This week has had lots of ups and downs, but we're very nearly at Friday already which is a good thing. Work can wait over the weekend. This is my new mantra, it's rather liberating for someone used to working 8 - 8, 7 days a week! But, all things in moderation. Even chocolate. And knitting.
And so, after lots of evenings filled with just one more row before bed, I've finished the squid which went from "baby" to "giant" to "does this ever end?" to "colossal". Decidedly colossal. He (?) now lives on my bookshelf, between my filing-that-is-waiting-to-be-done and my paintbrushes. A good spot.
Oh, it's not that big. 53cm. How funny that the colours change as the sun rises and peeps in through the windows.
It's knit and natter night tonight (details here for anyone in East London - or within traveling distance!) and I haven't got anything on my needles. Uh oh. I've ordered a knitty book from the library, but it's not here yet. Perhaps it's time to start stockpiling on baby gifts for the oodles of babies due in February - another set of twins, some far-away little ones, somebody else having boys. Boys. Notoriously difficult knitty recipients.
Once more unto the breach, it seems.
EVERYTHING is better with nougat.
Huge, giant slabs of it. Cut into itty bitty bite-sized pieces. Om nom.
And so, that was yesterday. I made nougat, with pistachios and almonds - lightly roasted, gently chopped. Whipped sugar syrup that forms boiled sweets if you drop bits on a plate to check the soft-crack stage. A giant, foaming nougat base in your Kenwood Mixture that really can't get any bigger, can it? Rice paper. Which shouldn't be as delicious as it is. Is it just me?
I know. It's an awful lot of nougat. What am I going to do with it all?
I have been meaning to make nougat for ages, and wanted to do a test-run in advance of Christmas. If you usually get Christmas gifts from me, there are no surprises about what's coming your way later this year!
I used Adeline and Lumiere's nougat recipe which is fabulous and works brilliantly. Next time, I'm using stronger, more distinctive honey. And next time, I'll make sure that I have plenty of cellophane and ribbon for wrapping. Because, really, a jar of nougat on the kitchen counter next to the kettle is just asking for trouble. Mm, snacks.
This isn't the first time I've found myself writing about cephalopods, or chuckling about the built-in autocorrect who has tried twice to correct cephalopods to hydrocephalus.
He's still a knit-in-progress, but is very nearly full-sized. A few more rows, and I'll be narrowing down the mantle and adding fins. And then done.
His eyes arrived this week; they could - and should be bigger - but they were the biggest I could find with a bit of colour in them. At 24mm across, they're a good size. I love the soft blue and wouldn't trade them in for bigger white ones.
He's still a knit-in-progress, but is very nearly full-sized. A few more rows, and I'll be narrowing down the mantle and adding fins. And then done.
His eyes arrived this week; they could - and should be bigger - but they were the biggest I could find with a bit of colour in them. At 24mm across, they're a good size. I love the soft blue and wouldn't trade them in for bigger white ones.
While I waited (I had to add the eyes before closing up the head and picking up stitches for the mantle), I added some heart-felt details. I know, I know. Sometimes you can't resist a pun. These are small 100% wool felt in Damson Rose. I stitched them on with hot pink embroidery thread by hand while watching the Great British Bake Off. Best use of time ever.
It's all a bit glum outside at the moment. This is the view from my front door, it's an old church which towers up into the greyness outside. I'm looking forward to a weeking inside with some hot soup and a bit of sewing. Winter is on its way...
You know how sometimes everything is kinda themed? I noticed that my desk is full of foxes. This is a little "thank you" card I got out this morning. Looking foxy.
And inside that little greeny blue paper bag?
A Fantastic Mrs Fox that I bought as a gift while at The Fringe Arts in Cape Town. It's a small but wonderful little shop on Kloof Street dedicated to supporting local South African artists, and it is packed full of ideas and magic. And origami foxes.
I really, really like this brooch. I bought it as a gift for someone. The designer is PAPER TALES, and has some really fab prints and designs. I love how they play with paper and wood, mixing the concepts and textures.
