Suits You Scarf

More December back-blogging... I made two of these lovely scarves as Christmas gifts. I made one really early, in October possibly, hence the nicer weather and leaves on the trees in this picture (which also incorporates our broken garden fence!).

I cut enough fabric for two so came back and made another in the week before Christmas. The pattern is the Scarf Wrap from Denyse Schmidt 'Quilts'. The scarf is made from a mix of wool suiting fabric, corduroy and felt with various scraps of silky, chiffony type stuff and then backed with pink cotton. I've always liked mixed textures and the shots of colour make for a very pleasing scarf I think - perfect for enlivening a work outfit.

It was a good learning exercise too as it used the foundation piecing method - not one I'd used before but I can definitely see the value of it when working with fabrics of such different weights. I'm very happy with how these came out and just wish I'd had time to make one for myself! The only crafting I've been undertaking lately was adding a few rows of crochet to my never-ending ripple blanket as I lay in bed ill last week. I always think it's unfair that when you're ill and stuck at home you actually don't feel up to doing any crafting. I did watch the whole first series of 'Ugly Betty' though so I guess my time wasn't completely wasted!

Mushroom Pincushion

Some Christmas back-blogging. This is a little mushroom pincushion that I made as a gift for Miles' mum. She loves mushrooms and toadstools and I've been collecting bits of mushroomy material with her in mind. The master plan is a cushion, or some such, for her toadstool guest room but since, just before Christmas, she lamented that her pincushion was giving up the ghost, I saw where I could put some of the stash to good use in the short term.

To make the pincushion I followed this tutorial from whipup. The top was made from mushroom print cotton (with iron-on interfacing for extra strength) and the base was from some red wool suiting material. I finished the top with a lovely vintage cream plastic button (which came in a wonderful assortment from my aunt some time ago) and on the back I covered a small button with some of the main fabric.

This was my first pincushion since a cross-stitch one I made in school when I was about 11 and I'm really pleased with it. It was a very quick and very satisfying project and I was even able to rope Miles in as Chief Pincushion Stuffer. I think I may do some more of these in the coming year.

Wreath Lecture

Happy New Year everyone!

After being admonished by my family for not having posted recently I realised that I had better get some of my Christmas-related bits and pieces online before time renders them entirely irrelevant. Since it's 12th night today, I thought I'd post the pictures from our wreath walk on Boxing Day before the owners pack them all away! The walk took us through bits of west Kensington and Holland Park. As has become traditional (well, we've now done it two years running) we started the walk with a visit to the house of the late, great comedian Frankie Howerd, just to wish him Merry Christmas as it were.

I would say that the wreath on the Frankie Howerd house is about average size for the area - many however, get as grand as these ones:

But, if you are so posh that your house has an enormous double door, you may be forced to have not one but two wreaths:

The residents of this house didn't seem to have quite understood the level of grandeur required for a Kensington wreath:

Then we saw this along the side of Holland Park - it may have a house number and For Sale sign, but where, I ask, is the wreath?

Then we come to my favourite wreath - so ostentatious and, well, purple, that it takes up a full half of the door:

Here is a close up. I do not mean to offend any readers from across the pond, but my Mother reliably informs me that this house is inhabited by Americans. I can't help but admire their, well, balls!

Day 25 - Merry Christmas Everyone!

Illustration by Allison Reuling

Advent - Day 24

Just slipping in under the wire before Christmas proper (it's 23.45 now!) we have this wonderfully kitsch Saturday Evening Post cover from 1933, which features an amorous swain going in for a Christmas Eve kiss - frankly I'm impressed he managed to get around all the fair maiden's headwear!

Advent - Day 23

Trying to get this advent door up quickly before I miss the 23rd entirely! As you can see, Santa is skating towards us all with his gifts - hopefully he'll make it in time for tomorrow night.

The image is from some wonderful retro 50s fabric - Joannaha.com has a vast selection of cushions in 50s prints, of which this is one - I am sorely tempted to get the Christmas ones and hide them away till next year.

Advent - Day 22

I love Christmas wreaths. Unfortunately I haven't seen a single one in our area - I suspect they would get vandalised and/or nicked. Oh well. There is however top wreath action in Kensington and Holland Park - my mother, also a wreath fan, has been scoping out the choice specimens for a Boxing Day walk. The more ostentatious the better - can't wait!

Advent - Day 21

This lovely Christmas card is just one of an amazing collection of mid-century Disney Christmas cards digitised by the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. A really fascinating website - take a look!

Advent - Day 20

Behind today's advent door is a whole museum! The Geffrye Museum is one of my favourite in London - it is dedicated to the history of British domestic interior design and each period is reflected through a staged room. At Christmas, every room set is dressed in seasonal decorations appropriate to the period:

Miles and I last went in Christmas '05 and it was lovely. If you visit their website they have a virtual advent calendar which showcases seasonal items from their collection. I heartily recommend a real visit to the museum too, and the exhibitions are wonderful at any time of the year!

Advent - Day 19

This lovely illustration, containing more of the popular rabbits/Christmas theme, is from Bunny Rabbit's Diary, by Mary Frances Blaisdell, illustrated by George F. Kerr, available via Project Gutenberg.

