Cables and Cake

Hello... it's been a while, but we're on holiday in Norfolk and the weather is rather damp today so we're having a lazy morning sitting around reading, knitting, drinking tea etc in the hope the rain might ease a little so we can walk this afternoon. So I thought it would be an ideal time to drop by this sadly neglected blog in the hope there might be someone out there!

It has been so long since I was last here I'm not sure where to start, but the one consistent feature in my life over the past six weeks has been knitting! My hand has virtually mended now and except for heavy lifting or bare knuckle fighting I feel I can tackle pretty much anything I did previously. (For new readers... I'm not in the habit of fighting, honestly!)  I'm sure knitting has helped to keep my fingers flexible. Mostly I've been making hats and have fallen in love with cables. I don't think any of this woolly headgear will be destined for me as I look about 103 in woolly hats... it's not a pretty sight.

Once I was able to wield a pair of scissors safely, I also cut out the fabric to make a new dress... It's the Factory Dress by Merchant and Mills since you ask. It's a lovely dusty pink linen that I bought over a year ago. I don't like to rush things! And it just so happens that it is a perfect match for the beautiful yarn that I bought from Whistlebare last week. I'm progressing from hats and intend to make myself an Aran cardigan in the pink, although the blue is already another cabled hat.

Talking of Aran cardigans, I have also been doing some surgery on an Aran jacket that I knitted over 40 years ago from yarn that my parents brought back from Scotland in 1978, bought directly from the mill.

As you can see it has been sadly neglected in recent years, often just worn around the garden or to keep me warm in the studio (hence the paint on the very worn cuff) It has been given a good wash, seams have been repaired and both cuffs have been ripped back and re-knitted, with a ball of yarn that was spun from my friend's Ryland sheep. And I have to say it is as good as new!

This is me wearing it about 37 years ago... I know because the small child I am dragging along is my eldest son and he recently celebrated his 38th birthday. Which makes me feel very old... maybe I really am 103 so it's no surprise that I look like an old lady in woolly hats! I do wonder if the jacket will still be going strong in another 40 years (when I actually will be 103 in the unlikely event I am still around). I have a feeling the jacket will outlive me and hope there will still be someone who wants to wear it.

In other news... there has been baking. As the weather cooled, the Aga was switched back on which means once again I have an oven and can bake. My lovely sourdough starter Vincent Van Dough has gently bubbled away in the fridge, occasionally being fed or being added to pancakes and is now incredibly vigorous.

So now it is supplying us with bread as well as pancakes.

Of course I have been making cakes too whilst still basking in the novelty of having an oven, after a summer without one.

So that's what I have been up to... as well as seeing family while we still can, getting out to walk, reading lots of books and generally avoiding the news. I think this might be the pattern of our lives for some time yet. I'm also continuing with my online teaching which fortunately is going really well as this morning I have had conformation of yet another face to face class being cancelled. Details of my latest class are in the link below but the best way to keep up to date with what I'm teaching is via my newsletter which you can sign up for via the link in the sidebar. I think online teaching is the future for me now and it certainly has its appeal without all the bags to pack and load in the car, not to mention the long car journeys around the country too.

Free Machine Fun - Thread Painting

So that's my news... how have you been?

Since I was last here...

You might have been forgiven for thinking that I had run away to join the circus but no, I've just been here, keeping my head down, doing this and that, nothing really worthy of writing about. I think maybe it has something to do with the time of the year, February always feels like a bit of a transition time... the space between the new year and spring arriving. Most days I have been trying to spend a couple of hours in my studio doing something creative. My 30 second daily commute is rather inspiring as the garden is awash with snowdrops and hellebores

It has been one of the lovely things about moving to a new house, that we are constantly surprised by what pops up in the garden. I didn't bother with my little commute today though... I've just sat inside the house watching fence panels come down. It's not safe out there!

I have been taking another short online course, this time with Este Macleod. I like her work and was interested in her techniques, but although I have found it a good course that is packed with content, it has been too prescriptive for me. And I have realised I don't want to paint like Este Macleod! I guess I already knew that but the journey to finding my own artistic voice feels precarious at times and it's hard to listen to that inner voice that knows what I want to do.

I did make a couple of finished pictures as a result of the course that I am quite happy with, although they don't feel authentically mine. There were a lot of very similar looking pictures from everyone else taking the course. But I figure learning what we don't want to do is just as valuable as learning what we do want.

I have also been making some acrylic paintings that have come straight out of my head - semi abstract landscapes inspired by my weekend in the Lake District last year.

Possibly not everyone's cup of tea but at least they feel authentically mine and that is important to me.   Even if a well meaning friend named the one below 'Blue Slugs on Autumn Leaves'. I believe it was an attempt at humour as he rapidly renamed it 'Tarns of an Autumn Dawn' which is far more poetic but I am trying to be impervious to criticism or otherwise about my work!

There's not a lot else happening really... I'm trying to create a new website specifically for my painting. My old textile website died quite a while ago but it was outdated and clunky to use so there didn't seem much point reviving it. I had to write html code if I wanted update it or change things which was a challenge to say the least. Now I'm battling with the challenge of Squarespace or Wix... anyone here have experience of either? I keep watching online tutorials that tell me how intuitive it all is but I'm not buying it. It might be intuitive to a twenty something but not to this old girl!

The running has had a bit of a hiatus due to painful knees. It feels like muscle pain rather than joints so I'm hoping I just need to take things back a notch. I was putting ice on them but came to the conclusion it wasn't really helping and just making me cold. The pain has gone now and I thought I might venture out for a gentle jog this weekend but I was working all day yesterday and I wasn't going to battle with the wind today. I'm not that silly... running is hard enough without adding in extra resistance.

