Twee as Volk

Knitting Advent Calendar 24: Marilyn Monroe

2011-12-24T08:36:00.001-08:00

Happy Christmas - here's Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn herself was a knitter, as seen in the film "Let's make Love". She's not wearing a very interesting sweater here, but it she's wearing the hell out of it.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Knitting Advent Calendar 23: V-back sweater.

2011-12-19T13:46:00.001-08:00

Another 80's Bomb before we get to the glamorous final. I don't even know where to begin here. The baggy elephantine sleeves, the huge back cleavage which will surely cause the shoulders to slide off all the time, the nasty oversize lace, or the "skirt" made from a plastic table cloth. Oh 80's, we don't miss you.

Knitting Advent Calendar 22: Dorothy Lamour

2011-12-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

This is by far my most favourite sweater of the book. Boatnecked and beaded, now this is how you do glam knitwear.

Bill Gibb thinks that she looks "not dissimilar to today's pop star Madonna". I don't see it.

Knitting Advent Calendar 21: Greta Garbo

2011-12-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

What the book calls "Le Style Garbo" is maybe a bit more rustic on the average lady, but I do like the honeycomb pattern here.

Knitting Advent Calendar 20: Peggy Cummins

2011-12-19T13:13:00.001-08:00

Mr Gibb describes this as "one of the more sensual sweaters of the book". I think it's just the prominent boobs, not so much the sweater!

Knitting Advent Calendar 19: Jennifer Jones

2011-12-07T15:39:00.001-08:00

This oversize sweater looks strangely modern! Also very cosy.

Couldn't find any fascinating facts about her but she seemed to be cast as "asian" quite frequently. Sounds like a few of the ladies in this book fell into that "exotic" category purely because they had dark hair. Hum.

Knitting Advent Calendar 18: Chevron Boy

2011-12-07T15:38:00.001-08:00

This guy is a wonderful example of the non-gender-normative upbringing of children in the 80's. I'm still not convinced whether it's a boy. The bravery of mixing Tartan with this herringbone pattern, as well as playing on a space hopper in weather that requires gloves - admirable!

Knitting Advent Calendar 17: Virginia Mayo

2011-12-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

There's something rather "Sound of Music" about this one, probably the German style hat and jacket - but the jumper is also rather folky. Cute!

Knitting Advent Calendar 16: Lana Turner

2011-12-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

Well, she's a feisty one! I'm slightly scared.

Today's favourite Wikipedia fact is that she accidentally had an affair with a real life gangster in her 30's, and once had such a violent argument with him that her teenage daughter intervened and stabbed him to death! So - best not to mess with her.

Knitting Advent Calendar 15: Jean Harlow

2011-12-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

The original Blonde Bombshell wearing a supremely itchy-looking polo shirt.

Knitting Advent Calendar 14: Robert Taylor

2011-12-07T15:28:00.000-08:00

This needs no comment other than to state this man's birth name: Spangler Arlington Brough. Considering this together with the case of Archibald Leach, it seems like a lot of playground bullying is a good prerequisite for becoming a hollywood heartthrob.

Knitting Advent Calendar 13: Jane Greer

2011-12-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

According to the description in the book, Jane Greer was often cast as a "villainess". Based on this picture, I imagine her to play a department manager at John Lewis who won't give you a refund on this scarf you bought for your wife just because she didn't like the pattern ("too much like a 7up advert").

Knitting Advent Calendar 12: Chinese Sweater

2011-12-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

A wonderful bit of 80's baggy ninja chinoiserie! I'm not sure if the balaclava is part of the pattern.

Knitting Advent Calendar 11: Adele Jergens

2011-12-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

I love this thing! Crazy belly baring fuzzy sweater! Sexy scandi lady!

Knitting Advent Calendar 10: Cary Grant

2011-12-07T15:15:00.001-08:00

Cary Grant! A local boy. Born Archibald Leach in Bristol, and went to the same primary school as my boyfriend (although not at the same time)! Sporting a classic cricket sweater here. I really find it hard to take a sport seriously that has its own knitwear.

Knitting Advent Calendar 9: Jane Wyman

2011-12-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favourites - see those three lines on her chest? Those are cigarettes! With shiny red thread for the glowing ends. The epitome of glamour.

I love her charm belt too, with her initials in it (Jane Wyman Reagan I guess - she was married to Ronald R once).

Knitting Advent Calendar 8: Loretta Young

2011-12-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

Loretta Young, actress and TV personality - too classy to be amusing.

Knitting Advent Calendar 7: Judy Garland

2011-12-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

Ah, Judy Garland! Gay icons have changed a lot since. Don't think Lady Gaga would be seen dead in this.

So if you look very closely, you can see that the fluffy bit is not a stole, but in fact the sleeves of this cardigan! Very cute.

Knitting Advent Calendar 6: Errol Flynn

2011-12-06T00:40:00.000-08:00

Hm. They say Errol Flynn was "extremely handsome and virile". I'm not sure how this smarmy grin fits into that. And in my book, a gentleman does not wear his trousers held up by a piece of string.

Slightly boring jumper too... but I thought I'd give you some male eye candy if this kind of thing floats your boat.

Knitting Advent Calendar 5: Claudette Colbert

2011-12-05T10:11:00.001-08:00

The blurb for this pattern describes Mme Colbert as a "superb clothes horse" with a "strangely feline face", somewhat unflatteringly.

I really love the strong shoulders on this cardigan, no wonder they were keen on it in the 80s (and now, probably!).

Knitting Advent Calendar 4: Sailor Suit

2011-12-04T03:24:00.001-08:00

Today, in honour of the Bristol Harbour Harlot's Roller Derby bout against South West Angels of Terror, a "smart" 80's Sailor Suit!

