Another Tote for Nice

I had just enough time between our invitation to Nice and our flight to make the tote bag I'd long intended to make for Marie. I'd taken away a small piece of a pink striped apron, that Ben was going to use as a rag, which this project in mind. But of course come the day I couldn't find it. 




I had a list of colours in mind for Marie, but strangely this bag seemed to have a mind of its own and turned out quite a bit darker and with more tactile fabrics than I'd initially envisioned. Or perhaps I just didn't have enough of the other colours and textiles. 




In any case, we left this, a book about being environmentally friendly which had amused me - they are both very interested in environmental issues, some coasters and a Yorkshire/Tour de France hat for Ben and Marie. We didn't get to see Ben and Marie this time, EasyJet's flights made us leave the day before their return.

These coaster are great fun to make! I thought of these as 'southwest' (as in US) colours.

I'm told Ben thought his book a bit silly (the British humour no doubt) but had already learned some things from it and Marie loved her bag. Mission accomplished!

The blue bit is from some fabric I took for an applique project that didn't happen. A paper bread bag cut into a long strip and made into a 'pom pom bow' as above.

Three strips of plastic bag braided for the 'ribbon'; a longer strip made into a 'pom pom bow'. Reminds me of lettuce, but green seemed an appropriate colour for a book called Shades of Green, eh?

They also liked the wrapping. I'd used my usual brown paper to wrap all but the hat (which Bill had already packed). I'd intended to take either some ribbon or some tissue pom poms (great because you can make them up and leave flat in the suitcase until ready to fluff up and put on the package), but I'd run out of time. I could have bought something but you know that's not how I roll, so instead I raided their stash of plastic and paper bags. I thought they wouldn't mind, it being an environmentally friendly thing to do and all.

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And BTW, Happy Birthday to my friend Ruby, my cousin Clay and my lovely sister-in-law Jane! 21 Sep must be a most auspicious date!

Stacking Up

LR at Magnificent or Egregious (interesting word, egregious) inspired me to pull together the books I got for Christmas by showing off her stack.   (Wait, that's not rude or anything, is it?)

I've read most but not all.  Does one actually read a cookbook?  Well, I've made a list of recipes to try from Frugal Gourmet.  The book about the Georgians took me over a week to get through.  Bill's working on it now.   He's just finished Hons and Rebels which I started but then got distracted.  He laughed out loud several times, so I must get back to it.  Currently reading about Dolly Wilde.

The Practical Princess book isn't about what to put in the wardrobe but how to organise one.  If you want a book to tell you how to fold your socks and bras, this is the one for you.  Interesting to read through once, but I don't see keeping this as a reference.

The Language of Clothes, I've already mentioned.  It's definitely in line to read again, but not til I've got through the rest.

I've flipped through the Cafe Society book, but not actually read the text.  There are some pretty amazing photos in there, but a good number of the 'photos' are sketches with cut-out heads glued on, which I think is cheating.  Still, it talks about some interesting personalities I've never heard of before, as does Truly Wilde. 


Nina Campbell's Decorating Notebook needs another reading I think, though I have taken away one potential idea for our living room.  I'd already had the idea for arranging pictures on one wall, but she shows my idea and says it's 'in the manner of an English Country House', so I'm feeling a bit more confident.  If I ever pull it off, I'll be certain to show it to you.

The Thoughtful Dresser did just what it says on the tin.  She makes a seriously good case for why clothing is not a completely silly, frou-frou subject.  She also points out that whilst fashion designers can demand that their models be dangerously thin, they themselves can be as fat as they like; and when they tire of being fat, they can afford a personal trainer and the best gyms.  See?  She's makes you think.

The End of Fashion was also an amazing look into all the set dressing that goes on around developing a brand's image, apparently far more important than the actual design or quality of the goods themselves.  The rise and fall of department stores, the laughable egos involved, it's altogether a very interesting read. 

Did you get any great books for Christmas?

Becoming a Bag Lady

As I mentioned earlier, I made two more bags to give as Christmas presents, one for each of Bill's daughters.  As part of 'spending out' this year, I suspect I will give more attention to their respective wish lists, but I would hate to abandon making gifts as I enjoy it so much and I learn a great deal.

