Canada

One month on, and we are home from Canada. I’ve not had much chance to blog until now and been quite busy sorting things out at home before going back to work. It was an amazing trip, and I would fully recommend visiting in winter. Yes it was cold, but it was completely different to any other holiday we have ever done. The Rideau Skateway and Winterlude festival in Ottawa and seeing the frozen Niagara Falls were seasonal must-dos. I have taken 1400 photos (!) and I am having trouble deciding what to put up here. Consequently, I am only going to post a few favourites and suggest you have a look at M’s photos here and here.

During our time away there were lots of sources of inspiration, not least these exhibitions:

Kai Chan: A Spider’s Logic at Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto

Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women at Gladstone Hotel, Toronto

Tim Burton Retrospective at TIFF Lightbox, Toronto

We also made a trip to Drawn and Quarterly in Montreal which was fantastic! I came home with comics in every checked bag and hand luggage on the way home! I have a list of books I would also like to purchase when I have saved up some more cash. It was on this visit that I discovered the wonderful ‘The Believer’. This months issue has a great article on crochet as well as lots more interesting comics/literature related articles. I cannot rate it highly enough and have subscribed already. If you are unaware of McSweeney’s and what they do, I urge you to take a look.

I could go on for pages in a blow by blow account of the whole trip, but that could get a bit tedious. We loved it and look forward to being able to make a return trip, not only to visit our friends in Ottawa, but also to spend more time in Toronto. Queen Street West was our favourite area, and I could see myself spending many more days there than we had available this time.

Whilst we were away I did a fair amount of knitting, and as well as the cowl I posted last time, I managed to get a rather large shawl finished. I made it with Lang Jawool Magic sock yarn purchased at Knit Knackers in Ottawa, and the pattern was Whippoorwill by Carina Spencer (Sweet Mama Small Sugar) via Ravelry. It took between 80 and 100 hours, and looks rather good on.

Since getting back I have started work on amigurami for this years birthdays, but I will only post pictures once they are in the hands of their intended owners.

Now for a short piece about food and household planning. Whilst we were away, we did a bit of brain storming about how we could be more economical with food and make good use of our produce grown at the allotment. We have three objectives: (1) Eat fresh, local produce and make things from scratch as much as possible; (2) Save money; (3) Support local businesses. Whilst we were away an alarming number of small businesses have gone bust with little warning.

Our friends in Ottawa had a great blackboard in their hallway made from a reclaimed door, which has given us the idea to paint the panels of our kitchen door in blackboard paint to keep record of fresh fruit and veg we have at home, and homemade preserves we have in the basement. This is to minimise the risk of forgetting about things and allowing them to go off before being eaten. I have also decided to stick to doing a weekly shop rather than the almost daily trips where extra luxuries invariably make their way into the basket.

I made a trip to the butchers, and decided to buy whole chicken with giblets, joint the bird and freeze usable portions. At the same time I bought a side of pork belly, boned but took the ribs home.I then used half the pork to cure my own bacon, half to freeze for a roasting joint, and the ribs and chicken carcass were roasted with veg and giblets to make a fresh stock for the fridge. There was enough meat left on the bones after roasting/simmering to shred and make a meal and lunch the next day. I fried some garlic, ginger and spring onions with the meat, added white pepper and hoi sin to taste, and used it to fill filo parcels scattered with sesame seeds.

I’m not going to pretend this all took a bit of time and planning, but once we get into a routine I think the new regime will work well!

Lustre 2010

It's been a long while again, and hence I have lots to write about. The main thrust of today's posting is to review highlights of 'Lustre' 2010 at The University of Nottingham - 'beautiful things for you and your home'. It certainly disappoint, so more of that later. To kick off, here is my first attempt at carving a pumpkin for Hallowe'en. I took the unconventional approach in carving the base and turning him on his side, and was quite pleased with the results. Rather than risking leaving him unattended and lit downstairs, I stuffed him with coloured paper. On reflection I could have used fairy lights. Maybe next year...


Continuing on my quest for homemade Christmas, I spent a ludicrous amount of time tieing perfect bows on my homemade marmalade. I discovered last year that you can freeze Seville oranges whole, and Nigella has a cheats recipe for marmalade that involves boiling up the oranges whole - perfect when they are slightly soft on defrosting. As a confirmed lover of marmalade, a way to stretch the Seville season throughout the year is welcome. I suppose I could just make more preserve when they are in season, but it is quite time intensive when you have a job to keep down!


