely

These knitted cakes are coming along nicely.  Some in this basket are nearer being finished than others. 

 

 

Knitted not baked

These are the knitted cakes that are still being finished off.  They're waiting for embroidered sprinkles to be added on top, as well as juicy red (knitted) cherries.  The paper cakes cases are represented by cream or very pale pink wool, then there's brown for the cake itself and pale lemon or egg yolk yellow wool for the icing.  

I'll add a label on each, and disguise the sewing to attach the labels with a button.  These are really easy and quick to make, and I'm going to try different types of yarn such as mohair to jazz 'em up. 

By the way, the cakes are sitting on top of a recent edition of Selvedge.  I love the magazine but it was always a luxury to buy it.  Now it's gone up to £10 and I'm not sure I can justify spending that on a magazine.  Well, that's it for now.  I'm going to read a bit more of 'The Elegance of the Hedgehog' by Muriel Barbery.  Not that I'm recommending it.  Oooh, no!   It's going to be discussed at my next bookgroup, otherwise I'd have ditched it by now.  Have read about a quarter of it so far, and I'm finding it tedious.  The characters don't come across as real people, just vehicles for putting across ideas and theories.  One of them is a concierge in a French apartment block, the other supposedly a 12 year old girl, but neither seems real.  They don't leap off the page.  Oh well, maybe it'll get better if I persevere ... and I've got a real bumper book to look forward to.  I've bought Hilary Mantel's 'Wolf Hall'.  Can't wait to get started on it. 

 

 

Knitting cakes - why!!!??!!

I've been knitting cakes this week.  No, I don't know why either, but it seemed like a fun, silly idea.  I worked out a pattern myself which - when I eventually get around to it, I'll put on this blog.  Unfortunately I haven't got round to taking any photos yet - what did I do with that camera? - so here are some felt cakes instead, so you've got something pretty to look at :-)