Vintage at Goodwood 2010

Yesterday the long awaited Vintage at Goodwood was finally upon us. It was great. We started the day meeting up with friends who live near the site, and made our way to the festival ground about noon. Having obsessed about not forgetting the tickets, placing them ready in my bag from the night before, an ill thought out plan to photograph them before leaving home resulted in them remaining in our dining room all day. Bum. Luckily the nice people on the gate were able to check our booking and let us in without paying again. Phew! As someone who prides herself on time keeping and organisation skills, I took this failure rather hard. There was plenty to distract me from procrastinating too much though. The all important outfit was finished in the nick of time, as I completed my socks for the event the night before. They are another Japanese inspired Judy Sumner design, and I've made them here with a silk/merino blend from Malabrigo in colourway Redwood Bark.

As has become a tradition now, here is a photo of the goodies I came home with. Very restrained for me. There were hundreds of Vintage stalls with lots of lovely things, but I had promised only to buy if I saw something I felt I couldn't live without. I tried on a couple of things but they didn't fit. Probably for the best... The souvenir brochure was a hardback annual, enduring evidence of the thought that went into the whole event. Design heavy, nothing was remotely ugly or out of place all day.

Even the wristbands were cool. Holographic vintage watches, no less.

Here I am, relieved to have been let in despite not having the tickets with me (phew again) in my self-crafted, vintage inspired get-up. Very thoughful of them to produce the brochure to match I thought.

M was looking rather dapper too, although not vintage (maybe just 25 years early?). The great thing was that enough people dressed up to make it special, but there were enough of us in 'civvies' not to feel left out or awkward.

I'm not sure if you can discerne it from this photo, but Martyn collects pin badges for the strap of his satchel. He politely declined my offer to buy him this gem... (My sister and I had the 'vintage' edition of 'Happy Families' these were mounted on. Does that make us old?)

Some revellers really committed to the look. Only mobile phones betrayed the fact that all was not as it seemed.

We spotted curator Wayne Hemmingway a couple of times during the day...

The centrepiece of the festival was a pop-up main street. It was like walking in a pop-up book of our youth, and was ambitious to say the least. Complete with a pub, art cafe, cinema, many shops and even an Indian take-away. All as expected looked beautiful. Is this the most glam Oxfam shop you've ever seen? Mary Queen of Shops - eat your heart out!

John Lewis has never looked better. It was lovely to see lots of people getting involved, learning to knit, crochet and sew.

Another highlight for me was a sewing school run by a company that shaped my childhood wardrobe (and now my adult one), Clothkits. I was keen on a new fabric made for them by Mini Moderns, but even I couldn't justify nearly £30 a metre having had half the year off work so far. It was designed for a skirt kit, and given that I have nearly 15 skirts at the moment, I was wanting to make a dress with it. One day maybe.

Whilst in Clothkits, I came across this lovely knitting/sewing box. Is this the coolest knitting box ever?

The answer came just seconds later. No, this one is. Red wins every time when you're me.

A little further along in the day, I found something else to grab my geeky attention. As a seasoned fan of all things Scrabble, a vintage travel set was rather exciting. Unfortunately they were props for her stall and not for sale. She smilingly told me they were quite hard to come by. I couldn't help but notice she had two. Now that's just rude! I did however admire her partners' jewellery made with broken watch pieces and scrap charms. There is one on the right edge of this photo.

The DeLonghi art cafe was bedecked fittingly, and M blended in rather well.

Airstream buses were very popular throughout the site for stall holders, 'glampers', and there was one particularly fine example up for auction.

The Chap magazine staged it's very own Olympiad at the festival this year. Cucumber sandwich discus, Hop, Skip and G&T and the Pipeathlon featured. The Pipeathlon required the brave chaps to keep a pipe lit whilst sauntering for 10 yards, cycling 10 yards, and travelling the last 10 without his feet touching the ground. Being carried by friends and the classic 'wheelbarrow' were employed in the round we were witness to.

Next up we have the Bad Art Studio, which was hilarious.

Check out this politically ill-advised gem...

Alongside the Bad Art was the Bad Taste Disco.

(In my best Jim Bowen voice) And here's what you could have won!

This Meccano scultpure was growing throughout the weekend...

...and the Rollerdisco was a big hit!

Even Banksy made a contribution.

We headed over to the main stage to see Martha and the Vandellas. IT WAS FAB!!!

Under sufferance, M joined me to see Swing Out Sister. I'm not sure how familiar the rest of the world is with their work, but my sister and I spent many an hour singing along to their first album thanks to our parents.

Here is a selection of other low res pictures from the day.

