Ruby's Button Tin

A selection of knitted cakes

The knitted cakes aren't looking exactly professionally made yet, they're still a bit lumpy and bumpy, but they're fun.  The giant mutant cupcake and lemon slice are - with a few adaptations - from Susan Penny's 'Knitted Cakes' book while the others such as the white meringue in garter stitch are from Jean Greenhowe's 'Jiffyknits'.  The second book was found in a charity shop and it's sometimes hilarious.  Who knew you could knit an Invisible Man!!

 

Coffee cup cakes

I'm been having a go at the knitted cakes featured in Susan Penny's book called - uhm - 'Knitted Cakes'!  So far I've made a slice of lemon cheesecake, which was meant to be a slice of lemon meringue, except I hadn't got any white chunky wool for the meringue topping.  Plus I'm halfway through a coffee cup cake. 

 
I don't know what I'll do with them once they're made but they're a fun way to pass the time, and use up oddments of wool. 

Saint of the day

Now here's a saint we can all appreciate!   (Card by www.reallygooduk.com)

September Issue and Orlando

I've watched a couple of DVDs lately that've really inspired me, and which are helping to re-awaken a dormant love of clothes.  For years I've not really bothered much - if at all - about fashion, but it was something I loved as a younger woman, and I sort of miss being out of the loop. 

The September Issue concerns the publication of - okay, you guessed it! - the September issue of Vogue.  It's the bumper edition that's become something of an institution, and sounds as though it needs trolley wheels to transport around.  The central character (maybe you've seen the film?) is Anna Wintour, editor and modern urban myth.  She's supposed to be the Ice Queen, regal and unapproachable, but she comes across as rather childlike - easily bored, not bothering to disguise it, self centred and regardless of other peoples feelings.  I can't admire her, despite obvious professionalism and dedication, because of her championing real fur.  As far as I'm concerned, rabbit fur looks better on a bunny than a coat collar, mink looks better on frisky little minks ... you get the picture. 

The real star of the show turns out to be Grace Coddington, model turned uber-fashion-stylist.  She has an extraordinary eye for what makes a compelling fashion shot, and she clearly adores clothes.  Not product.  Clothes. 

Seems to me the reason why I went off fashion was the stress through so much of the 90s and Noughties on clothes as product, as designer label, as 'how much did it cost?'.  Fashion is about fabric though, about texture and colour.  Wintour boasts about how many pages the September issue has.  So what? was my thought.  Seeing Grace Coddington's enticing fashion spreads makes you wonder what kind of magazine Vogue would be if it stopped being so centred on product and advertising, and became a true fashion mag.  But then of course reality means endless pages of advertising, otherwise the magazine would be financially down the drain. 

The next DVD is Orlando, and this film has the most sumptuous clothes.  The costume designer behind it is Sandy Powell, who recently won an Oscar for The Young Victoria, and her vision is superb, knitting together clothes from different periods in English history.  You'll swoon over the dresses and wigs and jewels.  Seeing this made me want to create, got me itching to sew.  I've been cutting out magazie pictures of hair accessories, embroidery, inviting textiles, trying to get clear in my mind what it is I want to make.  Time will tell ... but seeing these two different films has re-awakened that love of clothes as adornment, as joy, not just product. 

Just wish Anna Wintour would renounce real fur ... maybe one day ...
 

Reading and sewing and avoiding the rain ...

Saturday was a rainy day, so I did my chores (grocery shopping, laundry etc) and then settled down to a pile of hexagons and a a couple of metres of new spriggy cotton (no!  Not another addition to the overflowing fabric stash ... the guilt!!) 

I'm basically sewing lots of already-assembled hexagon rossettes together along with a cream plain fabric to add some patches of restful colour for the eye to settle on.  Apart from that, I'm re-reading Willa Cather's 'My Antoina' which I must've read at least twenty years ago.  It's such a beautiful, lyrical evocation of prairie life among the new settlers in the US, and the prose is an absolute joy.  This Dover Thrift addition is a pleasing book too - the typeface, the cover and size of the book all add to the experience of reading it.  Something you wouldn't get with those new fangled reading thingies - Kindlers, is that what they're called?  