Ho Ho Ho!

Ho Ho Ho everybody! We're Cara and Miles' Christmas cards. We started off as an army of origami Santas, forged in the primeval fire (well, folded in front of the primeval repro Victorian fireplace anyway).

We then marched onto the cards to be joined by some jolly stamps from Blade Rubber, outside and in.

We have now trooped into our envelopes to spread the Christmas message of minimalist Santastic joy (and yes, Santastic is a word).

Advent - Day 18

"Dey eyy-teen" in the Chat Lunatique house* and Miles is home from work sick, poor thing. In a not very lady-of-the-lamp moment I went out in the morning to Foyles where we had our knitting group secret Santa. I got some wonderful little owls made by Caroline for my Christmas tree. Hopefully I'll be able to take some pictures in the light soon - which I can then add to the serious backlog of pictures I have to post!

*To quote the dulcet Newcastle tones of the 'Big Brother' voice-over

Advent - Day 17

Given that Miles was the original recipient of the advent calendar I couldn't possibly do 25 jolly pictures without including rabbits. This Christmas rabbit is actually from a needlepoint canvas designed by Peter Ashe. I think the rabbit is lovely but I'm not sure I'd have the patience to embroider him. However, needles and thread will feature in my day today as I am doing Christmas present crafting. Maybe there'll be pictures once I am reunited with my camera!

Advent - Day 16

Ok, so we're counting down for Christmas now and it's time to focus on finishing up the present making and/or shopping. I'm planning a whole day of sewing tomorrow and hopefully some serious knitting time on Tuesday and Wednesday. My knitting has hit a rather major obstacle in that the gloves I was making for Miles are being scrapped due to horrible pattern problems (ie the pattern is horrible!). I was going to take some pictures for a fuller explaination but I have succeeded in leaving my camera at a friend's house again (yes, I am an idiot). Anyway, hopefully it will be back in my possession tomorrow evening so I can post some of my own pictures rather than generic ones off the internet!

Advent - Day 15

After the funky, folded Santas, we have Christmas good wishes from his funkiness himself, Laydeez and Gentlemen, the hardest workin' man in showbizness, Mr James Brown! Today is also Miles' nephew's birthday (known fondly by us as 'Bramble') and he is a three year old boy who loves Barry White, Barry Gibb and Barry Manilow (the 'Barry triumvirate') plus Hawaiian shirts (or 'party shirts' as he calls them) and jumping on the bed. So, all in all, I feel dedicating James Brown's Funky Christmas to him is rather fitting! Happy Birthday, Bramble!

Advent - Day 14

Rather late in the day and a little on the small side we have a cute dog with some holly. The picture comes from an album cover - the record is 70s, I think, and is called 'Christmas at the Patti'. I know nothing about it but I do like that little dog! Happy weekend everyone!

Advent - Day 13

Picture by Eric Newcomer.

I love Christmas trees. Our one in rather less grand than this picture, but one thing about Christmas trees that I like is their organic quality. I don't mean in terms of growing in the ground: my family tree has been plastic every year of my life - the same ancient tree from BhS goes up and down every year - and ours is plastic this year since it seems such a shame to get a real tree which we don't then have the garden space to plant it out come January. I was thinking more in terms of the decorations - by adding a few new ones each year the tree gets a little more special every time it goes up. Needless to say, since this is the first year of our tree the decorations are a little sparse but there are still a few with a personal edge like the two we bought in Stockholm last year, just after we got engaged.

One thing which I know our tree won't do and which is frankly a crying shame, is grow like the one in the Nutcracker:

[The HK Ballet production]

I have many happy childhood memories of watching both the Royal Ballet and ENB productions. Maybe when I finally live in a palace I'll be able to stage the growing tree bit just for me!

Advent - Day 12 (when Santa gets folded & funky!)

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Miles and I have been on an origami kick recently, well when I saw the array of folded Santa Clauses on this site I just had to include one in the advent calendar. The problem is there are so many funky Santas to choose from! This is another favourite:

Santa clearly has some groovy moves in his sack along with all those presents! Get on down.

Advent - Day 11

Now we're getting on to the good food stuff - mince pies! I am a relatively recent convert to these having spent many years worrying (as all good vegetarians should) about something containing 'mince meat'. Then, of course, even once I knew that it was just a strange way of describing dried fruit, there was the problem of beef suet. Well, all these clouds have been blown away and, thanks to the glory of vegetable suet, I can munch my way through mince pies with the best of them. Miles is the chief mince pie maker in his family and I helped him make them last year. This year we have gone a step further and made our own pear and ginger mince meat (so I can definitely confirm, no animals were harmed in the making of our pies).

However, the mince meat is still in its jars so no pictures from our kitchen yet, although hopefully there will be later. The picture at the top is from the BBC Good Food website and shows Apricot and Hazelnut Mince Pies. The recipe looks interesting and doesn't require the mince meat to be stored to let the flavours develop, making for a much quicker process. Maybe one for next year if the pear and ginger doesn't work out!

Advent - Day 10

A snowflake (as if you couldn't work it out for yourself!). Because it's pretty and is the closest we in London will get to a white Christmas.