Ripples..

Remember the wool I dyed the other week? I played around for a while, then decided to use it to make a feather and fan scarf. I finished it this morning while watching the Grand Prix, and here it is blocking on my old cutting out board.
The dying in the keg method seems to have worked. You can see the only place where it really pooled, and it has at least come out in a symetrical flourish. I am happy with both colour and pattern.

This just shows how I have taken the scarf up and over the board to its full length.

Revised owlet

As you saw from yesterday's entry, we managed a photo-call of a parliamentary meeting. The Rumanian barman in the restaurant we use as a club room was quite taken with them, and asked if they were for sale. I've made him this one on the left, trying out a new eye treatment after studying a picture of a real owl. I have decided that my starting price shall be one hot chocolate Lamumba. If he wants to haggle, and offers the hot chocolate minus the lamumba ingredient, I shall settle, but only if he adds a dollop of whipped cream.

Group photo...

...taken at Craft Club this afternoon. Jill has said she intends to try making a penguin with an adapted pattern. I think it might work if they are slimmed down a little.

Dyed in the wool

In the depths of a box I came across a plastic bag containing six small balls of vivid pink wool. I had a vague memory of it being frogged from a crocheted item of dress made for a child back in the 70's when such colours were a la mode. A label in the bag said it was 100gms of 3ply 100% wool, and when I weighed it to check, this was correct. The two larger balls together weighed 50 gms, and the other 4 balls made up the rest. I have been wanting to play with dye for a while, and this seemed to be the opportunity I had been waiting for, as I didn't think I could make this any worse than it already was. I rewound the wool into 25gm kegs, and put it to soak in warm water and vinegar. As a dye I was undecided between using violet food colour and jar of sliced beetroot in vinegar, but settled on the violet when I found there was more beetroot in the jar than could comfortably be eaten as a snack. I removed the wool from the dish it was soaking in, and poured all but ½" of the vinegar water away, then added a teaspoon of the violet food colouring from a bottle that has been hanging around for twenty odd years and so is rather more concentrated than it had been. The next step was to just sit the kegs in the liquid so that the dye was only absorbed into the bottom of the keg. I covered the dish with cling film and zapped it in the microwave for three minutes, checking it after each minute. By this time, the water left in the dish had lost its colour and the wool had absorbed it. I left the whole thing sitting for half an hour to cool down, and then rinsed the kegs in tepid water and squeezed them out. (I was half way through skeining the last ball when I thought of taking photographs) Dying in the keg like this is supposed to avoid a regular striped effect that appears if you dye in the skein, as the way it is wound means that the outer layers will have longer lengths in the dye and the inner ones shorter. I clamped the two halves of a wooden dish rack to each end of the balcony table and skeined it out to dry in the breeze. I kept the sun off most of it with the umbrella as I am not too sure how sun-fast food dye is. The light pink patches in the photo are sunlight, not stripes, and the colour distribution appears to be completely random, as promised. It only remained to rewind it when it was dry, and I was pleasantly surprised at how soft it had stayed, and at how little felting there was. Now I need to decide what to make with it. It may become a ripple stitch scarf, but who knows? A great part of the pleasure comes from looking through patterns and it may take months to find just the right one...

Buns

When I went out this morning to get bread and newspapers, I was drawn towards a packet of teacakes; the fruity bread type, not the chocolate covered marshmallow on a biscuit type. The packet told me that they had been made in Holland a fortnight ago and were good for another two weeks. I was prepared to believe the first part of the statement, but not the second, and a prod with a stiff finger confirmed my belief. Nevertheless, I felt a yearning for a toasted bun dripping in salty butter, so I picked up a package of fresh yeast from the fridge on my way to the till.
These are the result of my endeavour (minus three tested earlier). Craggy and misshapen they may be, but they went down very well at teatime. I am not an habitual baker these days, so I looked for a recipe. First I looked in Mrs Warnes Cookbook, bought as a wedding present for my mother back in 1943. Take 7lbs of good bread flour...well maybe not. I dallied over Fanny's version, as she was my mentor and taught me all that I know, but in the end, I settled for the next generation's guru of the kitchen; Delia. Her recipe makes a dozen, and is very easy to follow. I substituted my fresh for her dried yeast and storecupboard sultanas for her currants. The Kenwood has been highjacked downstairs, and the Aldi substituted for it is a waste of space when it comes to kneading, but the sun shone in through the snug window and heated up the roofing slate that acts as a table mat, and this proved to be the ideal spot for the fungal growth required...

A Rose by any other name..

Moogsmum pointed me in the direction of one of those daft blog quizzes. "What's your name's hidden meaning?" Try it yourself. It doesn't take long to work out the system. Josephine reads:

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you.
You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries.
You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.
You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.
At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are influential and persuasive. You tend to have a lot of power over people.
Generally, you use your powers for good. You excel at solving other people's problems.
Occasionally, you do get a little selfish and persuade people to do things that are only in your interest.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.
Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.
Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.
You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

Sophie on the other hand, is only half the woman I am....LOL

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.
You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.
At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are influential and persuasive. You tend to have a lot of power over people.
Generally, you use your powers for good. You excel at solving other people's problems.
Occasionally, you do get a little selfish and persuade people to do things that are only in your interest.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.
Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.
Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.
You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

Owlets

"What can I find for the Craft Club to do?" is a weekly problem. Some ladies seem to be only interested in making cards, but a few are prepared to give other crafts a try. I had seen versions of these little owls in various places around Blogland, and the little chap on the left was my first attempt. He is rather dumpy and has no feet, just a circle of yellow felt to hide his sphincter. His eyes are felt circles behind shirt buttons with the centre blacked up using a CD pen, and he has a felt beak. Then I came across Moonstitches Tutowlrial which gave me a better idea of the proportions between the front insert and the body. I used her method of embroidering a beak, but didn't use her covered circle base. Instead I added feet to a felt circle. For eyes I layered buttons. I liked the way the stripe through the blue shirt buttons added a little life to the eyes.

I forgot to take my camera to the club yesterday, but I shall email a round robin and ask that they bring their little owls in next week for a photo call. As each person brought in their own fabric and buttons, and stuffed in their own particular way, there was a lot of variation in our little parliament.

Edit: Please ignore the wood ash on the mantelpiece. I'm not known for my housewifely competence. Anyway, if Bossman decides to clean out the woodburner, I think he should clean up after himself as well..

Knee Highs and Lows

Two pairs of odd-sized stockings ready to go to their new home. Alas, I chickened out when it came to adding a corset pink stripe as dared by Mountainear, but I may pluck up the courage when I make the last pair. The photo is a poor one as the light coming through the window led to a little overexposure on one half. It was taken at the last minute before I put away the ironing board for another week (month?) or so.

These were made with odds and ends of the wool for a daughter who likes stripes on her socks, and as a long distance hug-and-get-well-soon-after-your-knee-op substitute.