One of the best parts of making a gift is in choosing the fabric and the colours to use.  I end up thinking about the person practically the whole time I'm making their gift, which is part of the fun as well.  Helen is a redhead; they call it it 'ginger' over here, but in the States we'd probably call it 'carrot top'.  In addition she has very blue eyes.  I suspect in part because of her distinctive colouring she has very decided ideas about the colours in her house and in clothing.   I wouldn't dare give her anything that didn't fit into her colour scheme!  Fortunately, she seems to favour turquoise and I had some fabric that had been in my Aunt Rita's stash that I could use.  Helen may or may not recognise that this is a very 'South West' print and colour scheme.  In lined the bag in the cream coloured muslin (curtain lining) that I used for the two green bags I showed before.



I haven't observed the same distinct tastes in Sarah.  In the years I've known her she's had brown hair (her natural colour), jet black and currently she has very white blonde hair.  Her eyes are a very dark brown, almost black, so she can wear black, but she doesn't seem to favour that colour even when she had the Goth hair.  In the past she's gone for girly pinks and purples but the last time I saw her she was looking extremely polished in a soft grey sweater.

Bill's sister Jane lives in Sydney and Jane's daughter works at an upscale interior decorating business.  When Jenni discovered the shop was throwing away stacks and stacks of discontinued fabric sample books, she was aghast, which is another indication that I've finally joined the right family.  She began bringing the cast off books to Jane, who has made loads of skirts for little girls in Africa, fancy doorstops, and I don't know what all from the beautiful home decorating fabrics.  Jane has also given quite a bit of them to me, but other than pull them out and admire them periodically, I've not found a use for them....until now.  (JANE!!  JANE!!! I FINALLY MADE SOMETHING!!!)

I lined Sarah's bag with a sheer striped white fabric for added strength.  Because of the limitations of having only two pieces of this gorgeous floral pattern, I ended up being quite stingy with the width of the straps, something I came to regret.  So I pulled out a length of stiff lavender ribbon from Rita's stash, cut my stingy strips in half and edged the ribbon.  The back I made from some nice dress fabric that may have been one of my old purchases.  The result was a very girly bag for a young woman who now has a serious job in a bank.

My Deluminator

My Christmas was mostly about books, which is only right and proper.  One other fun thing I got from Bill was a candle put-outer.  I've yet to use it  I just went and gave it a trial run and a neater solution you'll never find.  We haven't used candles much in the past in large part because of the mess they made on table cloths and place mats when blown out.  That's going to change now!

Did you get anything unusual for Christmas?

A Tale of Two Bags

I expect I'm pretty weird in this, but I really like tote bags.  I  often  need to carry things from one place to another or to keep things together.   Some of the places we shop have started charging for plastic bags, while others only encourage the use of reuseable bags.  Whilst I have a use for many plastic bags, our collection is now under control only because we started taking fabric bags that allowed us to bring home fewer plastic bags from our shopping trips. 

I have a book just about how to make various tote bags and I hadn't really done much with it.  When my friend, Vivien, gave me her old curtains, after I'd made curtains and pillow covers for the motorhome, I still had enough fabric to do some other stuff.

For one, the guest bed has no dust ruffle but there are boxes of fabric and ribbons stashed under it.  When I knew Sarah was going to stay over on Thanksgiving, I pulled out these wide strips and tucked them under the mattress to hide all the junk underneath.  The room instantly looked tidier!

That was a short term use, however.  From the time I had that fabric I knew that Vivien was going to have something for her birthday made from it.  Her birthday comes just after Christmas, so I often end up making something similar for her as I have done for others' Christmas gifts.  In looking at that fabric I couldn't help but think it would make a nice bag for a man as well, so I started with making a bag for my Uncle Pat.

The book's instructions show two ways of attaching handles without giving any pros or cons for either.  I'd already sewn, wrapped and shipped Pat's bag to him when I realised the limitations of my strap placement.  Straps going across the bag opening limit the width the bag will open to the length of the straps and may interfere with placing things inside the bag.  Sorry about that, Pat.  I promise I'll do better next time. 