I swear there is a nipple in this picture. And would it have killed her to dry her hair?

Knitting Advent Calendar 3: Vilma Banky

2011-12-03T04:23:00.000-08:00

A lesser known starlet this week! But with an interesting jumper. This has an embroidered Union Jack and some sort of colonial flag? A weird choice considering she was Hungarian and worked in Hollywood. She was one of the actresses whose careers were ended by the "talkies" as apparently Hungarian accents weren't considered sexy, like French, or German (right?).

Knitting Advent Calendar 2: Gary Cooper

2011-12-02T00:30:00.001-08:00

Gary Cooper today! Nice Christmas jumper, too. According to the blurb he "exuded from a screen a powerful sexuality". Can't disagree, really.

Knitting Advent Calendar 1: Joan Crawford

2011-12-01T12:07:00.001-08:00

It's December again which can only mean one thing - I find pictures of celebrities wearing knitwear and post them here for your delectation.

This year is going to be less mocking and more admiring in tone, as I managed to get my hand on a book called Hollywood Knits. It was published in the 80s, but all the photos are from much earlier in the century. The author Bill Gibb dug out photos of "Old Hollywood" film stars posing in glamorous jumpers and then reverse engineered the patterns from the photos. Amazing!

Kicking things off is the beautiful Joan Crawford:

I especially like the sequinned braces. I would completely wear this entire outfit (maybe minus the unflattering gathered skirt waist).

A group effort and a first nemesis

2011-06-20T01:52:00.000-07:00

There's a new-ish shop on North Street called Paper Village, which is basically everything I would have done if I'd ever actually got round to opening a shop. It sells some cheap acrylic wool in many colours, various fun craft supplies and some interesting artwork, and also runs craft workshops for kids and adults.

Vic, who runs the shop, instigated a little group yarn bombing project under the banner of the Bristol Knitivists, to coincide with the South Bristol Art Trail. It had a loose theme of "gardens", which included a cactus, lots of flowers, and some birds and bees. I contributed two bike rack cosies, a "grassy" one and a multi-textured one.

Here are some photos of the day:

As you can see, it was a big success with passers-by.

Unfortunately, most of it did not last very long. On monday evening, I cycled past the installation and saw a man take down our work. I went over to ask him why, and he said "the environmental officer came down today.". When I asked him to elaborate, he claimed that "you're not to vandalise the street furniture". I really should have pressed him further as to a) why this "environmental officer" had come down and what his name was b) how what we had done constituted vandalism ("ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable") and c) whether he, personally, had been given the task of removing the offending pieces by this presumably fictional council representative. But for some reason I decided to leave it at that at the time.

As you can probably tell, I am quite annoyed about this. In principle, I know that this is part of doing any sort of guerilla/public installation - if you are assuming the right to install your work somewhere public, you're also accepting other people's right to take it down again. I just really can't accept the sort of petty small-mindedness that seemed to be the motivation for this.

Anyway - one of the bike rack cosies lasted slightly longer by virtue of being slightly down the road, and it was there during Upfest which happened a couple of weeks later, and we got plenty of positive reactions for our work, too, including an "I saw you" in Venue (Thursday, 26 May 2011)!

Look! An actual BOOK!

2011-05-07T08:07:00.001-07:00

About 6 months ago I was approached via my Flickr account about contributing some photos to a book about yarnbombing. And just the other day, I got my copy in the post!
It is called Urban Knits, published by Prestel/Random House and for sale here. Here are my pages:

It's not entirely what I was expecting - I got sent a preliminary layout a while ago, where it looked like I was going to share a page with Olek, the famous and prolific NYC crochet-bomber, but none of her work is included in the final book. I have a suspicion that she asked for an actual fee, and wasn't content with just receiving a copy of the book (I managed to get two, but that's all). Anyway - it's a fun little book and good for showing off! Now I'm on a mission to get the Arnolfini Bookshop to start selling it - after all, there are at least two photos of the Arnolfini building in there!

Nothing lasts forever

2011-05-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

If you're in Bristol, you probably know about the riots on Stokes Croft that happened over the past few weeks. I've not personally been affected, but some of my yarn bombs have (kind of). The night of the first riot, some of the cosies on the bridge got torched! I have no evidence that there was any connection but I can imagine that the heightened atmosphere could have led someone to take a lighter to our pieces. Nanna D's lovely striped piece was almost entirely gone, with only a few melted rings left, and my yellow hazard tape was scorched at the bottom. So I went over there today and took them off entirely, because it no longer looked good. This is what was left:

The limpets in Stokes Croft (located right in the midst of the riots!) were still intact, but as they kept sliding down, and were at quite a busy junction, got absolutely filthy, as well as kind of limp.

That's why I knitted a larger replacement, which should also fit more snugly and not slide down to dog-wee height so easily.

Yarnbombed Signs

2011-03-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Southville Footbridge, which is rapidly becoming a yarnbombing hotspot is split into a pedestrian and a cycle lane. People do generally stick to this, although the signs are almost completely illegible as they are covered in dirt, moss and stickers.

I fancied doing something a bit different from a railing cosy, so I refreshed both of the signs! They are quite high up but conveniently you can use the towers like a ladder so they were fairly easy to install.

A commission, and another hazard tape

2011-03-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

I've been showing off about my yarn bombing at work, and my colleague who's a DJ in his spare time decided that he wanted to have his new mixing desk yarn bombed. Of course, I'm not one to back down from a knitting challenge! I produced this thing:

I hope it'll fit. I have asked him to provide pictures of it in situ.