Until next time! x

Knit Nation 2010

Yesterday was the first Knit Nation knitting expo in London, as as you can see, I took full advantage of the situation. I cleared the credit card and gave myself permission to spend what the hell I liked for one day only. It had the desired effect on my psyche and I was actually quite sensible. There were lots more yarns I could have bought, but took notes instead for future possible internet purchases. I think I have enough projects to be getting on with for the moment. I was thinking of knitting a chunky cardi from my 'French Girls Knits' book, but worked out the yarn would set me back nearly £100 and I would need to buy crochet and knitting needles especially for it. If I loved the pattern it would be OK, but a bit much for something you just think you like the look of. I had quite a green day on the yarn colour front, which wasn't particularly intentional and quite a surprise when I looked back. I'm usually all about the red/pink/purple! I also got my hands on a deluxe set of interchangeable Knit Pro circular knitting needles for £25, some Knit Pro dpns and a gorgeous smelling knitters hand balm from Easy Knits called 'Baking Day'. The skein of ripped fabric was from Tall Yarns 'n Tales, and was made up of recycled saris. I made a rug for Mum at Christmas by crocheting strips of t-shirts which worked very well. The range of colour in each skein was appealing so I thought I'd be able to encorporate it somewhere.

One highlight for me was meeting blogger and knitting designer Ysolda Teague. I took a sneaky pic of her with my camera phone as I was utterly enchanted by her beautiful outfit. Looking at her blog, Ysolda oozes style and looks this good all the time. Some thing to aspire too!

Another great stall was the Rohrspatz and Wollmeise stand. They had literally hundreds of skeins in an array of colours and baskets full of laceweight yarn. They were selling the laceweight in 1550+yd 300g skeins which was great. £30 per skein, and enough yarn for most projects without the worry of running out (fingers crossed!) or matching dye lots. Here is a rather fabulous sock on display at their stand.

My only disappointment was that I was expecting a much bigger event. I think the classes were a key element of the event, and I hadn't signed up to any. Being more used to the marathon days at Ally Pally for the annual Knit and Stitch Show, I think I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed. SO, only one thing for it - to Loop! Unlike at the opening, I had the whole of upstairs to myself at one point which was a real treat. I was very restrained (or so I thought), limiting myself to 10-14g balls of yarn for the 'stained glass window' project. All went to pot when I realised they were nearly £10 each!!

M had caught the same train to London with me, and we went our seperate ways with a plan to meet up for the train home. We both had a bit of time to spare, so met at Nelsons' column and walked through Leicester Square, Covent Garden, the Embankment Gardens and through to Waterloo. There was a food festival on at Covent Garden (funnily enough with oysters! - See last weekend), and here are a couple of photos taken by the Hayward/Royal Festival Hall. The street painting was unbelievably beautiful and intricate, and there was a community project called Festival Morrinho - a minature city built of bricks by young people in Rio de Janeiro, in partnership with young people in London.

Another extravagance of the day took place at Paul A. Young's of Islington. I first spotted them on the TV show Mary Queen of Shops, and by coincidence it is but a few doors from the new Loop! I heard of a Marmite truffle and knew I had to try it! I bought a selection of truffles to share with M, in such flavours as Goats cheese with lemon and rosemary, Pimms and mint, Masala spice with cinnamon and white chocolate with salted sesame seeds. I bought a box of white chocolate slab with rose masala spices (coconut, black cumin, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon and rose buds). You wouldn't of thought these spices worked with chocolate but I can assure you it does! The masala truffle is genius! The photo below is me cuddled up in my PJ's ready to experience the Marmite XO chocolate bar. The truffle is more mixed in, but here there is a discrete thin layer of Marmite within the bar. After a small piece I am as yet undecided. When the flavours mix properly in the mouth I can see the joy, but initially my poor brain was a bit confused! Not sure. As I write I have just tried the goats cheese fondant cream. That I am sure about - fresh and lemony with the slightest hint of rosemary running through which works fantastically with the deep chocolate. Well done Mr Young!

Oysters, Vintage shopping...and knitting

I finally got the socks finished! It only took me a month! I'm pleased with the results though - just got to wait for it to get cold enough to warrant me wearing them. They're the first short row heels I've done and quite enjoyed it. They are a lot quicker to do and less fiddly to pick up the stitches than a heel flap. They are also my first toe-up socks, and I don't think I'll be doing that again if I can avoid it. The cast on is really fiddly to get a good tight toe, and on the first sock, I cast off too tightly and couldn't get it over my heel to wear! Had to unpick and consequently have messed up the back of the cuff. Bit annoying but not really that noticeable when they're on. Here is an underexposed photo that better shows the lace detail. It was simple but effective to achieve that was quite quick to grow once I got into it.

Last weekend was the Whitstable Oyster Festival. Click here to see more photos from their website. I got this picture from Google images. It's rare to see street food looking so classy, but people all along the harbour were eating from plastic plates bedecked like the one seen here. Perfect with a Whitstable Oyster Stout. M and I had takeaway whitebait with a squeeze of lemon. A first for us in takeaway form and one I hope will one day be adopted more widely.