Armed with this understanding, I decided to do Vivien's differently and even splashed out and put an inside pocket onto the lining.  Both bags were lined with the curtain lining fabric, which seemed only appropriate to me.  Once I'd made the bag a couple of times, it got easier.  The bag itself, with a squared, flat bottom, is pretty easy compared with constructing and placing the straps and those are even easier for me than figuring out where to put the inside pocket!  I didn't try the pocket on the other bags I made.

Still, they are pretty straightforward:  take a piece of fabric about 24 x 36 inches and fold lengthwise.  Stitch up the two sides with right side of the fabric together.  To square the bottom corners, line up a side seam with the bottom crease and sew across the bottom of the resulting triangular-shaped fold.  Ironing after each step makes for a better finish, even with bags.  The further in on the seam one stitches, the wider the bottom of the bag, in fact twice as wide as the distance.  For example, if the stitch line is 2 inches from the corner, the width of the bottom will be 4 inches.  Repeat all this for the lining if there is one (and I think lined bags are not only stronger, they look much nicer). 

For the outside, turn right side out, turn the top down a 1/2 inch or sew and stitch.  Insert the lining.  I lined up the corners on each end and pinned them, also in the middle on each side, so I could see where the lining would line up at the top.  I trimmed it just below the hemmed top.  Then fold down the top of the outside of the bag again, about an inch, making sure the top edge of the lining is caught in that second fold.  Stitch around the bottom edge of the new hem.   If a pocket is to be added, the instructions say to stitch a patch pocket to the lining while it is still flat.  I would try stitching it after the lining has been sewn, but of course before it is attached to the bag.

The straps should between 3 and 4 inches wide and can vary from 20 inches to longer.  One way is to sew a tube twice the desired width (plus seam allowance) and turn.  Instead I cut the straps and stitched the side under, then cut lining fabric the same width, turned one end under and stitched it to the underside of the strap.  I trimmed the remaining fabric leaving enough to turn under the other side of the lining and stitch it to the other edge of the strap.  I thought lining the straps also added strength and a more finished look. 

A strap can be positioned with both ends on one side of the bag (probably preferable) or with the ends across the bag (for a longer, narrower bag that needn't open very wide); they can be positioned either outside or inside the bag.  I mitered the corners to finish them neatly, as they would be on the outside of the bag.  One could also turn the ends inside and hand-stitch closed; this would probably work best on the tube approach, rather than the lined, depending upon the thickness of the fabric.  The bottom ends of the straps should be placed just below the lower hem at the top of the bag.  I stitched a square and a cross in the area of the strap that overlapped the bag, to insure its security.  My guess is that the fabric would rip before the strap would come off.

Of course a neatly finished product needs to be ironed and all the threads tied off and clipped. 

I got a lot of pleasure from making these bags and so continued with a couple more which I'll show you later.  I even plan to stitch up a few more for our own use.

Wee Prezzie

This is the third thing about the holiday that I wanted to show you. 



I'm terrible about knowing when to give presents.  It's not just about being a tightwad, it's about knowing what is appropriate and when.  I hate to give someone the sense of obligation I feel when I receive a gift, so it's all rather fraught for me.  That said, people who give me a bed for a night - or more - clearly need a tangible thank you.

Bill and I debated this a while with no real conclusion until one day I was posting a book I'd sold on Amazon and spotted these stamps.  No doubt the world has seen these images a squillion times but I can't tell you what a big deal this wedding was over here (far bigger even than the later riots, though perhaps not for the individuals directly involved).  I've never seen Britain happier than on that wedding day.

So it seemed a good memento to share.  I bought sets of the stamps - the last the postmaster had!  Bill and I visited the fleamarket the next Saturday and had a chat with the framing guy there.  We've done business with him before and know him to be reliable.  We chose the frame and he promised they would be ready the following week, the day before we flew!  He was actually quite excited about the project as he liked my idea.  He made sure he protected the stamps so they would in remain collectable condition, the least of my concerns but nice of him all the same.

I didn't remember to get snaps of this at Sandra & John's or at Doris & Don's, but finally remembered at Jan and Jerry's house.  I was pleased with the result and hopefully it will be a happy reminder of our visit.

