Unbought Delicacies: 20/12/2009

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

A very merry Christmas from me

Just a note to wish you all a very happy Christmas - I hope it's all you wish for and more - have a lovely holiday. I'll be back after Boxing Day, and in the meantime, have a listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f1VPUO96X8&feature=related

Monday, 21 December 2009

Winter Solstice

Time to bring out more candles and decorate the house with greenery - now done, the sitting room looks very festive. The holly and ivy were cut fresh from the garden, the mistletoe bought a while back from the farmer's market. Every year I try to get it to grow in the apple trees by squashing in the berries; no luck yet, but I keep on trying! The Yule log is ready to come indoors.
It's very cold here today; the sky is heavy looking, and it could very well snow, which I would love. I've just turned the stove up for supper - beef stew and dumplings tonight I think - and the woodburner will be lit soon, the curtains drawn, and in for the evening, setled down with some knitting and a glass of something nice.

Blessings to all on this winter solstice.

Sunday, 20 December 2009

Knitted mini festive bunting

I'm pleased with the way this turned out; it's for a forum swap, so I'll have to make another string for myself! It's a good way of using up little bits of leftovers - this one used some chunky red, handspun multi sparkly green and some really fun twinkly white, which I think give the whole thing a lift and a fun feel. The little triangles are knitted individually, then joined at the corners and across the tops with crochet; an alternative way would be to just take a couple of stitches at the corners. Add on a string to hang by at each end, and it's ready to hang up, or drape on the tree. Very adapatable - make the triangles any size you like, all different colours, all one colour, anything at all - can be adapted for seasons (eg browns and oranges for autumn), or occasions, eg baby colours for a newborn, pinks for a girlie bunting, etc.

I used 5.5 mm needles and chunky-ish wool, and knitted in garter (plain) stitch.

Cast on 12 stitches and knit 2 rows.
Next row: dec 1 st at each end of row
Next row: knit

Repeat last 2 rows until 1 stitch is left on needle, draw yarn through and fasten off. Darn/weave in ends.
Make as many as you need, then join in one of the ways described above.

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life