Christmas Windows 2013

I was out 'n' about in the Oxford Street which has all its lights and decorations up and looks great this year. Looking at the Christmas windows. Selfridges has always had sparkly windows with some animated I liked the cat slipper (his ears move) and all the little penguins. 

John Lewis had some really good windows this year. They used cups, plates, pots and pans plus many other items you can find in the kitchen to decorate their windows.
Very clever :)

FOG!!!

This morning was freezing cold and there was heavy FOG! OK maybe not as thick as the fogs I remember when I was a small child but I still feel the same about it....a cold damp blanket and better to work from home. So today I am :)

Colourful Winter

I hear so many people complain about winter been dull and without colour. I think winter is full of colour.

The trees may have lost or be losing all their leaves, but now the textured bark is exposed lots browns and greys, branches are now visible and they look strangely beautiful pointing upwards in the sky.

The now colourful leaves yellows, oranges and reds are laying on the floor.

  The evergreens plants like ivy and holly stand out and tiny colourful berries have appeared food for the birds and small animals.

Some flowers are still blooming and appear much brighter :)
What do you think?

The Knitting and Stitching Show 2013

Last week I went to The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, filled with lots of yarn, beads, fabrics and crafty thing. I go every year and love to see whats new and stock up on yarn and beads and a few  bargain magazines.
There was an interesting taxi at the entrance covered in knitted and crochet insects, flowers and picnic items..
This year it was really packed with people, good to see so many people doing crafts but also very hard to get to the stands and see the products, even going down isles was difficult as areas were bottle necked with people.
I still managed to buy to much lots of nice beads and crystals from the Southampton Bead Shop and Totally Beads. Plus some nice 100% alpaca and a merino mix yarn from Drops love their yarn and their prices :)
After the shopping there is lots to see at this show. Students have their textile degree work on display, the embroidery and quilting guilds run competitions and have work on show and much more.
I liked the bird embroideries in the corridor leading to the different halls. I love robins.

I always love the stained glass window in the main hall I remembered to photograph it this year.

Limequats

Limequats were in the reduced price section in the local supermarket at the weekend. They are a citrus fruit, a hybridised cross between a key lime and a kumquat (I looked them up online). Small like a kumquat with a thin edible skin (it tasted sweet similar to a kumquat) I don't really like the skin on kumquats but its good zested so I think the limequats also be good where zest is required. The flesh inside tasted of lime (a lime taste that was very bitter but also with a sweet after taste).

I decided to use the limequats in a couple of recipes instead of normal limes, so I made a banana and limequat jam (I had over ripe bananas I needed to use up) and limequat curd.
I have been baking with yeast lately so adding some homemade spreads to the breads was great.

Banana and Limequat Jam on toast yummy

Here's some pics of my latest bakes and experiments. the banana and limequat jam is on my cake/ bake blog, the curd recipe will be posted next week.

English Muffins

Pikelets

 

Diner Rolls

Beautiful Sunsets

By final photos from my holiday here, are some of the stunning sunsets from Wales

Cardigan

This is the market town of Cardigan a very pretty place, on the estuary of the River Teifi.
The main high street has lots of traditional shops butchers, bakers, crafts and bookshops as well as the normal ones you find in any shopping area many with with Gothic or Victorian shop fronts.
It also has a very tasty fish & chip shop, no photos I ate the evidence :)

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Narberth

We were in Narberth and visited this excellent workshop/ store Wild and Woolly Workshop
Beaufully made sheepskin boots and bags in an array of wonderful colours all hand dyed and made by the very friendly owner. Baby to adult sizes, there are ready made items or you can order the colours and ribbon/ tapes for individual boots.
As well as making the boots and bags the owner also teaches spinning, something to follow up on when I next visit  :)

Meini Gwyr

Some more photos from my trip to Wales.
We went to see Meine Gwyr (Meini means large stone and Gwyr means crooked) unique in Welsh prehistoric architecture, being the only known raised henge-circle. I took a photo of the noticeboard on the way into the field, as it has a nice sketch of what the henge would have looked like. 




 


The site must have looked stunning when all the stones were standing but sadly now only 2 remain. You can still see the stumps of where the other stones stood.
This is the area the famous blue stones used in Stonehenge came from although the stones used for this henge are a form of volcanic rock. 

 

It was a beautiful sunny even with only 2 stones in the field the place look special

The two remaining stones

Stump of long gone standing stone

I See Sheep

I went for a holiday to West Wales to visit my brother, it was great to get out of London and breathe fresh air.
It is a beautiful place with stunning views of mountains and valleys and yes I saw sheep. I was luckly the weather was great so I was able to take long walks and visit nearby towns.
I took lots of photos when I was out 'n' about, so I will posting some of them over the next week. Here are few of the pics of the flowers growing at the side of the road while out walking one day and the sheep :)

Summer Sun and simple Kanzashi style flowers

Classes are finished until September. The weather has been very good this summer, the flowers are in bloom and everything seems brighter, even people in general seem happier.
I have been busy working on lots of projects  mainly with a floral theme - crochet, knitting, jewellery, fabric and even playing with resin again. I need more hours in the day!.
Some of my fabric samples from spoonflower arrived the circle fabrics for Kanzashi style flowers there are currently 3 different designs to choose from each a fat quarter - Circles No.1, Circles No.2 and yes Circles No.3. I have been making and teaching how to make different fabric flowers for years and used to paint/ print the colour on the fabric to make the flowers as I could not always get the colours I wanted. Plus it can be messy when you have a very small space to work in and getting the same results each time can take a lot of extra work (although I will still use this method to develop new print designs). Now thanks to digital printing I can get the results I wanted and it is easy and  repeatable, plus others can now also get the same results. I have made up the flower samples and I am very happy with the results. The circles can be used not only to make flowers but also quilting yoyo's (also known as Suffolk Puffs), hair decorations (I am working on a "how to" for that currently) and covered buttons/ beads. If anyone purchases this fabric I would love to know what you make with it :)
The flowers are very quick and simple to make so I have posted the photo "how to's for making the flowers and some ideas for the centres.