The kindness of knitters

I received my first Random Act of Kindness (RAK) today all the way from The Netherlands. I initially thought my parcel was an early birthday present, however I don't know anyone in Vlissingen so my impatience overcame me and I opened up my gift.

I actually squealed like a small child when I saw yarn.

The parcel was sent anonymously so if you are reading this Phantom RAKer thank you very much/hartelijk dank.

My parcel contained: Blocking pins (perfect as I was about to buy some and these have leaves on the tips which is very me), fuzzy red mohair yarn, silky soft soy sock yarn, Guatemalan worry dolls, a CD, a comedy DVD, cheery heart stickers and a ladybird yarn holder. All good stuff.

In some sort of knitterly karma I'm going to pay it forward on Sunday by Knitting for Peace at the Courtauld Institute in London. Knit for Peace bring together people from opposing communities in knit groups. This helps break down barriers and helps people realise their enemies are not that dissimilar to themselves.

Last night I watched some harrowing footage on how the civilians of Afghanistan are affected by the ongoing conflicts there. I've decided to make some kids hats and jumpers if I have time) for families over there. I know it's only a small gesture in a huge pit of despair, but if I can brighten a families winter, help keep their kids warm and let them know some of us care it will be a small positive force in the world. If you're interested in Knitting for Peace they have a group on Ravelry.

Comments

Picture this

I was surprised to see that visitors to London's galleries and museums are down as the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), cited as having the largest drop in numbers, was busy when I visited earlier in the week. The busiest part was the Portrait Award exhibition and while the pieces were technically brilliant only a few grabbed my attention. People often get hung up on art, what should they like, what's the correct way to talk about it. I say ignore all that and look with an open mind. If something takes your fancy, great, if it doesn't, move on. Someone else will like it. If you can't make it to the NPG you can see all the entries online . Here are a couple I like. I'm not going to say anything about them. It's up to you what you think about them. If they intrigue you there's more info on the gallery website. Patchwork by Paula Wilson © Paula Wilson The New Religion by Conor Walton © Conor Walton It is disheartening to see visitor...

Champagne Bubbles

We went for a stroll this afternoon along the Seine where my MIL lives to work off the champagne and cheese from New Year celebrations and build up an appetite for our postponed Christmas meal. It was a good opportunity to take some photos of my latest FO, Bubbles hat by Woolly Wormhead . Compulsory Catalogue Pose I've met Woolly at several shows over the summer and we sat together at several meal times at the infamous Knit Camp as well as getting tipsy at Knit Nation. She's ace and also a great designer. She leads a pretty interesting life, living in a converted double decker bus in Italy. Take a look at her blog which is a good mixture of her day to day life on the bus with her partner and young son and loads of great knitting tips. The Bubbles pattern was great fun to knit and worked up pretty quickly, the cables providing just enough interest to make this a great knit while watching Agatha Christie mysteries on TV in between eating festive leftovers. I used Araucan...

Food: easy five spice soda bread

In that idle time between Christmas and New Year some have dubbed Twixmas, I found myself recuperating from spending a week with my very intense mother-in-law by watching mid-morning TV. I flicked over to Nadiya's British Food Adventure where this recipe for red split lentils and five-spice soda bread caught my eye. I'm a big fan of curry; it's my favourite cuisine and the combo of lentil soup and soda bread ticked the right boxes. My dad is a keen breadmaker and he talked about making soda bread over Christmas which had tickled my interest. While I like the idea of making bread, I'm unlikely to have bread flour or yeast in and I find the kneading and proving off putting, but soda bread is doable. The lentil soup was eaten before I thought of photographing it. It's similar to dhals we routinely make for dinner - so cheap and easy to do - though the garlic and butter were a treat. The bread has lasted for a few days as there are only two of us in the house...

Ginger Knits UK

Search This Blog