Tuesday, 13 May 2008

eight years ago today...

at this hour I was putting on my wedding dress...

Eight

We've come a long way, me and you, Mr M, haven't we?

Inside_of_card

But I've never looked back.

Mis_card

Only forward.

Monday, 12 May 2008

that was the weekend that was

and what a fab weekend that was too!

It started with a train journey on Saturday morning

Coffee_on_the_train

and it finished with another train journey on Sunday evening

Knitting_on_the_train

and in between there was a lot of this

Table_at_the_gallery

and a gorgeous picnic under this tree

Picnic_tree

(these were divine... from here)

Strawberry_cupcakes

and whole day of learning knitting secrets  here.

The greatest thing was meeting in person other like minded girls:  Ali (again), Christina who doesn't have a blog and of course should..., Tracy, Val and the mastermind of it all Alice.  What a laugh.  Ali and Alice have got a much more detailed account of the event so head over there if you want to know more.

I can't stop smiling.  Do you know that feeling?

(A special thanks goes to Mr M without whom this weekend wouldn't have been possible!)

Thursday, 08 May 2008

cookies and flowers

is there anything nicer?

(well, there is... I've got ahead of me a weekend of divine crafting: on Saturday a workshop with Jessie Chorley and on Sunday a workshop at Loop.  And yes, Mr M is looking after the boys... and yes I'm in good company)

But a part from that I love flowers and I love 'cookies'. 

These ones in particular:

Cookies

Thanks to Nigella's super quick receipe... mmmm nice, especially with a glass of ice cold milk.  Needless to say they didn't last long.

And who says boys and flowers don't mix?  Check this out (thanks to www.kidscraftweekly.com):

Flower_pot

Colourfull muffin cases, some long wooden skewers, felt circles, sticky tape, glue, a pot and a couple of potatoes.

Potatoes

Voila'.

Saturday, 03 May 2008

a very simple quilt

No 3's new quilt is done

Folded_quilt

It's very simple

Folded_corner

Simply stripes/blocks of fabrics  (3 on the front, plus binding and one for the back)

All_4_fabrics

Simply quilted in straight lines one inch wide

Quilting_lines

It looks great on his bed ("I'm older now, mummy")

Quilt_on_sams_bed

And hanging from the goal net in the garden...

Whole_quilt

Have a great weekend.

Thursday, 01 May 2008

on my window sill you can find

mummy's cookie jar.  my biscuits. 

Mummy_cookie_jar

living lettuce

Living_lettuce

a card and flower from Mr M

Card

Gerberas

my mini cacti

Cacti

fossils from our holiday in Dorset and a Chinese money plant

Money_plant

What's on yours?

Wednesday, 30 April 2008

felted knitting basket

My latest felting adventure

Felted_knitting_basket

to hold my current knitting project

Handle_detail

and other things

Felted_basket

Tuesday, 29 April 2008

WIPs

I've joined Amanda's star quilt-along... c'mon do it too, there's still time!

Star_quiltalong

No 3 moved to a 'big boy's bed' on Sunday... this made rethink his quilt

Sams_quilt_fabric

And what are you working on? Do share!!

Saturday, 26 April 2008

Indigo dyeing (and the new kitchen)

Have you ever tried indigo dyeing? You should.

It's magic. 

You take a white piece of fabric, you fold it, stitch it, roll it, knot it.

Then you dip it.

And when you take it out it's dull green and  it smells  horrible BUT right in front of your eyes... it turns this amazing shade of blue... (something to do with the oxygen in the air)

this

Stitched_fabric

turned into this

Indigo_stitched_1

this

Folded_fabric

became this

Indigo_folded

and this

Scrunchy_fabric

surprised me with this

Indigo_scrunchy

But my favourite of all is this

Rolled_around_the_tube_fabric

which unrolled into this magic piece

Indigo_rolled

Magic or what?

Oh, and the kitchen... drum roll please...

ta dah!!!

Kitchen

So clean and white and calm and new and MINE!!!!

Thursday, 24 April 2008

sometimes they come back - a totally random post

And so we're back. 

Not from out of space (name that song) but almost.  Let's just say my parents' village is ... 'tiny'.  In fact, it's smaller than that, so it's nice to get back to the real world.

To recap:

Sunday was a gorgeous day

Diaises

so we went for a walk in the old village orchard, nobody looks after it now and it's going wild

Old_orchard_3

The trees are still flowering though

Apple_blossom

even if they're covered in 'stuff' (can someone give me the right word for it?)

Lichen_on_tree

I love that 'stuff'

Yellos_stuff_on_tree

I also finally got round to taking photographs of the log cabin quilt I made for mum a few years ago.

Log_cabin_1

Boy, did that take ages of what? (and why are quilts so hard to photograph?)

Log_cabin_2

It was all done using the foundation method (I wanted all the strips to be exactly the same... fool!) and I spent days ripping the paper off the back.  DAYS!!

Log_cabin_detail

Oh and this is Georgina (the boys named her...) the cat that showed up at Christmas time and never left.  She thinks a pile of herself if you ask me.

Georgina

Well it's enough for today.  I need to go and excavate my house from all the dust left by the builders.  And yes the kitchen is done, pictures to follow...

Saturday, 19 April 2008

no word for knitting

yes it's true.  The verb 'to knit' doesn't exist in the Italian language.

Calza_m

People do knit.  A lot.  They just have to use bizarre turns of phrases which are quite untranslatable.  The most used one means something like 'working the irons', because here needles are predominantly made of metal.  And lets not get into the whole crochet thing...

Regardless of this I've had quite a bit of knitting time here.  Mr M is getting ready to wear his first pair of handknitted socks (and probably his last... his feet are too long) and I'm discovering the pleasure of a Chevron scarf

Gomitolo_blu

who would have thought that combining two apparently not mixable balls of yarn

Gomitolo_eige

would create something so lovely?

Sciarpa

Originally this was meant to go into the Christmas piles... but maybe it'll get redirected around my neck...

Sciarpa_2

Maybe.  Definitively.

books read - 2008

  • Sebastian Faulks: Engleby
  • Andrea Camilleri: Il campo del vasaio
  • Giovanni Allevi: La musica in testa
  • Andrew Taylor: The American boy
  • Patrick Gale: Notes from an exhibition
  • Jeanette Winterson: Weight
  • Michael Dibdin: And then you die
  • Margaret Attwood: The Penelopiad
  • Karen Armstrong: A short history of myth
  • Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea

cinema 2008

  • Leatherheads
  • 27 dresses
  • The other Boleyn girl
  • The accidental husband
  • Be kind rewind
  • P.S. I love you
  • Charlie Wilson's war
  • The Golden Compass

films 2008

  • Elizabeth, the Golden Age
  • Run, fat boy, run
  • Catch me if you can
  • The N1 ladies' detective agency
  • Blood diamond
  • The good shepherd
  • Because I said so
  • Music and lyrics
  • Ten things I hate about you
  • The Bourne Ultimatum
  • It's about you and me
  • Bobby
  • All the kings men
  • 300
  • Midnight in the garden of good and evil
  • Perfume
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