Wordless Wednesday

21 December, 2011 | Photographs | tags: cotton, handwarmers, lace, tea.

“Tea Leaf” Handwarmers
.
knit with my tea-dyed yarn…

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Wordless Wednesday

16 November, 2011 | Photographs | tags: autumn, nanowrimo, shawl, yellow.

“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.” – Walt Whitman

Now I must return to my wordy NaNoWriMo novel with its journeymen, stars and of course, stitches.

P.S. The first three photos are available in large sizes on Flickr, if you’d like to use them as your desktop wallpaper.

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The rose was awake all night for your sake

15 September, 2011 | Photographs | tags: art, england, poetry, rose, tea, watercolour.

A few final, idle touches of England. The wind-blown rose reminds me of Maud, but then, as it’s one of those poems that is so musical that you memorise it without even realising, I find lines (both floral and florid) going through my head quite often.

Come into the garden, Maud,
For the black bat, night, has flown,
Come into the garden, Maud,
I am here at the gate alone;
And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad,
And the musk of the rose is blown.

John William Waterhouse - The Soul of the Rose

Tea & roses go beautifully together too, in tea rose perfume (still my favourite), rose hip tea, and Cath Kidston mugs. My mug was the first thing to hand when I wanted to try my new Pentel water brushes (Amazon UK | Amazon US). They’re great fun, and perfect for travel-sketching or for watercolour doodling when you can’t be bothered to get up and fill a couple of glasses with water. And it just occurred to me that they might come in handy for spit-splicing too, though I tend to use my tea for that!

By the way, if you would like to do your hair like the lady in the painting (& I spent most of my teenage years striving very unsuccessfully to look Pre-Raphaelite), then you might like this video. The fishtail or herringbone plait that Sam demonstrates is also the one I used for the braided tie for the Cornflower Hat, so you’ll be a step ahead!

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British Blues

4 September, 2011 | Photographs, Travel | tags: autumn, blue, trains, yellow.

Dear Lovely Knitters & Lovers of Lilacs,
I’m terribly sorry for having been away (still being away, alas). I’ve been without regular internet access for weeks & I’m therefore far behind on correspondence. Many apologies! I’ve been knitting & writing & travelling though, and I have lots to share with you, once my connection is re-established. I’ve also been experimenting with vlogs and book reviews, so look out for those!

Yesterday I went on a beautiful boat ride down the River Severn in Shrewsbury. We had tea and watched all the familiar buildings drift by (from a new angle), and waved back at all the landlopers. Seeing the riverside houses with their little personal jetties made me wish I lived by the river & could boat & not have to get entangled in all the road traffic. Didn’t Pepys use to commute by boat?

On Wednesday I rode my favourite train route to Aberystwyth & had ice cream & did the crossword on the prom. I love trains because they’re the only mode of transport (that I’ve so far discovered) that doesn’t make me motion-sick and on which I can read and knit as I please. Commuter trains aren’t very nice, but the old diesels that coast up and down the countryside are the best, for their views and their less-hurried passengers. The blue ice cream (bubblegum flavour) was quite disgusting, by the way, but the colour was very satisfying. The light in the UK makes colours look so much better than in Turkey. Even the contents of Grandma’s wheelbarrow look photogenic…

As do the blueberries I picked today…

Blue mosaic, blue gingham, blue skies, a blue bridge, blue ice cream, a blue-black barrow and blueberries. Bye for now! x

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Wordless Wednesday

10 August, 2011 | 5 O'Clock, Photographs, Roundelay | tags: autumn, cornflower, hat, purple, spring.

Another upcoming pattern. I’ve provisionally called it “Cornflower”, but I’m not sure. What do you think?

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weekending

31 July, 2011 | Photographs | tags: purple, Yarn.

the blinds throw a lovely pattern of light across my desk late in the afternoon.

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Wordless Wednesday

20 July, 2011 | Balay, Photographs | tags: blue, lace, summer.

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Weekending

10 July, 2011 | Life, Photographs | tags: art, cotton, lace, summer.

There’s been a profusion of butterflies here over the last few days, all fluttering madly and hardly ever landing during their fleeting lives. This little chap stopped for a drink just long enough that I could snap a few photos. Doesn’t he look like he flew a bit too close to a pot of blue pigment?

I love being by the Aegean. I love the landscape & the colours & the myths. I like to imagine the coastline without any of the buildings that now clutter it; it must have been even more achingly beautiful back then.

Some things never change though… I bought these skeins of lace-weight cotton at the market for 1.50TL (about 60p or 90¢) each. So cheap! But hand-winding lace-weight is disheartening work; the ball doesn’t get bigger and the skein doesn’t get smaller. The Turkish word for a skein is “çile”, which also means “suffering”. Coincidence? I only wish I looked half as cool and serene as the girls in this painting by Lord Leighton.

The cotton is for a pair of shawls I’ve been working on, inspired by summer & classical literature. I’d say more, but perhaps they should remain a MYSTERY? ;)

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Wordless Wednesday

8 June, 2011 | Photographs, Writing | tags: mac, zen.

clear desk + moleskine + ommwriter = writing zen

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The Lilac

24 May, 2011 | Laylock, Literature, Photographs | tags: lilacs, poetry, spring.

I do wish you could smell these. One small sprig is enough to pervade my entire room with its delicious scent….

I like to think that my creative genius has the form of a frothy, flowering lilac; preferably a well-rooted, towering specimen. Although I had little notion of it when I purchased this domain all those years ago, I’m fairly sure that this plant will remain an enduring symbol for me throughout my life, as it has done for painters & poets for centuries.

The Lilac is an ancient shrub
But ancienter than that
The Firmamental Lilac
Upon the Hill tonight –
The Sun subsiding on his Course
Bequeaths this final Plant
To Contemplation — not to Touch –
The Flower of Occident.
Of one Corolla is the West –
The Calyx is the Earth –
The Capsules burnished Seeds the Stars
The Scientist of Faith
His research has but just begun –
Above his synthesis
The Flora unimpeachable
To Time’s Analysis –
“Eye hath not seen” may possibly
Be current with the Blind
But let not Revelation
By theses be detained –

- Emily Dickinson

How about you? Do you have a mascot, floral or otherwise?

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