I have also been knitting tiny little garments because after having a year of weddings in 2018 we are now about to have a year of babies. Eldest son and his wife have a son due imminently and then we have another two due later in the year. It is just a little bit exciting!

Oh... and I made a cheesecake which given the love hate relationship I have with this Aga was something of an achievement. The instruction 'turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven until cold' was a bit of a challenge for an oven that never gets cold and reminded me of why the only cooking I now do is what is absolutely essential. But we had friends over for supper last night and I felt I should at least attempt to make a dessert. All those cakes are a thing of the past though. You would think the weight would be falling off me but it's not!

So that's what I've been up to... what about you?

So This is November!

Oh dear.... nearly a month since I last blogged and November almost came and went without a word but I've snuck in briefly to say hello. I'm not even that sure what I have been up to but the days have been full and whizzing by as ever. Just a taste of what has happened since I last dropped by...

Painting

I've been doing lots more painting, including ripping things up, reassembling and then stitching into them. And I sold the one above which was based on my trip to the Lakes at the beginning of October.

I think I said in my last post that I had been doing a fabulous on line painting course with Louise Fletcher called Find Your Joy. I pretty much decided not to continue to the second course but then changed my mind. I've not regretted it and continue to churn out paintings.

I'm aiming for big skies and light open spaces. Maybe these will be ripped up and reassembled too!

Cooking

I'm trying really hard to like my Aga but it's really not winning me over. Admittedly it's rather nice to have it constantly throwing out heat now it's cold out but I don't enjoy cooking on it. There is so much moving things from oven to oven, the heat drops during the day and the more it is used and I just don't find it precise enough. Someone suggested that it is wonderful for doing a roast and yes, I have made an excellent roast dinner but no better than I could do in my old conventional oven and it took twice as long by the time everything was moved around the various ovens. What a faff!

Baking is a bit hit and miss too... good when it works but I've had a couple of disasters with previously reliable recipes. It seems too much hassle to get the thing removed so I'm just resigned to no longer enjoying cooking like I did. More time for painting I guess!

 

Teaching

I'm currently doing two classes a week in machine embroidery and book making. Current projects are Christmas Crackers... not the first time I've blogged about them.

and these little album style books. Full instructions for both are available as downloads from my Etsy shop... just in case you are interested!

 

Mosaics

I've been making lots of mosaics, mostly for a special project that will be revealed at the beginning of next month. Can't spoil the surprise and tell you what it is so maybe I'll be tempted back to the blog to tell you all about it before another four weeks have passed. Don't hold your breath!

I've also been decorating a tree for a Christmas tree festival in the church in our old village... and we have chosen our own locally grown tree from this village that will be dug next month. I've been catching up with friends and family over lunches and dinners, as well as meeting new friends over coffee. Books have been read, meetings attended and I have a new studio in the garden that is almost ready to move into... can't wait to finally get rid of all the boxes and stuff that have been cluttering up the house. And I have survived another month of no new clothes, which really hasn't been a hardship. And that has been November. I'm sure there has been lots more going on too but I can't recall exactly what else has been keeping me busy and away from the blog. Maybe see you again before too long if you are not bored silly with my ramblings!

The Aga Saga

I knew I was on dodgy ground when I said I wasn't sure about whether we would keep the Aga but I didn't expect quite the response I got both on here and on Facebook... there are some strong opinions out there! So just to put the record straight I didn't say it would definitely go and I did say there wouldn't be any rushed decision. Like the garden, we will live with it for a year, keep an eye on the electric bills and see how it goes. I like cooking with it well enough but probably no more or less than with my old fan oven.

Tonight I came in from a day working in London and it was good to put a baked potato in the already hot oven to have it ready in a little over an hour... although to be fair the fan oven only took five minutes to heat up. Of course, everyone was at pains to tell me I need an alternative cooking method for the summer months when the Aga can be turned off, but therein lies the problem. We don't have an alternative and the kitchen has been designed so that there is no obvious space for another oven and/or hob. And remodelling the kitchen is definitely not on the agenda.  I guess I don't really understand why anyone needs two separate cooking methods either... one for summer and another for winter feels a little extravagant! Our other problem is that if the Aga was replaced then we would also have to find alternative heating for the room in the winter. We first viewed the house in December and it was very cosy but without the Aga I think it would be rather cold. This week when the weather has been cooler it hasn't been too much of a problem to have it throwing out heat, at least nothing that can't be solved by keeping the windows open but last week it really was unbearable... although I guess there aren't really many days in the year that are that  hot. So like I say, there's lots to consider, for every arguement ther is a counter arguement and there won't be any rushed decisions, but thank you for your input!

 

On the positive side, I made my first cake in the Aga at the weekend and it was a resounding success. Just a simple jam sponge - four eggs (at room temperature) were weighed in their shells and then an equal weight of soft unsalted butter (butten softens very quickly near the Aga!) and sugar were beaten together with some vanilla paste until light and fluffy. The eggs were added, beaten in one at a time and the finally an equal amount of sifted self raising flour was folded into the batter taking cake not to over mix. It was divided between two 8" (20 cm) lightly greased and lined tins and baked for 23 mins in my baking oven (180 deg C or 160 fan). When cool, it was sandwiched together with jam, because I have a ridiculous number of pots of old jam that made the move with us, but other fillings are available.. buttercream, lemon curd, nutella would all work.

The result was a light, moist and very evenly risen cake so the Aga might well stay after all!