Counting down to Nuit Blanche. Nuit Blanche is an exciting "cultural all-nighter" presenting contemporary art events from dusk to dawn. It enlivens cities all round the world such as Paris, Berlin and Toronto, and 2010 is the debut for Reading. This first year will be a small but magical series of indoor and outdoor events on the night of 15/16 October. The Nuit Blanche Reading website will list the program organised by partners OpenHand OpenSpac … Read More

via The jelly

an early start in the drink department

Mel found the only over sized deckchair

stirring up the witches brew

celebrity spotting, from The Knitter, Simply Knitting and Knit on the Net - there's a theme there!

some knitters

the deluxe mannequin with realistic looking legs

Okay, putting my hands up – we had so much fun, just really wish you could have all been here.

Next time?

Last weeks tea party was wonderful, we managed to haul 24 deckchairs from the Forbury to make up the numbers of seating already borrowed from Picnic and our own chairs, bake an excessively large number of cakes, lay out the china, stroke yarn hand dyed locally by Skein Queen, see the first prints of the new book, Vintage Gifts to Knit by Susan Crawford, marvel at Felix's marvellous Tea Museum, try on Emma Bradbury's new pieces and scatter Patchwo … Read More

via The jelly

So to get you in the mood here’s a small jelly to warm your appetite up.

jelly, Kate Kessling

We’re putting the finishing touches to things tonight, waiting for Susan to arrive from Liverpool and see the brand new book for the first time. You can get a sneaky preview right here. There are so many designs from the book I already love and I am overly excited that the skating skirt Susan created by my constant badgering is included too – so we can all have ice skating skirts – everyone needs one. I can’t wait to see Susan’s shots of the skirt and her styling, probably better then my pigeon toed interpretation.

So apologies here is another gratuitous skating skirt shot….

I particularly love the new mens sock pattern ‘Father’s new socks’ ~ I love them to bits and wish that my dad would wear them but it may be too hot where he lives and I think I’d cry if I made them for my OH, yes he would love them but he wouldn’t get that he couldn’t wear them under his steel toe caps on stage work so maybe I’ll have them instead.

bottles from Patchwork Vintage

The china is already there ready and waiting, some is my family china – passed down from a Great Aunt and some is being lent to us by the wonderful Patchwork Vintage . They rent out china and are sponsoring our event for the book launch. They are so very lovely and generous and there will also be some of their handmade gorgeous textiles on display too.

tea set, Patchwork Vintage

I am having butterflies already about the event, you know the good kind that I always get before a preview: what if no-one comes, what if more people come then we have tea cups for, what if I forget my outfit, what if I forget the door key, what if I oversleep (really I should make 5pm!), < typically ridiculous stuff but oh so very normal for me.

So instead I will think about all the good things like seeing friends again, making new friends and seeing all the goodness that Skein Queen will be bringing with her.

So on that note I’ll remind you to not forget to come for tea, see you tomorrow, I’d better go and rustle up an outfit (and maybe I’ll pack it now just in case…)

Tea Party

None of it would be possible without all my amazing friends who are running round negotiating urns, cups, china, designing posters, rustling up pom pom signage, getting deckchairs from the civic gardens, smiling at my request for astro turf and then there are the VIP guests Susan Crawford and the Skein Queen.

I hope you can come and make it, it’d be lovely to see you – dress as you wish, I am secretly hoping that it’s tea party style…………

Finally a happy knitting picture, rippleseas armwarmers for whirly when we are surfing or to give them their real working title “whirlys surfygirlreallylongarmwarmers”. I may have to re-think that title but it says what it is.

whirlys surfygirlreallylongarmwarmers

So today we saw a cat in the pram

a cat in a pram

(no cats were harmed in the taking of this)

The cat in the pram was in the newly finished beautiful house; a house with an astro turf hallway and amazing natural light. The house that had visitors viewing works in the Open Studios and studying girls preparing for exams and younger girls playing the recorder so it was probably just a normal day in the beautiful house filled with beautiful artwork with a beautiful family, a dog, a cat and a picture by my friend Jo, a memory from the Art Fair.

