The knitting tree

I got this fantastic handmade French Knitting tool, (aka "Strickliesl" in German) for Christmas:



It's made from a real branch and does work to produce pieces of knitted tube, although it's rather hard work. I also got a couple of others so I now have a russian-doll like collection of knitting dolls!

24: Esther Rantzen & Happy Christmas!

The real holy family. The family that knits together, stays together, or however that goes.

Have a great Christmas!

23: Frankie Vaughan

Doesn't he look awfully smug. I don't believe for a second that he caught any of these (plastic) fish himself.
Nice cosy yoke jumper though.

22: Marion Ryan

Ah, enough of the cynicism now. Isn't this brilliant? Nautical, bows, red, what's not to like.

They could have given the "Marilyn Monroe of popular song" something a bit more figure-hugging I suppose, but it still reminds me of Joan of Mad Men as it is.

21: Grace Kennedy

This does not look like good pool technique to me. I'm not convinced she has her feet on the ground, and I figure it might be easier to play if she was facing the table.

The outfit is mostly nondescript, although I'm a bit concerned about that slit. Can we see London and/or France?

20: Lysette Anthony

This "most attractive outfit" has a pattern reminiscent of one of those strange tubes of toothpaste you buy when you run out on holiday (possibly in eastern Europe). Come to think of it, the shape is similar too.



The where-are-they-now bit: stripping on YouTube.

19: Billie Whitelaw

This one's actually from the 60s book, although you wouldn't necessarily be able to tell - see what I mean about the cyclical nature of big hair?

The thing she is wearing is a "car coat", which seems like an impossibly glamorous concept to me, and she's even accessorising with driving gloves!

18: Lulu

Seems that 1983 was the year of the Navajo Indian accessories, not only Anita Harris but also Lulu jumped on the bandwagon.



A sure sign of an unflattering garment is if you have to belt it.

17: more 40s Vogue Knitting

Now, THIS is how you do elegant nautical. Not like, say, this.



Although there's an even better sailor inspired outfit still to come.

16: Lisa Harrow

I'm not sure what she's up to here but I do know that this situation would make my dad terribly uncomfortable - sitting on the edge of a rickety looking table, elbow near a glass and a bottle, and playing with a chair without looking. Did you know that 90% of all accidents happen in the home?



The most interesting fact nugget about this actress is that she is now married to a whale biologist.

15: Marie France

This cardigan is made from a thing called Rimple. The Lady is a TV French Teacher called France. Both these things sound made up but are not.

Commercial Break

It's ten days til Christmas and I've had a lot of fun at the two craft markets where I had stalls the last two weekends, but there's still some lovely things left.

Thus, I have finally taken the step of setting up an Etsy shop. It still needs a bit of "shop fitting" to make it more inviting, but Unusual Horse posters and postcards are now available, as well as a few of my picot-edged fingerless gloves and Christmas decorations.

Please visit! There will be mulled wine and mince pies* for all customers.


Twee as Volk on Etsy:



*imaginary only.

14: Prunella Gee

My favourite part about this is the hair - how long will it be until fashion turns round and big Cruella de Ville hair becomes cool again?





This photo also proves that inappropriately sexy mother-daughter posing existed before Nuts.

13: Rupert Davies

Another TV detective for you! And in a similar manly fashion as before, except with a pipe instead of the facial hair.

12: Roy Marsden

I have just endured four weeks of "Movember" at work, which means many of my colleagues cultivated ill-advised moustaches that made it very difficult to talk to them with a straight face. This photo however is from more innocent times when a moustache was a sign of a real man.
To quote: "Roy Marsden is the detective every woman longs to be interrogated by. The six-foot star of award-winning writer P.D. James's extraordinary crime series draws compliments from countless female fans. His one problem? He can't find sweaters big enough to fit in ordinary shops".

11: Something lovely to soothe your eyes.

This is not funny I'm afraid, and the lady was never famous, but it's just so pretty. I really want to make this "jacket-blouse", but fear it won't look quite as glamorous without the hair, the gloves, the tiny waist...