Sunday is going to be spent going to Mass and doing some cleaning & hoovering, then listing things on ebay as it's a free listing day and I'm trying to de-clutter the place.  So, hopefully, it's be a productive day all in all.   

Elle and Toast

I treated myself to Elle Decorating the other day, trying to inspire myself to do up my flat.  It's looked like a student's place for too long (and I'm way past being a student!). 

How gorgeous are the colours on this cover?  I love those pale - but still interesting - shades and the mix of textures.  I used to fib to myself and say the reason I didn't have a fabulous home was money, pure and simple.  But that isn't true. Obviously when you can splash the cash it's easier to get exactly the look you're after, but thrifty buying and creativity can achieve an awful lot, with the added extra - plenty of elbow grease - being the vital ingredient.  I need to have a good Spring clean and de-clutter, then set about decorating. 

One more nice image for you - a page from a catalogue by Toast, the upmarket clothing company.  I love the mix of colours here - the elegant model's dark navy jacket, the chalky orange sorbet wall, those vibrant bangles and that lovely hair accessory.  Does that count as a hat, an embellished hairband or a fascinator?  Can't decide. 

The red ballgown bed

Could you imagine waking up in a bed like this? 

It's a room in the Maison Moschino in Milan.  Italian style, of course!! 

What do I call these?

I've been calling these 'knitted thingies' or (rather apologetically) my weird version of knitted or crocheted coral reefs I've seen online, but can you think of anything better?  Soft sculptures or fibre arts sounds pretentious, but knitted thingies doesn't butter any parsnips either ... soooo, ideas please!

Sunday afternoon stroll and a wander around the museum

I had a healthy Sunday afternoon stroll yesterday, trying to walk off a few calories, and took the chance to pop into Bristol's museum.  The Alinah Azadeh exhibition is fantastic. 

The wrapped pieces she's assembled are suspended on fishing line (or similar thread) and there's a lovely shimmering effect from all the lines hanging down.  Many of the pieces that were donated for wrapping were probably quite mundane - small toys, keepsakes, odds and ends - but once wrapped they become almost magical, precious objects.  They make you think about how the meaning of an object is changed once we wrap it and give it as a gift.  Think of those boxes of chocolates or china ornaments that are given to mums or aunts, for example.  Their retail value might be just two or three pounds, but they're worth their weight in gold to the person who receives them. 

I wandered around some of the other exhibits too, including lots of lovely ceramics.  This deep blue dish is a favourite, I love the intensity of the colour.  'Drenched' is the word that comes to mind when I think of this blue. 

The little stripy dish is sweet too.  Hope you enjoyed your Sunday too. 

Another bargain Saturday ...

There are definately stirrings of Spring around.  The days are still cold but lighter and brighter, and my thoughts are turning to planting seeds.  That might take up a good part of today, but back to yesterday.  I did the rounds of charity shops, and came up with more lovely finds. 

The Pyrex dish was the best of 'em, £1.49 for this pale yellow oblong dish with a cute snowflake pattern, while the funky soup dishes were 79p each and the gravy boat 99p.  Not that I have any need for a gravy boat, but it was pretty and cheap and ... oh, you know how it is!  The Pyrex dish is particularly nice and I can see why people collect it, as shown by all those groups on Flickr.  It's good looking but also durable, like the best kitchenware.

I picked up a copy of Jean Greenhowe's 'Jiffyknits' as well, a very funny pattern book for knitted cakes and sandwiches, knitted baked beans in cans (!!!) and knitted invisible men.  It's so sweet and kitsch, I'm kniting biscuits in between typing.  Pictures to follow ...  Finally, I keep trying to moderate comments on typepad, but I still seem to end up with messages about essay writing companies and buying car insurance.  Such a nuisiance.  Spam is one of the most infuriating things about the web, isn't it?