yarnstorm

recipes, happiness, thoughts for a sunday

This article by Liz Hunt about my book in today's Sunday Telegraph made me wake up faster than usual this bright, sunny Sunday morning.

preview

There is a colourful preview of The Gentle Art of Domesticity in The Daily Mail Weekend Magazine today. As my brother said this morning, it really does reflect my love of Battenberg cake.

j.i.t. scarf

Even though I worked for several huge, multi-national companies when I was in my twenties, I really have very little idea of business strategies and models. But one concept which did lodge in my brain - probably because it wasn't so abstract that I couldn't grasp it, plus it had a simple title - was J.I.T., or Just In Time.

As I finished my scarf (above) last night I was thinking how pleased I was that it was finished just in time for the cold weather. Et voila, I was transported back to those dreary company training sessions when I sat through endless lectures on finance and planning and business, and fought to keep my eyes open and stop myself daydreaming of giving up corporate life and working from home life.

So this is my Just In Time Scarf, a lovely reminder of the decision I made when I was 30 to go it alone, a decision I have never once regretted. It's made with 3 skeins of Manos del Uruguay Colour 114 on 7mm needles and 40 stitches using this pattern.

And it goes perfectly with my work clothes.

                         

a golden glow

When I have to focus, I focus. So there is some serious focussing going on around here, which means that some things are having to remain a little more blurred for a while.

I'd noticed that the quince tree was bearing fruit and had admired it as I walked to and from the car recently, but it was only when I saw a single pear sitting on the kitchen window sill this morning that I remembered I had better focus on my quinces and pick some before they drop off and create a golden glow around the base of the tree.

This is a spectacular year for my little quince tree and never have I picked such large and wonderfully, deeply yellow fruits in September. Just standing with the branches around my face I could smell the delicate, sweet, aromatic fragrance of the fruit, and picking took longer than I'd expected because I had to feel and smell each fruit before putting it in my bowl.

It's turned cold and miserable here, but it's as if the quinces are holding onto the last beams of warm air and golden light, which is why it's so lovely to have them in a large bowl indoors. Not only do they fill a room with quinceness, they also give off a rich, early autumnal glow.

And they look much better strewn around a windowsill than they do under a tree.

I have plans for my quinces. I really want to make quince jelly this year, and I shall be roasting some with brown sugar to eat with thick creme fraiche.

In the meantime, I shall just focus on what has to be done and bask in their gentle golden glow.

still alive

I can remember when 'Death by Chocolate' first started to appear on dessert menus and thinking how terribly witty and modern. But I never found a chocolate pud which could kill me.

Until Phoebe made Simon's birthday cake. How we are all still alive to tell the tale of eating it, I really don't know. This was the most chocolately chocolate cake we have ever tasted and it was absolutely delicious.

That's not to say that we didn't all get an almighty sugar & chocolate rush which temporarily impaired our vision, but one of Tom's friends (aged 15) said it was the best chocolate cake he's ever tasted.

So did Simon (51).

And he should know, having narrowly escaped death by chocolate a few times.

(Phoebe told him the message on the cake could be 51 or SI - short for Simon. He didn't care, as long as he got the biggest slice.)

shades of delight

I've been wondering why I like shade cards so much. I think they are one of the best-value purchases a knitter can make, but there is more to it than that, and I reckon it's because they make me feel gloriously professional.

I've been buying shade cards from Rowan for years and years. And this is mainly so that I can pull them out of my file (shade cards are one of the very few things I do file) and marvel at the colours and textures and amazing neatness of the little, trimmed strands of yarn which are stuck and named and numbered. I buy the whole set, not just single pages, because you never know when you're going to want to look at a yarn with lurex or twists or slubs or fluff. For fun, if nothing else.

But there's also the knowledge that all the designers and shops like John Lewis and Liberty have the same shade cards. That all the information you need (apart from the price) is included here whether you are in the business or an amateur; esoteric stuff such as metres per ball, tensions, fibres and needle sizes, details which make me feel knowledgeable and capable of making an informed choice.

While we were knitting Phoebe's sea glass scarf, I spent so much time on the Colinette site trying to cross-reference yarns and colours I realised I needed to buy their shade cards because sometimes old-fashioned paper and bits of yarn are so much easier and quicker than modern technology. They arrived at the weekend and they are worth every penny.

Colinette cards are very different to the Rowan cards because they are intended to show the huge number of colours available. They come with one master yarn-type card and then three shade cards. Apart from the fact that we are all sorely tempted to wear them as hair extensions or wigs, they are also make the yarns amazingly desirable. We've been tying knots in our favourite colours (we are using the elephant system to help us remember which we like best) but have a long way to go before we reach a manageably small selection.

While I was thinking about the joy of shade cards, a copy of the American edition of Kaffe Knits Again arrived. The timing was perfect - this book is like the knitted version of an amazing shade card; it is just gorgeous. It's the best knitting book I have seen in ages, and the perfect way to use just about every colour you have ever desired on a shade card, but have been afraid to use. It's also very clever in that it applies Kaffe's timeless patterns in simple, manageable shapes such as cushions and throws.

Shades of delight all round, then. 

neat and tidy

Today is Linkday. I am doing a little housework on the blog, tidying up the links and moving a few pieces of furniture, so to speak.