And THIS is my favourite fox of all. Made specially for me by the fabulous Julie of Kip & Fig from her Fox Applique Pattern for my birthday a few months ago. Isn't he amazing? I love the contrast of the red-brown fur against the deep linen weave. And those eyes.
Such attention to detail! It makes me smile. That's why he lives next to my computer, watching over my keyboard as I type.
Also, because he reminds me of a story.
There is a fox who lives on our local golf course and who wanders out to meet the players from time to time. We call him Crazy Eyes - he has the most amazingly luminous yellow eyes which you see quite clearly as he sits next to your golf bag and watches you tee off. He grins at you with his little foxy face, judging your golf swing and evaluating your shot. Not that I play golf, you see. It just so happens that the golf course runs through my favourite parklands where we often go walking. And of course, as I'm married to a golfer, I've been convinced to "walk" the golf course which is kind of like caddying, except you're just there for company and the player can carry his own bag thank you very much.
You have to treasure the moments.
A quiet weekend: an opportunity to bake cakes and to finish off small tasks.
Buttons sewn on the Esme Top.
Buttons sewn on the Esme Top.
Cuffs puffed.
Knitting put aside until large plastic safety eyes arrived. Yes, you were right: I'm knitting a giant squid. It's a small one (about 40cm tall from mantle to grasping tentacles ala Hansi Singh's fantastic book) but I already have aspirations to knit a giant giant squid to love forever use up all my stash yarn.
In other news:
My beautiful, brand new Janome 9200d overlocker. It is amazing. Love. It makes me smile from ear to ear every time I admire it from afar. Which happens a lot.
I also rather like that the rest of my office has been taken over by sewing stuff and piles of fabric. As it should, perhaps. This is a stash I bought while in South Africa - printed canvas on the left (pirates and vintage ephemera), quilting cottons on the right (dandelions, shwe shwe and floral sprays). Such a world of possibility.
Sometimes, all you need to do is sit down and knit. It uses up your stash yarn (which really, means that you're actually tidying up - sensible, isn't it?). It soothes and calms your mind after a long, long, long day at work. It makes trips on the Underground go so much quicker. And in the end, you have something wonderful to show for it.
So, each night, I've been doing a few stitches, a lot of short rows, and some whip-stitch sewing-up. Can you guess what it is? Ho hum.
Thank goodness it is Friday. I am really looking forward to the weekend ahead.
Shanah Tovah!
I'm back! Thank you for all of your wonderful messages, thoughtful comments and encouraging emails. I appreciate every single good wish and positive thought. There hasn't been much change in my little cousin's condition, but we are ever-hopeful, and we are all being strong.
It's funny how there really is no place like home. After flying for 12 hours straight, it feels as if you might have visited another world, or at the very least, another time zone. But No: we are only one hour ahead of South Africa here in the UK, and it's all very much the same world I left behind the last time I was there.
I think that sometimes you need a big awful family emergency to really make you stop and think about your priorities.
I have missed my little blog, it's good to be back.
It's funny how there really is no place like home. After flying for 12 hours straight, it feels as if you might have visited another world, or at the very least, another time zone. But No: we are only one hour ahead of South Africa here in the UK, and it's all very much the same world I left behind the last time I was there.
I spent nearly all of my time with family, in the hospital, and doing a few hours of work a day. But even then, there were moments of beauty and loveliness that you can't help but appreciate - even when you're feeling a bit low.
I think that sometimes you need a big awful family emergency to really make you stop and think about your priorities.
And it's funny how those priorities are just a little different from what you thought they were. Funny, in a good way. Because, now you know.
Aren't all these colours grand? I snapped away happily as we passed pots upon pots of beautiful flowers. There's something very therapeutic and reassuring about growing: newness, generation and regeneration, growth, healing, colour, awakening.
Even when assembled in a vase, they remind you of the shortness of things, the newness of things, and the sweetness of things.
I have missed my little blog, it's good to be back.