I alluded to the fact that M and I have both had birthdays recently, and we have been very lucky to receive this lovely Art Deco granddaughter clock from my Mum. Having been to the nice clock repair man in town for a service, I have learnt the difference between grandmother and granddaughter clocks (Grandaughter - round face, curved top; Grandmother - square face, flat top). We are apparently unusual in specifically looking for a 1930's clock, with most people preferring older models. Ours has a wonderful chime every quarter hour, and it chimed continuously the whole 2 hours it took to drive between Mum's and our house!



I was thrilled with my presents this year, which included a Cath Kidston knitting bag from a very dear friend, and M excelled in purchasing the latest installment in Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library series of comic books. I am a huge fan and collector of Chris Ware's work, and spent the rest of my birthday money indulging in this.

We also took a trip down to the last vintage market of the year in Bridport, and found this rather lovely 1960's mirror. To me it has a cartoon feel to it, which obviously suits well.

My birthday was topped off by a phone call from Loop to say that my Misti Alpaca sock yarn was in stock, meaning I could finally press on and finish the scarf pictured below; my Fanfare Cowl was featured on the pattern designers' blog; and we had a lovely meal out at the Wild Garlic in Beaminster (owned by Masterchef winner Mat Follas). Top idea from there was sparkling wine with a couple of drops of lavender oil and elderflower.


Now, to Nottingham. We are definately coming back as the city is really good for shopping and entertainment, and there were lots of museums and galleries we'd like to have had more time to explore. First stop was to Wollaton Hall and Deer Park. Set in acres of parkland, the Elizabethan house is home to a 1930's Natural History Museum. We didn't have time to visit the rest of the grounds, which also include and industrial museum.


Continuing with the graphic novel/comics theme, I was (geekily) excited to find not just one, but two comic shops. My favourite things combine here - someone has made a giant Persepolis book with a sewn figure in the middle! I spent a good half hour in Forbidden Planet on Sunday buying up half the shop, and being irritated yet again by their bizarre alphabetising of books by title rather than author. They also seem unable to search their store database by author to check you've not missed anything! I'll stop before I sound even more autistic than I already do.

This was the first year we had been to Lustre makers fair, and we had a great time. Every single exhibitor was producing high quality work, and I can only assume they had hundreds of applicants to choose from. The hardest thing was not blowing the budget too soon! I had heard about the exhibition through Selvedge magazine, and at least two stallholders have been featured in the past six months. The exhibition of graduates work was particuarly heartening. M and I both fell in love with this character sculpture by Gillian Lee Smith. Each doll comes with a name and short story, and as she was only just finished, we are waiting to discover more about her. My next task is to find a relevant antique story book to stand her on, which is the artist's chosen way of displaying them, and makes perfect sense as they feel very literary. I love the meloncholic fragility and the way that she is weighted to look as if she may just fall over, adding to her awkwardness.

Other highlights for me included:

Katherine Richmond

Pages of old story books are laminated in blocks, laser used to cut text and shapes into the top layers, and the pieces used to construct wall art and jewellery. It was refreshing an exciting to see a precision tool such as laser put to work in a process where the results are not wholly predictable. The pairing with oxised silver made for beautiful pieces, and the use of books gave an obvious oppertunity for storytelling within the work.

Sally Collins

Freeform crochet and metalwork combined to make these unique pieces of jewellery. The colour palette included mainly pinks, red and baby blues. I loved her style!

Jed Green

Jewellery made by a sculptor like nothing I'd seen before. Some pieces were reminiscent for me of models of molecules in science class, and I particularly liked a ring made to look like a lightbulb.

Rachel Eardley

We were particularly drawn to her lithographic prints, full with detail without looking too fussy. She produced some works using Polaroid snaps within the drawing and extending the scene in pen and ink. She is also a skilled jeweller, using shapes cut from coins to create her distinctive pieces. Her brother is a ceramicist and also had a stall.

Jane Moore

Jane is a jeweller and has an instantly recognisable style. I had seen her designs at Hay festival this year and taken note of her name then, so it was great to meet her. The jewellery is layered with transfers and enamelled, and the designs have a real Japanese feel to them. I love washi papers, and these hold a similar appeal. I did find a necklace I would love, but couldn't quite stretch to the required £450. I will have to be patient and wait for a smaller piece to catch my attention in the same way. Her work can also be found here.

Kate McBride

Fantastically over-the-top ceramic tableware. Indescribable, so I won't try.

Katie Heeks

A new graduate, Katie had a number of her 'Gardens of Personal Delight' exhibited. Fabric was mounted onto wood, and laser cut into flowers and other shapes. They were then assembled in boxes to a create a style evoking memories of paper theatres I had as a child. The photos on her site really don't do these justice, and the use of battery powered LEDs within the boxes helped eccentuate the vibrancy of the colours. The varying depths and overlying patterns made me think of magic-eye pictures (but obviously far prettier!)