Ivywood Productions, doll

And now for a word from our sponsors.

Okay, Ivywood Productions is not an official sponsor of my ephemeral endeavours, but I'd be popping buttons with pride if it were. Ivywood is the newly launched website of Sam Szczepanski - friend, cosmic advisor, music industry maven and back-catalogue consultant extraordinaire. The site itself is a treat; the inspirations are a must-see, with vintage Hollywood glam delivered beautifully through Sam's inimitable exposition and visual style.

To carry on with our sponsorship theme just a moment longer, you can also see some of Dan's work in the Ivywood gallery - Eddie Cochran, Diana Dors, and The Lewis Three are recent projects he completed in harmonious, tea-fuelled partnership with our Samski.

Finally, I must add that Sam's cv is the most entertaining and compelling I've ever read (click on her name once you arrive to view the pdf). Sure, a music industry career is bound to be more intriguing than most, but I think it's Sam's tiki-tinged panache that makes it such a good read.

Once upon a Saturday...

...I was feeling mighty stressed, two weeks of nonstop insanity at work being the main (but not only) culprit. Then, on the relatively unscheduled Saturday that capped the stressfest, the boiler broke. And I fled. I looked up train times, checked shop hours, and swept out the door to Stash, Southwest London's cosiest yarn mecca.

I'd been there once before with lechatlunatique, and while we had a pleasant knit 'n' natter there some months ago, I wasn't hugely motivated to make Stash a regular stop. But I suddenly felt strongly drawn to it, for the easy escape and (if I'm honest) a little retail therapy.

On the walk from Putney train station to the shop, I began craving a coffee, and I couldn't resist the unlikely boast of this Persian deli: 'best coffee in town'. (In my blurry photo there, you can just make it out above the door.) Well, the nice old gent behind the counter made a fine cappucino, but it was the treasure on the shelves that had me swooning:

Food-grade rose petals; whole dried limes for superb stews; lemon salt - have you ever seen lemon salt?? - and sour little barberries for saffron rice. And there was so much more, all of it cheap at the price. While I was paying, I couldn't help but say, 'This is so wonderful.' My counterman nodded, smiling, then asked if I knew how to use the limes...

So I was already feeling my spirits lift as I entered Stash a block or so away, where one chick was engaged in finishing her first sock and the two shop ladies were deciding what to have for lunch. As I settled in, a couple of other ladies arrived, one to work on an intricate lace top, another bursting to tell of her new adventure with rag yarn. It was perfect.

I stayed for at least 3 hours, not quite believing how easy it was to distract myself by asking about their projects, petting fancy wool, and just chatting amiably, not to mention making some progress on the eternal Big Wool jumper. I even found some incredibly soft and not pricey baby llama wool to make a wrap to go with the dress I'm wearing to lechatlunatique's wedding in a couple of weeks. (When I got home I was relieved to find that the indigo colour matched my dress perfectly...I have a good eye for colour, but you never know, if the light is funny...)

And I finally splashed out on Selvedge, a bi-monthly textiles journal I often flip thru but have never allowed myself to have. I think it is now a must. How gorgeous is that image? How could I resist for so long?

And there was more in the way of handcrafted beauty yet to come.

This pastel cupcake and lolly display got me in the door of Mei cafe, but the paninis and salads had me reaching for my wallet.

Unusual goodies like the blackcurrant oat squares and big pistachio meringues made me linger, but I walked out with the maple sweet potato and goat cheese salad to share with Dan as part of dinner. He liked the sweet potats but thought the cheese too goaty. I like goaty. I helped him out with his share of the chevre.

Now, would you believe my super Saturday was not yet finished? I spied a small cemetery next to Stash, which turned out to be the prosaically named Putney Old Burial Ground. Some of the tombs had glorious gothic detail...

That shrouded skull motif was repeated on another panel of the tomb, and alternated with a cherub on the remaining two panels...how ghastly, yet compelling!

This was the most magnificent tomb on the grounds, and certainly rivals the graveyard masonry that we took for granted in New Orleans...

I think the procession of trees cut the grandest figure within the grounds, though...

This one is surely a warrior Ent, with arms upraised, head held proudly, and a bulging hip thrust out...

At first I thought these were just flagstones, and ended up walking on someone's grave...

