Blogiversary Give~Away

I have been writing here for a year!
I've loved the opportunity I've been given to express myself,
to share photos, drawings, musings, crochet, my attempts at knitting...
Most of all,
I've enjoyed the connections I've made with other people.
There is so much inspiration here in Blogland!

Therefore,
to celebrate,
I'm having a give~away which includes:

• a crochet washcloth with some hand~made rose geranium and pink clay soap,


• an affirmation pebble,


• and a small print of one of my paintings.

The washcloth is made out of Peaches'n Creme kitchen cotton using the Victorian Lace pattern from 200 Crochet Blocks:

the affirmation pebble will look something like these:

(I'll pencil on an affirmation of the winner's choice, if they like),

the print is of a pastel and watercolour painting of chrysanthemums:

Edited Christmas 2009: Please do not copy the image below. I did not give Bing permission to use this painting in their Christmas card images and I don't give you permission either! If you want to use any of my images you'll need to email me and get my OK first of all. I can be contacted at inkberryblue (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you for your understanding.

...and in answer to someone's question,
I haven't used any scrapbooking techniques,
the painting's all my own work.

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me how you found Inkberryblue. I'll close the contest on Saturday, 10th May (which gives people a fortnight) and announce the winner on the following day.

Don't be shy!

Noro Cashmere Flavor And Japanese Crochet Motifs

The Noro Cashmere Flavor arrived yesterday morning.
I think it is absolutely exquisite:

The apricot skein is colourway number 5 and the purple skeins are colourway number 4.
(You can see what they look like knitted up if you look in Maschenkunst, the company that I purchased the yarn from. If you click on the American flag the site will be translated into English. Photos can be found in the Noro pages of both the Yarn section and the Gallery section.
Sorry ~ the site won't let me link the individual pages that show the photos, but they're gorgeous and well worth a look.)

Now I just have to decide which one I want to use to crochet the Garden Party Wrap. Maybe I'll make two!

I've also been playing with some patterns from the Japanese book Crochet Motif Item that I bought last year,
after getting inspiration from Kwoozy's lovely work,
with the idea that I'll make a scarf out of one of the patterns using some Anny Blatt mohair from my yarn stash.

This is motif number 30:

and this is motif number 32:

The motifs are made out of kitchen string, which is easy to work with, as are the clearly drawn diagrams in the pattern book. Hmmm...it might be fun, and good practice, to crochet all of the motifs with jute and put them together into a floor rug.

...oh and, incidentally, if I ever get to be a good enough knitter I would love to make a pair of Rivendell socks. Aren't they beautiful?

Happy weekend everyone.

Daisy Table

Thank you to all the people who noticed, and said nice things about, the mosaic table which was in one of the last photos I posted. I originally blogged about it here but I thought I'd write about its construction in a little more detail, for those of you who might be interested.

So,
I found a sweet little wrought iron table at the local St Vincent De Paul charity shop which was just the right size and shape to mosaic.
I created a big orange daisy design,
inspired by my seventies kitchen,
and worked outside for three full days,
mosaicing late into the evening
by candlelight
in the hush of my garden.
Bliss.

I made the mosaic out of wall tiles, mirrors and broken china. You can see all three materials in this close up:

(If I was to make it again, I'd build up the mirror and the china so that the centre of the table has a more even surface.)

Unfortunately, the next stage of making the table, grouting the tiles, was less than blissful. In my inexperience, I used too much acrylic paint to colour the grout and, when I put it on to the tiles, the grout filled with air bubbles and wouldn't dry properly. Sadly, grout takes minutes to apply but it takes ages to remove. I cried (literally) when I realised the enormity of the mistake I'd made...and I've been chipping the grout out, on and off, for the last three years.

Not surprisingly, I lost my momentum and the table has sat untouched for a long time. However, after some prompting by friends, and a pep~talk by a terrific mosaic artist called Chris, I decided to have another go at finishing the table in February. I used commercially coloured grout this time, applied it successfully ~ to my relief, and ended up with this:

Here's another close up
(showing just how deliciously smooth the new grout is) :

I am very, very happy to have finally finished it
and I'm also happy to report that I've rediscovered my enthusiasm for mosaicing. I've been gaining inspiration from Helen Baird and her book The Complete Practical Guide To Mosaics, Emma Biggs and Tessa Hunkin's fabulous text Mosaic Workshop and the wonderful work of Kaffe Fassett. I have also started preparing to mosaic my kitchen splashback
...and this time I'm booking into a mosaic studio so I can get immediate advice as I'm working.
Wish me luck!

Simplicity

I recently bought myself a copy of Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick.
I love this book,
especially the way it celebrates simple, nourishing~to~the~soul, domestic comforts.
Amongst other things, it has sweet patterns, recipes, beautiful photographs and quotations. This quote really spoke to me:

In the midst of complexity, handicrafts provide simplicity.