I also added another hazard tape to Gaol Ferry Bridge, and Nanna D is also getting on on the act! I think it would be great to just keep adding bits until the whole bridge is soft.

Finally, and excitingly, I've been shown the layouts for the pages featuring my art in this book! It will be out in a few months time. I am sharing a page with Olek (also featured on the cover), I think!

Elaborate Cake Baking

2011-02-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

I've been reading the blog Confections of a (closet) Master Baker for a while now, admiring her incredible cake creations. I took Valentines Day as an opportunity to spend hours and hours on making this Puzzle Cake! I failed at making the buttercream and just ended up with a massive bowl of lumpy pink globs - what a waste of 15 eggs! - so I just made some with butter and icing sugar. It doesn't look quite like the original, but I think I did an ok job. Now I just have to find some people to feed it to as I definitely can't fit this into my diet!

Adorable Bento!

2011-02-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

I've been on this fitness regime (god, I hate calling it a diet) for the last four weeks, which means I need to prepare and take my own lunches into work. It's a distinct improvement on the stale (but free!) sandwiches we get provided!
To celebrate being halfway through the challenge, I've treated myself to a beautiful Bento lunchbox from Japan, complete with a lovely furoshiki cloth to wrap it in.

All wrapped up:

Owl Box-

Two compartments and some little extra sauce pots!

TV fame

2011-01-10T03:16:00.000-08:00

A little clip with me in it was show on NDR Hamburg Journal on Tuesday! I did a few special "Strickbomben" for the occasion.

First we went to Mönckebergstraße and decorated some sheep

then we gave this rider and his horse matching socks

and finally some nice frills for pirate Störtebecker's boots!

The clip is currently watchable online here , fast forward to about 20 minutes 30 (it won't work in Chrome but Firefox and IE are ok).

I am quite pleased with how it came out! I didn't even feel particularly embarrassed watching it. And no one has been in touch to fine me for defacing public property either.

Hafencity knitting

2010-11-24T00:59:00.000-08:00

Long time no post, but I've still been knitting.
I am currently spending some time in Hamburg, my native city, for work purposes. Hamburg has been growing a whole new part of the city in the last few years, with lots of new office blocks and flats springing up in the harbour just beyond the old warehouses. Being new and thoroughly town-planned, it has the same weirdly artificial feel as, say, Canary Wharf in London and Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. Thus, it is clearly in need of a bit of humanising, and a prime candidate for a little yarn bomb attack.

Streetlamp cosy

Chain

Striped/barcode style cosy on a bridge in front of the building site of the new concert hall which has been eating everyones taxes in Hamburg for three years.

I also made this little spiders web (not knitted but knotted), which is a reference to the fact (urban legend?) that the Hafencity is infested with millions of spiders, either due to import of exotic species via ships, or superior breeding conditions near the water. I like that even though there is nothing natural about this part of the city, you still cannot keep nature out. Or yarn.

PS: Someone wants to make a little TV documentary thing about me. I feel embarrassed already, but stay tuned.

continuing to plushify Bristol...

2010-08-27T04:05:00.000-07:00

Contrary to appearances, I have not been idle. Although I've been busy with non-knitting activities (I have recently joined Bristol's new Roller Derby team), I was spurred on by the appearance of a little railing cosy on Gaol Ferry bridge, by Pod Knit. I've been planning something for that bridge for a while and I finally finished this thing:

Hopefully it'll be useful as well as pretty and cushion any cyclists knees that might knock into the barrier!

I also completed a project that was inspired by limpets that I saw stuck to bollards on our holiday in Wales. This one I put up in Bristol's street art hot spot, Stokes Croft. Every time I pass it, it's been moved around a little, so it's obviously getting noticed. Today it was all soggy and in danger of sliding to the bottom, but someone had tucked it in a bit to keep it up. Now I just have to hope it won't get co-opted for the Stokes Croft Museum...

I also seem to be getting quite a bit of online attention, from Podknit, Knit Hacker, Stitch'n'Ting and something called e-democracy. Thanks for all the love!

Fungal infestation

2010-06-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

My yarn bollard mushroom lasted about a week but I was so pleased with it that I've decided to replace it with a new version, this time yellow with red spots.

I've actually spotted quite a lot more bollards around the harbour that look like they are not in frequent use and could do with amusing cosies, but it does take quite a long time to make these so I may need to think of a new technique.

I've also been working on making some knitted necklaces in a variegated grey sock yarn that try to look like iron chains. I found some very nice little carabiner clasps and have tried adding in some metal rings. I'm quite pleased with the results but they may be a bit too itchy to actually wear.

(yarn) Bombs of Bristol

2010-05-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

After my previous attempt at knitted graffiti didn't survive its first night, I decided to change tack slightly. I made sure that my next tag couldn't possibly get in anyone's way, and I incorporated it in an existing chain on Bristol harbour.

In spite of being in a variety of day-glo colours, I don't think too many people have spotted it as it's hidden within the chain. I like the idea that it's a reward for people who are a little bit more observant, though.

So, encouraged by this success, I embarked on a larger project. Knitting this (and adding crochet spots) took me several weeks and I was worried it wouldn't survive the night again, but this cute toadstool has already graced one of Bristols sunniest days of the year!

I'm thinking of making more in various Super Mario colours - but these mooring bollards are surprisingly large, it's like knitting a small sweater!

And now I've got started, I also did another spontaneous tag while sunbathing in the park yesterday:

More to come!

Der Lauf der Dinge

2010-03-03T02:22:00.000-08:00

So there's a new video by that band that make the viral music videos (and apparently the soundtrack too, but who cares about that) that later get turned into adverts for vitamin tablets.
It's a pretty cool video of a gigantic colourful contraption that even plays parts of the song as it runs.

