Ginger Knits UK

Mr Gingerknits and I are both fans of photographer Martin Parr so we took the opportunity to break the Christmas eating too much and watching too much telly tradition to visit the Baltic Gallery in Gateshead to see his latest exhibition . I was a little underwhelmed by his new Luxury series though there were a few photos which brought a smile to my face, especially the women dressed up for race day in Newcastle, holding cans of Fosters instead of the traditional champers. However the exhibition on the 3rd floor was a winner. As well as displaying Parr's collection of photography which is an excellent exhibtion in it's own right there is his collection of "ephemera", Parr's term for his eclectic mix of everyday objects capturing world changing events. The blurb on the Baltic website sums it up better than I can so I'll just show you a few things which caught my eye. There was a lot of miners strike ephemera. These plates struck a chord. They were produced as...

After the sedentary nature of yesterday my mum, Mr Gingerknits and I went for a walk down to Easby Abbey , one of my favourite walks in Richmond. It follows the edge of the river Swale, past fields to the 12th century Easby Abbey and the older St Agatha's church. If you're ever in the area try and visit the church as it has some medival fresco paintings which are well worth a look. On the way we spotted Aberdeen Angus cows... hissing geese... and Easby Abby covered in snow. The walk gave me an opportunity to take a better photo of the Roses Red Beret I made for my mum last year. On the way home we spotted this Knitivity scene in someone's window... ...and some house bling.

The field next to my parent's house looking a little different to yesterday... ...listening to a Christmas service on the radio while in the shower and singing along with the carols... ...a delicious Christmas dinner with an international guest as well as friends and family... ...walking our friend home in the snow Merry Christmas everyone. Hope your day was as lovely as ours.

We're staying at my parent's home in Richmond, North Yorkshire for the festive period. I've seen snow here before but never over Christmas. We're sleeping in the summer house in the garden as my MIL is in our usual room. I've been using my flip flop & hand-knit tabi sock combo to pad from the summer house to the bungalow but woke up to fresh snowfall this morning which was too deep for bare foot/sock bravery. Luckily my Dad appeared in the garden, shovel in hand, to clear the way and my mum brought us coffee. I'm easily pleased. Later in the day we went for a tramp round the field next to my parents estate (housing estate, not country manor). It was so pretty in a bleak mid-winter way. Yesterday I wore normal, shop bought cotton socks for the first time in ages. It was also the first time I had cold feet since I've been wearing hand-knit socks all the time. I'm back in the hand-knits now and intend to stay that way til March.

Yesterday was a gift wrapping day. I finished the socks I'd been making for our friends daughter on the way home from Thailand so just had to weave the ends in. They're knit with the beetroot yarn I made in the summer using my favourite toe up sock formula from the Evil Sock Genius . The girl I've made them for knows about them as I made the first sock with her foot in it, so to speak, so I wrapped them to look like socks. I also put the finishing touches to the chutney I made last month. My usual deocrative technique is to write on the jar in a gold or silver pen however the label glue was impossible to shift so I came up with a folksy festive alternative.

My mum mentioned the Georgian Theatre in Richmond, Yorkshire, where my parents volunteer, was going to be on the Hairy Bikers Christmas Special. I was still jetlagged when the programme was on so I was dozing on the sofa when the theatre was shown, however hearing the word pickle roused me from my slumber and these pickled pears made my mouth water. They are very easy and quick to make. I didn't have any allspice berries so I added some ginger instead and also threw in a handful of fresh cranberries and walnuts to the mix for a festive flavour. I didn't have any lemons either so used a mix of orange and lime peel. The poaching liquor smelled so good I had to stop myself dipping a spoon in and it's a good job I made these before going to my parents for Christmas as I wouldn't be able to leave the pears for the minimum pickling period of a week. I can't wait to sample them with a good English cheese when I get back from Yorkshire.

Our friend Emma has lost her i-phone four times. She asked me to knit her a bag which she could wear on drunken nights out which she could keep her keys, credit cards and most importantly her i-phone in. I knit this on the diagonal, in the round alternating banana fibre (similar to sari silk but smells of rainforests) and cascade 220, then felted it to make a firmer fabric. The cascade 220 bled like mad when I felted it. I wasn't impressed by a commercial yarn leeching so much colour. Luckily I have an old towel I use for felting but if I'd made a garment from it and then happened to get caught in the rain I would not be a happy bunny. Despite that Emma loved her bag. There's something very satisfying about giving handknits in person. Emma didn't stop grinning and wore the bag for the rest of the evening. She's now convinced she won't lose another i-phone but I have told her if she loses the bag I'll knit her another one.