Goodbye Childhood..........

Years ago, I was commissioned to paint a very large fantasy painting to hang in a little girl's bedroom. The instructions were to try and include night and day, horses/unicorns, fairies, parrots, mountains, a castle and to generally let my imagination run wild. It was one of the most enjoyable commissions I have ever had, and took months to complete. It had to be painted while sitting on the living room floor as there just wasn't room for it anywhere else and it certainly was far too big for my easel. It was quite a challenge finding reference pictures to use and making it all tie in as one complete scene - I even painted the little girl and her brother as fairy children.

Last week I was contacted by the mother of this little girl to ask how to best store this painting as it was coming down - the little girl is now at secondary school and I guess the time has come to put aside childish things! Made me feel a little sad....but I thought it was worth another look, especially as all the recent work I have is just potatoes. What a contrast!

A Bear & Some Mohair.....

As an antidote to all the knitting of the denim blue shawl, I made a little felt bear and used some tiny teddy bear eyes that I bought from America - I think they work better than beads. He's not quite ready for sale yet - I'm still thinking about accessories.....

Next to the bear is my current knitting project, a wisp of a shawl knitted in Habu Silk & Mohair yarn, which is so fine it must have been spun by fairies! This has to be one of my favourite yarns of all time - for all it's delicate appearance, it is quite robust to work with and with it's fuzzy aura, it just looks wonderful in either a lace pattern or plain stocking stitch.

Painting-wise, I am incredibly busy this week with a fridge full of potato specimens awaiting their portraits - I have painted 3 and a half since Sunday, 5 and a half to go until the next lot arrive, as well as finishing the top leaves of the plant painting.

I Got The Blues......

For the past fortnight or so I have been making this shawl. In the past, I can usually make a shawl in about a week if I really go for it and knit every evening for a few hours. This one really took a lot of effort! It is made using a thin cotton yarn in denim blue, which I originally bought a couple of years ago to make a light, breathable hat for my brother-in-law and was left with just about a full cone of it. The dye came out as I worked and I had to scrub my hands clean after knitting.


It began with 400 stitches to make the slightly scalloped edging, and slowly decreased to end up with the finished triangular shape. I think it looks a bit like a moth's wings when spread out - I had trouble finding a large enough piece of floor space to photograph it on and had to stand on a chair to fit it in the lens! When it was completed, I brushed it with a dilute bleach solution to make it look like battered and faded blue jeans - hopefully with time and washing it will fade even more and gain character as it goes.

This will be up on Etsy later on - of you'd like to snap it up before then, contact me at the e-mail address above. It will be £50.

If You Can't Find It, Do It Yourself (..or why I'm feeling a little smug today...)

If you were to follow me around the shops (please don't though, I'm paranoid enough!) you would quite often hear me rant about the sudden decision to take a product I like off the shelves for good. It seems that if I, or any member of my immediate family, express a liking for something readily available from your average supermarket, that is the signal for some higher power to withdraw it from circulation - I could make a list...but I won't.

Today's cause for exasperation (other than the usual fruitless hunt for Chappie Chicken & Rice dog food, which might as well be the Holy Grail in my town) was Waitrose's continued lack of Cypressa Filo Pastry. Having lived in Greece for many years, we still enjoy Greek cooking and I regularly make a family favourite, Spanakopita (spinach pie), and have so far been able to almost keep it authentic by using this filo pastry from Cyprus. Last week it wasn't there and I had to buy a nasty English subsitute which shall remain nameless but was gummy, alternately stuck together and fell apart and made for a very sub-standard pie. Today again there was only this revolting stuff on the shelves and I threw a small tantrum, stomped off and decided I'd damn well make it myself......something I never managed to to with any great success when living in Athens!


But after sifting the flour, rubbing in the olive oil, adding egg & water and kneading vigorously, it actually started to look like it should do. I even managed to roll it to the thickness of a piece of watercolour paper...


...and it covered the base of the pan perfectly and held the spinach mix with no leaks.


It made a lovely smooth top....


....cooked to a crispy golden brown......


...and tasted delicious!

In your face Waitrose, you can't defeat me, I can make my own damn filo! Now, about that dog food........



My daughter also wanted to have a go at cooking and made the apple pie on the left with the bare minimum of help. She has Down's Syndrome, so this was quite an undertaking with so much fiddly preparation involving her fine motor skills - I'm very proud of how she got on and can't wait to sample a slice later on today. On the right is a jam tart made with the remainder of the pastry and home-made berry jam - not pretty, but oh so tasty!

Slow & Steady......

If I've been a bit quiet this week, this is the reason why. I've been working away at this potato plant for nearly a fortnight and it is very painstaking and time-consuming, but thoroughly enjoyable to work at my own pace for a change rather than rushing. It took me three afternoons to map out the leaves using a selection of photographs taken of the actual plant. I blocked them in using the approximate colour and tone, and I am now working my way through them painting in the detail. I have completed the bottom left hand section and am on my way around anti-clockwise - no particular reason, just the way each leaf is leading on to the next.

I am saving the flowers until last - firstly because they are very pale and need to be painted on top of the green to prevent ragged edges, and secondly because I'm looking forward to doing them!

This is painted in acrylic on Dalerboard.

Knitting-wise, I have been labouring over a lace shawl in a denim cotton yarn. A slightly unusual combination, but it seems to work. As it began with 400 cast on stitches, this project is a little labour intensive as well - thankfully it is decreasing with each alternate row to getting easier as I go along.