Ahh, wasn't life great in post-war Britain. Yeah, of course not. This booklet is full of adverts for stuff that essentially say, our stuff is great, shame it's not really in the shops right now, rationing and that. Just reminding you we exist (sort of)!

10: Sabina Franklyn

"I adore frilly clothes" says Sabina Franklyn*. "If they ever go out of fashion i don't know what I'll do!". Neither do I. This wearable doily would be an easy target, but personally, I'm just distracted by that amazingly unappetizing sandwich. Ew.




*minor comedy actress

9: Switchboard Girls

Now for something completely different, a knitting pattern advert from the late 40s.
I have to say switchboard girl looks like my ideal job, currently I can't quite get away with knitting at my desk!

8: Gary Holton

I have to admit I rather like this "beatnik" sweater. Today, of course, it would be worn by girls with just out of bed hair over shiny pleather leggins.



Footnote about this guy - comedy actor and punk singer, and died quite shortly after publication of this wonderful book (which I presume wasn't his career highlight) of a drug overdose. Poor chap. Also shared my birthday.

7: Hannah Gordon

Hannah Gordon, star of upstairs, downstairs, was the face of Safeway in the 80s, so it's tempting to think that this image would have been used in the fruit and veg section. Although the mouldy texture of her jumper would have been a little offputting.

6: Anita Harris

I'm not going to lay into this lady too much because my google research reveals that she's now "penniless and homeless", which is in ironic contrast to the posh hobo chic she was modelling here. She says: "It's what I'd call classical fun".

5: Jackie and Jan pick a gay twosome

It appears that the celebrity knitting pattern is not an invention of the 80s! This pattern actually has the above title inside. And gay it is.


Jackie Rae & Jeanette Scott seem to have been a showbiz couple of sorts. I wonder what weird contracted name they would get called these days - Jackette? Jeackie?

(PS I don't have a date for this booklet but these two were only married between 1959 and 1965 - so some time in between that!)

4: John Inman

John Inman again! He must have been a big fan of knitwear.
He says this lovely coordinated ensemble is "ideal to wear for my walks along the canal where I live", but also for drinking tea out of creepy looking cups while wearing a surprised or worried expression.

3: Roger de Courcey

This picture becomes more amusing when you learn that Roger de Courcey (right) is a "famous" ventriloquist. His mini-me is apparently his son Jamie, or possibly a puppet. I can only see one hand.

2: Karen Kay

This stylish lady is Karen Kay, it appears that her most enduring fame lies in being the mother of Jay Kay of Jamiroquai. Maybe this explains the eccentric headwear, it must lie in the family. The text that goes with this pattern claims that this garment is suitable for "open fêtes, special functions, on holiday as a beach cover-up or in the evenings". Because there's no occasion where a bobbly dressing gown is not appropriate.

The Advent Calendar is back!

Believe it or not, I have managed to get my hands on another celebrity endorsed knitting book from the 80s! We start off today with a wonderful Tattoo-inspired creation from Billy Connolly.

Frantic crafting

...not that you'd know, from how quiet it has been on this blog.
I have decided to actually try and sell some stuff at a Christmas market this year. I do realise that for knitted items, I'd be paying myself an hourly wage of about 50p (if I sell anything), so it's more for the satisfaction of strangers wanting to own my stuff. I hope they will.
I'm concentrating on making some fingerless gloves, more or less based on the Bluebell pattern, and a whole lot of the snowflake and heart crochet Christmas tree ornaments, because they are quick and pretty. I'm also hoping to make a few more of those knitting needle cases I tried out last year, and maybe some shoulder bags. It's coming along quite nicely, although currently almost all my wares still fit on my little cake stand!



I will definitely be at the Cube Christmas Market on Sunday the 13th of December, and am also aiming to make it to the one at Start the Bus on the 6th. So come along!

This is Eet.

When I bought my ticket for Regina Spektor at the Radio City Music Hall I thought it was just some venue in NYC, but I'd been slowly realising that it is in fact a tourist attraction in its own right. It truly took my breath away to just walk into the foyer, but the auditorium is even more stunningly beautiful.

The scale of it really does not come across in photos.