Art and Shopping

A little while back Jg at Fatscribe (I do think he's rather unkind to himself) posted about his favourite museums.  I was astonished to realise I've not visited any of them.  I agree about museums being wonderful places.  Bill and I have spent many happy hours wandering around gawking at things.  But I have a guilty secret to confess:  I'm really a sucker for the little shops in those places.  They have such wonderful, odd things that I never see anywhere else.  Garden centres are another great place to find gifts (except that I tend to make most of mine).

So, I decided to go shopping for you - to some of Jg's favourites and to some of mine.  Since I've long ago let my PayPal account die and my credit cards are downstairs, I feel relatively safe...

Jg's:

The Metropolitan in New York  (admission $20)   

The shop.  Where you can find flash drives with personality.  (A note about the design:  I would choose one that allowed me to hang on to the flash drive, not just the cap.  My preference is for all-in-one with a retractable feature).  

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (admission $15).   

The LACMA shop.  Hmmm.  Personally, I think they need to work on their shop a bit.  I did come up with an umbrella, though.  Who can't use an umbrella?  OK, maybe not if you live in the dessert.

The Guggenheim in Manhattan  (admission $15).  

I'm not much into modern stuff, but given the extraordinary building that houses this museum I might make an exception.  You may or may not remember back in June when we were in Venice I said:

We did not visit the Peggy Guggenheim museum, neither of us being major fans of Modern Art.  

That said, Bill laughed when I 'interpreted' this piece to be

"... one definition of an Italian man's happiness:  a chair and a packet of fags..."

Never mind, what is in the Guggenheim shop?   Well, I did find this Kandinsky tie, the design from 1926.  

Something about this photo concerning the history of the museum 

(dated 1937) and the - you'll laugh - the font style of the name Guggenheim intrigues me.  If we ever make it to New York I may have to add this to the list of what to do.

OK.  Now my turn:

The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle.  (admission: FREE). OK, not anywhere near the same scale, but it's my local.  

Their shop, which doesn't list even half of the lovely things there; I swear there are at least a dozen different kinds of notebook, never mind the different covers on each style.  However, I did dig around (and their website's not broken, you just have to scroll all the way down to the bottom) and found this leather lap top carrier in lime.   Not a colour I would purchase, but it coordinates with the blog decor.

Next stop, Alnwick Garden, Alnwick England (That's pronounced AN-ik - no 'l', no 'w', don't ask me why; one is not supposed to drop one's aitches, but double-Us disappear all the time around here).  
(Admission to garden £11; to castle £13; to garden and castle £22).  

This garden development was the brain wave of Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland.  I've been once or twice, but never when the garden was in full bloom (we've always had great timing that way).  We should go there sometime this summer, shouldn't we? (How do they always have the sun shining in those photos?  V. suspicious, that.)  Sadly, they don't seem to have an online shop.  It must be 'too common' or something.  However, I can tell you they specialise in very posh garden accessories.  



So, where next?  Oh, I know...

Victoria & Albert Museum, London.  (admission FREE).  

The V&A is a museum of decorative art, meaning they collect the beautiful things we all live with in our homes or wear (as if).  I could happily spend the rest of my life in the V&A, particularly in the museum of fashion or of textiles.  One of my wishes for my next life would be to live in London - I think it would have to be Pimlico, as I really don't think I could otherwise cope with the population density - and to work at the V&A.   Being associated with the V&A is about the only reason I would subject myself to living in London.

Now they understand shopping.  I decided not to hang about and tempt myself, but grabbed this Diaghilev Ballet Russes tote for only £9 to show you and got out of there!  Whew!

Well, I hope you enjoyed our little shopping excursion.  We may have to get together and to it again sometime!

What I Made for Christmas Gifts

Is it too late (or too early) to talk about this?

You might already have guessed, given the number of times I talked about my book binding.  I made blank notebooks for everyone, with their names stamped on the front.

Given that I started back in the summer, I'd never have predicted finishing them at the last minute.

Everyone at the bookbinding class thought it was a brilliant idea - though there was one even better one that I'll tell you about.

