Stitching Old Things To New Life

I grabbed this one in the library on the way to the
checkout machines, it was on the end of a shelf and I liked the cover. But I never looked inside till I got home. And found it to be a lovely read! How serendipitous is that? 

Molly Martin tells how her favourite socks wore out, and her Mum showed her how to mend them 

using a darning mushroom. And she loved the idea of reinforcing the thinning stitches, restoring the socks to a new life. She has been stitching and mending ever since. She became an artist and textile repairer, and now works with the company TOAST to teach others to mend. 

This book is a distillation of all she has learned about mending, told through the garments which have been restored. 

Mollie brings the global vocabulary of mending to us - Japanese wabi-sabi [beauty in imperfection] 

and boro [tattered] where patches of fabric are stitched, layer upon layer

to make stronger, padded garments. Mottainai [not to waste] Then there is the Sanskrit word kantha - layering old saris and dhotis to make quilts. The old English word hussif - a contraction of housewife meaning a portable sewing kit [first on print in 1749] These were  used by men as well as women, 

notably soldiers across the world - from the American Civil War, through the Crimea, WW1 trenches and the Vietnam War.  And back to Japan again for sashiko ['little stabs] a reinforcing technique - and to Levi Strauss, who realised that adding copper rivets to his jeans meant they would last longer and could be patched and mended over and over again.

Her book is filled with stories of special garments mended by herself, or by friends. It is beautifully illustrated, and she devotes lots of pages to describing tools and techniques, so others can do mindful mending. And this slim volume is peppered with great quotes about repairing and restoring. I have copied them all down in a pretty notebook Kirsten sent me, and will be sharing them with you sometime. 

This book is a joy - learn about Mindful Mending - the history, the vocabulary, the techniques, the pictures, the stories. Even if you do not sew yourself, reserve it from the library to enjoy the read! *****

Happy St Withburga's Day

My apologies, St W's Day was actually yesterday, July 8th. But I only discovered that at 5.30 in the afternoon. This saint is not particularly well known outside of East Anglia - but she came to our town 1350 years ago and founded a nunnery. And she is commemorated on our town sign, which spans the road leading into the Market Place.

Her story goes like this ...Anna, king of the Angles had four daughters. He died in 654, and one daughter, Withburga came to Dereham. Here she founded a nunnery. The women cared for the community and built a small church. They had little money or food. One night the Virgin Mary appeared to Withburga, saying ‘Send two of your women down to the stream every morning, where two does will stand to be milked’. This they did, and so there was milk, butter and cheese for all. The news spread, many came to ask for help. The Reeve became jealous and set off with his hounds to kill, or drive away the deer, but his horse stumbled and threw him, and his neck was broken.

The years passed, Withburga died, and was buried in the churchyard until a suitable shrine could be built. When the time came to move her to her final resting place, the coffin was opened, and her body was found to be whole and uncorrupted as on the day she died. One story tells how one of the men reached and touched her cheek with his finger – whereupon the maiden saint blushed at the sacrilege! Then came the Danish invasion. The nuns were scattered, the nunnery destroyed. But the church and shrine escaped, and when peace returned, became the parish church. Many pilgrims came to pray at the Saint’s Tomb

In 870 King Edgar gave all the monasteries destroyed by the Danes, and the cathedral at Ely., into the care of the Bishop of Winchester. The bishop suggested that Withburga, should lie at Ely with her three royal sisters, but Dereham folk did not wish to lose their saint. So Ely monks gave a great feast to the men of Dereham and when they were all drunk, they stole the Saint’s coffin. Next morning, they found the grave desecrated, the coffin gone. They chased after the monks, but it was too late. Returning to Dereham, they found the empty tomb had filled with a spring of clear water. Pilgrims continued to come to pray, and drink the holy water, which to this day has never run dry.

Years later, at the end of the eighteenth century, a Bath-house was built over the spring, in the hope that the town would become as famous as Buxton nor Bath. Described as ‘a hideous building of brick and plaster’, it was never popular and in about 1880 it was removed and replaced with iron railings and for years was smothered in ivy and ferns, the water green with duck-weed. 

Since 1950 it has been cleared, the ivy replaced with climbing roses and rock plants, and the water kept clean. Every year on a Sunday near St Withburga’s Day, a special service is held. In a few week's time, Katie is organising an event at the museum, and wanted a Withburga Mouse to head up her display. So I have been busy today creating the Saintly Mouse. 

So now you know!
Does your town have a special Saint?