My seat was almost right at the back but I made friends with John and Isabella who were sitting in the last row (Pavement fans! We talked about Christmas and SNL). They were moved forward because they were in the way of a camera, and I managed to sneak up to row TT, a pretty good seat! Except for the couple next to me who kept snogging, but I forgive them, it was very romantic.

Regina's parents walked past me and talked to some manager guy for a bit, they look quite a bit like her and seemed very excited. Last nights concert was definitely *the* Regina Spektor homecoming concert - she has really made it now, all her friends and family were there, and she looked so happy.

What can I say about the concert except that it was magical in every way? The set list has been posted elsewhere, but it went like this:

The Calculation
Eet
Folding Chair
Ode to Divorce
Machine
Laughing With
One More Time with Feeling
Two Birds
Blue Lips
On the Radio
The Call
Dance Anthem of the 80s
Silly Eye Color Generalizations
Bobbing for Apples
That Time
Après Moi
Poor Little Rich Boy
Ink Stains
Human of the Year
Man of a Thousand Faces

Samson
Us
Fidelity
Hotel Song
Love, You're a Whore

The set was simple with only two giant disco balls that bathed the auditorium in stars during the encore, and some nice lighting for songs like Laughing With:


For "the little country song" at the end, I ran down the aisle and danced my little socks off.

Headed straight to the party afterwards where it turned out that there was an open bar! I felt a bit like a lemon on my own at first but that was soon rectified by free White Russians and dancing (they played Connection by Elastica, just as I thought things couldn't get any better!). I vaguely remember giving someone one of my unusual horse postcards, so if they end up here: Hello! I got talking to a Psychiatrist from Long Island with personal space issues, and a guy called Howard who was apparently part of Reginas entourage (which I totally didn't get, I kept asking him how he managed to get into the backstage party and what his Brümstix screen name was), and it was a little while until I realised that Regina had in fact arrived. Her dad helped me find my earring and I think I told her mum that she had done a good job with Regina (oh dear). Everyone was crowding around her so I decided to wait my turn and be polite, which was apparently the wrong strategy. As she was heading outside, she complimented me on my dress and said she had a moustache necklace too, I took a picture of her with some guy with his camera, and then she was suddenly outside and security wouldn't let me through. I was so shocked I started to cry, which I know is pathetic but then I had had quite a lot to drink by then, and went down the route of begging ("I came all the way from England, please please please"), and finally got this photo.




Mission accomplished. Now, time for a hangover breakfast.

I guess a bit of a comedown was to be expected after I'd been running around New York grinning like a Cheshire Cat for three days.
Today was a bit grey and cold and I walked into town to see the Columbus Day parade. I didn't realise Columbus was Italian, but apparently he was, and the Italians in New York seem to have taken over this holiday. The parade was a bit lame unless you're really into high school marching bands or old people dressed up as Roman poets, so I escaped the cold by going into the MoMA - I bought a combination ticket for 6 attractions when I went up the Empire State Building the other day, so I thought I might as well do as many of them as possible. But it was the same problem you always get when visiting big, famous art museums - each painting deserves at least 5 minutes of your undivided attention and requires quite a bit of background knowledge, and after looking at one room you're pretty much full up of art. I was in a bit of a daze after only the first floor. The only thing I really remember was a drawing by Marc Brandenburg, who was also in the drawing exhibition we had in Bristol.
I decided to try and refuel by trying the expensive Cafe Bar at the MoMA and ended up paying the best part of $20 for three halves of boiled eggs with a bit of caviar on. This didn't really help to reenergise me for more art so I went back to the Jane to chill out for a bit.

Fortunately, I'd picked up a copy of Time Out and decided to go to the Upright Citizens Brigade (a comedy club) in the evening, which turned out to be a great choice. For $5, I got to see Garfunkel and Oates, two girls from LA who do very good funny songs, AND a bunch of stand up comedians for free afterwards, including Brendon Burns! I also befriended a very nerdy guy in the queue (or "line" - I am working on my American) who had brought his Holocaust homework to the club with him. So overall, today was not a total washout!

Open doors

Sunday was Open Doors New York with lots of free stuff to do. Obviously it was impossible to do everything from the 10-page programme in one day, but I did catch a talk about public art on the High Line (a garden project on an abandoned elevated train track), a guided tour about the architectural history of Bleeker St in Greenwich Village, and a surprising dance performance on a museum boat.