This is clearly not a new concept, although done very well here. For example, the Bravery had a video that looked very similar a few years ago:

In fact, I think the Bravery's version is closer to what I am now going to call the original - "der Lauf der Dinge", a 1987 movie by a Swiss duo of artists, Fischli/Weiss.
Clearly, the concept of an overly complicated machine or chain reaction in which one element triggers the next is much older - there's Heath Robinson, for one thing, and the whole Dominoes thing. But there are elements in both the OK GO and Bravery videos that come straight from Der Lauf der Dinge, such as the twisted bin bags being slowly undone as they turn, or car tyres bouncing down a ladder.

I'm not really trying to pinpoint any plagiarism here, but what I think is interesting is that Der Lauf der Dings derives most of its wit from the suspense that occurs when you are not *quite* sure whether the next link is going to work. The times where some strange foam drips off a board, a rolling cone goes slightly off track - the times where you suspect everything might just go wrong. Apparently the Independent said at the time, "Watching 'Der Lauf der Dinge' is like watching a Hitchcock movie by objects instead of people." which sums it up quite well. I think it's probably just showing its age though. Youtube videos can't really afford to have many moments that will allow people get impatient, because there's always a cat video to watch.

In any case, to prove my point, Fischli/Weiss seem to have removed the original version of Der Lauf der Dinge from Youtube, and the only version you can watch is a sped-up one set to music.

It's a hoot

2010-02-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

I've just returned from my little trip to London for Owl Parliament, which was highly enjoyable. I think it may have been one of the most civilised gigs I have ever been to, being set in a beautiful old church, with pews to put your cups of tea on.

I was most excited about Darren Hayman's set, although I felt like I was the only one who really appreciated the presence of Jack Hayter, pedal steel guitarist and Ex-Hefner member. They played "We love the City", the lyrics of which always pop into my head when it takes two hours to get home to someone's house in London in the evening - "This is London, not Antarctica, so why don't the tubes run all night?" - I mean, even Hamburg can do it.

The Go Away Birds were lovely and had a pretty singer, Mariner's Children brought their entire families (including grandma), Jeremy Warmsley has grown a beard and started a new Band, Summercamp, with his girlfriend Elizabeth, Pete Roe sang some nice traditional folk/country.

The second half of the gig was somehow less convincing for me. Maybe I was getting tired, but the Blue Roses were sailing slightly too close to Enya territory for me, and Aidan Moffat was just plain offensive. I don't disapprove of songs about double penetration in principle (I am a big fan of the Hidden Cameras, after all), but when the lyrics are sexist and badly written Daily Mail style rants and the "songs" consist of sense- and tuneless autoharp strumming, I'd rather go off to have a drink for a bit, thanks.
I may have missed the point of Mount Eerie to some extent, but the stripped-down set (guy & guitar) of songs about wind (really, each one of them mentioned the wind) didn't excite me much. A lot of people seem to like them a lot though, so maybe I need to listen to the full band versions.
Headliner Emmy the Great didn't disappoint and delivered her sweet songs about Love & Death, as well as a slightly awkward Cover of Fight for this Love by "Cheryl Tweedy" with a very uncomfortable looking Darren Hayman - clip below.

In further twee news, we spotted Josie Long in the pub where we went for a drink after! She was doing a work-in-progress show.

Preparing for a bombing

2010-02-17T16:21:00.001-08:00

That's YARN BOMBING, in case the FBI is going to start reading my blog now.

I've been planning this for about a year now, and the idea isn't really clever/witty enough to have survived this long - but I am stubborn.
Install and update tomorrow evening!

UPDATE:

Let's see how long it lasts until someone nicks it, bins it, or starts a City Council vote on whether it should stay.

UPDATE 2:

Well, in the morning, barely 10 hours later, it's gone. They must have someone patrolling the area with scissors, maybe there's a real problem with overzealous yarnbombing in this city that I'm not aware of.
Didn't think it would stay up that long but this was quicker than expected, meaning it didn't even achieve my one goal of cheering up a couple of people's walk to work.
Well, I'm not giving up now.

Whimsicle Fuckery

2010-02-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Yes, I can spell, but I've been reading Regretsy a lot. Regretsy features the more ridiculous offerings for sale on etsy and it is hilarious, but somewhat dangerous if you want to ever approach craft with an open mind again. I'm pretty sure I won't ever make any genital-inspired jewellery now.

It's been a bit slow on the craft front here, but on the other hand, I've been to a number of fun gigs, so quick reviews are in order.

Mustard Allegro & Stanton Delaplane & Alexander Thomas, Cube Cinema, 23 Jan:
Highs: Gushing review especially of Alex in Venue the next week, sad songs from Stanton, the King of facial hair, fun surf-pop with interesting visuals, knitting in the front row.
Low: the hangover the next day.

OLO worms & SJ Esau, Cube Cinema, 29 Jan:
High: Seeing SJ Esau perform for the first time in ages. Always brilliant.
Low: It was a bit too busy to sneak into the auditorium for the main act as a non-paying volunteer, although what I heard sounded pretty good, in a silly experimental pop kind of way.

Ausform presents: LUR, Cube Cinema, 5 Feb, a livelooping cabaret dance pop act from Sweden.
High: My favourite part was when they turned themselves into a human conductor, with the pitch of the sound controlled by the amount of contact between the two. This called for belly-licking, incidentally.
Low: Not really. Could have been busier though.

There's more good music coming up too, such as the highly twee Alessis Ark with Rachael Dadd on Friday, with a beautiful poster by a man I'm in no way affiliated with (ahem), and in case you are concerned by how Cube-centric my life appears at the moment (so what! I like it there!), I am going to London for Owl Parliament on the 27th! It's all going on.