The problems came when the instructor had heart problems - well, new ones, and had to have his pace maker replaced.  He wasn't around for a while and his assistant really couldn't manage to help everyone there with their projects all on his own.  I would spend as much as 20 minutes waiting for the next step and what with the cost of the class and the travel to it, I found myself using a huge amount of energy to practice patience.

Even when the instructor was present, he loved the hustle and bustle of having people queued up to check with him about things and positively encouraged interruptions.  He is a really sweet man and I couldn't at all begrudge him being happy.  Except that it was costing me money.

I'd estimate that each notebook cost between £20-25 to make, not including the payment up front for materials.  Not exactly a frugal present considering the price of blank notebooks at book or stationery store.  

Still, with the names on the front and the hand cut pages (and the obvious flaws denoting a handmade item), they were unique gifts.

What I learned?  

1.  How to make notebooks, obviously.  I took better notes than the first time and doing ten, one right after the other, I learned a lot more small tips on how to do it better/easier.  Doing each step ten times increased the quality of the books I made, of that I'm certain.

2.  That I want to increase the number of activities I can do within walking distance from home.  Until I'm old enough to get a bus/metro pass like Bill's (if they still exist by then), travelling alone into Newcastle has serious costs attached, either Metro fares or petrol (now £1.12 a litre) and parking charges (only 50 p an hour, granted, but it adds up).  

3.  I might go back in the summer on my bike when the weather permits the 20 mile round trip.  It's goal to aim for anyhow.  I've done it before and with all the time in the world I could certainly do it again if it was sufficiently important to me.

4.  The components of bookbinding can be replicated in nontraditional ways that might be quite fun.  I've a number of ideas in mind.  If I follow through with any, you'll be sure to know.

5.  I finally learned to leave if I arrived and found the instructor wasn't available.  It saved me wasting the cost of the class and loads of frustration.  I discovered that in spite of all the ways and reasons I love book binding, I didn't actually value the experience sufficiently.  Once committed to making the Christmas gifts I just accepted that it was going to cost more than I'd realised and I aimed to minimise the wear and tear on my nerves.  I got a lot of satisfaction from making them and I'm not at all sorry I did.  I just wouldn't do it again; not that way, anyhow.

5.  That other idea?  Paul bought an A5 (about half of letter size) diary (the page a day kind like my Grandmother used for her hairdressing business.)  He added end papers front and back with calendars from the previous and next years, often a useful reference.  (Another idea might be to add reference sheets pertaining to a hobby the person had).  Then he raided his wife's fabric stash and found something really lush for the cover, usually upholstery fabric.  I didn't see how he managed the fabric cover with the end papers, but I might play with this idea as well as some of my others.  

I've already found something fun to do once a month that practically in my back garden; but that is another post.

Sarah's Flowers

Continuing on with fabulous Christmas presents, I need to show you the amaryllis flowers Bill's youngest, Sarah, gave me. When I opened it, the plant was just a hideous bulb with a tip of a green leaf sticking out of the top. The nicest thing I could say about it at that moment was that the vase was a lovely deep burgundy colour, one of my favourites, though I did realise it had enormous potential.



We had to go buy some potting soil to get it started and I bowed to Bill's gardening wisdom on how this worked. Once potted, it shot up with astonishing speed. Every time I looked at it I thought 'must photograph this' but of course I didn't, even though Jack's beanstalk would be envious had I captured this thing's rate of growth.



So the least I could do is show you the glorious flowers. There are at least seven going on at once and perhaps more will erupt soon. We have other amaryllis plants around the house, inherited I think from Bill's mom's house moves over the years. They bloom occasionally, but now I can see that they are old has-beens compared with this new plant which is spectacular both in the colour and number of blooms.



Well chosen gift, Sarah. Thank you so much!