I found a Vintage shop on Bleeker Street where I bought a blue 50s coat that goes perfectly with my blue sailor dress, but I'm not sure if it makes me look like a cleaning lady so I'm going to have to sleep on whether or not to take it back.

I also sampled some frozen yoghurt (very tasty, although I don't really believe the health claims) and discovered Christopher Street (of the gay pride march), where there are shops with puppies in the windows. My favourite bit was when a large man wearing a leather jacket with the American Flag on the back was talking loudly on his mobile saying "I'm in this gay place, you gotta get me out of here. They are going to keep whistling at me, come and get me NOW!". He was seriously distressed.

The evening was spent productively - watching the new episode of Mad Men while trying not to fall asleep quite yet!

Was I just in the same room as Drew Barrymore and Regina Spektor?

...maybe!
I got up at 4:30 this morning which was pretty easy thanks to my jetlag, and got a cab to Rockefeller plaza. The queue for Saturday Night Live standby tickets was already substantial, but it was only a few hours until 7 am so I decided to hang around. I eventually got ticket number 65 for the dress rehearsal, I figured it was more likely I'd get into that - and that I'd still be awake at that time!

After that little adventure, I made the best of being up and uptown stupidly early and went up the Empire State building. The view was absolutely stunning. Looking at the financial district from up there was just unreal. All of New York is just living up to my expectations to an unexpected extent.
The rest of the day was taken up with an extensive bike tour of the best bits of Brooklyn. I took plenty of photos but saw way too much to even remember half of it. A certainly memorable part was cycling through the Hassidic Jewish quarter. It was both the sabbath and a special jewish holiday, and it was absolutely surreal to see street after street after street with the only people around dressed in identical, entirely anachronistic outfits.

After a slightly nervewracking ride back into Manhattan, I was totally wiped out. Got about 20 minutes rest back at the hotel and then made my way back to the NBC studios. I didn't have much hope to get in, really, but after about half an hour of nailbiting wait, I was literally the last person to be let in to the studio. My seat was a terrible one right at the back, but shortly before Reginas first song, one of the ushers came and moved me to fill a seat in the centre of the front row on the balcony, directly next to Bobby Moynihan parents. Her first song was "Eet", and she later returned (in a fantastic vintage polka dotted skirt suit) to play "the Calculation", as well. I was happy. H.A.P.P.Y.

I was all set to go and have a big Saturday night in New York City afterwards, but was just too exhausted - and every bar I saw that looked fun had queues and guestlists. I accidentally wandered through Times Square (which is bewildering at the best of times) and have now made it back to the hotel in time to watch the final version of the SNL show on the TV while drinking a beer. I have to say, this show is really not very good. I've been trying to get into it, and Seth Meyers of Weekend Update is great, but almost all of the sketches are just badly written, lame and unfunny.

After all the excitement of today, I still feel like I've failed for not having a big night out as well, but I'll just have to live with that. Bed now.

Hell yeah.

I am in New York. To be precise, I have been here for about, ooh, 4 hours at the most. I am finding myself trying to think of ways that I can come and live here. The weather is glorious and everything is beautiful. The first thing someone said to me was "great outfit", then I bought a massive pretzel from a street stall, then accidentally found the High Line Garden on my way to the hotel, an abandoned elevated train track which has been turned into a park with art and sunloungers.
The hotel, on the other hand, is gorgeous, I have a room with a stunning Hudson River view (may be a bit noisy at night, the road is pretty busy, but I think I may just pass out anyway), there is an actual liftboy with an actual little red pillbox hat. The New York Wine and Food festival is going on in my (seemingly very posh) neighbourhood, although my excitement about that has waned a bit since I found out that you are only entitled to all the "free" samples if you buy a ticket for $150. I saw a photoshoot happening around the corner, they were filming Law and Order a few Streets up, lots of people walk around looking trendy with guitar cases, and I even saw a girl change out of monstrously tall designer heels to get on her one-speed bicycle.
I've been wandering around a bit, I reckon I can stay awake long enough to see "Cabaret Superstars Lady Rizo & the Assettes" perform, then it'll be about 3 am for my body clock and probably time for bed. In the meantime I found a shoeshop with the corny name Shoegasm which had my favourite kind of shoe (red, medium heel, mary jane) in the sale - and when it turned out that they were actually called "Regina" (!!!) it was clear I had to buy them.
Did I mention I have a ticket for something called "Regina Spektor Red Carpet event" on wednesday after the gig? Can things get any better?
I just realised that although I forgot my camera cable my handy little laptop has an xd card slot, so I'll be uploading photos as I go along.