Team Steam

2010-01-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I went on a little day trip to Oxford with a couple of friends to see the Steampunk exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science. Now, I appear to have caught steampunk. I've developed an inexplicable desire to wear a corset and a leather top hat with goggles and to stick typewriter keys on my laptop keyboard. I am bidding on an antique Pince-Nez on ebay to wear around my neck. Help! If I don't find a way to curb this soon, I will end up with a full-scale metal working workshop.

It's made worse by the fact that the Oxford experience was preceded by a visit to the Bristol Old Vic to see the Kneehigh production of Hansel & Gretel, which was brilliant - if you're in Bristol, hurry, tomorrow's the last day. This was not like your average panto, for example, it included a giant contraption with candles burning ropes, blocks of wood swinging around, dislodging other bits of wood, which eventually crushed a mouse (which happened to have kept still the whole time...). And Bunnies.

I've found myself having to explain the concept of Steampunk quite a lot lately and although I think I have a pretty good feeling of what it encompasses now, I find it hard to explain. The video of the Oxford exhibition sums it up pretty well:

Things I have liked in 2009

2010-01-03T03:42:00.000-08:00

There have been lots of amazing things that people I know have done this year and that I have mostly mentioned previously.

Other than those, some of my favourite things of the year were these:

Where the Wild Things Are

I was a bit worried I might have built it up to much after going to the exhibition in New York and hanging around outside the Premiere party at the MoMA, but it was a wonderful film. Particularly this song by Daniel Johnston (performed by Karen O and the Kids, as the rest of the soundtrack), Worried Shoes.

New York

Everything about it. I was particularly surprised that although it is of course a thoroughly modern city, it always has a touch of retro about it. I think it's partly the predominance of the "moderne" style. And as I suspected, every single person is creative, beautiful and fashionable. To quote the Bonfire of the Vanities: "...the irresistible destination of all those who insist on being where things are happening".

Moxie

Just as I'm suckered in by the pretty packaging of Benefit cosmetics, I also belong to the target group for Moxie tampons. Luckily, the actual tampons are not retro (I imagine a retro tampon would be a rag tied on a bit of string or something equally unsavoury), just the tin and the wrapper with the bow on.

the cat that comes to visit

She loves me. I love her, but not her fleas and all the hair that she sheds.

The Flaming Lips

I finally fulfilled my ambition of seeing them live, got showered in confetti, Wayne Coyne did the hamsterball thing, they played Do You Realize - all boxes ticked.

Vintage Knitting patterns

I've only been buying them for the purposes of the advent calendar, but it may be time to start a real collection. The 1940's ones are just too beautiful.

The Cube

It's a wonderful place. Working at the bar at the Cube has actually tricked me into thinking that bartending is the best job ever. I do suspect this is not so in more commercial drinking establishments.

Regina Spektor

Well, I've talked about that.

Jezebel

I've been reading this neo-feminist news website for a couple of years now, and although the constant complaining about one-dimensional female characters on TV and narrow beauty ideals is starting to grate somewhat, they still make some interesting points, and have pictures of nice dresses.

There was of course much more to the year than this, but I'm now going to head off to the Arnolfini and play in the Craftivism exhibition. Happy 2010!

The knitting tree

2009-12-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-25T02:52:00.000-08:00

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

Have a great Christmas!

23: Frankie Vaughan

2009-12-25T02:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-21T23:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-21T05:31:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-20T03:43:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-17T16:55:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-17T02:34:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-16T02:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-14T17:40:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-14T03:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-14T01:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-12T18:53:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-12T04:37:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

"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

2009-12-08T15:55:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-05T03:13:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-04T00:58:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-01T05:54:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-23T15:50:00.000-08:00

...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.

2009-10-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-10-10T21:16:00.001-07:00

...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.

2009-10-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-04T02:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-27T02:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-31T11:29:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-08-30T14:11:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-08-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-13T01:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

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.

plotting for pottery

2009-06-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

I am, as a rule, definitely not the kind of person who gets excited about teapots. I do however like the strange little junk shop at the end of my road where, a few weeks ago, I snapped up this beautiful coffee set.

It's in virtually mint condition - one of the saucers has a tiny chip and one of the cups is a bit stained inside. I have no idea if this is worth much, ebay says "not really", but 8 quid for the whole set still seems like a bargain. It's made by a company called Poole and according to the stamps must be from the early 60s. It is beautiful. I am making a lot more tea and rubbish instant coffee than usual just so I can use it.

Now, for my dilemma. At work today, I noticed that the sugar jar in our tea kitchen appears to be the same colour as my coffee set. After checking the stamps, I am now quite convinced that it is actually from the same series. I WANT. I don't *think* anyone at my office has an emotional attachment to this sugar pot and would get very upset if I silently switched it for another one. But I don't really want to go round asking everyone if they would object to me taking it - I think that would make me appear more obsessed with tableware than is healthy.

Also, I have considered making a tea cosy for this thing. it would of course have to be a tailored, fitted affair, but I don't know if I'm ready for knitting a non-ironic tea cosy. Hmmm.

New Stitch'n'Bitch poster

2009-06-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

They took down my poster at Kino, not sure why but it had been up there for 2 years so I figured it was time for a new one. Here's what I came up with this afternoon. I may put in more details in the knitting (maybe she's doing lace?) and I'm not sure about the teapot. Colour maybe?

On another note, I wonder how much longer I'll get away with spending my work day like this.

