Zoë's Knitting Bag

Reads and Beads

This eye catching cover caught my attention when I popped over to Cornflower's lovely blog the other day.  Cornflower, (go check out her Cranford Mitts, too), always makes me want to find more time to read and she has some great book recommendations.  It was the synopsis on Amazon that finally convinced me that I needed to order this and that it would be my type of book:

"In a cave set back from the ocean, on the coast of New Zealand, Louise and Schmidt hide along with two local boys frightened of being called up to fight in the Great War. But the sensual rhythm of the tango lessons which Schmidt teaches on that sandy cave floor will have devastating consequences for all of them. Two generations later, Schmidt's fiery granddaughter Rosa, running an Argentine restaurant, captivates a young man with the same sultry music that inspired seduction and deception so many years before."

With the weather set for rain, this is just the sort of thing to devour in the summer house during the early evening with the rain pouring down outside and a scented candle lit in the lantern.

I have had a little tidy up of my sewing box which was choc-a -bloc with stuff.  I thought the old macaroon box gathering dust would make a new home for my seed beads.  One day I would like to learn to embroider with these and am starting to build up a little collection.  Knitting with beads is nice is too, although the threading of the beads onto the yarn is incredibly time consuming.  For now I am happy just to look at them every once in a while, give them a gentle shake and pop them away in their little box.

Words & a Bookmark Swap

Once again, please let me know when you receive your swap parcel.  I would like to get this all tied up and the photos posted on the Flickr group as soon as possible.  Thanks.

Thank You Gemma

Yesterday I received my Words & a Bookmark Swap parcel from Gemma.  There is something delicious about receiving a parcel wrapped in crisp brown paper and tied with string.  The box contained hand dyed Blue Faced Leicester Aran wool and it was wound into a cake (something new to me).  The colour is beautiful and it's so soft to touch.  I think another pair of Fetching mittens which are ideal for Autumn dog walks.  The book is Jane Austen's Persuasion which I must admit have not read before!  I was also spoiled with some Lindt chocolate, pretty glass stitch markers complete with their own pouch and a crocheted flower key ring.  Gemma designed and knitted the book mark which is so pretty.  Thank you Gemma and thank you for being so enthusiastic about the swap and so nice to talk to.

 

Please don't forget to show and tell about your parcels, add to the Flickr group or send to me and I will add to the group.

Must dash as tonight we are off to see Sophie dance at the Britannia Pier.  The show is called "An Evening of Song and Dance" and is a tribute to Miss Wendy (Principal of the Phyllis Adams School of Dance) who sadly died last October.  There is probably no single family in this area who has not had at least one member of their family who has attended this dance school.  Myself, my sister and all our school friends used to go to the Ballroom and Latin dance lessons on Saturday afternoons and took the annual summer exams.  Sophie does Latin, Ballroom and disco and tonight she will be dancing the jive.   The costumes are always fantastic and I think we will all enjoy it, even if we have a few tears in our eyes. 

Bits & Pieces

Finally got round to blocking one of my Louisa Harding fingerless gloves.  I started these on Boxing Day and finished the first one in a few days but still have the other one on the needles.  The pattern is Swinstry from Winter's Muse Landscapes.  I still have trouble knitting with dpns and so was delighted to find that Louisa Harding patterns are knitted flat and then seamed.  I'm ashamed to say I get the laddering effect with dpns.  Can anyone help?  I have tried pulling the stitch slightly tighter before the change of needle and varying the point of changeover.  Not working for me.

The yarn is Jingle Berry in Merino/wool worsted weight from the really nice Dave of The Cabin Cove Mercantile and is slightly redder than this photo.  Sorry, Dave my photography is not up to your standard.  This beautiful yarn is hand dyed by Dave in Boston and has a lovely slight colour variation when knitted.

Last night was Twelfth Night so I treated my MIL to a Strawberry Pavlova as she has to undergo several major operations this year and returns to hospital next Sunday.  All this and losing her husband too.

Sorry this post is all over the place but is anyone else worrying about the effects the climate change appears to be having on our gardens (as well as the planet in general)?  The daffs and tulips are shooting through the soil and it's only just January.  What will happen to them if we still get snow?               

Some lovely Winter Jasmine on the garage wall.

I'm off to start reading this:

Don't forget to tune in to BBC4's re-run of the whole series of Jane Eyre tonight starting at 7.00 pm.  I will be glued to the box.

Rebecca

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier my favourite book .  I first read this as a teenager and have re-read it many times since then.  Each time I find something new in the book and I am always surprised by the ending.  To me no other dramatisation of the novel can come close to Laurence Oliver and Joan Fontaine's portrayal of the two main characters.  I have enjoyed the TV versions with Edward Fox's wife, Joanna David as the second Mrs de Winter and in more recent years their daughter Emilia Fox playing the same character.  I even enjoyed the live theatre version with Nigel Havers as Maxim.

"That's not the Northern Lights," he said.  "That's Manderley."

My Friday evening treat (after Gardener's World) will be to sit in the conservatory with a glass of wine, my feet up and  listen to Radio 2's part 5 of 8 of Rebecca.  Last week these particular lines I thought were quite apt to mention on this blog.

"I remembered I had left my knitting in the morning room before lunch, and I went along through the drawing room to fetch it, the faithful Jasper at my heels.  The morning room door was open.  And I noticed that my bag of knitting had been moved.  I had left it behind the divan, and it had been picked up and pushed behind a cushion.  There was an imprint of a person on the fabric of the divan where my knitting had been before.  Someone had sat down there recently, and picked up my knitting because it had been in the way.  The chair by the desk had also been moved.  It looked as though Mrs Danvers entertained her visitors in the morning room when Maxim and I were out of the way.  I felt rather uncomfortable.  I would rather not know.  Jasper was sniffing around the divan and wagging his tail.  He was not suspicious of the visitor anyway.  I took out my bag of knitting and went out. "

Although there is not much knitting going on at present.  I seem to spend so much time looking at other peoples blogs and never time for anything else.  Hope to improve this weekend.