Here's me with John Lennon (apparently it's his birthday today!) and Einstein.
. More photos on my Flickr

Dull Lull

I haven't been feeling overly creative lately so I haven't produced much apart from a few scrawly self portraits. I did make a start on an Aeolian shawl but I'm not very excited about it. I like the challenge of knitting lace, and the yarn is so soft, but lacy shawls are just really not me.

I've been scouting around for a new hobby but am not really willing to commit much time and effort to anything so I haven't got very far - although I was rather fascinated by a Flamenco lesson I went to on friday. Incidentally, I really hate the word hobby. It instantly devalues things people are truly passionate about, just because they don't get paid for them. I would never describe knitting or drawing or sewing as my hobby.

In any case, I should probably be devoting most of my time for the next five days preparing for my imminent trip to New York! I've been wanting to go for so long and always waited in case I could turn it into a romantic holiday or a fun trip with a friend, but news of this gig were finally enough of an incentive for me to go on my own. I don't really think I count as a properly fanatic Regina Spektor fan, but then I have gone to Paris to see her play before, tried to go see her in Hamburg, and am now flying all the way across the Atlantic for a gig! Also, I may try to get a standby ticket for Saturday Night Live with Regina and Drew Barrymore on the 9th, but according to the internets that involves queuing on New York streets for about 10 hours overnight. Maybe I'm not that fanatic... or am I? Apart from Regina stalking (joke! joke!) my plans for NY involve looking at lots of art, hearing some more music, eating huge pancake breakfasts, maybe some clothes shopping if I can afford it, visiting the original stitch'n'bitch group and a couple of yarn shops, and hopefully lots of drawing, which is good because it's free (and it means you get chatted up by arty people)!
Now, I think I shall give in and buy a guide book after all.

Shop with a Pier view

If any of my numerous readers have not been to the Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe in Weston-super-Mare yet, I highly recommend that you do go next weekend. It is open for two more weekends, and although the art is now available online as well (here: http://themythicalbeastsweetshoppe.bigcartel.com/ - Unusual horses hopefully coming soon), the shop is just a lovely place to visit. Camilla assures me that it is always sunny in Weston, and the last two weekends were no exception. Birnbeck pier is a magical little surprise, hidden just round the corner from the main promenade and

Days of Enjoyment to which everyone CHEERS

I had a lovely drive out to Weston today and played with unicorns. The shop is gorgeous, and hopefully not too far out for people to find their way there. Things didn't get totally finished as there's still some work missing, but Simon's fluorescent sweet wrappers already filled some of the space out quite nicely.

I also managed to eat some fairly gross Fish n Chips and an ice cream, and to pay a visit to Carter's Steam Fair. I've been wanting to go ever since they were at Weston last year, but I eventually gave up on convincing other people to come along and went alone. It was absolutely brilliant. There's an actual steam powered sea-saw thing which looks terrifying, plenty of beautiful sparkly rides, and a fantastic penny arcade. You get fake old pennies which let you see old 3D rude peep shows, play various games involving little silver balls, and get your fortune told!



According to these little cards, the gentleman on the left is my future husband (I like his dress sense), and the card on the right is an all-purpose fortune.

Creative n shit.

So, lots of stuff.

I'll be taking the horses down to Weston tomorrow. Here they are - I eventually managed to track down a decent frame that was big enough. Incidentally, does anyone know the trick for taking a picture of something behind glass without taking a picture of yourself at the same time? You can just about make my PJs out in this one.



Aaaaaand, I finally wrote up the pattern for the red zig-zag lace jumper. It's turning out to be a bit of a hit on teh Rav. 100 downloads already! But it's about to be pushed off the new patterns front page so the rush may be over.