Queen Regina

2009-06-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

New Regina Spektor album out soon, and this is the first single. Slightly pretentious video, and rather patronising subject matter. But she does just about pull it off, because she can do no wrong.

Laughing With

The one I like much better is Dance Anthem of the 80s. Now that's some vintage Regina, including funny guttural noises, silly dancing and all that. I can't wait to see her live again.

yum.

2009-05-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

I had a little party and made cupcakes from the cupcake book I got for Christmas - firstly the incredibly chocolatey ones:

and then the pretty glittery cherry/almond ones:

They were quite a success! Although the chocolate ones were a bit too heavy really, half a bite was plenty for most people.

Knitted Origami

2009-05-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Zimmermann is a genius. I mean, I have a PhD in Maths (yes, I will stop mentioning that in, ooh, about 10 years time) but I can't quite figure out how this

turns into this:

'Mazing. This is Schoppel Zauberball by the way. Too pretty.

Now, I will go and figure out what flavour cupcakes to make for my housewarming.

PS: Hi Mum.

A wall of birds

2009-05-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

I have got to the point where everything actually has a place in my new flat now, and have even bought some picture frames. This is what I have decided to hang over my fireplace.

Left to right:
A charcoal drawing of a dead bird drawn by someone at the Drawing Exchange a few weeks ago. I swapped it for half a packet of japanese chewing gum. I drew a dead robin myself, which Mike has now.

Large print of a drawing of some stuffed animals in a museum, bought from the Spike Island print shop stall a while back. ~~I forget the name of the artist~~ By Sarah Knight (thanks Ben).

Finally, the Hand Bird... a Phoenix with slapping action, apparently. By this guy

Crafternoon result

2009-05-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

I have finally succeeded in moving house! I now live on my own and am intending to turn the living room into a crafty playroom. You cannot begin to imagine how excited I was to get my craft box back - and all my nice shoes.
This means I was finally able to finish off the giraffe I made at my friend's Crafternoon (courtesy of Crafty Creatures) a few weeks ago.

He really needs a name I think (I think it's a he). Any ideas?

Back!

2009-04-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, the blogging petered out a bit together with the availability of internet access. If you want to know, there are lots of pictures on my flickr page.

I didn't last very long without any crafty things to occupy myself with, so I knitted two pairs of socks and a hat for Dan in Japan. I also decorated my rather boring and sensible black rucksack with appropriate motifs, which was fun. Note the nod to ravelry at the bottom...

Thailand 2: Still Bangkok, but with company

2009-03-22T01:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the official start of my Intrepid Southern Thailand tour, which meant I'm now sharing my room with a girl from London called Katie, who I actually like quite a lot, so hooray! I don't usually seem to like people, which can be a problem. The rest of the group are a retired couple from near York (v. friendly), an Australian guy (bit ditsy but really nice, has a Thai ex-girlfriend he's been visiting in Bangkok), a Dutch bloke (one of the most scatty people ever, permanently confused, and I'm not sure it's just his grasp of English that's at fault), and two beauticians from Wales... I have a feeling they may get upset at the lack of power points for their hair straighteners, but seem nice enough! I *am* working on ignoring my automatic preconceptions, honest.
They took us on an awesome boat trip today, where we got to feed bread to the fish (and why the hell not), and then looked round the Imperial Palace... again!
I then went off to a dressmaker's shop recommended by our leader to commission a three piece suit and a dress, will come back after the Southern Thailand trip for a fitting, very exciting. Paid a bit more than I was intending but then I *am* on holiday and I think they will look great. I did a little bargaining which got me 20% off but it was far too easy - i probably should have gone much lower. Never had anything tailor made except by myself!
Wandered round a shopping mall and ate sushi, got a Tuktuk back, and will be leaving to catch the overnight train south in about an hour!

Oh yes, and I also went on a guided bicycle tour yesterday, which turned out to be just me and the thai guide, it was really interesting and good fun - we cycled around all the little houses by the canals, over rickety wooden walkways and through crowded streets and canals for about 3 hours. And got another extensive Thai massage in the evening, where I got bent around to a much larger extent than I thought possible!

Thailand 1: Bangkok

2009-03-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

After spending my final night in Nagoya with Mike, who seemed genuinely upset that he had missed out on the Sumo (Dan and I were quite proud that we managed to last an entire day of fat blokes in nappies!), I set off to Thailand. Everything went well, got my airport transfer, found the hotel, and spent the day exploring the local area. It turns out that the hotel is in the middle of the worst/best backpacker's ghetto - everyone around here is German, English or Japanese and it's hard not to feel like you're getting ripped off at every corner. Stumbled across the Democracy Monument which is surrounded by huge golden frames with pictures of the King, who appears to be a keen amateur photographer - he is frequently pictured in what looks like holiday snaps with a camera round his neck.
Didn't quite dare to try any of the more mysterious street food yet, so stuck with some tasty spring rolls - and saw what I think was my first ever live cockroach crawl around under another food stall. Had the opportunity to eat any of a selection of tasty fried insects too, but decided to pass on that.
Felt a bit disoriented so bought a second-hand Rough Guide from a shop around the corner, which said to start at the Imperial Palace, so that's what I did the next day. On my way there, got accosted by a guy who told me it was 'Buddha Day' so the Palace would be closed in the mornings. This was the first of three or four men that day who tried the same scam on me, which I'd been warned about several times already. Apparently you get told that wherever you are going is closed, and that they will take you on a bargain Tuk Tuk trip somewhere else instead, on which they then fleece you in some way. What I don't understand is why every single scammer in Bangkok uses the same approach that even badly prepared tourists like me already know about. Surely a bit of creativity isn't too much to ask?
Anyway, I did take some of his suggestions and went to the golden mountain, an artificial hill with a temple on top, which was nice - the view of Bangkok was a bit less than spectacular though, the skyline is not overly pretty. After that, I got slightly lost, first in an area of wood carving workshops, and then on a street where car parks where being made by hand... Found a little park and had some lunch: mystery meat balls on a stick, together with a bottle of coke from a plastic bag - glass bottles have a deposit here so you often get the drink without the bottle, poured into a bag with a straw in it! I made my way to the Imperial palace then and tagged along with a tour. It was incredibly shiny and colourful, and I let the tourguide talk me into buying an overpriced ticket for a traditional dance performance in the evening. That was probably more of a rip-off than those Tuk Tuk drivers I'd been warned about! Then went on to Wat Pho, a famous temple near the imperial palace. The temple contains a massage school, amongst other things, which seemed like as good a place as any to try a Thai Massage, especially because it meant an hours shelter from the rain that suddenly broke. For the record, yes, some of it was a bit painful - you know when you accidentally lean on the muscle in your calf and one strand of muscle slips against another, a very odd and unpleasant feeling? She seemed to do that to me intentionally a few times. On the whole, I really liked it though, and I'll certainly try it again some time. I'm still not sure about the foot massage, that just looks horrible, they poke big wooden blocks deep into the sole of your foot!

