Darning, cooking and reading

My favourite cardigan, hand knitted using hand-dyed yarns by a Newcastle lass called Lorrie Marshall. I have three of her pieces and wish I had a dozen more; when I can afford them I buy them at the Knitting and Stitching Show. This one has been worn and worn and worn, and, indeed, has become very worn - into holes. You can't tell in the photographs but the yarn is very fine.

Ooooh, not a good thing to happen at all. Funnily enough when I discovered these holes I happened to read a blog-post about darning, I THINK written by Sue at The Quince Tree. It spurred me into action.
So I thought I'd do a spot of darning, using some hand-dyed (not by me!) yarns,and I think it worked quite well.

And I did one hole and was quite pleased with it, when I spotted some pieces of silk velvet knocking about the sewing room. Aha! Thought I, I'll PATCH the other holes. So I did, and I love the look. In fact, I'm not going to worry if any more holes appear, I shall continue to patch this garment until it is more velvet than yarn. How lovely will that be?

On the cooking front it has been soup.....roasted buttenut squash, mmmm.

I'd like to say I wiped the edges of the jug before taking the photo but have deleted the wrong one! Hah!

And this  someowhat brown, worthy looking sloppy mess on the Rayburn is actually a mixed grain risotto, to which I added some seafood , along with the leeks, garlic, mushrooms and spinach. That was GORGEOUS! The change in the seasonal weather has made us long for rib-stickers and warmth!

On the book front, I have been in a bit of a dry sterile kinda place, and unusually for me, unable to settle to read much. So I was putting some things away upstairs in the spare bedroom when I paused by the book shelf and picked up an Iris Murdoch; I suppose I've got about eight of hers. Anyway I started The Bell and really enjoyed it all over again - must be about twenty years since I first read it! Now I'm half-way through The Unicorn. Murdoch's books, to me, seem quite formulaic, in a very Intellectual Manner. For instance, she sets them always in a very rarified environment, with an isolated group of characters who don't seem to have any existence away from the plot. There is always an air of menace and sexual repression, and High Anglicanism or Roman Catholicism play a large part. Lofty academics are in abundance, and there is usually a stray homosexual with self-doubts to add to the boiling pot. They are books of their time, and would not and could not work today; attitudes have changed so much.(Fortunately, in the main!) I am enjoying the writing, though. I remember buying the first one, An Accidental Man, from a book club when we were first married and penniless. I had never heard of Iris Murdoch, and it was like a door opening for me into the literary world, though I had always been a reader.

Since starting to re-read these, I have been introduced to two new (to me) authors, from Blogland: first The Cornish House by Lisa Fenwick...thanks to Maggie at The Reading Corner,(bookloversplace.blogspot.co.uk) and also Red Bones, by Anne Cleeves which is from her Shetland Trilogy. (Actually I have read the first one, Raven Black, I remember now.) I found this reference on someone elses blog but I'm afraid I've forgotten whose.....leave me a comment if it was you, it was definitely one of my regular favourites!

Oh, and on the Listening front, I have mostly been head in the clouds listening to the new cd by Triette, my melodeon tutor's band which is absolutely wonderful. I now want to learn ALL the tracks on it!  wish there was some way I could enable you to listen on my blog, but you can hear three tracks if you go to www.triette.com and have a listen. I am struggling to learn the last track, Special Reserve, it is so lovely! Have a listen, they are superb!

Well, that's your lot this time, you'll note it was going to be a short post.....(sigh) oh well, I hope you enjoyed it! Catch up again soon..........