So now I find my children inspired by the post-it note revision almost installation type event and I’ll suddenly be learning a lot more every time I move around our house but in the meantime I want to finish the owl jumper making started yesterday for whirly (here’s one I made last year for someone else) and the surfygirlarmwarmers (pictures to follow).

right, off to find those post-it notes notes

So, since the last post, here is a few months of my life in a few pictures and words:

Bama on the beach at Christmas

New Years Eve, London

much snow

even more snow

knitted an ice skating skirt during the winter olympics

had a leaving party at jelly

went to Unravel with Debbie

moved to a new office

went surfing

finished the zig zag blanket

did some more knitting

hung some work in empty shops

looked at some paint that had dried

worked on a secret project with friends

Just sending you all some knitty love and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas x x x

see you in 2010

And whilst I am eating it, it’s reminding me of last week and yellow things and cake and knitting and how I never got home at a reasonable time any night (not because of tripping the light fantastic but work and meetings and openings, although the openings are good). I wish I could come home at a good time one night this week, just the one at least but I know it’s a rollercoaster of a week. Then I remember that 3 weeks from today I’ll be packing to go and visit Mae and Pai with thing 1 and thing 2 and a suitcase of yarn to make up projects, and some christmassy things.

This is them, my Mae and Pai looking younger and we are all looking very yellow loving in our home made dresses. I’m the one not looking at the camera.

My gorgeous younger brother is not in the picture, he wasn’t even born then, he arrived with orange hair when I was 9. I know he’s been reading things I witter on about here and there as he asked what he was getting for Christmas (I had mentioned if you were female and related it would be knitted) well last night I got him a handmade present, not by me but handmade so that counts right?

Back to last weekend, which was a parents evening followed by X Factor Dress Rehearsal and then with the knitters at the afternoon tea party. Ysolda was launching her new book and the outcasts were the hostesses. Skeinqueen and the talented Emma Bradbury were showing their wares too. There are more photos here courtesy of Ysolda and even more here .

Then Sunday night was lovely, knitting with company who also were knitting and chatting and staying up way too late for the week that was to follow. I’m all for an 8 day week then I might have a chance of doing everything I want too – the week that followed contained workshops deliveries, covering someone else’s workshop, meetings, teaching at knit class, two exhibition openings and working on two projects, sunship and Open for Art. Open for Art is nearly ready to reveal…

I’ve one commission to finish this weekend, before on to a major knit commission for someone and some test knitting (hopefully photos next week). So I’ll sign off and think of yellow things whilst the sky is grey outside.

So the paper dolls is finished, it was very quick to knit and was just evening time easy knitting slotted in round everything else but I had a target that I wanted to wear it to thing 1 & thing 2′s first parents evening at their new school. Not sure why, maybe to take the teachers off their guard or as a kind of apology for their madness by showing it’s their genetic stock? But it made me feel good, many people commented on it and it kept me chirpy during a long evening. The other half wasn’t there for the first 2 hours, he was building something for Parliament and it was hard juggling twins and teachers and slotting everyone in. My downfall came when one teacher was running substantially late…. anyway, we were home eventually at 9.30!!

So that is done and this morning I have been up preparing for our house guests, Ysolda and Sarah. The launch of Ysolda’s book tomorrow is at jelly and I have been baking fairy cakes and banana loaf, tidying the house, changing round the sleeping arrangements – it all seems a bit rushed this morning an dthat is becuase we are out today and I’m worried that I’ll never catch up.

We’re off to the dress rehearsal for X Factor, my other half works on the show and we’ve never gone (in fact there are many shows we never see that he works on). The X Factor is incredibly over subscribed so there is a more chance of flying pigs then for us getting tickets but today we are going to the dress rehearsal. This is significant that we will all see my OH (sometimes I see him when the children are at school), we don’t get to see him often in daylight….

So we will see the rehearsal, have a chat with the OH then have the excitement of tomorrow to contemplate too.