Then saw the big golden reclining Buddha, which was absolutely beautiful, and did my first drawing for ages that I'm actually happy about. It does help when your subject is not moving!

There is a big park (more a field really) near the imperial palace, where there was a huge market going on - they sold absolutely everything, from underwear to grilled scorpions to frozen food to mobile phone contracts. Some guys where playing a game where you have to kick a small ball into a kind of basket hung from a line quite high up, using any part of their bodies except their arms and hands. In another corner, people where crowding around a TV showing a political debate. I was reading on the plane here that the opposition party is planning to hold a debate next friday where they are hoping to release information that will topple the current government. The guys in the park where redshirts - I'll have to look up if they are the ones currently in power or the ones supporting the old prime minister who is currently in exile.

Deciding to ignore all the scare stories, I hopped on a TukTuk which took me to the theatre. The ride was short but one of the most fun things I've done here so far! The theatre was big but almost completely empty - there were maybe 30 people in the audience, including at least two older German guys in the company of pretty Thai ladies. Ew. I really enjoyed the performance though, it was the story of Hanuman, the monkey king, performed in Khon, the traditional masked dance, with a few acrobatic elements. The music was a bit grating, but nothing against the Thai narration. It sounded like backwards talking - it's really quite unpleasant when every word gets a lot louder at the end. Haven't noticed anyone actually speaking like this, it must be some stylised theatre voice. The dancing and the costumes were amazing though, and I felt quite bad for the dancers who'd obviously trained very hard to play to such a sparse crowd.

Wandered around a bit more afterwards, and had a pint near my hotel, then slept like a stone!
This afternoon I'm going to do a cycling trip (with Intrepid), although I'm slightly worried that it'll be just me and a guide, that may be a bit awkward. Oh well. And my roommate has arrived today, so will have some company from this evening.

Japan 7: FOOD

2009-03-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

So, my idea of visiting Japan was to sit around eating cheap sushi all day. Of course, they weren't particularly cheap, but we did eat quite a lot of them - but there were a few sides to Japanese cuisine that I wasn't expecting. I had made a resolution to stop eating sweets for the duration of my travels because of some unfounded notion that the Japanese don't really "do" sweets. Not true. They don't seem to do desserts as such, but every tiny village has its own beautifully packaged sweet for sale at every train station and souvenir shop. Granted, the majority of them seem to consist of a rice-based pastry with a bean paste filling, but they certainly look nice!

Ok, as my head is rather full of Bangkok right now, some food criticism in brief list form.

The good:
Fresh, reasonably priced conveyor belt sushi (salmo, tuna, mackerel...)
Okinomiyaki - not pretty, and sounds disgusting, but pancakes with beansprouts, noodles, bacon and optional egg filling, covered with sauce and mayonnaise is a very tasty dinner.
Ramen in all forms, fried or soupy, expecially with a side order of Gyoza dumplings.

The bad:
Nato. Fermented soy beans, sometimes turn up inside rice things where you don't expect them. i didn't eat any, but they are extremely stringy and smelly, and taste better than they look and smell, which doesn't really improve the situation much. Very good for you though...
Watery Tofu for breakfast. Nuff said. Again, good for you, and Zen too!
Pickled Japanese Plums. One of these, unexpectedly eaten as an Onigiri filling, killed my appetite pretty immediately.

The indifferent:
Japanese Curry. Apparently very popular, looks thoroughly unappealing and tastes... not very exciting. But ok I guess. Will stick with my British Indian Curries, I think.
Fugu is exciting to eat, but not because it tastes great - in fact the sashimi we had was almost completely tasteless.

Japan 6: Zen, Tofu & Futons

2009-03-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

So we picked Nara as the place to try out the "Ryokan" experience, and even though the one we picked had a bit of a 60's look to it (hence being more or less within our price range), it did have a beautiful Japanese garden, tatami mats on the floor, Yukata dressing gowns provided and a generally very relaxing atmosphere.

Otherwise Nara was a little bit of a let-down - sure, there were tame deer who'd head butt you if you didn' give them food, and the huge buddha was rather awe-inspiring, but the rather wet and grey weather meant we didn't really want to stick around. We went to see a fire-ceremony at a temple as well, that people got bussed to in droves, but saw mainly umbrellas. Oh and there was a bit of cherry blossom.