I've Sent A Cable

 A cable [or cablegram] was the historical name given to a message sent by an undersea cable. Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the iron-hulled SS Great Eastern, which laid the first transatlantic undersea cable in 1866. My great great grandfather was on the crew of the ship at the time, and very proud of being there.
For my latest DoubleKnitting contribution I decided to do some cable knitting.

I have not knitted any cable since we retired. My last bit of cable work was at the end of lockdown in September 2020. I knitted one of my niblings a cable jumper for her new baby. It was from my much used Sirdar Baby book, and has a run of two cables centre front. Almost identical to #27 Double Cable in the book! I am really pleased with the definition of this latest pattern – it astounds me that just swapping the positions of 6 stitches can make such a huge difference. So much texture, you can follow the twisting ‘ropes’ all the way up. So very clever.

Pinning the square to the bedspread made it much easier to photograph. I did two identical green squares, Kirsten opted for pattern #34 Allsorts, but instead of using a selection of different colour yarns with a black line between, she used balls of random 'self striping' yarns. She says "I used a fluffier yarn which slowly changes colour, so I didn’t do the stripy pattern in the instructions but just kept on going. I think I prefer the more muted shades, and I like the way the fuzziness blurred the stitches and the colour changes.
I found it a bit tricky to keep track of where I was. The double decrease every other row makes it more complicated than just marking the centre stitch and decreasing from there as the actual centre stitch gets knitted into the decreases along with the stitch on either side."  she added
"When I’m knitting mindless squares, I mark the centre stitch and just K2tog immediately after on every row. Much easier, and no thinking required. There’s quite a difference between ‘mindful’ knitting and ‘mindless’ knitting! "

The way you start with casting on two edges and then keep reducing at the centre to make the diagonal is intriguing - ending with just one stitch to cast off at the top corner.

Summer Is...

 ...Days Of Syrup Sliding Off A Silver Spoon

My first squares for our new "Double Knitting Collaboration" new. I did Block 195; Ridges from The Book. This was one of the patterns chosen my good friend Heather. So my first attempt was using a random yarn in heathery shades, with a white contrast. I tried white with heather ridges, and heather with white ridges. Neither worked! The weather was so hot and sticky – like days of syrup sliding off a silver spoon.
Then I found in the stash a soft cream yarn and also a golden yellow. Silver and Syrup. Milk and honey. These did contrast well, so I knitted up the square in both arrangements. I can’t decide which I like best.

I am fascinated by the way that a very simple 4-row pattern [3 plain 1 purl] makes this neat ridge pattern, and would work well even without the contrast. I am delighted by the fact that we both started with a ridge pattern!
These are Kirsten's squares Block 10; Horizontal Ridges. Her pattern has ridges which are twice as deep, and is done in a single colour. She posted me the bright blue, and kept the grey marl.

This was the flat gift I sent her - it seemed appropriate!
She gave me a pretty little notebook

Blocking notes
I cut two 6” squares from a brown card envelope, misted the squares [both sides] with lukewarm water, and pinned them neatly to the cards,
then left them overnight to dry. We need to keep our pieces straight and true!

Read more about these first squares on Kirsten's post today

Shedloads Of Stuff

We held a yard sale on Saturday, to raise funds for the Men's Shed. Bob in the coachhouse with lots of tools and stuff, me round the corner, under the Shed's Big Red Gazebo, with stuff that wasn't tools or shed related. We'd told our neighbours we were doing it, and half a dozen others joined in with their own sale tables. The weather was kind, we had publicised it widely on Social Media, and put a big sign out on the main road.

There was a lot of fetching and carrying, and a lot left.  
We had a few visitors, not a lot - and made about £30. I am beginning to think that sewing BBQ aprons was an easier way of fund raising! A couple of guys expressed an interest at coming along to Shed Sessions, and I had good chats with some of the locals and their dogs*. 

Over the course of the weekend, Bob has developed a nasty cold, and I think I am catching it now...

Today will be a Slow Day - I don't think I should go to Craft Group in case I have a sneezing fit. 

A quick mention of  Heather, who has been following Tracing Rainbows since March 2015. I did not know this till we actually met in person last autumn, and I discovered she lives less than 3 miles away. So we meet for coffee and chat sometimes. She has become a really good friend - I hope she has a lovely day today, as it is her birthday. 

* speaking of dogs, my latest sewing challenge from a neighbour "Ang, can you mend this do you think? It is my favourite bra, I left it on the bed, and the dog has chewed right through the strap!" [if I manage the repair, will she become a bosom friend?]

Great Oaks From Little Acorns Grow

Sometime I must ask Ann just why they call the Toddler Group "Little Acorns" I mentioned yesterday that the lady at the Fete from the local council had been very interested in our group. She gave me a nylon zip bag and two plastic folders and hoped they would prove useful.When I got home, I unpacked them in the kitchen

Would you believe this amazing hoard?