Idi Amin & Princess Anne

Another another book I got for Christmas was The Settlers Cookbook, by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Before reading it, I wrote: This was not on my list, but Bill thought I might find it interesting. The first couple of pages are promising, discussing all the useless bits of kitchen cookware she and her mother brought with them, specific to making Indian food, brought from Uganda to Britain. I used to work with a man who traveled a similar route, a consultant doctor who told me that at one time he’d been one of Idi Amin’s personal physicians. I was a bit embarrassed by my ignorance and thought him very patient in providing a few sentences outlining the traumatic historical background of his life. I remember thinking at the time that his difficult past must have contributed toward making him the quiet, kind, rather indecisive person I knew. Flipping through the book there are many Indian recipes that look much simpler than the ones in the cookbook I bought at the flea market one time. I shall look forward to this.

Afterwards: It’s one thing to read about the horrors of medieval life or about the Holocaust, not having been alive then. It’s another altogether to read about events that happened when I was graduating high school and preparing to go to university at 16. I think I’ve been asleep for most of my life, wrapped up in my own small concerns, not knowing what was happening to people elsewhere in the world. I heard the name Idi Amin, of course, and something about Entebbe. I suppose that much of what actually went on in the early 70s in Uganda was not in the public domain, but I wouldn’t have known it even if it had been on the front pages:

“Western Governments Support Murdering, Torturing Psychopath to Protect Business Interests (& save world from Communism)”

I might have paid more attention had it said:

“Idi Amin to Marry Princess Anne”

Well, he did apparently offer...

Not only did this book roll out the fascinating history of a very exotic part of the world, as well as shedding some light on the earlier social situation here in Britain, it reminded me what an incredibly soft and easy life I’ve led. It’s a compelling read, this book, whether you like Indian food or not; go put this on your Amazon wishlist, now!

Female Detectives

I’ve long been a lover of detective stories. I grew up in a house with stacks of paperbacks and cut my teeth on Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason and (writing as A.A. Fair) Donald Lam stories. Mom introduced me to Dick Francis and I inherited her collection of his books, which I’ve kept topped up ever since; sadly, I've just learned that Francis died only recently, on the 16th of February (yesterday as of this writing).

I’ve mentioned previously that Bill and I both love Peter Wimsey books, particularly the later ones which were incomplete until finished by Jill Paton Walsh, whose other books I keep meaning to hunt. Sadly, while the Campion TV shows starring Peter Davison are quite good, the original books by Margery Allingham were a bit disappointing. I've read her biography; she had quite a difficult life.

It turns out that my friend, Vivien, also likes detective stories, but she has two criteria: they have to have been written by a woman and the detective has to be a woman. She has discovered two series that she quite likes and has generously been loaning me these in installations each time we meet up.

One is a rather daft but amusing series by Elizabeth Peters, an amazingly prolific author whose other titles I've yet to explore. It's about a family of Egyptologists, written from the perspective of the journals of the main character, the wife, Amelia Peabody Emerson. Set in Victorian England (and Egypt), they are written very tongue in cheek and one could not really enjoy these without a wry sense of humour. It took me a while to appreciate this, but once I did I found them quite a good laugh. I’m not too fussed about Egyptian stuff, but the adventures do catch you up in the mysterious foreign-ness of the place and the plots are tricky enough to pull you through. I don’t particularly identify with any of the characters, per se, but neither do I have any trouble finishing once I’ve started.

The other series I’m in danger of having to buy myself, I’m afraid. I re-read these books 2 or 3 times before returning them. Sue Grafton titles her books in alphabetical order; she's up to U and I do hope she doesn't stop at Z! I’ve just finished F and G. Grafton writes about her 30-something year old, twice divorced, California dectective, Kinsey Millhone in a rather terse style that reminds me of my beloved Donald Lam/Bertha Cool books and something else. Never mind that I become Kinsey when I'm reading just as I move into and practically live whatever film I'm watching (Heaven help anyone who interrupts my viewing). Remember the cop-speak of the TV series Dragnet? Sort of like that. She’s even a runner (3 miles every day), how cool is that? The books can be read in any order, you get a precise of the main characters in each, but the stories are sequential and linked, so I recommend that approach.

In return for such rich reading, I have introduced Vivien to Phryne Fisher; I do hope she’ll enjoy them even half as much as I’ve enjoyed Peters and Grafton.

Writing this has reminded me that I also I love the Mrs. Bradley TV series with Diana Rigg. It has just occurred to me to perhaps look into the books it originated from, by Gladys Mitchell! See how useful it is to blog?!

