A Year Like No Other...1

 

Some people, I know, have kept a diary throughout 2020, especially during the Lockdowns and some have had 'Lockdown Projects'. Had I thought of the idea, I don't suppose I would've managed to do either successfully. Looking back through my photos has been far more rewarding in my eyes and I am surprised to find how much I had forgotten about or misplaced in my memory - a testament, perhaps, to the weirdness of 2020; it has dragged but it has also gone by remarkably quickly. It feels very odd and wistful to realise that when I was doing some of my activities in the early part of the year, Covid 19 was not on our radar; Brexit was on all of our minds.

Two of the major themes running through this year for me have been baking and making...a totally serendipitous mix with nothing really planned..... 

To try and cater for a special birthday that fell during the first Lockdown, which meant that not only the celebratory family trip to Cornwall had to be cancelled but so was getting together, I made cupcakes instead of a big birthday cake so that we could all share some despite not being able to have a birthday tea, except at either end of computers. 

I made a card....

........and a corsage

I long ago lost track of the number of biscuits I have made...

From number 4s....

....via...

....'Sheepy' ones.....

.... and my version of Garibaldi biscuits...

....to number 5s (which I forgot to take a photo of). I also made a lot of number 9s....

There were also, sausage rolls, Scones and Welsh Cakes...

Last but not least (because they are quite difficult to make) some ice-cream cones to enjoy the homemade ice-cream with..

A lot of Sourdough bread was produced together with a variety of other baked goods and new recipes for meals tried out. 

To start the year, I made a birthday badge from my own felt.....

I also did quite a lot of hand spinning and one of the items I made of some silk yarn was a shawl. The next was a weaving to go in our bedroom which has the seaside a its theme..

This was followed by a need to knit a Ballet cardigan.

The knitted cushion cover I made next was included in my last blog post as was the rainbow bag I made from handspun yarn.  

The piece of work after that was something I wouldn't have tried had I not been joining in a workshop; it was an embroidered Selfie. I found myself using fabric paints which I have never used before but it turned out to be quite a creative exercise, even though the outcome wasn't exactly flattering 😆

As well as embroidery, it has felt to represent the garment I am wearing and the glasses are fabric and cellophane. I used sheep's fleece for my hair and a few beads from an old necklace for the earrings. I felt it warranted being framed even though I look - if it does resemble me at all - about 90!!

My next project also came out of a workshop.

It's a tiny, woven bag made by using a small cardboard loom and a selection of my bits of hand spun yarn. The button must 50 years old as I can remember covering it but not what it was put on.

My little embroidered Bee allowed me to do some Goldwork, which I especially enjoyed. It was another workshop project.

All of the family had hand-knitted Poppies, either to pin on or to clip on to a zip (by request).

Around this time, I began a project of my own that I had wanted to do for quite a while. Not the kind of knitting one can watch television doing...

I really like the Vintage design.....

....which I am knitting in Shetland wool but I am sure it is evident why it needs concentration. Not only lots of different yarns but also, the light button/button hole bands are knitted on smaller needles. Fortunately, I have some very short ones which fit the purpose. I suspect it is going to take a long time to finish this.

I tried knitting a hat but have more or less decided to unpick it because I don't like it and so I won't wear it....I do however like the Indigo-dyed yarn which came from our own Ryeland sheep and I don't want to waste it.

In total, I made 3 Christmas cards; two for a Guild exchange and one from the family.

I must've forgotten to photograph the third one.

The final two items were a knitted necklace, which was a workshop project and the other, a Face Mask decorated to reflect a theme; a Guild Challenge.

I saw the theme of the Mask as Around the World in Eighty Days.

There were two more projects associated with workshops. One I completed, the other is still a work in progress because I had number 9 badge to make....

 and it was getting near to Christmas when I had a bit more baking to do.

Lastly, this little, wire Christmas tree, which I found very hard to do. It's made by using a braiding technique but it found a place in my table centre...

The unfinished item is an Angel which is constructed from a background of collaged fabric and other materials and I will show that when it is completed.

In looking back, although I don't feel I have accomplished much this year, I seem to have created more than I do normally. Some of this I put down to the fact that workshops have moved online and have been for me and I have heard for others, too, easier to attend; I have even managed to do two in one day twice when things clashed. This is not quite all, either, as I have been reminded by my photos but more of that next time...Meanwhile, I post my makes, bakes and collections on Instagram where I am 'magicewe'.

Visitors and things....

 

I have two little visitors to my workroom this week, Lottie and Lily; they have come to stay whilst the rest on their family has a little holiday.

They're a most charming and entertaining pair who love company and a conversation, especially if it results in something to munch on :) They are keeping me company for the rest of the week.

Apart from that, I have been trying to finish clearing out and am down to one box now, which is a relief; then I have to start going though everything little by little again, as is the nature of keeping belongings under control. However, my visitors have instigated a change for the better, unexpectedly.

Having invested in a craft table - 6 feet long by about 3 feet wide - I realised that I might not find it as useful as I had thought because it would be too big to fit into my workroom. That thought remained until I had to get it out for the Guinea Pig cage and suddenly realised that because I could store some items under it, it would fit quite well as I had a gangway all round it. I lose my open space but a table to put things on when I unpack my fleeces etc is, in reality, far more use. Hey-presto! I have somewhere to do other things too! Admittedly, I need a couple of small blocks of wood to clamp my equipment to but the table is hefty and sturdy enough to use wool combs on as well as other things.

