Annabelle Serendipity: Knitting

Showing posts with label Knitting. Show all posts

Saturday, 8 December 2012

Some Crafty Moments

A Bit Of This And That

aneleh:

Before I begin this poem, I’d like to ask you to join me in a moment of silence in honor of those who died in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001.
I would also like to ask you to offer up a moment of silence for all of those who have been harassed, imprisoned, disappeared, tortured, raped, or killed in retaliation for those strikes, for the victims in Afghanistan, Iraq, in the U.S., and throughout the world.
And if I could just add one more thing…
A full day of silence… for the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died at the hands of U.S.-backed Israeli forces over decades of occupation.
Six months of silence… for the million and-a-half Iraqi people, mostly children, who have died of malnourishment or starvation as a result
of a 12-year U.S. embargo against the country.
…And now, the drums of war beat again.
Before I begin this poem, two months of silence… for the Blacks under Apartheid in South Africa, where “homeland security” made them aliens in their own country
Nine months of silence… for the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where death rained down and peeled back every layer of concrete, steel, earth and skin, and the survivors went on as if alive.
A year of silence… for the millions of dead in Viet Nam—a people, not a war—for those who know a thing or two about the scent of burning fuel, their relatives bones buried in it, their babies born of it.
Two months of silence… for the decades of dead in Colombia, whose names, like the corpses they once represented, have piled up and slipped off our tongues.
Emmanuel Ortiz
Before I begin this poem,Seven days of silence… for El SalvadorA day of silence… for NicaraguaFive days of silence… for the GuatemaltecosNone of whom ever knew a moment of peace in their living years.45 seconds of silence… for the 45 dead at Acteal, Chiapas…1,933 miles of silence… for every desperate bodyThat burns in the desert sunDrowned in swollen rivers at the pearly gates to the Empire’s underbelly,A gaping wound sutured shut by razor wire and corrugated steel.
25 years of silence… for the millions of Africans who found their graves far deeper in the ocean than any building could poke into the sky.For those who were strung and swung from the heights of sycamore treesIn the south… the north… the east… the west…There will be no dna testing or dental records to identify their remains.
100 years of silence… for the hundreds of millions of indigenous peopleFrom this half of right here,Whose land and lives were stolen,In postcard-perfect plots like Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Fallen Timbers, or the Trail of TearsNames now reduced to innocuous magnetic poetry on the refrigerator of our consciousness…
From somewhere within the pillars of powerYou open your mouths to invoke a moment of our silenceAnd we are all left speechless,Our tongues snatched from our mouths,Our eyes stapled shut.
A moment of silence,And the poets are laid to rest,The drums disintegrate into dust.
Before I begin this poem,You want a moment of silence…You mourn now as if the world will never be the sameAnd the rest of us hope to hell it won’t be.Not like it always has been.
…Because this is not a 9-1-1 poemThis is a 9/10 poem,It is a 9/9 poem,A 9/8 poem,A 9/7 poem…This is a 1492 poem.This is a poem about what causes poems like this to be written.
And if this is a 9/11 poem, thenThis is a September 11th 1973 poem for Chile.This is a September 12th 1977 poem for Steven Biko in South Africa.This is a September 13th 1971 poem for the brothers at Attica Prison, New York.This is a September 14th 1992 poem for the people of Somalia.This is a poem for every date that falls to the ground amidst the ashes of amnesia.
This is a poem for the 110 stories that were never told,The 110 stories that history uprooted from its textbooksThe 110 stories that that cnn, bbc, The New York Times, and Newsweek ignored.This is a poem for interrupting this program.
This is not a peace poem,Not a poem for forgiveness.This is a justice poem,A poem for never forgetting.This is a poem to remind usThat all that glittersMight just be broken glass.
And still you want a moment of silence for the dead?We could give you lifetimes of empty:The unmarked graves,The lost languages,The uprooted trees and histories,The dead stares on the faces of nameless children…
Before I start this poem we could be silent foreverOr just long enough to hunger,For the dust to bury usAnd you would still ask usFor more of our silence.So if you want a moment of silence
Then stop the oil pumpsTurn off the engines, the televisionsSink the cruise shipsCrash the stock marketsUnplug the marquee lightsDelete the e-mails and instant messagesDerail the trains, ground the planes.If you want a moment of silence, put a brick through the windowof Taco BellAnd pay the workers for wages lost.Tear down the liquor stores,The townhouses, the White Houses, the jailhouses, the Penthousesand the Playboys.
If you want a moment of silence,Then take itOn Super Bowl Sunday,The Fourth of July,During Dayton’s 13 hour sale,The next time your white guilt fills the room where my beautiful brown people have gathered.
You want a moment of silenceThen take itNow,Before this poem begins.Here, in the echo of my voice,In the pause between goosesteps of the second hand,In the space between bodies in embrace,Here is your silence.Take it.Take it all.But don’t cut in line.Let your silence begin at the beginning of crime.
And we,Tonight,We will keep right on singingFor our dead.

Artist unknown

While away visiting The Red Art Gallery a charming coffee shop and art and craft gallery, I found some unusual baby boleros among the goodies on show. They looked very simple to make and the design was very effective. One in particular really caught my eye with its soft blue wool and Japanese Kimono silk highlights so I bought it hoping to be able to copy it and make similar ones for babies in the family.

They were rather expensive (NZ$ 68 - about £30) but very pretty indeed and well made with good quality wool, silk and button. I have been unable to trace the maker other than "Deno NZ". This is a close up ...

