In the face of adversity...

Those of you who know me know that I am having a 'torrid time' at the moment. Knitting and the lovely people at IKL cheer me up no end. Collecting things from freecycle from the /1940s/195os also cheers me up. Here is a picture of my latest acquisition:

Listening to Radio 4 also cheers me up. When my sewing machine is fixed that will cheer me up too. Thanks to Mithranstar - I am still debating what to knit with the lovely French yarn. Thanks to Gerard for being such a good friend.

Thanks to Craig for loving lists as much as I do- oh and sorting things out.

Thank you I appreciate it.

PS: Shop, drink, knit, live at I Knit London!

Oh I think that should be made into a badge...........

Bonjour Mr Dangaleeee

See how he likes to sip his French coffee whilst listening to Radio 4. The height of sophistication! And he has a bell in his front left paw to mark his arrival with music wherever he goes.

Fings wot I 'ave made this week....

Another caliometry (I have 4 now):

In a bid to start my sewing career I got my 1950s sewing machine repaired- but unfortunately I cannot get it to sew (tension issue?) so I have had to hand sew this lovely doggy:

I got the pattern from http://www.crafleftovers.com/ - one of my new fav blogs. See how the doggy is listening to Radio 4- he is very cultured....

Also I finished making the twinkle toes ruby slippers from (sneezy) angora that I started in Dec 2007:

Very snuggly and warm they are too.

Also I made a little fabric flower:

Here it sits on a blanket and a dish cloth also made by me.

The biggest finished object of the week was the 3 hour (more like 12) sweater which is from a 1930s pattern:

It was a bit big for me so I sewed a seam up the side which I think I get away with quite well!

And so- productive week this week eh?

Messy Tuesdays

Messy Tuesdays Manifesto:

You are not your flawless surfaces. You are not your orderly laundry-pile. You are not the seamlessness of your Finished Objects. You are not your risen cakes. You are not your sewn-in ends.

This is taken from the blog of the spectacular Felixhttp://knitaluscious.blogspot.com/2008/03/messy-tuesdays.html here is a link to her blog, I have just found I have forgotten how to do links...

I love the idea of celebrating the messiness in our lives and they do say the messiness of objects can reflect the state of mind of the individual.

With that thought in mind, here is some Tuesday mess from my flat:

First of all we have the pile of papers from when I wrote an essay about a month ago and I have not bothered to file all the articles away because it is a very dull job to do and so I have not done it.

Secondly there is the obligatory kitchen mess:

Actually this is not too bad....

Then we have the basket that keeps my current knitting and sewing projectes safe and 'tidy' and sits beside the settee so I can get it without getting up:

You can see how busy I am knitting and sewing- I just do not have time to tidy this. About once a fortnight I do go through the basket and move things out and then ...it all moves back in again.

Finally....drum roll... here is an interesting collection of stuff built up over the last few days on the surface nearest to the computer- we have a 1940 edition of the Mikardo on vinyl, (hidden)some yarn, some very thin yarn/cotton, a dish cloth that needs frogging as it has gone wrong, a dishcloth that I am knitting 12 rows a day for as it is a KAL, Sylvia Plath poetry book, my diary, sellotape and a piece of card with bits of yarn stuck to it- so I can show Gerard at http://www.iknit.org.uk/ IKL the yarn I got today from gumtree without having to cart the whole lot to Waterloo (to the new shop which is fab).

So there you are - messy Tuesday indeed!

Vintage/retro ramblings cont....

So, as I said ....blah blah - see previous post...Here is some old yarn- about 15-20 years old and very beautiful the label is too- yarn is a bit bizarre.

This is now on display on top of my radiogram which I got for £20 (transport costs of man with van) and I LOVE it and have had a very interesting conversation with my Dad about how he had his grandfather's one as a child:

I discovered last night that the radio does work! Hurray- I picked up french, slovakain, german, english and american radio- v exciting.

So here endeth the first blog of the year.

Join my Rav group "Retro Revellers" for more of the same :

Here is what i meant to say- vintage valuables

Technical probs as always- well I havenlt blogged for a loooooong time.



Anyway I have been enjoying gazing, stroking and talking to (trying to feel the vibes of previous owners) vinatge and retro ish items of late. Here are some pictures, perhaos you have these at home as well?

Ok- this is the fourth attempt I have had to get the image button to work and it won;t so I will just have to have another go tomorrow- cliffhanger!