Friday, 11 July 2008

SHEEP OF THE WEEK!


Last Saturday, our friend Maggie invited us to spin at the Mudchute City Farm. 
Mudcute is the biggest of all the city farms and can be found on the Isle of Dogs.  The animals were happy and so were the farmers, epitomised by bags of healthy fleece to spin and a delicious lunch, with summer pudding, and cream!
Our favourite photo is this Oxford Down lamb on the right, kissing a Wiltshire Horn lamb on the left. We had never met Oxford Down before.  Oxford Down is the biggest of all the Down breads, with big sturdy shoulders and a wide head. The fleece is short, but very fine quality and grows close to the body, and up their legs with an impressive 'top-knot' on their head.  
The children at the farm helped us card and spin while the horses neighed in the sunshine, and we couldn't believe we were in London! 
Thank you Maggie, and thank you Mudchute.

Wednesday, 9 July 2008

DUST JACKET FOR THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE.



Lovers of adventure, I recommend you visit Miss Fleur Oakes's "Museum of Objects of Virtue" this weekend, for the show "Dust Jacket for Darwin's the Voyage of the Beagle."  Please aim to visit between the hours of 12-6pm. 
I'll ruin the adventure if I describe it to you, so all I'll say is that the museum is quite small, in a big place, and once you are there, you'll wish you had brought all your friends.
To find it, take the A to Z, to Cockfosters at the end of the Piccadilly Line, and follow the map to 89, Park Rd, New Barnet, EN4 9QX. The map has "Museum" written where the museum is.....Dress code is probably beautiful, but with sensible shoes....


GET KNITTED SHEFFIELD GALLERIES.


'Get Knitted' at the Sheffield Galleries is now open, and there are lots of goodies to see....
We're off up there tomorrow for the private view.
You can coo over the knitted wedding, laugh at the old Cast Off footage, marvel at Shane Waltner's amazing interactive party knitting, as seen here, and hot your self up over the knitted formula 1 car tyres! And don't forget you get my free pattern for knitted Sheffield Steal knife, fork and spoon.  
For more information go to www.museums-sheffield.org.uk

PSYCHOSTITCHGEOGRAPHY 3.


We know that our Rosemary has a lot going on in her head. You can see it in her eyes. 
Here are the workings of her citrus bracelet, avaliable in orange and lime.

BUZZING INSIDE.


On Halloween last, we had a fancy dress competition. The prize was one of Louise's knitted flies. Quite late in the evening a zombie walked in with a chinese takeaway and we instantly made him the winner. 
Nine months later, David Laurence sent us this picture of his winning fly in a bell jar. Now we know who the zombie was, and to be honest, it wasn't really that much of a suprise. The life of the fly however, was a suprise and we are delighted to think of it buzzing on his busy desk. 

Saturday, 5 July 2008

YAYOI KUSAMA- SELF OBLITERATION (1967) Part 1

Our knitting friend from across the pond, Sabrina Gschwandtner just recommended this film for me to study. Sabrina is coming to stay next week and we are going to the country to make a knitted movie.  I hope it gives you inspiration for any picnics or camping holidays you might be planning this summer.


Friday, 4 July 2008

CAPTAIN PATCH STRIKES BACK.


Congratulations to Captain Patch, or Ian Tea the Choir Master as we formally know him, who made history today by fixing a rip in the shoulder of his jacket. Ian used pins and a needle for the first time since school, and fluently described the experience to Anna McNamee of Radio 4's woman's hour at the same time.  For more about Ian's patch, and all the other going's on at Prick Your finger today, please listen out for a piece about the rise of sewing machine culture, due to be broadcast sometime on R4 in the not too distant future.