Having recently been to Yorkshire to learn how to use the English Longdraw method of spinning, it is now my duty to keep practicing, that is, once I manage to wash the fleece I am working on (Hampshire Down) sufficiently and make a good Rolag. The quality of each stage very much depends upon the quality of the process that precedes it.

As regards other making, I have only finished one other item recently and that is a Rainbow item as part of a Weavers, Spinners and Dyers project. I have decided not to finish it the way I originally intended and it will remain a bag, not a wall decoration. 

It is made of handspun wool, each colour plied with white and it's lined with white silk. The button is a large crystal. My thinking was that the rainbow is refracted white light, hence the white lining and the button, which can, in certain lights, flash with colour. The little knitted loop visible in the first image will be removed. I have no idea what I will keep in it. 

A while ago, I also managed to finish a cushion cover that I began knitting a long time ago.

It's very satisfying to get something else finished. It turned out to be quite a long project because I didn't like the way the Fair Isle was knitting up. I think this is because cotton has very little stretch in it and was unforgiving of my perhaps not to good technique. Still the recipient liked it, which is the main thing. (It was made from a kit designed by Lynn Turnbull of Gwennol Designs. She can be found on Folksy.)

It is the Guinea Pigs' teatime now, so time to finish this post. More soon....

As time goes by.......

It's been so long since I left home for anything other than a walk, I have to look at the calendar...I think it was mid-March to go to the Surgery. Since then, time seems to have gone by very quickly, as many people I have spoken to, agree. It is quite natural to believe time would drag, being confined to home and, if lucky, garden. I can't account for it. Perhaps some people are finding time drags and I just haven't spoken to any of them.

Apart from sitting outside in the sun, (with a coat on - the wind is really quite strong and chilly at times), Zooming, Skyping plus a bit of FaceTiming with family, there's been a bit more Tech usage because of ordering things online but as I find it tedious after a while, so not that much more than usual. I've made a tiny dent in my 'Mending Mountain' and have finished a Ballet cardigan.

There's been quite a lot of baking.... mainly biscuits of one kind or another....

and bread, both whole wheat and Sourdough..

(The rather incongruous pear is there to show someone that I have made a smaller loaf than normal.)

A few cup cakes..

...by way of a 'birthday cake' that could be shared when not able to get together to celebrate.

Meanwhile, too, Easter has come and gone..

No Simnel cake this year, either for Mothers' Day or Easter because I couldn't get any Marzipan and didn't have enough ingredients to make any. So, it was just Hot Cross Buns. 

There's a lot of bird activity in the garden, including a pair of Blue Tits (or Great Tits?) that appeared to be nesting in the box on the side of the shed as previously mentioned. At one point, there were a few days when this knocking could be heard on the roof of the bird box.

That stopped and now, there don't appear to be birds coming and going any longer but we've not looked so far in case we disturb them. I think the time is coming when we have to conclude no one is in residence now and take a look. We spend what seems like a small fortune on bird food but it's lovely to have so many birds around. I would like to set up a bath or some water provision for them but it has to be elevated as we seem to have quite a few cats around. I recently shooed one away that was stalking the bottom of the hedge, which seems full of Sparrows. Last week, there was a Jay hopping around the lawn - the first one we've noticed. It was good to see another kind of bird. Bumble Bees and Bees in general are more in evidence too.

Veg/fruit deliveries have resulted in us having Wild Garlic to find something to make into. 

We haven't used it before, even though I have walked through large expanses of it. We looked up some suggestions and ended up putting it with mushrooms in a Risotto, which tasted good..

Making Pesto and I tried pickling the flower buds.

I don't think we are the only folk to be using this either, as I have seen photos of meals and products others have made. Having a food box one hasn't chosen gives catering a new dimension, which makes for interesting and refreshingly different meals.

It's time to do something other than write now, so I will save other things for the next post. I hope this finds all who might read this safe and well. 

Times of Change.

This is a corner of Rutland Water. At the beginning of March, when we went to stay nearby, we didn't realise how lucky we were to get away from home. The weather was fine for the whole three days, during the day and the sun shone but the wind was so cold that it was impossible to sit outside or for me, anyway, walk far. It made a pleasant break, however.

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Now we are a few weeks down the line and everyone is being asked to keep themselves at home. So far, the weather's been dry with lots of sunshine (where we live, anyway) and this is currently, a warm, dry Easter, which doesn't often happen. We are lucky to have a garden to sit in and everything seems to be putting on a growth spurt. Our garden is a work in progress but despite having few plants at the moment, we have lots of Bumble Bees - and others too, some of which we can't identify for sure. The birds can and do rely on a good supply of food and throughout the day, lots of little ones occupy the old hedge at the bottom of the garden and visit the feeders when the larger birds are away. Sparrows squabble and Blue Tits and Robins flit about. We have a family of some sort of Tit in the bird box this year, too, which is very pleasing.

Try as I might, so far, I haven't been able to take a photo of the incumbents and neither of us have managed to completely identify with kind of Tit it is. At more of a distance we see and hear the resident pair of Buzzards, although I once say one sitting on the fence in the garden, too.

Some of the plants, mainly the potted ones, are looking good.

It looks as though we are going to have a good crop of Lemons again this year.

We both try to get out for our daily exercise. I am a bit limited in where I can go because I can't walk far and I can't use the car to go anywhere else for now.  The verges are showing the effects of the weeks of rain we had before this drier spell and are very churned up in parts but there are still Primroses and Bluebells and quite a few clumps of Dandelions - not as many of these last as I have seen in past years, though, I fancy. There are lots of Lambs hereabouts too.

Time now for tea....so more another time.