This is my favourite image of the day. The partially obscured stone slab immediately put me in mind of a ripped page, the green against the grey hums with blue and yellow brilliance, and the path curving behind made me feel oddly hopeful.

Had to have a close-up, for the textures...

Much as I admire all this stonework, the only memorial I want is a bench. Let my figurative resting place be one for others as well, preferably by a river or in a library garden.

I can't say I gained any perma-cheer to erase my daily cynicism, but this one Saturday did me a lot of good and made me feel more myself...good mental prep for our trip to Berlin, which post will have to wait a little while so I can do it justice...

Baby Kimono

First project from Mason-Dixon Knitting, a book I resisted for some time, mostly because I already had too many knitting books, magazines, web patterns (one does get a little overwhelmed!).

I really wanted to make this the minute I saw it, and, rather conveniently, a cow-orker I like had a baby girl recently. So I did a little stash raiding and decided this silky red acrylic blend (no label anymore) would more than do. And then I ran out towards the end, so I conveniently decided a contrasting stripe was in order.

The task of finding ribbons put me off, though at first I was looking forward to it. Except for John Lewis, there are no obvious, nearby sources, and even though I did poke around a few ribbon-friendly places, I had to go to 2 JLs before I found the right thing. But I felt really lucky in the end, b/c even though I didn't have the piece with me to match colour, well, it did.

Remains to be seen if it fits, but the recipient's mum was v. pleased. In fact, it was the nicest reaction I've ever had to a piece of gift knitting, which makes me feel slighty guilty as this one was primarily for my own pleasure...

Unlikely but true

There is such a thing as a cool anti-drug video:



Trust The Dandy Warhols to manage it.

Dan and I have seen them twice: once in New Orleans a lifetime ago, and just last year in Camden at Electric Ballroom. In N.O., they played House of Blues in the smaller room, The Parish. The place was not packed to capacity, but there were about 250 people. Selling out the main room next door was Cowboy Mouth, a highly annoying jock-rock band with a devoted local following. Unbelievable.

Anyway, the Camden show was good, the Dandys' lush harmonies and insistent marching beats inspiring as much laconic worship as ever, but I think the N.O. show seemed more significant somehow, perhaps because they were playing to an audience that was less likely to find them.

Morning Glory

I'm not a morning person. It's really best not to approach (let alone speak) to me before I've had a cup of tea, unless you're bringing me the cup of tea. But one day last week I woke up to find these in full bloom, and it made me scowl somewhat less before my caffeine intake commenced.

I bought these as stems in a plastic pack for £1 - bargain! They were on offer this past Sunday again, but I figured my preserved lemons had had enough of being shunted off to a shelf and wanted their window seat back.

PS: I used the preserved lemon recipe from the excellent Medina Kitchen. It's v. similar to the one I've linked to, with an added convenience: you can add plain water instead of lemon juice.

I don't think so

'Spoil Your Mum' with an iron? Anyone who gives their mum an iron for Mother's Day deserves to be smacked with it!

Which reminds me of one of my favourite jokes. Well, it's more of an anecdote...anyway, my old workpal Ray had a friend in the NOPD who told him this one:

Ray's officer friend answered a domestic disturbance call to find a man alone in his living room, bleeding from the head. When asked what had happened, he muttered, 'She hit me with the smoo.'

'She hit you with what?' the officer asked, thinking he'd misheard.

'The smoo, man, the smoo.'

Now the officer was truly puzzled. 'What's a smoo?'

The poor guy looked at the officer like he was stupid. 'You know, man, what you smoo your clothes with!'

PS: The photo focus sucks b/c I had to take it surreptitiously with my phone. I doubt Tesco typically allows photography in-store, and an employee was restocking nearby.

An inconvenient fruit

I actually like peeling pomegranate, the same way I like polishing silver (not that I own enough to get bored with the upkeep). They're really cheap right now, so I've been buying them, letting them 'rest' in the fruit bowl for a week or so, then sitting down for a good 10-15 minutes of teasing out the dark ruby seeds. Well worth the effort, esp. when you consider how much it costs to buy a fifth of this amount pre-packaged (crazyfool prices). These were destined to tart up some morning yoghurt (plain), and Nigella's chickpeas with rocket (arugula) and sherry.