After that, we headed up the holy mountain, Koya-san. Even though it was pretty close to Nara, it took us hours to get there on a number of regional little trains hugging the side of wooded mountains, then a cable car, then a bus on a windy little road. The town, if you can call it that, consists almost exclusively of temples. We found one to stay at and went for a little walk in glorious evening sun, and were then served our "Zen dinner" in our room. The food was maybe a bit of an acquired taste, involving a lot of tofu in different states of sogginess, but looked beautiful and was no doubt very good for us.

We didn't do much after that, just tried to soak up the Zen... and we had an early start ahead of us, getting up for the 6 am prayers! There was chanting, fire, incense, gongs, cymbals, we were allowed to make a sacrifice of tea and incense to the Buddha, and afterwards the big cheese monk asked us for tea, chocolate and coffee in his office. We met a 21 year old Zen cat, and I was very surprised when it turned out that the monk spoke perfect German, which makes sense now I've done my internet research. The whole experience was so surreal and pleasant that we didn't even feel fazed by two groups of monks with drums, flutes and dragon masks who were dancing up and down the stree as we waited for our bus later that morning (after another zen meal for breakfast. morning is not the time for tofu and seaweed.)

Getting back to civilisation was a bit of a mission, but we did make it to our Hiroshima hostel (with the comfiest beds so far!), even with a short stop to see Himeji Castle, eventually.

(PS: Oh yes - I have a job! Will be starting in Bristol a few days after I get back from Thailand. Am highly excited)

Japan 5: Kyoto

2009-03-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

Have been in Kyoto for 4 nights now and slightly reluctant to leave. Apparently Kyoto has what I didnt think existed in Japan: legal restrictions on the height of buildings. This means its much less vertical and feels a lot more human than Tokyo, and of course we feel extremely welcome because of the incredibly friendly people at our hostel. We get served endless complimentary cups of tea and fruit salad, get free hugs when we come in or go to bed. Unfortunately this seems to make this place very popular so we arent able to stay a fifth night and are moving on to Nara tonight, where we will hopefully stay at a traditional Japanese guesthouse (Ryokan).

My favourite aspect of Kyoto is probably the abundance of local crafts, we have seen a number of very exciting (for me) fabric shops - my favourite was one selling little kits to make purses and totes and placemats and baby trousers, each one containing the necessary cute printed fabrics and embellishments and bearing the slogan "I want to make - let's make", which could well by my personal motto. I haven't found any knitting shops, but instead bought a few balls of acrylic and some nice bamboo needles from the 100 Yen shop (these are a godsend) and have made some socks and a hat for Dan, and then started producing little pink crochet flowers to make up for the lack of actual cherry blossom at this time of year (although we may still catch some - i haven't given up on it completely yet).
Of course, even more typical are the incredibly intricate brocade Kimono fabrics with their woven flower patterns that you see everywhere here. I bought a little offcut the other day, maybe I will turn it into a couple of purses when Im back. And I've been unable to resist buying a gorgeous pink Kimono and a red Obi for a bargain price yesterday, particularly because we managed to find one in my size in a random junk shop by the side of the road. Fortunately Dan has offered to take it back to England for me so I dont need to lug it around Thailand!

Kyoto is even more famous for the Geishas that still work here, and we did manage to spot a couple of them the other day, shuffling down a street in the Gion area, and of course for the enormous number of temples and shrines, a small subset of which we visited - including the very shiny golden temple Kinkakuji. The very famous Zen garden we had read a lot about was really quite disappointing, probably less impressive than the one I remember from the botanical garden in Hamburg!

Today, we're off to Nara to see an even bigger Buddha than in Kamakura. Yay!

Japan 4: Peace and Quiet.

2009-03-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

Our first glimpse of the more Zen side of Japan was on Sunday after we'd had our fill of pink bows and socks and trendies in Harakuju and went to the nearby Shinty shrine, just because it was there. We stepped through an enormous wooden gate and suddenly we didn't feel like we were in a 20 million metropolis any more. We walked through a park of tall trees for a bit until we got to the shrine (Meiji-Jinto), washed our hands and face at the entrance, and just soaked in the tranquility of the place. It wasn't actually that quiet, there were plenty of tourists there, but the contrast to the rest of Tokyo couldn't have been stronger.

Although we are quite aware of the danger of overdosing on temples and shrines too early, we still made a day trip to Kamakura on Monday, where there is a large Buddha Statue (Daibutsu). We started our tour at a small shrine with a mountain spring enclosed by rocks, where Koi carp were swimming in the ponds. As we sat down to have our lunch, a Japanese lady came and gave us some sweets (yes, we did take sweets from a stranger). They tasted a bit odd, but looked beautiful, wrapped in leaves. We then ended up hiking over the hills to the buddha in absolutely glorious weather, and chatting to a local retired postman who wanted to improve his conversational English.

On Tuesday, after watching a bit of Kabuki theatre (pretty confusing at the best of times, but made even less comprehensible for me as I kept nodding off) and checking out the newest gadgets at the Sony Building, we headed to Nikko, a small mountain town famous for its concentration of temples and scenery. We were greeted by a flurry of snow, and almost decided to turn back rightaway... but the snow made for very pretty views the next morning (after I'd taken part in the one-to-one morning yoga session!). We covered all the temples, in very dramatic rocky settings between big trees, saw the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkeys, but went back to the hostel when the snow was washed away by rain. Celebrated Dan's birthday in relatively sedate fasion by polishing off a bottle of Sake while writing travel recommendations in the book provided by the hostel (most notably Weston-super-Mare and Swindon...).

We've now arrived in a rather hippiefied hostel in Kyoto and preparing ourselves for even more temples, but this time in a more urban setting again!