Kitchen Cloths

After some experimentation I think I've found a fool-proof kitchen cloth pattern. Over the last couple of years I've made a selection of cloths for my mother and she has declared this pattern the most effective - and Mum's cloths take lots of punishment so if she says they do their stuff, they do!

I made this pair of green and pink cloths as a gift for a friend.

And this pink cloth for my kitchen. The pattern lends itself well to stripes and the pink cloth is made from a varigated and a solid pink yarn in alternating 2-row stripes. All the cloths are made from Peaches and Cream cotton.

I found the stitch pattern in my Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework.

Woven Stitch - Double crochet stitches worked in single chain spaces.

Unit of 3 ch plus 3

Row 1: miss 2 ch, 1 dc, *1 ch, miss 1 ch, 1 dc*, 2 ch, turn

Row 2: *1 dc in ch sp of previous row, 1 ch*, 1 dc in the turning ch sp, 2 ch, turn

Rep rom Row 2

Happy crocheting and happy cleaning!

Digging for Victory

This was our garden in March. Neater and tidier but still suffering from the broken fence problem. Having finally plucked up the courage to speak to our neighbour on the right, Sandee, I discovered that she'd been thinking about getting her Dad to repair the fence anyway. And repair it he did - he made a fantastic job of it, a million times better than Miles and I would have managed on our own. And they refused to accept any money from us! Sweet, lovely people.

The installing of the new fence meant I could finally start my vegetable plot. After much sweat and toil I managed to make a very rudimentary raised bed and felt, frankly, very pleased with myself! So here we have the veg plot and new fence at the beginning of this month.
After a halcyon period during which I convinced myself that some pellets from the garden centre would be enough to deter the cats, I gave in and installed some more forceful defences. Thank you, chicken wire.I have planted a few different things: (working backwards from the foreground) various salad, tomatoes, beetroot, peas, perpetual spinach, one pumpkin and two courgettes (under the cloches), pak choi and radishes. My containers of herbs and salad are doing well, with the mint and rocket trying to out-do each other. The little cat on the doormat is Belle, Emily's friend from downstairs and one of the many local cats who think that my raised bed is a giant toilet!
I'm also trying some chillies and aubergine but they're not looking very impressive. I planted them as plugs nearly two months ago and this is as far as they've got. Oh well, at least the cats leave them alone so maybe there's hope yet!

Emily Entertainment

After a request for some Emily updates here we have a selection of illustrative portraits (which I am finally able to load having found my camera cable. Hurrah!).

As a growing cat, Emily divides her time between attacking things

and sleeping.

The purple cushion is her joint-favourite spot (the other is on Miles' desk, tucked behind the curtain). She is also good at helping me work. Here she is sitting in a surprisingly human position and looking rather sleepy .

This pose, with the crossed paws, reminds me of those primary school portraits they make you have. She should be leaning on a prop pillar!

The Ginger Giant or Kitty Kapers - part 2

Not much has been going on here apart from work, work, work. Now punctuated by sickness. Boo.

One of my many recent work things was an academic conference at which I had the excellent fortune to meet Maura of Paper Bluebird. After hearing rumours that she and a colleague were looking for fabric shopping opportunities in London, I felt like the bat logo (or pincushion logo, I guess) had been flashed on the sky and jumped to their aid! Once we got down to talking fabric I discovered that, apart from being a fascinating scholar with an interest in Victorian suburbia, she was a craft blogger who follows many of my favourite crafters too. Ah, serendipity. So lovely to make a new friend who straddles two worlds!

Away from the internet and back home, having Emily the kitten is making everything brighter. She is currently helping me mark A-level scripts by eating my biro. Being so cat focused recently, Miles pointed out that I really should share with the world the truth about Pip, my parents' ginger cat. He has been the cute kitten in the photo on my blog banner since I started writing lechatlunatique last year.




However, he is no longer a pip. He is, in fact, the Ginger Giant! Seen here with my father as a point of comparison!



He has truly become one of the biggest cats I have ever seen! Despite being the size of a small dog he is still utterly gorgeous and one of the most sweet-natured cats you will ever, ever meet. He continues to be devoted to his sister and her daughters, and takes his uncle role very seriously. He can be seen here with Emily's sister, Primrose. It's all too cute!