And I've just come back from S'n'B, where some very nice new people turned up, AND I've kind of finished the Quasi Cardi, but I think it needs more ribbing.


PRODUCTIVE.

Best. Surprise. Present. Ever.

I had almost forgotten that I took part in a competition on A Homely Heroine's blog, so the little parcel I got in the post was an even more exciting surprise.
Beautifully wrapped in tissue paper:

containing four lovely things:

(little rose-smelling heart, grapefruit showergel, Malabrigo laceweight, rose tea!) You'll have to imagine the pretty smell.

Horses.

So, there's this unusual horses thing. It started off as a couple of odd dreams about horses that I had (no, not like *that*), which then turned into the idea of making a Complendium of Unusual Horses. This happily coincided with the Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe at the Weston Arts Festival. Originally, the plan was to make a whole alphabet's worth and turn them into either a collection of postcards or even an little book, but time ran out, so I've collected my best horses into a Guardian-style wall chart.

I'll post the whole thing here at some point, but for now, a little taster - a swiss cheese style horse. Incidentally, Katie Prices horse (illustrating a Guardian interview where she shared the priceless nugget of information that her favourite word is c**t) modelled for this one.



I'm a bit apprehensive about this whole thing, having never really had art for sale (except for the drawings that have been hanging in Kino for about 2 months now), but if nothing else, I will have enough horse posters to wallpaper much of my living room.

Unfortunately, Alex's two awesome horses didn't really fit in this time, but maybe there will be a whole book some time in the future.

non-ironic cosy

During my recent lull in knitting inspiration, a Facebook friend expressed an interest in a cosy for her teapot, so I made one. I'm quite impressed how well it fits, considering I have never actually seen the pot in the flesh.

...are the new Russian Dolls

A little while ago, Owls were the twee motif of choice. They appeared on every little purse and polka dotted greeting card. I played a little game with my friend, googling the phrase "are the new owls" and came up with deer, unicorns, and russian dolls. The latter trend seems to have lasted quite a while. Now I've had a bit of a *thing* for anything Russian since I was a teenager, so I got highly excited when I spotted a Matryoshka stall at this years harbour fest. I bought this beauty:


and also a pin and a keyring. Hooray!
(PS: "are the new Russian Dolls" gives precisely zero results. Boo. Maybe they are here to stay?)

All ears

Not a craft project this, but still kinda creative. I remember thinking about 10 years ago that it would be fun to make a big collection of ear drawings, they are so individual and have very interesting shapes. Just nice to draw. Well, I finally did something about it and drew some ears of more or less famous musicians. I like them. Do you?




(Ear owners revealed on mouseover)

Cosy coffeepot & sugarclava

It took me ages to come up with a decent teacosy design but I think this one does the job - I am quite pleased how I managed to combine the colours so that together they sort of make up the colour of the teapot. There's a little press stud to keep it together where the handle is.



And next to the coffee pot, an incognito criminal companion...

Living on my own

An opportunity has come up to live with a fried of mine who is moving back to Bristol soon. I won't be able to move right away because of my contract, but in any case I am quite attached to my little flat already. I'm weighing up the pros and cons at the moment. I guess having a housemate would not prevent me from spending my saturday mornings cooking elaborate breakfasts, listening to my new Regina Spektor album and admiring the teacosy I made last night, but it wouldn't be quite the same. It would probably help with me getting all self-absorbed and maudlin on the occasional night in on my own. Well, I will see.

In the meantime, I am feeling smug about my Eggs Benedict with Parma ham, perfectly poached egg (the best method seems to be using a frying pan with only an inch of water in it) and homemade hollandaise. YEAH.



(I'm not just shamelessly copying a homely heroine by the way. I've been trying to make poached eggs for *ages*.)

Sackboy

It doesn't happen often that the worlds of computer games and knitting collide, so the boy's aquisition of a PS3 with Little Big Planet had to be celebrated with a real knitted Sackboy. I didn't get the square head quite right and ran out of time to make him an outfit, but he now lives on A's work computer wearing a miniature jumper based on this Sambomaster video.