Author archive

:: My newest favourite corner

Posted by Kirsty on August 21, 2008 | Permalink

I’m something of a nester. I like things to be pretty, I like things to be neat, welcoming, and comfortable. I also like people to know me by my home - everywhere I live I need to make my mark (even when I’ve had five homes in a single year - thank you, mysterious stroke of terrible luck). So welcome to my favourite corner of my new flat! Affectionately termed the ‘guest bedroom’, it’s a teensy little alcove in the eaves of the living room, complete with quirkily shaped window, sofa bed with my favouritest throw that my mum made, little table with my prettiest lamp, and less-little table with my chilli plants and burgeoning radishes. It’s nice to kneel on the sofa and look into the street (yes, I’m nosey) or to sit in the sun with a book (attic flats get great sun!) and apparently it’s soothing to lie on the bed and look out at the stars (I think I’ll try that one night).

Being smugly pleased with my own nesting ability doesn’t stop me getting home envy, of course. There’s always a room or home, of a friend or that I see online or in a magazine, that makes me feel dowdy or scruffy or just plain unstylish. I suppose it’s natural human nature to yearn after things that you don’t have; I know I’m awful for it - I wish I dressed better, I wish I read better, I wish I was musical, I wish I baked like my friend Emily, I wish I was fearless enough to drop everything and backpack around the world, I wish I liked more art. I’m also fairly lazy, though, so for now I’ll be content with my little alcove.

Categories: about us, adventure
Tags: alcove, corner, mum's throw, new flat, wishes

7 comments

:: Knitting for Giants with Kirsty B

Posted by Kirsty on August 19, 2008 | Permalink

I like birthdays. Even when you happen to be homeless and have banned your husband from spending too much on you, you can ask for frivolous things like - giant knitting needles. These beauties are from the delightful Prick Your Finger in Bethnal Green and cost the very-reasonable-but-too-expensive-to-treat-myself sum of £25. Since I got them, they have provoked reactions of awe and disbelief from my non-knitting friends, most of whom simply can’t believe that they are functional - hence the tiny snippet of knit on there, so that I can prove they’re really, truly useable. Being summer (really?), yarn shopping seems rather bothersome, but in a wee while I’ll be on the lookout for a suitably chunky yarn worthy of such needle grandeur. Watch out for posts about giant scarves and blankets knitted in a day…

Categories: adventure, craft, local guide
Tags: giant knitting needles, knitting, prick your finger, yarn

4 comments

:: for Lottie

Posted by Kirsty on August 15, 2008 | Permalink

I know, I know - I’ve posted about baby blankets before. But my friends keep on having babies and I keep on being disproportionately impressed by my ability to make squares and link them together. Go me. If we carry on like this, I reckon Joelle and I will having the making of a book - Rectangular Coverings for Tiny New People. This offering (maybe we’ll call it Raspberry Roulade) was for Lottie, an August baby who probably doesn’t need woollen blankets, but I hope that she likes it anyway. It was a good thing when I finished it and handed it over to mummy Katy, as each time I picked up the yarn I just wanted to eat it. As some of you may know, I run screaming from rooms if anyone puts wool or yarn near their mouth, so this made me very nervous. In fact, I have to stop thinking about it now.

Categories: craft
Tags: baby blanket, crochet, raspberry roulade, yarn

4 comments

:: Food, books, nostalgia - yum!

Posted by Kirsty on July 11, 2008 | Permalink

I didn’t read traditional childrens’ books when I was wee, much to my regret nowadays. While proper kids were reading Enid Blyton and Judy Blume, I skipped straight to Point Horror and the classics. Yes, I was precocious, but I didn’t put my precociousness to very effective use. Anyways, my literary foibles don’t stop me enjoying this delicious book by Jane Brocket, of yarnstorm fame.

I don’t talk much on this blog about my career in publishing, as it doesn’t usually coincide with our mantra of craft, style, and adventure, but my two worlds have happily collided here, as my company is Jane’s publisher. The office has been whisked down memory lane to the kitchen of our childhoods as we’ve been getting ready for publication yesterday. Everything about the childrens’ literature of yesteryear was wholesome - including the breakfast, elevenses, lunches, afternoon teas, teas, suppers, and midnight feasts that they consume. I particularly loved the idea of Milly-Molly-Mandy’s fried onions - so simple yet so tasty and a little bit cheeky. I always relish the idea of eating something when you’re not supposed to - left-over curry for breakfast, yoghurt for dinner - and the wholly benign naughtiness of eating just onions is quite fun.