The contents were: five quality books*, thirteen activity cards, two booklets (songs and games)  one finger puppet, one headband, one  set of "feelings" cards,  one Orchard Toys boxed game, a safety mirror, a wooden pig and a cow, a stress ball, a pot of bubbles, one-minute timer, chiffon cloth, foil blanket, biro, box of crayons, and two Norfolk Council information sheets. 

I reckon at least £40 worth of materials. The activities cards related to the books too, so you could plan a morning's activities round the stories. Ann was really astounded at church on Sunday to receive this bag of goodies. She asked if the lady was giving them away to lots of people - I said that nobody else came up in the whole time I was near the council display. Which is a real shame. [* including a proper Julia Donaldson lift-the-flap one]

Thank you Louise, from Broadland Council for your generosity!

Are you involved in any sort of Toddler Group or activities with Preschoolers? 
Have you come across any positive support for young families in your area?

Of Mice And Museum

 These were the mice I made two years ago for our local Museum

This year the theme is Sport In  Dereham, so the mice are all wearing hats and scarves in support of Dereham Football Club, aka The Magpies. 

Katie has planned a new trail and more mousey mayhem for the summer. Bishop Bonner's Cottage Museum opens today for the summer season.

Well done to all the team at Dereham Heritage Trust. 

In other news, our next door neighbours have discovered mice in their loft. Cornerstones is semi detached. I'm hoping these little creatures don't get through into our space! I do not want them nibbling through my new wallpaper books!

🐭 🐁 🐭 🐁 🐭 🐁 🐭

Bonnie The Mouse even got a mention on the BBC Radio Norfolk breakfast show on Wednesday! 

They Never Expected That!

In the old days, my parents went into the shop, selected their purchase and handed over the cash. They could see the size. and weight , and quality. Now we order online, and pay with a card, and within a few days, the product we have chosen is delivered to our door. Or is it?

Years ago I had to alter a fancy dress costume for a slim young friend. She had ordered 32/34 thinking it was the bust size. It wasn't, it was the American dress size [bust 60"+]! It could have been a 2-man tent. I altered it for her, and had an awful lot of spare camo fabric left over.

Then there are those people whose supermarket online orders come with very bizarre substitutions. "a birthday cake candle, number 5" being replaced by 2 and 3 [because 2+3 = 5!]  

And others who order patio furniture or cupboards, only to discover they are sized to fit a doll's house. One of my loveliest birthday gifts this last week was a cross stitch kit. At least, that's what my friend thought she was ordering. When it arrived, it was simply the pattern chart, printed out on three sheets of paper. She was, understandably, concerned - she had expected fabric and threads to be included. 

Was it of any use? Fortunately I have some evenweave fabric left over from the 2024 project with Kirsten. And lots of threads- all recently sorted, I can line them up with my DMC shade chart and sort out the exact threads I need. What might have been a disappointment has actually turned out to be an excellent Stash Buster. Thanks C.

Have you ever received a delivery which was not what you expected?

I Have Seen The Golden Sunshine

🌞Wednesday dawned bright and sunny. It was a rare Wednesday-Without-Shed day, and Bob was eager to get out and enjoy the weather🌞 I'd had a bad night, and woken with a headache. After he'd brought me breakfast in bed, it seemed churlish to say "I need to stay home and do housework"

🌞We got in the car and drove up to Deepdale Market on the coast. We stopped briefly en route to investigate a sign saying "Bric-A-Brac - Everything £1" I bought a sign which amused me, and Bob bought a filthy pair of pincers. We drove on to Burnham Deepdale, the sky was so blue, and the countryside so green...

I do love the mural in the alley way to the pop up craft shops. Not much of interest, but two lovely ladies were selling handmade jewellery and knitted accessories in aid of Duchenne UK. They were sisters, and one was the gran of a boy who has DMD. I treated myself to a kilt pin brooch for £5 - decorated with sewing notions and a Manchester bee. 

After a jacket potato lunch we drove home stopping in Fakenham, for milk in Lidl and a mooch round the Sue Ryder shop. I found a book

A simple cover, with fantastic contents. Years ago I got this from the library and knitted Steph the fingerless gloves for her birthday, then made half a dozen pairs as Christmas gifts. The book is divided into four sections with seasonal items to knit, sow, bake,craft and grow... 