A highlight for us in Whitstable is always Keam's Yard. It's a little lock-up gallery on the beach that is crammed with a mix of interesting new art and vintage furniture. It is rare for us to come away empty handed and this time was no exception. We found this lovely little art deco enamel electric fire. It has a couple of red bulbs in the bottom, but would need a bit of electrical work to make safe. We are planning on leaving it as a decorative piece. It fits in brilliantly in our front room which is painted entirely white with polished floorboards and prime, bold design dotted around. That's the idea anyway...

Finally, I've been making sample squares of crochet and knitting for a while now, especially when I was first learning. It gave me chance to try different techniques without commiting to a whole project. The plan was eventually to stitch them all together to make a sampler blanket. This week I decided I had enough to make a decent size blanket for the car, so set about it. I also have lots of other projects in the pipeline and wanted to move on from this one. As you can see, Tilly is ever helpful in these matters.


Despite cat interference, which at one point involved both cats fighting and wrapping themselves in it mid-stitching, I finally got it finished. I think my favourite pieces are the slipstitch colourwork knits towards the left of the picture. The left edge, second square up is a zig-zag design, then there is the blue/white diagonal striped square and the cream/orange greek design.

Here it is adorning the back seat of my beloved motor. Lovely.

Currant Affairs

No photos today, I'm afraid. Forgot to take my phone or camera to the allotment. Doh! Today was the day of reckoning for our currant bushes. We have been on the allotment for a few years now, and inherited massive gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes, and about eight crowns of rhubarb. We had until now just left them to do their own thing (knowing nothing about soft fruit) and could rely on a good crop each year. This year however, reeling from neglect, we have been punished! The gooseberries have done much better than we initially thought, with a yield of about 3lb. The blackcurrant was however a resounding disappointment. I decided we needed a drastic prune to improve the fruiting for the future (possibly not next year) and to tame the beast taking over half the plot! I cut back about half of it as directed by the trusty BBC Gardeners World website. It looks great and I've made a coulis for dinner with the scant fruit available. We'll have to wait for winter to tackle the gooseberries and rhubarb.

Working has been very poor for crafting and reading in general. I've not done that many sessions this week, but paired with trying to get trim and being a good friend, I've not had many minutes spare. I'll have more to share soon - I hope!

Exciting news. Ta da di da da: We are off to Canada for a month next year. All booked and no changing our minds now. We tend to stay in the UK for camping holidays and festivals for our usual holidays, and then once every 4-5 years we have a big trip. The last one was a road trip round the south island of New Zealand, and this time it's Winterlund in Ottawa. Can't wait!

Flowers!

This week has been interesting for me. After a long enforced rest brought about by sickness, I returned to work. Great for self esteem and bank account, but a bit of a shock to the system if I'm honest. Glad to report it felt much easier by the end of the week. The unfortunate side effect of actually having a job (of sorts - I'm self employed and book work where and when I can) is that I don't have so much time for crafting and blogging. The horror! Because M and I have relatively little time together, we have decided to make the weekends count by making an effort to go out. Today was gardening day.

As I have said previously, we are lucky enough to have an allotment rented from our council, and M works incredibly hard to put veg on the table. Up until recently we have shared the plot with friends, but now work the whole area. M has allowed me a raised bed to plant flowers, the idea being that we don't have a sunny garden at home in which to grow things I like, and it will help to encourage the bees. Above are pics of todays work, and below are stock images of the flowers I have planted. If you have never smelled chocolate cosmos, it is a revelation. Gorgeous. We have two types of lavender for cakes and scented pillows etc, marigolds for colour and edibilty and other bits for pure prettiness. There is a good range of foliage for year round interest (they seem to say that a lot on gardening programmes) and I think they all have long flowering periods so we'll have colour all summer. Next to the plot we have a home-constructed obelisk with sweet peas, and a small bush made up of lemon balm and oregano. M has also planted sunflowers along the end of the plot which will look lovely. I wonder if he'll let me grow a globe artichoke... (they're huge but pretty AND edible)

So, we have down the middle:
Gaillardia 'Goblin'
Liatris spicata 'Kobold' - otherwise known as a 'Gay Feather' (tee hee)
Euphorbia martinii

Lavenders in 2 corners:
Lavendula 'Blue Star'
Lavendula 'Fathead' (tee hee again)

Other larger plants:
Cosmos 'Chocolate'
Petunia 'Littletunia Ultra Purple'
Marigold 'French'

Small filling/trailing plants:
Brachycombe 'Blue Champion'
Bacopa 'White'


Lastly, on the allotment front, our little patio apple tree is doing rather splendidly this year:



Apart from finishing one sock, I've not got much more to report on the craft front. Photos only permitted when I have two! We have discovered via Radio 4 that there will be a vintage design festival at Goodwood next month. Check out the website - 'tis FABULOUS. We have booked a day ticket for the Saturday and can't wait. Now to plan outfits for the occasion. Mmm...