Okay, we’re starting with dessert today – click here to see what Kelly has just posted about something I made last February when the ‘Blogging Babes’ got together – this was our first meal all together and the only one at my place and so of course I had to wade straight into the great Pavlova debate ……… You don’t know about the great Pavlova Debate? Well, go on then, click here! We’ll wait for you to come back.
That was quick – what did you think? Did you notice where I dropped a peach slice bang into the middle of that Pav and completely ruined the entire presentation? 🙂 My friends were kind and pretended not to notice…..
Now, to reading:
My friend Derrick, he with the beautiful garden and the seemingly endless library including many older books, wrote of the book he had just finished reading and I made comment that I was going in search of it. I found it to be out of print and Derrick generously sent on his copy to me. I’ve read it. Quite quickly, for even though the two stories are not particularly happy, the prose and style of the writer is such a joy to settle into I found myself reading longer than usual every evening. He captures perfectly the sea-swept, barren lifestyle of the crofters of Orkney at the end of the 19th century. The harsh terrain producing stoic and impenetrable peoples, their stories too reflect that terrain. There’s a melancholia, an inevitability to the stories, but still I sometimes found myself shocked by the unfolding personal histories.
George Mackay Brown’s book is two separate novellas. Times are changing, the modern world is reaching the Orkneys, the expectations of the new generation include a wider world, crofts are being deserted and falling into disrepair. And yet we see how the people live on, battered by the storms of change, the actions of others and themselves – aware only of their own little world, their own hurts, their own expectations. An accurate reflection of much of humanity in general perhaps.
George Mackay Brown writes so compellingly – there’s a poem at the end of the second story that wrings the heart. If you can find his work anywhere I do recommend it.
From the sublime to the yarny stuff:
I’m making this, it’s maybe half finished now – it’s a prototype for an idea I have for a ‘mandala’ style wall hanging – a big one. This one though, is simply table sized. When finished it will be maybe 60cm diameter. I’m not sure yet which way I will go. Sandra over at Wild Daffodil has been making them for her grandchildren and shared with me Lucy at Attic 24’s designs too. So many choices!
This is where I’m up to. It’s about 35 cm diameter and I’m half way through the pattern. I don’t think the variegated cotton helps the pattern very much, what do you think?
I’m still happily growing this keeping pace with Eleonora’s weekly design postings. Even though the blanket is officially reaching ‘huge’ proportions, there seems to be loads of yarn left in my basket. I’m loving this
Here’s Siddy visiting his second favourite person and her new cat. George is a bit mean to Siddy (he runs at him with evil intent) and Siddy is trying really hard to be brave. But he isn’t really – he’s a lover, not a fighter.
I’m having a tidy up in the craft room this week – yikes, it’s a mess!
Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did!
A work that grew out of a sketch where I got quite brave and began to experiment with acrylic paints over alcohol inks. I began by trying to manipulate the sky and eventually found my way forward enough to pronounce myself satisfied – or at least to the ‘let’s quit while I’m ahead’ stage.
Something apart from the woolly kind of creations finally got finished. There’s hope – there’s always hope 🙂
The colours are pretty accurate in the above photo – aren’t they fabulous! The yarn is wonderful it’s Corriedale Wool purchased from 
The colours are a little washed out in the second photo, but you can see the texture and the pattern. The edging needs to be blocked to finish the thing properly, but that won’t happen until the weather warms up a little.
Her name grew organically as I read your various comments and proposals and suggestions in the previous post. Karen said she needed to be a Miss and I agreed; Val said Petunia and Norah mentioned the same name, but was more connected to the ‘P’ for Pauline and et tu (you too) which she had jumped to from ‘etui’ I liked the idea, but in the end decided to stay with ‘etui’. So you can pronounce it Pet-you-ee or Petwee as you please. Her last name grew from Geoff’s suggestion of ‘Leadbottom’ which made me laugh, but you will see soon why I changed it a little. (Sometimes it’s obvious even to me that I have way too many hours to wonder around in LaLaLand!)
Here I can find pen, pencil, awl, ruler, thimble, measuring tape, needles of various sizes and sharpnesses, two pairs of scissors, quick-unpick, long vision specs and cleaning cloth, a variety of stitch markers, a reel of thread, a row counter and a small magnifying glass.
Her head scarf holds pins and unseen is a large amount of blocking pins hidden in her hair. She wears my reading specs, always ready to do a bit of stitching, hooking or sewing repairs.
He pretty much ensured every component of the blanket was pressed, whether I desired it to be or not.
It ought to be finished but I got sidetracked.
Finally, here’s Siddy in his posh winter gear to say “Hello!” or “Grrrrruff!” to you all, just in case you need that kind of puppy cheerfulness in your life…..
I went back to playing with alcohol inks and ended up adding acrylics over one of them to see what happened 
Nothing went awry, so, emboldened, I kept playing – now I tried to see what would happen if I added blending solution to a brush and swept it across the inky coloured sky
Well that was interesting! Obviously a very light touch and brush-on-paper-always technique is required. More work is currently being undertaken 🙂
And then I sketched her onto 300gsm watercolour paper making sure she was the right size and that the pen I used wouldn’t bleed with alcohol inks.
I then coloured her and cut her out. And finally tried her out on the background
The
This is how I crochet in the evenings – I quite often let You Tube play a random selection of videos while I’m working, they often choose to show me animals and Siddy always sits up and takes notice, much to the consternation of Orlando and myself who must consequently adjust our positions to accommodate any excitement or anxiety shown on behalf of the filmed animals……
It’s turning cold here now. Night falls early and morning arrives later. The heating is on and morning walks take longer to get ready for. Boots, coat, scarf, gloves, hat. Puppy. And off we go! No longer prepared to sit in the front garden and await our return, Orlando watches from the kitchen window. Lucky kitty!!
Next this one came, I’m thinking ‘Chocolate and Lemon Cream’ …….. Mmmmmmm! The deep brown fluted beads look black here – but that is just my terrible photography. It really looks good enough to eat – but please don’t Siddy!
Staying with the food related beading programme (Huh?) Did you have those orange flavoured chocolate balls when you were a kid? We called them Jaffas and the boys loved to roll them down the sloped floor at the weekend kids movie show when the serial opened with a replay that revealed the heart-stopping event ending last weeks episode was completely untrue and the hero hadn’t gone over the cliff on his horse, wagon or train. He had jumped clear at the last moment. I got fooled week after week! And of course we don’t call those sweets ‘Jaffas’ any more. Now they are Choc-Oranges – So this one is the ‘Choc-Orange’
I also made a pink catcher, but as you can’t eat that one, I’ll just pop it quietly into the shop. Next lot will probably all be shades of blue just to make me really happy.
I think this is the last time I’ll be able to show all the rows all at once – it’s starting to get quite big. Still, with the weather showing definite signs that winter is approaching fast it is nice to have this across my knee as I hook away.
The Contented Crafter 