Because this is all about yarn I stepped outside my rainbow and used a simple bit of cream fabric with a small flower print. I had to add a splash of colour so raided my bag of crochet flowers.
Quite nice if I say so myself, baskety and a little flower power. My new Love patchwork and Quilting mag came today so I took an hour, and 2 brews, to amble through it. There is a positive waterfall of new fabrics in there that set my heart fluttering, BUT I will resist, I have more in the house than you could shake a stick at, why would anyone do that!, I have vowed to buy nothing till my 100 items are made.
My chutneys and jellies are all boxed away and I have just got to pick up several heads of garlic for the next recipe. Carrot and Garlic, it comes from Sophie Grigson's Country Kitchen, a gift from my son in 2003, I have not worked my way through it but the recipes that I go to are used regularly. The oat bread is a favourite of Francesca's.
The minute I typed the last few words I knew that I was mistaken. The bread recipe does come from that book, but the chutney recipe is from an earlier book, also a gift from my son, Feasts for a Fiver. I do change one thing in the recipe though, Sophie states 3 heads of garlic, I use 20. It sounds an awful lot, but it is 2 heads per jar and we are all garlic lovers.
I was going to say that I use this book a lot, what I actually do is make many of the recipes, over and over again, so often that I hardly have to open the book at all now.
As I pottered my way through the morning, doing all the mundane chores, my eyes kept seeking out my basket. I like it, yes I do, but I do not love it was going through my mind. I gave up on the polish and took scissors, yarn, needle and my box of crochet flowers.
There, much better, now I love it.
I picked 3 shades of yarn and using a size 6.5 hook made a long fat chain. Keeping it fairly tight I wound it around the handle to cover completely. Then using Lavender and a pile of flowers I started stitching, I did have the sense to leave a space at the top for carrying. There may be a band of flowers round the edge yet, I will sleep on it. I am claiming this as the next finish and I believe it is 27/100. I still have not checked back.
Reasons to be grateful.
1. The glorious finish to yesterday and start for today means that I need to go pick blackberries.
2. My X ray results are back, no sign of any degeneration of the joints.
3. I have been looking for a sieving mushroom and found one last week, it arrived today.
4. My new Janome has had a deep clean this morning, it was quite disgusting, and not that long since I did it last.
5. Dinner is all but made, Pie filling cooked and cooled, pastry made and in fridge, veg prepped.
My little load of laundry was not worth doing but I emptied another box and found 3 sweaters, they were clean but smelled " shut up" so they made a load up and are now outside just about dry.
No more housework till Monday, Woo Hoo.
I am hoping to put off shopping till Monday as well, the shops will be quieter then. I just need to make some bread later, I will time it so that it goes in with the pie.
Ben is making " come on " noises so I am off out. Have a good weekend.
TTFN Pam
I love wicker baskets, I don't mean to collect them I just break out into a cold sweat if I can't have one. There was a beautiful, vintage egg collectors basket at the car boot the other week, I did leave it but it took all the strength I could muster x
ReplyDeleteI had a Gondola basket in the 60/70s and loved it, I was almost in tears when it finally bit the dust.I have not seen one since.
DeleteI also love baskets, but can usually restrain myself from collecting them. I have a thing a bout old fashioned teapots, but try to restrict my hord to only 3.
ReplyDeleteLike every thing that is desierable, you have to have the space to keep it in sight, otherwise it is not worth having. I like to have my pretty things about me.
DeleteOOh, gondola baskets. Every girl had one for school cookery! That crochet basket is gorgeous - totally transformed.
ReplyDeleteYes I remember the crush in the cloakroom on cookery day, those baskets took up a lot of space. I love my new look basket.
DeleteThe basket is lovely & I can just see all your crochet work in it!
ReplyDeleteI have a crochet WIP in there now, a lilac and pale aqua granny square throw with some pink roses.
DeleteIhad one of these is the seventies for school cookery. The floweres are beautiful :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Janice, I need to find my pattern for the big cabbage roses, I want to make some curtain tie backs for Kaitlyn.
DeleteLove your basket and the flowers look wonderful, You will have do more for Kaitlin!
ReplyDeleteI am joining a pile of granny squares for her at the moment and want to make more fat roses for curtain ties for her room.
DeleteYour wicker basket looks so pretty. I treated myself and my grandaughter to one from a Willow farm in Somerset a few years ago, well I had to as she is called Willow!
ReplyDeleteI thought I was the bees knees with my Gondola basket lol ours were only allowed in school on the day you had your cookery lesson, other days it was a satchel.
Did you ever see Wendy Craig in Butterflies, she hardly ever put hers down.
DeleteYour basket is lovely. So creative and colorful. May I ask what a gondola basket is? I crochet, but until recently, had no idea that you could make flowers. I went to yootoob and learned. Now the slippers I make will have decoration on them beyond a pretty ribbon.
ReplyDeleteA gondola basket was all the rage in the 60s and 70's, it was shaped like a Gondola with a wide opening and a curved handle to hang on your arm. I have just found a pattern to make some fleecy slippers, my sewing for tomorrow.
DeleteVery pretty basket. I lined one and filled it with baby lotions and potions for my DIL and her first baby. I also have one I keep my library books in. How do you 'deep clean' your Janome? I clean out the fluff as best as I can with the little brush and use a piece of tape to sweep up and down the thread run, vertically, but it have just had mine serviced as it started thread breaking. Glad to have it home again. I missed it.
ReplyDeleteI take every thing off and out that I can, I use the little brush and then use a good paintbrush to get every where that I can. I use a cotton bud and then some very soft cotton fabric to go in all the nooks and crannys. I have a small vacuum cleaner that blows and run that round it. I have been sewing so much that I am doing this weekly at the moment, I change the needle at the same time.
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