Although I place the utmost faith in Jane’s recipes (I haven’t tried any out yet, but her editor has and they are scrummy), this book is made by the descriptions and extracts from the literature that she draws inspiration from. Themed recipe books abound, but this is more like a compendium of childrens’ literature with the added bonus of tasty treats!

Categories: adventure, books, recipes
Tags: books, cherry cake, ginger beer, jane brocket, recipes

2 comments

:: Robot lovin’

Posted by Kirsty on July 3, 2008 | Permalink

I’ve totally fallen for this adorable little robot dude by Shuusei on Etsy. And, as we move into our new flat next weekend, I decided it was the opportune time to purchase some art, dahlink!

I’ve been hanging around on the edges of Etsy for a while now, looking at all the gorgeous, beautiful things from so many talented people, but this is the first time I’ve bought anything, and I’m very impressed. It’s such an easy website to use and Shuusei was incredibly helpful and lovely. I definitely recommend her!

Categories: art, style
Tags: art, etsy, print, robot, shuusei

6 comments

:: Apologies for the silence

Posted by Kirsty on May 31, 2008 | Permalink

image courtesy of Mr.Flibble on flickr

I’ve not posted for a while and I’ll continue to be fairly quiet for the next month or so. The fun reason for this is that my landlord’s mortgage lender repossessed our flat and we got evicted without a jot of notice. So, we’re sleeping on our friends’ floor for the next month (we have found a lovely place to move into, though) and I don’t have any of my usual facilities for posting lovely craft stuff. I’m taking lots of photos, though, so I’ll have lots to share when I get my photo software back.

This is more of a warning that a sympathy post. We were paying our rent, doing everything by the book, but because our landlord hadn’t declared tenants to his mortgage company, we had no rights when this all went down. We spent three days in court trying to get extra time and then we had to fight for a week to gain access to get our stuff back. Now we’re taking the landlord to court to try and get our deposit back. I’ve got a feeling that things like this will become alarmingly more usual with this credit crunch malarky. If you’re renting, I’d advise that you make sure that your landlord has told their mortgage company that you’re there and that they’ve put your deposit in a protection scheme.

Luckily, we’ve got some amazing friends supporting us and we’re riding it out fairly well. I’m looking forward to moving into our lovely new flat, but I don’t plan to move again for a long while after that! Four moves in less than a year are not fun.

Categories: about us, adventure, london
Tags: eviction, homeless, landlord

2 comments

:: It’s a bit Eye up!

Posted by Kirsty on May 8, 2008 | Permalink

Despite being pretty sure that I’d freak out and curl up in a ball under the bench until the ‘flight’ was over, I booked a go on the London Eye for my man’s birthday a couple of weekends ago. Read more…

Categories: adventure, london
Tags: london, London Eye, South Bank, view

7 comments

:: Sock it to ‘em!

Posted by Kirsty on May 1, 2008 | Permalink

I made socks! It was the scarier of my two NY resolutions, as I’m not that hot on DPNs, but with the Mister’s birthday coming up I decided to give it a go.

I used self-striping Opal 4-ply yarn (£6.50 from I Knit London or your LYS), which Simon chose, on 2.5mm DPNs, so the knit is thicker than everyday socks, but still quite fine. I threw a little paddy when it came to turning my first heel, then worked out what the crazy knitting language actually wanted from me and carried on. The cuff and foot knit up quite quickly and it’s definitely more instant gratification than a jumper, whilst being more interesting to work than a scarf or such. As a veteran of one whole pair of socks, though, I don’t feel like the time and money that is invested is really worth the end result. It may be because I’m slow, but I spent a good couple of weeks on these socks and, well, it’s only socks!

At least I can say that I’ve conquered DPNs!

Categories: craft
Tags: knitting, resolution, socks

8 comments

:: Fishy fun

Posted by Kirsty on April 28, 2008 | Permalink

In the middle of a raucous hen weekend in Newquay, we took some time off from drinking and wandered around the aquarium. I could spend all day in an aquarium - they’re so calming and I absolutely love the sharks and rays.

Read more…

Categories: adventure
Tags: Blue Reef Aquarium, fish, lobster, Newquay, rays, sharks, starfish

7 comments

:: Four Bad Corners

Posted by Kirsty on April 19, 2008 | Permalink

Well, I never claimed to be a domestic goddess in the kitchen, but even I am pretty ashamed of this poor, poor show. This is muffins, people - muffins. Banoffee muffins, to be precise. Except it’s just a big blob of mess. Read more…

Categories: adventure, recipes
Tags: bad, cups, muffins, oven, wrong

14 comments