Ruby's Button Tin

Hexagons and a messy desk

Sunday's rolled around again, and another working week beckons.  It's nearly October, and would you believe the shops are already full of Christmas decorations.  Even mince pies in the supermarket!  It's ridiculous.  An advert for a furniture company is appearing on telly offering to deliver by Christmas.  Err ... hello!  Halloween's not even gone yet, so why the heck wouldn't you be able to deliver by Christmas!!!  Talk about wishing the year away, I think retailers ought to get a grip.  Oh well, on to less blood-pressure-raising matters ... a little gentle hand sewing is called for.

This is a quilt that's (very) slowly making progress.  I unearthed it from the chaotic fabric piles around my desk. 

Hmm, needs a tidy-up.  

Tidying-up can wait.  Cleaning should always come second to crafting, don't you think?

 

Another batch of knitted coral

Well, the first time I tried knitting a coral reef (as you do!) it didn't turn out too badly.  So I thought I'd have another go.  This weird looking shape is the beginnings of the thing.

The previous one I made was assembled by using a cane basket for a base, but I improvised this time with a cut up cereal box.  I formed it into a shallow dish shape and covered that in bubble wrap.   Then covered that in turquoise fabric. 

This is the back of the base, with the fabric gathered up and roughly stitched in place, ready for the knitted coral to be attached. 

It'll all come right in the end, I'm sure, but at the moment it looks like bizarre.  Anyway, on to other matters: I'm halfway through Steven Galloway's 'The Cellist of Sarajevo' which is making me ashamed of how patchy my knowledge of 20th century European history is.  The destruction of Sarajevo made so little impact on me at the time, though it was hardly any distance away from England, just a short plane ride away.  One of the good things about being in a book group is that it can introduce you to fiction you wouldn't normally pick up off the shelf.  It's always good too to hear the range of views about a book - no two readers seem to react in the same way. 

I was scanning my bookshelves the other day, and there are so many books I want to re-read - from 'Wuthering Heights' to 'Jane Eyre', 'The Poisonwood Bible' (loved that!) and lots of Dickens and Austen, Judy Budnitz and Margaret Attwood.  I really need to have a year when I don't buy any new books but just concentrate on the novels I already own.  Maybe that could be my project for 2010?

My first 'coral reef'

I've been seeing fabulous photos of crocheted coral and some knitted pieces too, and really wanted to have a go myself.  So I played around with shapes and colours, and - ta da!!           

It's not perfect - not even near perfect! - but I was still pretty pleased with it.  It's been assembled by using a small cane basket.  I've stretched bubble wrap over the back of the basket, then covered it in turquoise material.  The knitted coral pieces are sewn on and quite closely pushed together.  The surface is supposed to be dense and have lots of interesting shapes to peer at.  I'm going to make a larger piece, so am on the lookout for more wool, especially unusual textures so I'll be haunting charity shops and the bargain boxes in wool shops. 

Simply pincushions

I've been making more mini needlepoint pin cushions in all the colours of the rainbow. 

I'm also investigating how to get my needlepoint made up into kits that I can sell.  I've come across some fantastic software, and am just working out whether I can justify paying the £80 it costs.  I've tried to find companies that'll print my designs straight on to canvas, but that might be a bit too ambitious at the moment. 

Apart from sewing I continued reading 'Empire' and leafing through all the Saturday newspaper supplements.  There was a good one in The Times called 'The Food Lover's Guide', all about the lovely stuff that's coming into season this autumn.  There was a feature on 'heritage' produce - varieties of fruit & veg that are coming back into fashion after having almost disappeared.  The names of these plants are so evocative - Trail of Tears, Tommy Toe, the Felin Red Comet, Lazy Housewife and District Nurse are some of them.  Wonderful, aren't they? 

My work basket overflows ...

Lots of crafty W.I.P.s in the work basket, waiting for my attention.

 I' ve also got a stack of books waiting to be read.  I'd love to re-read 'Wuthering Heights', having seen the TV adaptation the other day (which was very good.  Really captured Heathcliff's malicious, cruel side - not exactly the dark, handsome hero we romanticise him as.  I'm halfway through Poppy Adams 'The Behaviour of Moths' which I'm enjoying, and have just started a bit of a heavy one - Niall Ferguson's 'Empire'.  That's a study about the rise and fall of the British Empire, which I hadn't realized - in my ignorance - was still in existence well into the 1900s.  It's funny to think that my late father - born in 1919 - was a child in a world that still had the British Empire ruling over a large proportion of it.  Now the nights are starting to get darker earlier - yes, Autumn's here - it's time to get down to some proper reading. 

