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Knit together for short lives

Recently, I was asked by my publisher Search Press to donate one of my knitting patterns to a very good cause. Search have teamed up with Hobbycraft to help raise money for the fantastic children’s charity - Together for Short Lives. The book contains 20 wonderful patterns, and 10,000 copies have been produced and donated to Hobbycraft to sell exclusively in their stores. The entire cover price of £4.99 will be donated to the charity. My iced doughnut can be found on page 42, and if you look carefully at the cover, you can just see it poking out from behind the pink banner at the bottom. Well done Search and Hobbycraft...

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These shoes were made for ... me!

I seem to remember talking vintage last time, I'm just worried that the last time was in August. Can it really be that long ago? Well, look what I found last week in our local charity shop - these beautiful hand-made shoes by Anello & Davide of Kensington, London. It is an understatement to say "foot-ware to the stars" - A&D have been making shoes the same way since 1922, perhaps their biggest claim to fame is The Beatle Boot, adapted from their own Chelsea Boot especially for the Fab Four, with the addition of a Cuban heel. Customised versions of this icon are still worn by rock stars and celebrities today. Mine could have been worn by a famous actress in a big musical, or a chorus girl waiting for her big break - they are called Character one bar shoes, referring to the single button fastener, and usually worn on stage. I wore them to my nephew's wedding at the weekend and they are super-comfortable. I'm guessing they are 40 plus years old, but even more beautiful than the day they were measured, made and then maybe worn in a glamorous West End production, or at least I like to think so!

Photos: Martin Penny

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This old heart of mine...

I thought I had this heart design sorted in my mind. It's one of the projects for my new book Quick Knits, and it's been a real challenge. Such a simple shape....but difficult to make the increasing/decreasing look just right. I have reshaped it several times, and in the end started again from scratch. I'm still not sure about the blue flower...but the rest of the book is shaping up well for the launch this autumn. For those of you that liked Knitted Cakes, I have included several new cake patterns, and in the meantime I have put a new cake design on our website pennyandpenny.co.uk, which you can download for just £2.50. 

Photo: Susan Penny

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Dedicated follower of fashion?

If you are fascinated by vintage culture (It's certainly all the rage) then the summer holidays could be just the time for a visit to the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. POP! is just that - popular culture from when youth first exploded in the 1950s to the to extremes of 70s glamour. From the poodle skirts and leathers of the rockers, right through to Punk, this exhibition is sure to make you wonder what on earth you were thinking of at the time. There are some items from Elton John's wardrobe, Donovan's flares and fashions by Mary Quant. Take your children to enjoy those embarassing moments as you point and say 'I had one of those!' Furniture, original posters and promotional materials all help to set the scene, along with a wonderful "I'm Backing Britain" centrepiece. It runs at the FTM until 27 October.

Photos: Fashion and Textile Museum

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Vintage Milward Knitting Needle Gauge

I have a modern plastic knitting needle gauge that's pretty boring, so I was pleased to receive this at my recent birthday - a vintage Milward metal gauge. This company has a long association with needles, though as far as I can see, not actually with knitting needles. The Milward's business was founded in 1730, absorbed by Coats and then later by Entaco. Henry Milward's name was on needles and fishing tackle (his hobby then part of his business) until 1965. I suspect that my gauge was a 'freebie' for the haberdashery trade in the early 60s. You can find more needle history at the Entaco site. On the subject of gauges and measures, you can find some new craft tools at pennyandpenny.co.uk, particularly useful is the knitting needle size conversion widget, which can translate Imperial/US/metric with just one click.

Photo: Susan Penny

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Seam me up Scotty... sneak peak into my new knitting book

The unmistakable shape of the Scotty dog has always been an attractive silhoutte for me, now I have the chance to create a cute knitted design for my new book in the autumn. We had a family Scotty when I was a child and I have fond memories of Jamie, despite the fact he could be a bit nasty and wilful. More recently we have enjoyed the Urban Dog stories of Will Cohu in the Telegraph Weekend - actually about 10 years ago and eventually made into a book.

My Scotty can be made up in 2 different ways, with a card 'skeleton' for a traditional look or stuffed as more of a toy. The book has a working title of Cute Knits, more details very soon.

Photo: Susan Penny

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Keep Calm and Carry Yarn

The National Centre for Craft & Design at Sleaford - Keep Calm and Carry Yarn. Saturday 9th June, 10am - 4pm FREE entry - everyone welcome! Come and join the celebration of all that is textiles. This annual event is back with demonstrations, free drop-in workshops, specialist craft stalls and outdoor knitting. Whether you are a novice or enthusiast, bring along your needles and enjoy a day of knitting and natter!

Photo: The National Centre for Craft & Design

 

I love red shoes!

For years I have loved red shoes but never had the nerve to wear them...that is until now!  On a trip to M&S to buy underpants for myself and school summer dresses for the girls, I spotted a pair of red sneakers on a model at the bottom of the escalator. I was overcome by desire, and before I had time to put on my sensible head they were paid for and in my bag! Actually now that I have them, they don't really seem that red, and I have found that by wearing them with thick blue tights they actually look rather trendy...or so my Doctor told me when I took my daughter in for an appointment today. So armed with my new found trendiness I have decided that I may just splash out on another pair...but which?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos: Lace-up sneakers M&S; Red gingham Jimmy Choo; Peep toe slingbacks Hobbs.

 

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Great TV Ad!

We are not really a big television family. Mostly we tape things and then wiz through the adverts. Just sometimes an advert comes along that really makes us smile...

 

...and this is it!

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Big family day out!

As a large family it is always difficult to find things to do at holiday time and weekends. It needs to be affordable, satisfy the big range of ages, and the boy/girl mix of our children. Every time we visit a National Trust property using our family membership I remind myself of the money that we have saved over the years. Somehow the National Trust visits work for us - the boys run around manically looking for monsters in the woods; the girls search for fairies and rabbits in old tree trunks, and we, hubby and I, sit exhausted on a seat, planning the amazing changes we are going to make to the garden just as soon as the kids have flown the nest.

Last weekend we went to Knightshayes again,  a gothic Victorian mansion set in the heart of the rolling mid Devon countryside. There’s plenty to see from looming gargoyles, imaginative carvings including the ‘seven deadly sins’ and the medieval great hall complete with minstrel’s gallery. We love the walled garden, which has been restored and has free range chickens - although free range to me is chickens running free and these are kept in an enclosed area to protect the veg and flowers.  Ours, on the other hand, are truly free range, spending their days digging merrily in my newly planted veg patch!

Last year when we visited Knightshayes, the children won a fertilised egg for being able to answer a question about chickens - not really fair on the other kids, with us being mad chicken keepers. We carried the egg carefully home and slipped it under our broody Light Sussex called Peaches...three weeks later she stood up, shook and walked away in disgust, to scratch around in her favourite patch of dry earth under the Sycamore trees, leaving the sad neglected egg in the nest.

Last weekend when we visited the gardens and parkland at Knighthayes they were alive with bluebells. We did have rain, but we dodged the showers, and somehow the smell of soaked earth and the droplets falling from the trees added to the magical feel of the day and took away the misery of the journey, with the kids moaning 'are we nearly home' from the back seat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos: Susan Penny and Walled Garden Picture National Trust

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