Here is a photo of Steph's gloves from 2009

I shall enjoy reading this book again, and maybe I'll have time to do more of the projects. Some are pictured below. The illustrations are clear, with good templates and photos. Worth £2 I think. Altogether I spent £8, plus my spud. A good day out. I'm deciding where to put my sign, Bob polished up his vintage pincers the moment we got home. They look splendid. 

"o

I am not sure why we should" beware children playing". I think "be aware of children playing" probably would sound a little kinder. But the sign made me smile, and I love that children come and play in my garden.

This week's sunshine has been lovely. I hope the weather is kind where you are.

Occasional Tables And Other Musings

Lenny Henry once asked "What are 'occasional' tables doing the rest of the time?" A good question**. When we first met, Bob was surprised by the number of little tables around my tiny flat. This was the 1970s, and preIKEA. but Tricia Guild and Terence Conran were everywhere flogging cheap chipboard table kits plus round cloths... I confessed to Bob these were not tables - under the fabric were piles of plastic crates, full of school worksheets, Sunday School resources, haberdashery, tools etc. Hidden storage everywhere.
Nowadays we have cupboards, a loft and a workshop. But occasionally I relapse. Like when the family are coming, and I clear everything hurriedly into a stack in the spare bedroom. And throw a quilt over the top. And I warn Jess and Rosie - please do not go under there, as there are sharp things and breakable things which you mustn't touch. Bless them, they are very good about it. 

But they are back in London now, and Tuesday morning was spent tidying. It was a very productive exercise! Whilst tidying up, I found

• my box of vegetable seed packets [which I have been hunting for more than a fortnight] 
• my box of felt pieces [mislaid after the French Hen Project] 
• my packable waterproof jacket [I had to take a heavier coat to Bewilderwood] 
• my folder of small cross stitch designs

The sun was shining so I abandoned tidying briefly and planted some seeds, then came back to the task in hand. Whilst I worked, I listened on BBC4Extra to "Growing Solo", about retired journalist Max Cotton and his year long food self-sufficiency experiment [2024] . It was interesting - he only ate food he had produced himself, or found growing wild. So no tea or coffee, no Worcester sauce or exotic spices... Spoiler alert - this was not Tom and Barbara in the garden of a suburban semi. Max lives on a small farm in Somerset, with an attached vineyard, whilst his brother runs a nearby small-holding. So he had room to grow wheat, keep cows, pigs, chickens and a beehive...as well as producing veg and fruit [and grape juice] I am not sure he would have achieved his goal without the support of his wife and family.
I am never going to achieve self sufficiency with my little plot at Cornerstones. But I hope to grow plenty of veg again this year, and I am pleased to note the fig tree has dozens of tiny figlets.  
**Lenny says that "the rest of the time, these tables are dining or nesting"

The Chapel At Easter

The windowsills at Chapel were well received. In previous years we have had bunnies and eggs and chicks and jars of fresh flowers. But as I seemed to be without helpers, I took the line that less is more. I made some green fabric runners from the Great Stash, and then each sill had a couple of pot plants, a card with a Bible Verse or two, and either Willow tree figures or a cross. I prepared everything at home, and took a photo beforehand, showing which verse went where.

The plants looked so pretty in their wallpaper collars. I did discover that every window is a different size [the building is 200+ years old!] but the one sill I had measured was fortunately the largest, and folding, pinning and using blutac kept everything looking good.

Maybe less 'busy' than previous years, but I think they did the job.

Bob made the stands to support the crosses [which normally hang on our study wall] I created an Easter Garden on the platform. A cloth covered the table, and at the top was the cross draped with purple ribbon and a crown of thorns. Below, fresh plants, and an empty tomb. Not sure if the brief video will show the flickering tealights inside, which reflected beautifully against the gold foil. 

And I used lots of wallpaper to create the stone surround, and the green frieze in front of the plant pots! After the service, the small plants went into little paper carriers with cards ["These Easter flowers come with love from Foulsham Baptist Church. Christ is Risen!] for distribution to other. I have already had two messages of thanks from people who were really touched to have been remembered.

Now get on your way quickly,  and tell his disciples and the others that Christ is risen!

  

What I Did In The Holidays

Start of term, our writing task. . The highlight for me had been going with my Mum to a rather posh Garden Party. I was 6, and had to present some flowers to the important guest of honour. All summer, I'd practised presenting [not dropping] said flowers,  smiling and curtseying to The Lady.