Front Room & George ...

I registered my details today for Front Room 2009, which is a local art trail around my neighbourhood.  It's happening in November so I've paid up my £15 entrance fee and really do have to get on with making stuff for sale now.  You have to choose 3 photos to display on the Front Room website to give people an idea of what you do. 

So this is one I chose: After that, I popped along to meet George, a gorgeous ginger cat that I'm feeding for the next couple of weeks while his owners are off on their hols.  I'm definately going to acquire a couple of cats very soon - I haven't had a moggie since my Caesar went to the great catnip field in the sky last year so it's about time I sorted something out. There are always masses of rescue cats in need of homes, and apparently black and white cats - my favourites - are notoriously difficult to house.  I'd better start stocking up on kitteh litter and Whiskas. 

Bank Holiday Monday and Wuthering Heights on the video

It's a Bank Holiday, so I've got a day off work.  I've been catching up on some knitting and in particular assembling some bunting.  This is an experiment with little knitted monsters - one eyed creatures with big gnashing teeth!  They're suspended on ric rac.  I was thinking of making a variation of these - aliens rather than monsters, so using green wool and the odd metallic silver.

When I'm done with the bunting there are plenty of other bits and pieces to finish off, and something good to watch on the telly too - I taped last night's hour & a half of 'Wuthering Heights'.  It's such an amazing book, I'm hoping that it's a decent adaptation.  There've been a few turkeys in their time (I'm not even going to mention Cliff Richards as Heathcliff.  Eeeuch!).  Bronte wrote such a weird, wonderful, compelling novel - so unusual for the age in which she lived - that I'd always recommend it to anyone who's just watched a film or TV version.  You need to read the prose to really appreciate the story.   

A crafty corner of the sitting room, always home to a jumble of knitting, needlepoint and felt softies.  Oh, to have a tidy home! 

 

 

Pincushion Friday

I had a day off work today, so I've been pottering about - doing odd chores and finishing off a few pincushions that've been hanging around uncompleted. 

 

 

 

 

 

 They're filled with polyester toy stuffing and backed with felt.  I'd like to make needlepoint cushions to sell, but they're just too time consuming.  So I'm comprising by making pin cushions with my own designs and colourways. 

I'm going to add gift tags to them as I splurged on some lovely Moo cards a while ago and they're just the right size. 

P.S. to the book post ...

Sorry the photo's not very good.  Also, if you can make out the strawberry in the picture - it's not a freakishly overgrown GM berry.  It's my first attempt at a strawberry felt pincushion.  It's not quite right yet - I stuffed it with polyester filling, but that's a bit too squishy.  Bye!

Have you read ...

I thought I'd recommend some inspirational reading today.  They're ideal for leafing through and getting ideas, or for browsing when you're just too tired to stir off the sofa.  The first is a book that's just right - the size, the feel of the cover as well as the look of it - you know how sometimes you see a book on a shelf and just know it's going to be a good choice?    'Knitalong' by Larissa Brown and Martin John Brown is a lovely book.  It includes chapters on the history of knitting, lots of modern patterns with clear instructions, website addresses to go to, examples of arty knitting projects (such as covering a tank in pink knitting!) and loads more.  It's a book that makes me yearn (yarn?!) to open a knit cafe and have people dropping by for a row of plain & purl and a latte.

Next is my favourite patchwork book, now I think sadly out of print.  'The Passionate Quilter' by Michele Walker.  A wide selection of crafters of all ages and backgrounds are featured, including Deirdre Amsden (oh!  those Colourwash quilts!)and Janet Bolton.  It's a book I return to again and again like an old friend. 

Finally, I'd recommend 'KnitKnit'.  Subtitled 'Profiles & projects from knitting's new wave'.  I think this is going to be an old favourite too.  From Knitta Please via Freddie Robins, Joelle Hoverson and Cat Mazza, it's full of gorgeous photos.  Some - in fact many - of the knitting projects featured are way beyond my knitting skills, but there's a mohair belt that I want to make before long.  There's also a fab photo of Joelle's 'Purl' knitting shop.  I want that shop!!!

Oops, I'd better sign off now.  Time to get out of my dressing gown and get ready for another working day.