90 seconds

I am loving the 90 second long recordings that Paul is putting up on the sound diaries website as part of his 90″ project… it is a nice length of time, 90 seconds… just long enough to get into listening but not too long, either.

£5.11

This is the price of a shade card from Jamieson and Smith and a worthwhile expense in my opinion since I have several projects planned which call for this yarn, and Internet photos are not great for showing up the colours in all their wonderful glory.

4 points

…Is the number of WW points in my hacked version of Petit Filoux’s soda farls. I used ready brek, dried breadcrumbs and plain flour instead of just flour (more filling) and a mix of half water, half low-fat buttermilk. I can confirm that the sounds involved in making this recipe included the lovely velvety sluicing of the buttermilk into the flour, and the powdery sounds of kneading the dough and inadvertently propelling some grains of flour onto the sideboard.

5 points

…is the number of WW points in my amazing mushroom risotto lunch. This means I have quite a few points left for tonight’s dinner which is, as yet, a mystery. My latest look in the fridge reveals that there is a surfeit of carrots, but there are also 2 half-packets of sambhar and idly mix in the cupboard, so if I remember to pick up some cauliflower and a tin of tomatoes I should be sorted for dinner to the tune of 3.5 points if I eat half of what’s left or 7 points if I eat the lot. I do love idly and sambhar so it might be a 7 points kind of an evening.

1927 (years AD)

This is the number of the year when Elsa Schiaparelli designed her beautiful trompe l’oile Bowknot Sweater, which is now housed in the V&A Museum and available as a pattern from Schoolhouse Press. One of my dearest pleasures in life is wasting whole days watching old episodes of The House of Eliott on DVD, and knitting. I haven’t done this for a while, but as I tackled this mornings’ mountain of email I remembered the beautiful bow sweater that Beatrice wore in one of the episodes and so began an idle, work-avoidant Ravely search. 10 minutes later I had the pattern on my hard-drive; that’s the beauty of Ravelry, folks.

16 – 20 (days)

Those are the numbers of the dates in March when you will be able to see Rachael and Louise using their amazing bicycle-powered mill to spin yarns from unwanted fleeces into ‘yarns fit for the Queen.’ I gather that Roger at Diamond Fibres mill is currently washing fleeces from within the M25 for this endeavour and I am hoping to go along myself on Tuesday 16th to see the project in action! Details:
Stanley Picker Gallery

16-20 March
Prick Your Finger “Murder at the Wool Hall”

Prick Your Finger is a yarn shop and textile gallery in Bethnal Green London that’s putting the rock ‘n’ roll back into textile and fashion production. Run by Rachael Matthews and Louise Harries, Prick Your Finger is concerned that British textile production has been lost to unethical manufacturing of disposable fashion. By constructing the world’s first bicycle powered wool mill, they will turn unwanted sheep fleeces from within the M25 into a range of seductive yarns, good enough for the Queen. “We’re asking the world to listen to sensible ways of profiting from nature without exploitation.”

£8.00

The price of a bowl of 3-bean chili and rice, plus a cup of tea at the Royal Oak Pub.

£4.80

The price of a beer for me and Stav after a long afternoon of teaching.