Farewell Horatio ...

At last I found the courage to do his eyes and ears. The black patchwork buttons from the shop did the trick for his eyes, and the ears were less trouble than I expected.

Now we are wondering about making him in DMC Petra. In a minute I'll have an experiment.

Also finished: the cushion

I enjoyed making it, and was careful to buy 2 cushion pads from Dunelm, so now I'm thinking waterlilies ... pinks and pale greens.

Caroline and Doreen are setting up the Marie Curie window, with a table and afternoon tea set out. Doreen has designed and made a fantastic hedgehog tea cosy; when Caroline takes a photo I'll share! And Caroline has been experimenting with a blanket made of fabric squares with crochet round. When the tension is sorted out, it's going to be good. When I tried it, I couldn't get the stitches even round the fabric, but Caz has no problems.

At the shop we have a tea cosy which was made for the SILVER Jubilee;

people are always trying to buy it. Now we've found the vintage pattern, so people can make their own. If there's ever time, I might try it in Tunisian crochet.

On the home front, we have an addition to the family:

 

Teasel is Rhiannon's new cat. She's not very fond of me - has me sussed as a dog person. But she's very pretty, with beautiful markings and, as you can see, a winsome expression. So far she and Fig have had 2 major encounters: result Fig 0, Teasel 2. Fig is used to being bossed by cats, bless her, and she wants to get to know Teasel. Unfortunately she galumphs about the place and is enough to put any cat off!

Stitch Bournville at the shop tonight. The weather is awful, so probably it will be quiet. But I'll take the camera, so you can pretend you were there.

Firsts

I love this time of the year. Everywhere is bursting with colour, the birds are singing non-stop, and there are lovely scents from the gardens.

Plus there's the food ... This week I've had my first Jersey potatoes, and my first British strawberries. Even this early in the season, they were sweet and juicy. More for tea tonight: the season doesn't last long, so might as well be a pig.

Only two weeks to go to Marie Curie tea party. Maureen has finished her knitting and has gone back to everyday stuff. Julie continues to receive raffle prizes. Time for me to put things together and stop making 'just one more'.

This is - or will be - a cushion after the instructions of Lucy, of Attic 24 fame. Caroline has said she will help me finish my tea cosy. Hippo is once again stuffed and waiting for the cosmetic bits of eyes and ears. He'll be gone on Tuesday.

New in at the shop - the gloop you put on the soles of socks to stop them from being slippery. I've wanted some for years. What are the chances it will be strong enough to stop door holders-open sliding so the door shuts?

Visitors to the shop this week include some from Australia, who went off with some of our tea cosies. It's nice to think one of Gillian's cats might grace a tea table in Oz! Gillian herself brought in a bag of cakes, which are popular for children's tea parties. 

 Some were like this, without the chocolate topping. There was some -er- discussion about what they were, but whatever you call them, they are very attractive, with colourful tops to the biscuits. We've also been brought stuffed elephants, an owl tea cosy and a fabulous knitted, dressed doll.  

And a lady came in for yarn to make bunting for Yarndale http://yarndale.co.uk/ - the newest of the wool/knitting/spinning etc shows, at Skipton in September.  She seemed surprised that we realised why she was making it without being told - and we're a wool shop! Yes, I will be going to Yarndale.

Phil has been in form this week. On Friday he tried to force feed me with cheese. We tried to give him away to some of his lady admirers, but he's still there.

Later in the week I'll do some photos of the roses from Prima Makes, which are really lovely. I've worked out how to do them without having six ends, so I'll do some how-to photos as well. But yesterday I got my copy of Designer Knitting Crochet 2013, and it's made me very ambitious. I fished in the stash and brought this out:

Think I might have to turn it into a shawl. 

After all, there is still a fortnight to finish things for the tea party! 

Hippo thoughts

I've been working on Happypotamus - and I might as well say straight away I don't think he's worth the effort. I've put several motifs in the wrong place - including the last motif before stuffing. Of course he was stuffed before I noticed:

So I unstuffed his head, as you can see. Then I took the stuffing out of his body too because it was all uneven and was stretching some of the motifs. It's a good idea not to carry on when you want to heave it through the window!

But at least it sparked an idea for workshops. Maybe people would like to make their own motif animal? So now I need paper patterns for stuffed toys. And wouldn't you know it - the nicest ones are currently unavailable.

On Tuesday in the shop, Caroline showed me a Prima 'Makes' magazine so I could make one of the squares for a bedspread. They all begin with a rose. The effect of the rose is particularly nice, but you end up with 6 ends to darn in.

This is one of my efforts at working it without breaking off the cotton. Looks OK, until you see the other side:

So tonight it'll be another attempt, but this time using wool. Cotton is so unforgiving, it just won't bend and stretch and make the work look good when it's not.

Caroline's already made up her version of some of the bunnies out of the magazine: how cute are they!

And this is the Iggle Piggle jumper I've talked about. It represents what I like so much about Christine's: first of all the kindness in agreeing to make it, then the fact that all of us in the team had a part in doing it. 

And one final photo:

Yes, it's a baby doll sitting in an onion crate. I bought this doll months ago with the idea of designing baby clothes. Needless to say, when it got here it wasn't baby size anywhere except the length.

So she sat on the shelf gathering dust until I thought of using her at the shop to entertain the kids while their mums shop. But she needs clothes and a bed. I gave her to Phil to find the basis for a bed and he went next door and sweet-talked them into giving him this crate. At least I think he talked to them.

He was in my good books for a very short time. When I went in yesterday, he told me that if I were a boxer, I wouldn't get any fights. How mean is that!

See what I mean?

I've been working on Aoibhe ni's Venus shawl, and it's finally finished: this is it.

