Cornflower

Sock soap

    Sock soap from Tuft Woolens.

I bought a little cedar soap deck with my sampler pack:

    I've been storing the soaps in my project bags, so they are now beautifully scented, as are the hand-knitted socks I've just washed with the lavender bar which, incidentally, was soft on the skin and produced a good 'greth' or 'graith', to use an old Scots word meaning, among other things, 'lather'.

The purity of doing one thing well

  A couple of nights ago BBC Four showed the film Kiss the Water, about the life of the Scottish fishing fly tier Megan Boyd. You may not fish, or ever have wondered how salmon flies are tied, but if you are in any way a maker of things, are interested in "the purity of doing one thing well", or if you have a love for the natural world, or a fascination with people who can truly be said to be 'themselves', then do watch this beautiful film - the trailer is above, and you can currently see the whole thing on iPlayer.

Spruced up

    I showed my Christmas Eve socks-in-progress early in the month and I'm glad to say that I finished them a little while ago - the two at a time method worked well.

     The pattern is Evergreen Socks by Madeline Gannon, and the yarn is Buffy Toughie from Juno Fibre Arts in the colourway 'Spruce'.

    I've yet to wear these new socks, but as I write I have this pair on my feet and very comfortable they are; I'll look out for more Uncommon Thread Lush Twist when my sock yarn supplies are running low.

Friday flowers - an 'unbirthday' bouquet

    These arrived out of the blue yesterday - an 'unbirthday' bouquet from Rogue Flowers courtesy of Mr. C.

    I hope they will brighten your day as they have mine!

South Riding mittens

    You may have seen this post in which I showed you a lovely skein of Great Woolly Owl Bluefaced Leicester/Baby Alpaca named after Winifred Holtby's South Riding. Here it is again, now a pair of very cosy mittens.

    If you're in the market for some of this yarn (and you're a Persephone Books fan), you may like the Miss Pettigrew colourway. The pattern is Susan B. Anderson's Waiting for Winter Mittens.

Tapestry news

Panels of The Great Tapestry of Scotland - Images by Alex Hewitt

    The Great Tapestry of Scotland is on the move again and will be exhibited at Stirling Castle from the 31st. of January to the 8th. of March. There is no additional charge to view the Tapestry, but normal admission prices for the Castle itself will apply.

    Then from 20th. June to 20th. September, the work will be on show at Kirkcaldy Galleries (conveniently situated next to the railway station).

    Meanwhile, plans for a permanent home for the Tapestry at Tweedbank in the Borders are taking shape, but if you are far from Scotland you may have to make do with pictures of the piece, so you could scroll down through the archived posts for various reports from work-in-progress to finished object, look out for the book which contains images of every panel, or watch the slideshow above (which hopefully will work!).

More work needed, Professor

    The results of the paperwhite experiment are inconclusive: two of my four pots of 'Ziva' were given a measure of alcohol each time they were watered while two had water alone; all were placed in largely similar locations in terms of light and warmth, and there is no appreciable difference in height of leaves and flower stems, or floppiness of same, so perhaps I was stingy with the spirits.

    No matter, the flowers - which are not as highly scented as some varieties I've had - are a welcome foretaste of spring.

Wise words

    Pop over and read Jane's post if you have a minute - wise words for us all.

    (You can find many of Jane's designs here.)

Useful things

    Double-pointed needle cases - especially useful when knitting socks two at a time.

    The Ravelry group for the Little Bobbins Knits podcast decided to have a Christmas Eve cast on for socks. I was glad to be able to join in, and am making the Evergreen Socks by Madeline Gannon, but for the first time I'm knitting my socks concurrently - a good way to do it, it turns out, with no chance of succumbing to Second Sock Syndrome.

    Dani, the host of Little Bobbins Knits, has an Etsy shop, and when I saw her sweet little dpn cases I thought they would be just the thing to keep the two sets of needles under control in the project bag (another one from Jibbyroo Sews) as well as making sure I knew which sock was which as I work on them.

    I had hoped to finish the pair before Twelfth Night, but that's not to be; however, both are beyond the heel so I'm making good progress and enjoying the knit. The yarn is Buffy Toughie, Bluefaced Leicester and nylon, from the sadly now defunct Juno Fibre Arts, and the colourway is, appropriately, 'Spruce'.

Good food

    Natalie's post on cooking rice prompted me to offer you this recipe which I have used for years and years, and which comes from Claudia Roden (see A New Book of Middle Eastern Food):

    2 teacups of long grain rice (I use basmati)

    2 teacups water

    salt

    Put the rice in a sieve and pour boiling water over it, then let the cold tap run through it until the water runs clear. Leave to drain well.

    Bring 2 cups of water to the boil with a little salt to taste. Add the drained rice, bring it to the boil and let it boil vigorously for 2 minutes. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and simmer very gently for 20 minutes (I use a small Le Creuset casserole and put it in the Aga's simmering oven, but a slow hob would do fine). When the time is up the rice should be thoroughly cooked with little dimples all over its surface, and all the water will have been absorbed. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.

    Claudia Roden gives variations involving adding melted butter or oil, but I leave my rice unenriched - it will be quite 'dry' and the grains fairly separate, so if you want something stickier this won't be for you, but it is a good method. The quantities above will serve 4-5 people.

Good viewing

    Delicious! That's this week's BBC adaptation of E.F. Benson's Mapp & Lucia novels - delightful viewing, doing full justice to the books with a great cast, script and setting, or as one reviewer put it, "Think Die Hard 5 but with more vicious one-upmanship and better scarves." Great fun!

Good books

    Over on Cornflower Books there is a long overdue post about our book group - do please take a look and, if you are so minded, join us!