Winter Warmers

Brrrrrrr! Actually here in west Norfolk UK we aren't doing too badly with the weather, and today it is dry, no rain sleet or snow, but it is dull dull dull and I am COLD!!!!!!!! So food has been a great cheerer-upper, both the cooking of it and the eating of it. Also I have spent hours with a crochet-hook and yarn in my hands, hooking away like a mad woman. Some stitching too - bizarrely I am making paper-pieced hexagons. Not a lot of music playing, to be honest, just not in the mood for it. I am in the throes of post-Christmas ennui and finding it difficult to do anything which I'm not feeling passionate about at the moment.

So, here we go with some photographs of warming activities.

A wondrous smoked fish risotto. I used the poaching liquid - milk - to cook the rice, a bit unusual I guess for risotto - but it was luscious!

This is a stuffed and roasted pork loin. Well, two pork loins actually. The recipe was one I pinched after we watched the Hairy Bikers Comfort Food episode on television. It's a bit of a faff, and not something to whip up every weekend, bit it was delicious, went a long long way, and really is a bit of a show-stopper. Great for serving up to a bunch of friends!

A stuffing of fresh white breadcrumbs, chopped onion, stem ginger, garlic, eating apple and some of the syrup from the stem ginger jar really sets the very lean tenderloin off. I served it with a sauce made from the pan juices, ginger wine, and cream. No low-fat rubbish in this house!

What's off my hook?

This lovely (though I say it myself!) chevron shawl has been a delight to make. The pattern just tootles along, very relaxing and soothing. I made it with three 50 gram balls of DK  - pretty fine DK . Then I thought no, it will work better as a shawl than a scarf, so hooked another three balls. I love the colours in this variegated yarn, which is Rico Creative Melange DK in Pastel Mix. 

What's ON my hook?

I'm using up all the left-over Stylecraft yarn in my basket - I have a LOT of it! I'm making oodles of these solid granny squares and stitching together not randomly but not too concerned with clashes of colour . It's a great little  "as you go along" project, when you just want to do something un-challenging and you can make a square in no time… they all add up. I've no idea when this will be finished, and I don't really care. 

What's NOT on my hook?

Well, I blush to admit…. after my great enthusiasm to get cracking on the Moorland Blanket from Lucy art  Attic24, that I haven't begun mine yet. I had such a battle doing the tension swatch ; the actual pattern wasn't the problem, but the starts were weird, and I went wrong each time, so my finishes were incorrect too. The middle bits were OK because I fudged it, but I can't start the blanket in this manner, I need to crack the entire pattern first. I note that MANY people have been frogging row after row of the blanket - that's a lot of frogging! So not just me. Lucy assures us that she did too, and that the pattern gets easier as you go on, and I'm sure that's true. But I can't raise the enthusiasm to get going knowing `I am probably going to have to be ripping it out , maybe more than once, before it clicks. I feel very guilty. And I have to say I have NEVER had a problem with any of  Lucy's patterns before, she writes an excellent tutorial. No idea why this one is so difficult.

What's on my sewing table?

Well, I had no intentions of making another quilt. And certainly not a hexagon one. But I caught sight of some of my gorgeous fabric which I had been 'saving' for a special project (unspecified!). And I thought - why am I hanging on to these fabrics? At my age I need to be using it up! And stitching away at a few hexies really appealed, you can do a few , or work at the different stages, cutting paper templates, cutting fabric shapes, stitching a few together….. and so on. Very undemanding I guess. So the fabric I picked up was the Kaffe Fasset collection, and my even older Liberty Lawns collection which I've had knocking about for about 25 years. I've supplemented these fabrics with others of similar pattern. It was so liberating cutting into them!

I had a small amount of the bright roses fabric so cut six hexies from this, and made six granny's flower garden blocks. However, I didn't want that to be the dominant pattern in the quilt, so have softened the effect by attempting a random colour-wash effect around the granny patches. NO IDEA how this will pan-out, as I have no plan. But using these gorgeous fabrics is such a joy, it is really warming me up!

Working in these projects has brought lots of colour into my daily life, which is something I crave. Now I just need to find a sudden passion for exercise and I might feel a bit fitter. Until next time!

Kaffe Fasset and Open Studios

Last Saturday, saw Susanne and I off on another Textile Jaunt - this time to Norwich Cathedral. First we had a good look round the Biennial Exhibition of the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Dyers and Spinners, which was held in the Hostry and the Norwich School Crypt. Some stunning work here, and we got to chat to one of the weavers demonstrating her work as well. Too many photographs to include them all here, but a few to whet your interest.

After a pleasant lunch in the cafeteria we scuttled upstairs to the Weston Room for the Kaffe Fasset lecture  "Glorious Colour". Kaffe himself did not disappoint, and we all, I think, wanted to take his partner Brandon Maby, home with us, he was such a lovely man; however their slide show left a lot to be desired - a combination of intruding sunlight, and the quality of their slides led to less than optimum viewing. Although if you were a long time fan of Kaffe's work you probably had all the books anyway and had seen the original quilts and source-works. He is certainly a good speaker and we were well entertained for over an hour.

Sue and I were sat with a delightful lady - also called Sue, who, though born and bred in Norfolk, now resides in Thailand where she and her husband  own and run a beautiful hotel. Sue returns frequently to see her mum and her daughter but loves her life out there. Here is a link to her website -  www.thewaterfrontbophut.com Susanne and I have all but books our flights, it sounds so fabulous! Lovely to meet you, Sue and don't forget that airport pick-up!!

We left the Cathedral in a blaze of sunshine and strolled off to check out Open Studios at The Jade Tree in Elm Hill, a very old and interesting part of Norwich. A friend of mine from nursing days until quite recently rented space here designing and making her glass jewellery, sadly I left it too late to come and see you in situ, Bev!

 We did however meet a lovely oil painter and photographer  and chatted for some time in their delightfully cosy upstairs studios. On our way out we stopped to chat to Zoe Green www.weavingspace.com  a weaver and basket maker, who showed Sue the ropes, as it were, of Saori weaving. I had expected that Zoe and I would have one or two friends in common, Aviva, and Nick for example, but had no idea that she would also know my musical, basket weaving friends Rob and Julie King - what a small world Norfolk is to be sure!

We then walked to Pottergate, to find the new wool shop, Norfolk Yarn.  We were made very welcome and had a lovely chat with the owner  Becky - in fact I think I could have been hired on the spot to teach workshops had I been so inclined! I did feel the urge to purchase hundreds of skeins of yarn, but satisfied myself with just a couple.

 Took a few photographs and devoured visually the wonderful colour and textures of the glorious yarns in the shop.

This made us quite peckish so our last port of call was a cream tea in Roots. (have to say the scones were a bit on the dry side, but they were a nice crowd in there.)

So a really lovely day, full of colour and chats and tea and laughs. After a dreadful drive to Susanne's in heavy rain, the sun then came out and the rest of the day was like mid-summer, it was gorgeous.

Sunday I gave Yvonne the afternoon off at our Open Studios and settled down in her "studio" (living and dining room!) with my kindle and some stitching. I had a steady stream of visitors and sold some odds and ends, but had some super conversations. Especially lovely was a visit form Dc - her blog is Frugal in Norfolk. We have been reading and commenting on each other's blogs for some time now and it was great to actually meet up 'in the flesh' as it were! And later on a delightful visit from Gill of Dosie Rosie blog fame, and her friend Chris, we had a great chat and plan to meet up for coffee ...... lunch? in Holt when we can get our heads and diaries together. You know, blogging really does spawn some brilliant introductions, I've met some smashing bloggers in the last two years. You should try it!