home is where the heart(h) is

With England's "big chill" on the way, and a very definite nip in the air here in London, I decided to stay at home today by the hearth (well, gas fired central heating). We may get slightly hysterical about the thought of -3 degrees, but without real summers as compensation, I think we're entitled... To pass the time, I've been clearing out and making room for March's arrival, but predictably enough I was distracted by the Liberty lawn scraps left over from the top I made in the summer. Having some lovely organic lavender from Neals' Yard Remedies, where in their Covent Garden you can buy herbs of all sorts by the ounce from big jars like an old fashioned sweetie shop, albeit an apothecary one. With a silk ribbon hoop attached with shell buttons for hanging on hangars, and firmly stitched so they can be popped in the dryer for a little summer freshness now that winter is here. Sweet smelling lavender sachets to sooth the mind and heart... C

buns for the soul!

been a lot of thinking about the past recently and i was feeling a bit blue and decided to make some buns - granny's buns i always call them! they are the easiest buns in the world - 4oz flour 3oz sugar 2oz butter 1 egg - as in 4321 granny buns!

you can add whatever you have to hand - a few raisins, some lemon juice, icing on top and cherries or slice off the top and make buterflies with butter cream!

they really are emergency buns for the soul! ...A

here's one I made earlier!

okay! okay! I know it was a while since I made this one! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHLOE! we love you!!

watch this space!

So the 'other two' are making complaints that I am not blogging enough and if I don't pull up my socks - or indeed knit some! - they might have to make it 'wetwocreate' - well girls just watch this space!!..A

bowling along

Finally found a yarn that knits and felts and shapes like a dream for my little felted bowls - Cascade 220 - fairly mystical to us UK dwellers until recently, though now it's available here. Knitted in garter stitch for a bit more structure, these felted really well at 60 degrees in a front loader, with the week's towels, so I don't even feel any green guilt!...C

back to my roots

Before I put my career on hold to stay at home and concentrate on creating a family (due for arrival March '09!), I was a graphic designer. I worked for almost 18 years in the industry, in later years as a design director, but always as a very hands on designer alongside my team. Since setting that aside, I have found it difficult to imagine returning to the discipline. Spending time working on the re:made project with my sister has been fun, but it was with a certain amount of relief that I turned to the graphics we'd need for our enterprise. For the last few days, I've been working on my mac to create our identity and implement it. Still a great deal more hand work than my usual job, punching and hand tying tags, but it's comforting that the crispness, the order and the control my computer brings me still appeals...C

turnips!

Just thinking back about Halloween when you two were little. Do you remember that we used to make the lanterns using TURNIP!! No fancy pumpkins in Ireland in those days!! Can you remember the smell of burning turnip and scorching string? Ow! Ow! Too hot on those little fingers! A