A Corking Good Gift

Vivien gave me this, partly as a joke, she said. The joke part was the little knitting doll that "Keeps our little ones busy," but then she worried I wouldn't know what to do with the product, so she gave me a booklet for children with a ton of ideas, though many of them involve making larger versions of this loom. I was intrigued to find that the booklet calls it 'corking', which I'd never heard of.

I thought it was brilliant! I did this as a child on a thread spool with little nails in it (as did, apparently, everyone else who sees me doing this), only we called it ‘French knitting’. Once I finally figured out the instructions again, it has been almost compulsive. The box fits neatly in my purse. I French-knitted in the car all the way to Middlewich and back; I sit in boring committee meetings for the running club and knit.

This is a child’s kit and so the tool for moving the yarn is a very blunt piece of wood that doesn’t work very well. I immediately replaced with a small metal crochet hook. I’m thinking that the original stick should make it through airport security in a pinch and I could try other pointy objects – e.g., the tine of a plastic fork – to pass the time on any flights we might take in the coming year. I’m really excited about being able to do crafts on an airplane again. I know that the US TSA allows knitting needles, something I’ve never understood; I wouldn’t try that one on here in Europe.

So, what am I going to do with the first resulting tubes of yarn? Cover hangers, of course.

Cocaine Blues

by Kerry Greenwood. I read this book in a day or two; it would have gone faster but I was dipping in and out of many books at the time.

The protagonist is a youngish flapper girl, Phryne (Fry-knee) Fisher, once poor, but after her father inherited a title and a fortune, she’s wealthy. Her parents live in Britain, but this first mystery takes place in Melbourne, as apparently do the rest (the author is Australian). I was interested because it is set between the wars, a time period with which Bill and I have become quite enamoured. This book ticks the boxes for luxuriant lifestyle, beautiful clothing and likable character, not to mention a sufficiently busy and entertaining plot.

I had been looking at books published in AU, but they are quite expensive even second hand. Nevertheless, it turns out that Bill actually liked this book too, so I have started looking out for reasonably priced copies.

In the meantime, I’m really tempted to download her screen savers. Even if I didn’t enjoy the stories, I think the cover designs could seduce me!

Gifts That Keep on Giving - Part I

I said some time back that I would tell you about what I got for Christmas, I'm enjoying my gifts so much:

Cashmere socks / bed socks

If you can have but one real luxury, I recommend cashmere socks. They are of course warm, but everytime you wiggle your toes you will be reminded how soft and snuggly they are. They cause me to renew my determination to learn to knit socks, and then to look for less expensive sources of cashmere wools on eBay. I will gladly wash these socks by hand and mend any holes that develop. I shall let you know how many years they last.

It is an important frugal concept to consider Cost Per Wear, something I didn’t really appreciate until I started choosing clothes items that were more classic in style, in colours that went with ‘everything’. Only then did long term ownership become possible. Before, in my younger spendthrift days, I bought whatever was in fashion that I thought looked cute. A year or two later it was so out of fashion I couldn't bear to be seen wearing it.

For example, when I came over to England, it took me no time at all to learn that wool, as opposed to acrylic, was required if one was to stay warm at all; most of the sweaters I brought with me were useless and I doubted many that were in storage, waiting for me to purchase a house, would be much good either.

I bought a black wool cardigan from a charity shop. In addition to the fibre content and the great price, I liked its silver buttons, neat collar and patch pockets. I got such good use of it -- until it developed some holes and the wrists were unraveling -- that I didn’t hesitate to pay more than I would usually for a new black cardigan to replace it.

I found a lovely, simple cashmere, silk and angora cardigan at Agnes B in Paris; I think I paid about £100 for it; not very much by many people's standards but quite a bit by mine. It is getting very hard wear just like its predecessor. Any time I see a small snag, I take a small crochet hook and repair it and it still looks in very good condition after about 5 years. Thus I have learned that a higher price for better quality is not a bad deal at all.

I hope I will be able to say the same of cashmere socks because I’m afraid they may well be spoiling me against any other kind for winter wear.