I wrote about the garden, and the cakes, and then wrote "I gave a bokay to a Lady" My teacher didn't know what a bokay was. She interrogated me at length about this word. I tried to explain to her, I even showed her how to curtsey. She asked the class, and none of them knew about bokays. "Angela, I think this is an imaginary word you have made up." Everyone laughed at me. I cried tears of frustration. I thought everybody knew about bokays, after all, the Queen has them. When Mum collected me from school, she explained about the bouquet. But I was a miserable wreck, and felt the Most Important Day in my holidays had been belittled. But that was 1961, now I am happier talking about holidays!

On Monday morning we went to Felbrigg Hall [NT] and did their splendid Easter Trail. Bob borrowed a mobility scooter and he was able to accompany the Jess and Ro on the whole trail. The scooters are a free service and very well organised. The girls played games on the grass, built dens, found clues, and made music in the woods. The trail cost £3.50 each, but they received a quality chocolate egg at the end. 

Monday afternoon we made Easter cards, and then made and decorated pizzas. The girls had a sleepover.
Tuesday we did more crafts - painting rabbits, and making baskets for egg collection. Jess had asked Grandad to make a sign for her door on a piece of bark she'd found. It was rather soggy, and when Grandad explained, she was happy to have a sign on a better piece of wood. He made Rosie one too.

Then on Thursday I went with the family to BeWILDerwood. Bob and I took Rosie to this theme park back in 2023, for an evening event, I had never been in the daytime before. It was great fun with treetop walkways, zipwires, mazes, slides, and other energetic activities. Plus gentler stuff - facepainting, crafts, story time, puppets, a boat ride and facepainting. And another Easter Trail to follow. We were there from 11am till 4pm, and really enjoyed ourselves. 

Overall verdict: all good, 5*venues.

The NT day was good - three of us have membership, and Jess is under 5, so we only had to pay for the Easter Egg Trail. The snacks from the food caravan were very generously sized - the girls shared their chocolate brownie, and I took half my pasty home for later. Facilities for the less mobile were excellent, and all the staff were so friendly and helpful. 
BeWILDerwood was a little more expensive [but we spent 5 hours there]  Unlike Felbrigg, where we saw lots of people clearly doing Granny-Duties, at the theme park, there were far more parents-with-children. I suspect that is because there is a lot of walking, and terrain is a bit bumpy for mobility scooters. [Bob was busy anyway, so didn't come with us]
That said, it is very well laid out, with lots of places to sit down if your little legs [young or old] get tired, and plenty of clean, well maintained loos dotted about the site [no need for surreptitious Tree Wees!] The food cabins do not charge excessive prices [we took a picnic, but bought hot drinks when it turned chilly] There were picnic benches and well labelled litter bins.  

Again the young staff were engaged and relentlessly cheerful. They were word perfect in recounting the stories of the Twiggles and the Boggles, and Cedric the Easter Bunny. 
As we left, the girls each got bags of sweets for completing their worksheets. We were all very tired but happy.

Those are some of the things I did in the Easter Holidays, and we were grateful for the opportunity to spend time with the family. I hope you had a good Easter too...

Easter Eggs

 My French hen has a sister! 

Floral Frusta Frustrations...

A frustum [plural frusta or frustums] is the solid shape formed when you cut the top off a cone, or a pyramid, with its top parallel to its base. The other way up it looks like a paper cup or a flower pot. This was my challenge...

We usually decorate the chapel windowsills for Easter Sunday. But for complicated reasons, it seems I will be doing this on my own on Saturday morning. 

I took the decision not to spend hours wrestling with cut flowers in small jars, but to buy some pretty pot plants from the local nursery. Afterwards we can add gift cards, and distribute them to the nick and seedy of the village [oops, that should probably say sick and needy!] 
But plastic plant pots are not terribly attractive and need to be covered. This was when I realised that cutting a piece of stiff paper to wrap a frustum was not an easy task! I worked it all out mathematically then realised it was not practical to attempt to draw a circle 72cm in diameter.

I found two empty flowerpots of the right size, and rolled them round on a piece of old wrapping paper, marking their edges as they rolled. This gave me 2 templates. I used these to make the final wraps. And yes, dear reader, I did use one of the wallpaper books!

It was called 'Linen' and had dozens of shades of paper, with a linen-like texture. I chose shades of cream and gold, and made 10 templates. They are simply fastened at the back with two paper clips. I have prepared the other parts of the display, and so all is ready to go in place on Saturday morning.

I also used some fabric from the Great Stash to make runners for each sill, to protect the woodwork from any dampness.

All that is left now is to print off the gift cards which will go with each plant on Sunday,

I love Easter, a glorious celebration of the resurrection, our eternal hope, and a reminder of God's eternal love. It is right that the building where we worship reflects that joy.

Do you have any special Easter Decor?
Bonnets, bunnies, lambs, flowers....