Wednesday 27 January 2021

The Man In The Moon

 

A strange nursery rhyme indeed - has anybody any idea what it is about? Pease-porridge [or pease pottage] is a thick savoury pudding, made with yellow split peas. often served with ham. Not a dish I have  ever cooked. But I do enjoy regular oat-based porridge - a hearty breakfast on a cold day. Our recipe is 1 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1 cup of milk and a pinch of salt. I know that each family has their own favourite method. Bob has promised that once he is retired, he will turn me a proper porridge spurtle on his lathe.

George likes porridge. At the moment, George likes most food - and cheerfully gives his Mum a High Five at mealtimes

I saw this rather attractive textured Sirdar Pattern and asked Steph what she thought. She liked it - "it looks like porridge"

I downloaded the pattern and knitted it up in some oatmeal coloured DK I had in my stash. The pattern is very simple - only 4 rows to remember [ A - knit, B - purl, C - k1p1, and D- p1,k1below] It does look quite porridge like!

I recently treated myself to a tin of knitting clips. They have proved very useful - holding work together safely. No risk of accidentally leaving a pin in the garment - or on the sofa where I sit to sew. 
I have just used them to hold fabric when sewing on the machine -- equally good results.
Porridge in his tummy, and on his jumper -George will be well equipped to face the cold weather in Manchester [or Norwich, when he next visits East Anglia]









18 comments:

  1. My brother and I grew up wearing jerseys in that style more than 65 years ago.
    They kept us beautifully warm in the cold snowy Derbyshire winters.
    As you say George will be warm as a bowl of porridge in his.
    I suggest that you start one for Rosie too.
    Sue

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    1. I'm not sure I've got time now. Too many boxes to pack

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  2. Thank you for sharing that cute video of George enjoying his meal time! The "porridge" sweater is cute, too! :)

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    1. I love the way he grabs his mum's hand and kisses it.

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  3. That's such a cute jumper! I'm feeling super tired this morning as I sit on the train and a good bowl of porridge would perk me up no doubt. I seem to have reverted back to my 'eat virtually nothing till the evening' being in school. Very hungry!

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    1. Kezzie, you need your energy boost in the morning before you get into the classroom, if you're going to manage the whole day in school. Teaching is even more stressful right now. You can always put the milk/oats/water in the pan the night before, and it will cook quicker next day.

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    2. I honestly don't have the time. I barely manage to drag mys3kf out of bed in time to get the train. Such is the difficulty of living so far from work!

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  4. That's a very smart jumper! You have inspired me to delve into my box of knitting patterns and bag of half knitted jumpers.....why have I never heard of knitting clips before? They look SO useful! With a tin of those I might actually finish something....sewing together is the bit I find so hard to do!

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    1. Check them out on the Internet. The jewel colours mean you don't lose them (and if you're doing something exact, they have markings on the lower "lips" so you can line them up exactly)

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  5. A big treat when I was a child, porridge with a spoonful of golden syrup!

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  6. And no doubt he will have porridge on the porridge jumper - we certainly had porridge and everything else on everywhere, including me. It is a beautiful pattern though. I used a youtube sewing video recently where the lady used clips instead of pins and it did seem to be a very speedy option. I have been thinking a lot about you this week - I am at the 24 pompoms last stage of a blanket a friend asked me to make. Last week at Hookery we were discussing your fork/finger method. Any tips on making identical pompoms much appreciated - it feels like a Bake Off challenge!

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    1. The only way I've made identical pompoms is to cut matching cardboard circles to wind on, and weigh them before snipping the loops, to ensure they are approx equal weight.

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  7. I'd like that jumper in adult size! It looks very cosy!

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    1. It's in the post to Manchester - waiting for a picture of George modelling it.

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  8. I have slightly different words in my Man in the Moon Nursery Rhyme from the Oxford Book, given me by my Godmother when I was about eight. I've used the book with all my children and now my piano pupils as they don't teach nursery rhymes in nurseries or schools these days. According to Wiki, it first appeared in 1833 in the Original Mother Goose book. It's origins could be several - an 18th century broadside lampooning someone for something or it might be tied up with reflections of the moon in sacred pools which can be medieval in origin.

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    1. Thanks for this Sarah - I'd forgotten about people looking at the moon's reflection. So glad that you are passing on the old rhymes to your pupils!

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  9. We eat oatmeal each and every morning with blueberries. George is just adorable and so enthusiastic! And I like the porridge-yay sweater. I just bought some of those clips but I haven’t used them yet, they are just so cute!

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