Cornflower

All neat and tidy

    That is not my Christmas tree, but my neat streak rather approves of this level of deconstruction! It's the work of Ursus Wehrli and can be found in his book Die Kunst, aufzuräumen ('Tidying up Art/The Art of Tidying Up' - no text, pictures only), in which he takes everyday objects or scenes and re-arranges them in their constituent parts.

    This book is an extension of Wehrli's orderly versions of well-known paintings, some of which you can see in this video - I particularly like his super-tidy Jackson Pollock, but it's all good fun.

A very last-minute knitted gift

    At 11pm on Christmas Eve I was still knitting the final rows of this scarf, but I managed to cast off, sew in the ends, wrap it and have it under the tree by 11.30 - taking it to the wire, I know, but then it was being made in secret in a busy household and in only a few days from start to finish.

It's the One Row Handspun Scarf by Yarn Harlot, pattern here and Ravelry page here, for which I used three balls of Debbie Bliss alpaca silk and 6.5mm needles.

My only modification was to slip the first stitch of every row purlwise (as mentioned in this allusive post), taking the yarn to the back of the work between the needles - I stress that for the avoidance of doubt and for my own future reference in case I forget. Despite the mad dash at the last minute, I'm very happy with the finished piece which was indeed quick and simple to make, but not boring, so I'd recommend it enthusiastically.

A hundred years ago in the garden

    Currently on show at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is the small exhibition The Living Collection - The People behind the Plants. I saw it today and was taken with these photographs of gardeners on the RBGE site at Inverleith between 1910 and 1920. Note the collars and ties - how formal compared to their modern counterparts' sweatshirts and fleeces.

    Given the approximate date of the pictures, I wonder how many of the young men we see here went off to war in 1914, and how many did not return to this most peaceful of places.

Santa reads this blog

    Santa must have read this recent post

because he left one of Domenica's dog kits for me under the tree.

Included is a cloud of grey wool plus a small amount of other colours for features and collar, two very sharp needles (the kit is not for unsupervised use by children under 12) and full instructions.

Perseverance seems to be the key with needle felting, so Domenica suggests having plenty of tea breaks while you work and using your own dog(s) for reference as you go!

I don't believe I'll be able to make anything remotely as good as these masterpieces, but I'm certainly looking forward to trying.

Has anyone done any needle felting? Any tips/advice?

Happy Christmas

    From the garden this morning: Scots pine, ivy, camellia, hebe, escallonia and rosemary.

    Warmest Christmas wishes from all of us to all of you who kindly visit here.

Diary of power

    From the spiritual to the material, and Santa has come early, bringing me a 2012 desk diary of extreme smartness. It's so smart that I fear my notes and scribblings will only sully its pages, but on the other hand it's too lovely a thing not to use, so perhaps I should take that as a challenge and resolve to live up to it.

    Apparently, it's of a type known as 'the Panama hat' of books, as despite (or maybe because of) a handmade leather binding and stitched spine, "it can be rolled up and squashed and will improve with age". Although it's very tactile, I don't think I'll test that claim.

Sing, choirs of angels

    Here is a glimpse inside Edinburgh's St. Giles' Cathedral late this afternoon. We were there for a service of carols and readings, one which begins in candlelight, and as the building is gradually illuminated, so it also fills with glorious music and the spoken word.

    Just visible there in the organ loft is Peter Backhouse, another of the 'real' characters from the novels of Alexander McCall Smith - his playing has us lingering to listen even as the rest of the congregation are departing - but amongst much familiar music today the choir sang this Bob Chilcott setting of Christina Rosetti's "Midwinter" which I hadn't heard before; listen if you have a moment.

Let there be light

    There was much hilarity over the taking of these pictures as the daylight level here today hasn't risen above Stygian gloom setting - not conducive to vibrant photography. Alice was the model, while I tried to snap her wearing the mitts against various backgrounds including inconveniently moving Labradors, the piano keyboard and a window whose outlook was drear, and with 'props' such as a basket of hyacinths and a handy pine branch. In the end, the Christmas tree stayed still and toned in nicely enough, though its rather undecorated state is down to one set of lights having failed and replacements being awaited.

    These shots were about the best of a dim bunch, but for a more accurate view of the colour of the finished articles click here (yarn and pattern details are also given there).  

Outside in

    If you step back and think about it for a moment, bringing a large tree into the house for a week or two does seem quite a strange thing to do. I've been looking at the history of the custom, and I followed the link to the entry about Hans Christian Andersen's story The Fir Tree - note the commentary which suggests "the tale portrays a certain psychological type (like its author) who cannot be happy in the moment because he expects greater glory just around the corner and then is overwhelmed with regret"; you can read the story here, and having done so, I see our own tree (a very fine specimen from Dalmeny Estates) in a new light!  

Displacement activity

    Why don't you finish writing your Christmas cards later, leave the wrapping paper and sellotape for another day, and come and have a go at this daft meme.

Domenica's dogs

    Do have a look at Domenica More Gordon's amazingly characterful, utterly lifelike, highly covetable felt dogs. If you want to try your hand at making your own, you can buy a kit, or just admire the sketches with which she begins the creative process and watch this short clip to see the dogs and Domenica herself.

    I kick myself now that I didn't take the opportunity to buy one when Domenica made some dogs for a sale of work in aid of Mindroom two years ago. Ah well, perhaps another time ...

A bit of an edge

    No pictures, but in case you're a novice knitter and you've ever wondered how to make a neat 'chain' edge on a piece of knitting, this video demonstrates various methods. I've used the technique before on the heel flaps of socks, for instance, but today I came across a very simple scarf pattern for which someone had suggested using the slipped edge stitch variation to give a neater finish. As they didn't state exactly how and it can be confusing if you haven't done it before, I delved around in Youtube for a bit and came up with that clip which seemed to be the clearest of the ones I looked at (I'm using the yellow swatch version for a secret project ...).

If you're looking for a good read ...

    ... I can suggest some great fiction - here and here - and some equally enjoyable non-fiction - here.

Christmas cheer

 

    Last night's fireside viewing was the lovely, lovely film The Bishop's Wife. I've written about it before (post here), and enjoyed it as much and more this time round. If you've never seen it you have a treat in store (you can watch the opening sequence here), though you'll be shocked at the current price of the DVD (mine cost little or nothing three years ago), so it might be worth following Barbara's lead and joining Lovefilm.

The most delightful of flowers

     "Wasn't Monteriggioni where we saw the cornflowers, Teresa? An entire carpet of them - oh, it was delightful. I find the cornflower the most delightful of flowers. Don't you, Miss Lavish?"

     "I prefer something bolder: the reckless rose, the tempestuous tulip."

An exchange between Miss Catharine Allan, a lady of excellent taste, played by Fabia Drake (above), and Miss Eleanor Lavish, a novelist (Judi Dench), from A Room with a View - which I saw last night for the first time and so enjoyed.

(Pictures snapped from the television screen, hence the lack of clarity).