It's a bit crumpled, and the lacy bits hardly show.

So: bring out the blocking boards:

And 24 hours later, hey presto:

As always, the photos are rubbish, but I hope you can see the effect of opening out the stitches. The shawl has also grown by about a third.

I've just put Aparna Rolfe's Leaflines shawl in to soak; might as well take advantage of the clear table! If you're interested in learning about blocking, sewing up etc, we've just produced a new schedule of workshops; have a look here: www.cityknits.co.uk

Bournville has been invaded today by students from Coventry University, sent out to study a model village. Some very nice people wanted to know all about living in Bournville: I loved the bit when they asked where the town centre was: reply, 'It's a village, and this is the centre!' Caroline and I refused to be filmed, but Jules was a stalwart and later, when Phil arrived, he was in his element, holding court outside the shop.

Dairy-free bread pudding today. Delicious as always. Discussion in the shop: is an egg a dairy item? I said no, it comes out of chickens; dairy comes out of a cow. No-one agreed with me.

I never felt like this before!

I'm the queen of the half-finished projects, and I've been stricken by the desire to finish things! Venus is blocking at this moment, and the Happypotamus is half constructed. This is upsetting.



For the next couple of weeks all our energies will be in preparing for June 8th. Please note, this is two and a half weeks. On Saturday, Caroline panicked us all saying we had two weeks left; Maureen fined herself £5 for miscounting and making it four weeks.

Prizes for the raffle are starting to arrive, from firms as diverse as Tea pigs and Thomas Ramsden. Caroline had made 15 flags for the yellow and blue bunting before 8.30 this morning. Maureen and I are making plans to keep children happy.

On Friday Laura came in with some cute sock key rings - all perfect, with heel flaps and grafted toes. I liberated one before they got out on display. Laura also brought a cow cuddle-cushion she made for us. It will be a guess-the-name competition. Whatever the right answer, I KNOW she is Ermintrude, out of The Magic Roundabout.

Julie and I had a sweet customer on Friday: she told us she had been waiting outside, getting up courage to come in and ask us about the seamed tights in the window. She was very giggly, preparing for a holiday in Paris, and announcing for all to hear, 'I'm really into sex'. She was at least 80!

Another customer brought in some wall hangings she is making. She is machine embroidering and using scarf yarns to get her effects. One picture is of a country road, with flowers growing along the verges;



she has used the peacock scarf ribbon, selecting a section with green along the bottom and the blue 'eyes' along the top, so it looks like blue flowers growing in grass. I so admire people who look at something and immediately see its possibilities outside its original purpose.

Jules has finished Iggle Piggle, the jumper started by the lady who died. It looks good. It's so generous, to give her time and considerable thought to sorting out the lady's work.

Photos tomorrow of Venus, before, during and after blocking.

Day off

The weather here has been horribly cold - so much so I got out the socks I knitted years ago. They are looking very shabby: must make some before winter, because there's nothing warmer.

Today it's warmer, with sunny intervals; there's been a sudden burst of growth and now the lilacs are beginning to flower. I wish I could share the smell with you.

I took the camera when Fig and I went for a walk - I should know better, but hope springs ...

The photos are from Stocks' Wood, a little area in Bournville which conserves English bluebells. Sorry about the fence posts: the public are not allowed in.

Although the grass has been mowed today, there are still little clumps where the daffodils were. When we went on holiday to Norfolk thirty years ago, I remember being astonished at the hedgerows, which were full of wild flowers. Now more places seem to be willing to leave them to grow, even if they might be called 'weeds'!

And while I was thinking about the way things used to be, I remembered these:

 I know they are cow parsley, but when we were children we called them Mother Dies: if you picked them,your mother would die. What a gruesome superstition!

Today I have made the shell of a tea cosy; I keep telling people in the shop that you just make a hat and turn it into something, so I had to follow my own advice.

You'll have to wait to see what I turn it into!

So what shall I work on this evening?

I don't drink tea, but ...

We're gearing up now for the Marie Curie day. Fliers are going out; Maureen is working on black and white bags; Caroline has made a gorgeous cupcake tea-cosy; raffle prizes are starting to arrive from our suppliers.

This year I WILL make a tea cosy. How about this?

This is a vintage pattern made up in Rico Poems yarn. The colours are much more vibrant than the photo shows.

The question is, what can I turn this into? The original had leaves and flowers on the top.

The stitch could be bells, or maybe scales.

Perhaps it's a volcano? Or a firework? If I can't decide, how can I finish it? And I've even made a lining.


Sewing up is one of the things we're often asked about at the shop - or at least, people say they are disappointed in their own attempts. We are planning a workshop on finishing techniques. I promise: if you block your work properly, it will be easier to sew up, and the result will be much more professional. Please do NOT iron your work, whatever it says on the pattern. You'll just lose the texture you've lovingly created.

If anyone wants, I can write about how to block on here.

One of the tools of finishing is the sewing-up needle. I like blunt-ended ones, and I have a range of sizes for different weights of yarn. Maureen is very pleased with the plastic needles with a turned-up end, which she uses on fashion yarns. And new in stock we have:

These are new from Clover: easy-thread needles for yarns that are bobbly or thick-and-thin, or just for those of us who are short-sighted. These are mine, but I haven't tried them yet.

The last photo doesn't do justice to the subject, but it gives you an idea of how many pieces of fudge we have for Friday. We might send some to Scotland, to Sally's husband, but otherwise it's for us - and the customers, of course.

I've had one piece, to taste, and it's delicious: lemon meringue pie fudge. If you look very carefully, you might see white streaks of meringue. Pity I can't share the flavour!