My first attempt at a copy looked OK but was far too small and will only fit a small teddy. After much unraveling my second attempt was knitted all in one and on larger needles and with wool scraps and so far appears to be more successful. This is it at an unfinished stage - I shall post the finished article shortly once it is sewn together and the fabric highlights have been attached.

Unfinished bolero

Edging fabric

I think that from the third attempt onwards I may have solved the problems of sizing, shape and 'how to' and should be able to post a pattern later.

I have also been doing some simple embroidery, which I am not great at, but am overall fairly pleased with the results. I downloaded a couple of patterns from the net and have tried to accurately copy the pattern, the colours and the stitches. They have taken me forever and are still unfinished although tiny. I realize that I must try harder.

While sewing a friend (thank you K. x), sorted my silks and put them all onto card, which makes things so much easier not having to untangle threads before I use them. Such a simple solution and one I shall certainly keep to in future.

Cooking and baking have been high on my agenda recently; fairly ordinary stuff to help my family in NZ (children and vegetarians) ...

Savoury tomato muffins

Sweet banana muffins

Faaaar tooooooo many muffins!

Brownies

Tomato and broccoli quiche

Apple and cranberry and cinnamon tart - uncooked

Vegetable quiche

And jelly

Lots of jelly

Lots and lots of jelly

What is it with kids and jelly?

And faaaaaar toooooo much salad!

Salad, salad, salad

Now I am looking forward to being back in London and having a HUGE steak!

Knitting

Skein Rowan Creative Linen

I have also got back to knitting after missing my Knit and Natter group for several weeks. I found a lovely scarf pattern in John Lewis and along with some Creative Linen Yarn, made by Rowan, I have been knitting a scarf for a friend. The colour that I chose is Carmin a lovely coral red and the holey pattern was easy to do ... (knit one - yarn forward knit two together - repeat this pattern to the end on an uneven number of stitches). It grows at an alarmingtly fast pace and it should be possible to knit a simple scarf in a day with an 100 gram ball, on size 5mm needles and at a cost of around £9. This wool comes in a skein - something I have not seen for some time - and it was strange trying to rewind it into a ball when alone in the house (I wound it from around my knees!)

Easy scarf made in Rowan Creative Linen

Free simple pattern supplied by John Lewis

Friday, 4 May 2012

Knitting

Knitting Club News

Well the J. L. class went really well with a huge turnout and there were the usual inspirational projects going on ... but drat it ... the camera was not behaving well and I just could not work out what was wrong with it ... I managed to get some pics of this really gorgeous scarf/stole/wrap, which was made in the softest most delectable green linen and silk yarn. It draped beautifully and I just loved it and it looked spectacular on its's owner who has the shiniest red hair ever!

This is so amazing

The pattern is so intricate and it took hours to make

I so loved this item - and many more besides but after these photo's the camera would not co-operate with me at all! When I got home and sorted out the problem (dratted technology!) I took a little photo of my own work so far, which is feeble by comparison ...

My virtually complete Rico Loopy Boa

Another square for my granny blanket in 'Arid'

The colour for the next square - 'Grassland'

Remember these wonderful textures and colours?

All these soft yarns are by Rowan and are called 'Savannah' - they are 94% cotton and 6% silk and have a super soft texture and are highly washable - just perfect for a baby.

Do you remember the granny blanket? It has sixteen nine inch squares all in different colours and different stitches (the same range and texture but some with 'bobbles') and should finish up being approximately three foot square, colourful and soft and perfect for the new baby (due this month). So far I have only completed four squares but they were with the most difficult textured stuff and now I am on to the easier yarns and patterns so should sail along a little quicker. I choose this simple stuff for the weekly knitting meetings as anything more intricate seems to go awry while I chatter and do not concentrate sufficiently.

Crochet container

And finally, this pretty crocheted teal blue container was made for me by a friend and is so useful for storing small bits of embroidery wools. It is made in 'Cotton Jeans' by RYC a lovely texture for baskets. It is beautifully made in Italy from 100% cotton and has the look of washed denim and has a very special tweedy effect, which is lovely. Thank you G. for this thoughtful present. xx

Wednesday, 25 April 2012

Knit And Natter

Just A Little Knitting And A Lot Of Natter

Again!

Super wools

I finally found the wonderful Rico Loopy that I have been lusting after for a few weeks. It was in a craft shop called C.F. Fabrics in Guildford Town Centre. There were lots of exciting colours to choose from but eventually I choose a very simple grey as I thought it would be appropriate for a friend who is not into riots of colour like me. I think this material may be going out of fashion as it is reduced in all outlets at the present time. A 150 gram ball / 45 metres is now around £7.50 - reduced from about £10. This quantity is supposed to make a scarf sized 20cm x 180cm.

As you can see it is very wide and 'loopy'

The 'Boa Style Scarf' is an easy project

The label has a step by step explanation

I only had a size 4mm needles available instead of the size 7mm or 8mm suggested so I cast on ten stitches instead of the suggested seven stitches. The scarf might end up being slightly less long consequently.

After just five minutes you can see it grow

At the end of the class it had grown just a little more
As I explained in the title - more natter than knitting!

I took very few photos at this session as I was unwilling to upset any of the class further ... I know how annoying it can be to have someone constantly snapping away (because Mr Whizz Kid and the Devil Child constantly tell me so!)

I could not resist a photo of the following child's crochet blanket, however, as it was simply stunning and had taken the clever lady over one year to complete. She has also done several smaller projects during this time and each and every one is a real masterpiece.

Each square was crocheted in a different stitch

Each square was more complex and beautiful than the last

This is truly a stunning work of art. We have such clever ladies in our class!