In the midst of movement and noise, they make space for silence and solitude

~ Susan Lydon

Last night, after a working~day chock full of challenges, I decided I wanted to make something soothing and easy. I picked up one of my hooks and I started crocheting a cotton washcloth ~ what could be simpler?

The pattern's called the bark sedge stitch washcloth ( and it's from the LionBrand website so, even though it's free, you have to be registered to access it.) The Sugar'n Cream cotton's colourway is called Summer Splash.
...I'm loving how the variegations in the colour are working with the sedge stitch.

Happy weekend everyone.

Quiet

Things have been quiet around here.
I'm back at work,
the weather has continued to be hot
and I have been very tired...
the fall~soundly~asleep~on~the~sofa~at~nine~pm~in~the~middle~of
~crocheting sort of tired.
So I have been going really slowly at home
(which, actually, has been kind of nice.)
I've been reading, and thoroughly enjoying, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
I've also been doing a little bit of baking, on the odd occasion when the weather's been cool enough.
Here is a photo of some oat gems I made from the ever~reliable Country Women's Association Cook Book:



I added a quarter of a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the recipe.
They are simple but delicious.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the recipe on~line to share here on inkberryblue, but I did find a link to some other, tasty~looking CWA biscuits, which you can find here.

Quirkyalone

I'd like to wish you a happy Valentine's Day
and show you a memory wire bracelet I just made for a swap buddy in Alaska ~
it's going to be a belated Valentine's present:

Secondly,
because I'm an alternative kind of a gal,
I'd also like to wish you a happy International Quirkyalone Day.
For those of you who are wondering,
quirkyalone is a term used to describe people, like me, who are both uncompromising romantics and deeply single. It's also the title of a fabulous book that I read a few years ago ~ and the name of an online community that I sometimes visit.

Lastly, I'd like to share with you a picture of daisies, the official flower of the quirkyalone movement:

(Whicheverway, I'm wishing you a wonderful Thursday.)

Salut!

First of all, on behalf of my toes, I'd like to express appreciation to everybody who posted admiring comments about them. Thank you.

Secondly, has anyone else noticed that they have become a little wider around the middle since Christmas? I have developed a muffin top and it is not a good look. Consequently, I've been doing a little research on weight loss over the net and have just bought a book, recommended on the SARK forum (a favourite community of mine), called French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. I've read about a quarter of the book so far, and I love it! It has a great philosophy ~ savour food, cook seasonally, eat chocolate, drink wine (hooray!) ~ and the recipes are mouthwatering. So, in the spirit of Mme Guiliano's work, I have made myself a simple meal of grilled fish and caprese salad for tonight's meal, using basil and tumbler tomatoes from my garden. What could be fresher?

Incidentally, in October, my tumbler tomato plant looked like this:

(I put it in a hanging basket to keep the snails away.)

...and it now looks like this:

I am really looking forward to trialling some of the recipes in French Women Don't Get Fat. There are some posted on the website, by the way, that sound delicious.
Bon appetit!

Joy

I like to think positively.
I love finding writers who celebrate and nourish feelings of gratitude.
I adore Sarah Ban Breathnach's book Simple Abundance and I often end the day by writing a list of five things to be grateful for, a practice that Sarah commends.
I also have little affirmations scattered through my home...adhered to my bathroom mirror, placed on my fridge, pencilled onto little pebbles that sit by my sink...

The gentlest and quietest of things often bring me the greatest joy.

In the spirit of simple abundance, I'd like to share a link to a delightful piece of writing by Jane Brocket of Yarnstorm, and her readers.
It's called Small Pleasantnesses.
Enjoy...

Succulence

This is a little pencil sketch I made of a small succulent that grows in my back garden...and here's a photo of it:

One of my favourite authors, SARK, uses the term succulent frequently. In fact, she's penned a fabulous book called Succulent Wild Woman where she defines succulent as " ripe. juicy. whole. round. exuberant. wild. rich. wide. deep. firm. rare. female." SARK writes, with great candour, about self nurturing, creativity and living joyfully. She also hosts a wonderful online community called PlanetSark which I've belonged to for over three years.

Some of the members of PlanetSark have beautiful blogs. These include:

Leonie life Leonie is gorgeous. She's a writer, photographer, artist and spiritual soul,

dancing mermaid McCabe also takes photographs, paints clothes and writes with great honesty and sensitivity,

abc creativity Andrea is an artist and creativity advocate who holds marvellous workshops,

romantic circus songs Lisa Marie is a writer. She just wrote a poem called Never Made it to L.A. which knocked my socks off,

and side project Melissa's blog is completely handwritten and full of whimsy.

Be inspired!