So you will see new links to my book (with details of publisher and publication date). I've also changed my list of fablogs to a shorter selection of favourite blogs, and plan to change this every so often (probably when I get round to noticing that dust has settled on it, so not on a regular basis).

This is also a good time to tell you about a couple of events that are coming up. There will be a Crafternoon Tea at I Knit London on Saturday 20 October. I'll be talking, knitting, drinking tea, eating cake and signing books. Sounds good to me.

This on Saturday 10 November is going to be brilliant and should not be missed. I'll be there with my crocheted flowers (and calculator so that I answer colour combination and permutation questions correctly), and a newly filled fountain pen to sign books. I don't have details of my slot yet, but I'll post an update when I know more.

And now it's time for some real housework. Can't put it off a moment longer.

                                  ***

Thank you for all the lovely comments about the book. I'm no longer shaking, just tingling.

a treat

This is the reception area at the Petersham Nurseries Cafe. Quite, quite lovely, and if your friend/eating partner is late you can have a healthy appetiser while you wait.

I came here last September for the first time and knew I had to come back. I didn't think it would take a year to do so, but then again I didn't know what was going to happen in that year. Today, I met my friend Angela for lunch once more (we were reprobate graduate trainees together at a huge textile company, and these days neither of us ever wears acrylic, acetate or viscose) and it was a real treat.

The wonderful dahlia table decorations were there again - this is the one which faced me on our table - and the food was quite simply the best I have eaten in a long time. I don't usually photograph cooked food, but the desserts were culinary supermodels. I had exquisite roast quince,

and Angela had a figgy fig ice cream, and very obligingly passed it over to me before she'd even tasted it so that I could get a good shot (and a quick spoonful - delicious).

Then Angela had to go, and I had some time on my own. So I wandered round the shop in the greenhouse and saw some potted hydrangeas looking fabulous on an old, painted, wooden bench,

and a display of gardening boots which was remarkably similar to the kind of thing Alice and Phoebe used to do with their dolls' shoes and boots.

The outdoor cafe was almost empty - which was all the better for me as I was able to see the wonderful details and textures,

colours and plants.

And the biggest treat of all? Well, Petersham Nurseries has an acclaimed kitchen garden behind a high, brick wall and a large 'Private' sign. But I was lucky enough to meet one of the gardeners as I was almost hurting myself trying to see round the metal gate. He very kindly let me have a look and I realised I had found my ideal Secret Garden.

What a treat.

butterflies

Do you remember that feeling of 'butterflies' when you were nervous as a child? Well, I don't just have butterflies today, I have an entire lepidoptery collection fluttering inside me.

Because I have got my hands on my first copy of my book, and I am quivering from head to toe. The situation wasn't made any better by the fact that the lovely Marissa who works in the PR department of Hodder & Stoughton rang me yesterday and told me excitedly that the books were in. But I had to wait until today for mine to arrive. And then this morning I received a congratulatory email from Jane, my agent, which meant she had her copy, and I still didn't have mine. By mid-day I was almost stalking the poor postman who couldn't understand why there was a large sign on the gate saying 'I AM IN' - just in case he wandered off again with my precious delivery.   

Finally it had arrived. And far from settling the butterflies, it has caused them to flap their wings even more.

I never, ever really expected to see my name on the spine of a book. I have always been bookish, but in the reading, not writing sense. I have always been passionate about books, but not in an imaginative, creative way. But then I started writing this blog, and my bookishness began to change. Even then it took quite some pushing and encouragement from you and Simon before I began to see that my name on a spine could be a reality.

I keep flicking through the pages,

delighting in the design and the colours,

thinking, 'did I really write this?'

And those few letters on the spine of the book tell me, yes indeed I did.

Now you can see why I'm a quivering wreck.

                               ***

Many people have asked whether the book will be published in the US, and I promise that you will be the first to know if and when I have any news about US publication. 

sea/sonal september knitting

Today is that first, chilly day when you realise it's all over bar the shouting. Summer's out, and socks and scarves are most definitely in. It's a sad, sad day when I can no longer see my bright toe-nails.

I'm consoling myself with some comforting seasonal knitting. I bought this Colinette Point 5 yarn a while ago to make a loopy cushion cover, but it seems that was not its true destiny. Instead, I said to Phoebe that she could use it to knit a warm scarf to wear at the bus stop in the mornings. She cast on 13 stitches and it's a knit, knit, knit scarf. It's also a piece of collaborative knitting because she does a few rows, and then I pick it up and do a few more - I can't resist the ridiculous arm-waving and loud clicking that go with such thick 15mm needles. I also like the idea that she will be wearing a surrogate hug from me, and I want Tom, Alice and Simon to all contribute a row or two so that it becomes a real family scarf.

It's a lovely yarn to knit with and I do like the way it shows off the structure of the stitches like an illustration in a knitting manual. Tom was also drawn to its colours and texture and thought it looked like the sea glass we collected on the beach in France.

I think he's spot on, so I wasn't surprised when I checked the shade name just now to find that it is Sea Breeze.

And it's a nice coincidence that one of the Kaffe Fassett Regia sock yarns arrived today. Chance would have it that it was the Landscape Caribbean colourway.

Not only will we be snug and warm, we'll also be well camouflaged should we ever venture to the seaside this winter.