I'm also counting the hours until school breaks up for the summer and I can have a rest from the day job for a while....I'm tired!

If You Can't Afford It, Make It Yourself!!

Where I live there is a lovely little jewellery shop that sells all silver pieces in contemporary designs. I have to walk past it every time I use the car park to go shopping and can never resist having a look in the window as there is always something I would very much like to own...in fact, I wouldn't turn down the chance to possess each and every shiny thing on display! But times being as they are, I can't justify spending the supermarket money on pretty things.....

Occasionally, however, it is possible to re-create something using what I have in my craft stash, which is what I've done with the above necklace. I've been drooling over this one for a couple of weeks now, and found some beads that would be suitable while rummaging in the bargain bags at the Gem & Bead show, and the rest I already had in my collection, so it was just a matter of putting it all together. There are a couple of differences - the large round bead should be wooden and the thonging should be double, but I am very pleased with the results - and all for under £5!

Lend us a Squid...........

One knitted squid, complete and ready to go off to his new home. I've added glass eyes once again to this pattern - makes the whole thing so much better, seems to pull it all together somehow. This was quite fiddly to do (those tentacles!!) but a lot of fun - I might just have to make another one...

Treasures......

We went to the Gem & Bead fair at Farnham yesterday - what lovely, lovely stuff they had! I could have spent an absolute fortune on beads and findings but restrained myself and came home with the above. I've not made much jewellery over the past year as other commitments have taken over my creative life, but this little lot has given me some inspiration to start up again. Watch this space!


While I am still painting potatoes, at the moment it's something slightly different as it is the book cover. It's going to take quite some time, but is already very enjoyable - note how I've done the 'boring' bit first, saving the leaves and flowers for later!

Knitting.......I'm making a squid for someone! Nearly finished, should be done by this evening.

Can I Have A Doggy Bag, Please?

I don't know about the rest of you dog owners out there, but I seem to carry an awful lot of paraphernalia when I walk my dogs. There's my keys, phone, tin of doggy treats, plastic bags, tissues, gloves/water bottle depending on the weather, as well as a couple of tennis balls. In the winter I can just about get away with jamming it all in the pockets of my battered old dog-walking jacket - a sad charity shop find in army green that could probably walk itself with over ten years of accumulated grot and grime embedded into it, despite being washed.....occasionally......

But in the summer, particularly when we have weather like last week, the last thing you need when you are crashing through the undergrowth in pursuit of a high-speed saluki is a hot jacket or even a waistcoat. So when Cat at Raggy Rat asked what I would like in exchange for three knitted snails, I had no hesitation in asking for a dog-walking bag. Here it is.....


She's done a fantastic job - it's the right size to fit everything in comfortably, the strap is long enough to go over my head so I can have the bag on my hip for easy access, the zip makes getting to the contents quick and easy, and it is also very, very pretty! I gave it a road test (field test?) this afternoon and it is perfect - I could even fit my camera in there with no problem. Thanks Cat!!

One Skein Wonder

Here's a little something that was great fun to make. It's from a pattern in this month's Yarn Forward magazine and I have used some yellow, peach & purple soft varigated yarn which makes it look very summery. It is a narrow wrap, probably no more than 8 inches at it's widest part, with a fancy lace edging. The plain knit part has used the short row technique to get a curved shape, and there is a cast off picot edging at the top. Doesn't that all sound very technical! However it is constructed, it is very pretty although not for anyone with broad shoulders (like me :0(....) If you are interested in giving this a home, contact me.


Here's my little grey dog, now with his back legs and tail and he's had a bit of a brush to make him fluffy and even cuter than he was before. He is awaiting the rest of his accessories - coat, bed, bowl & toy - in order to look for a new home at a local summer fair this Friday. If he is unsuccessful there, he'll go on Etsy - or you can snap him up first by contacting me!SOLD!

A day off from potato painting today, but a big project coming up this week when I buy the appropriate sized board - a whole potato plant, roots & all. Interesting..........

No Wonder I'm Tired!

Apart from completing the aforementioned snails, this week I have........


...completed three potato paintings..........


...made a special glass bead and wire wrapped cross commissioned by a friend of mine.......


...knitted a fuzzy grey dog (although he has yet to have his back legs attached!) and knitted the lace edging to a summer wrap.

In addition to the craft projects, we have had Ofsted (school inpectors) in at the school where I work, which meant some stress & overtime; Sports Day - I was in charge of a team (what were they thinking?) of infants, charging around in the blazing sunshine yesterday afternoon - we came seventh out of 11 teams, so not too bad; my daughter's leaving 'do' at college; and everything done whilst being very tired due to lack of sleep because of the stifling heat in our house. Some nice little boy yesterday gave me a 'Well Done' sticker - I think I deserved it!

Snail Trail........

I'm very glad these three snails aren't real and on the rampage in the garden! Instead they are part of a swap with Cat at Raggy Rat - in return I am to get a custom-made dog-walking bag, with room for all the bits & pieces needed and a nice long strap for slinging it over my shoulder as I need both hands free most of the time. Swaps are such fun!

I'm going to join the ranks of Brits complaining about the heat - phew!! I used to live in Greece but didn't suffer as much out there as it was a dry heat, not the stifling humidity we seem to get here when the temperature goes over a certain level. Not helped this week by it being 'Sports Week' at the school where I work in the mornings, so lots of running about and being energetic when all you want to do is sit in the shade with a nice cold drink!