What not to call your child.

In my husband's Govt. job he gets to meet some of life's less fortunate and often lacking educational opportunities. He comes home with sad stories mostly but yesterday he asked me this "If your surname was Pipe what is the worst name you could give your child?"I couldn't think of an actual name .It turned out to be Duane which has to be one of the daftest moves you can make .Kids get bullied and laughed at for the smallest reasons ,what were they thinking?

Henriette gets a new outfit.

She wants a Russian hat now.

Mark Steele on "Marie Antoinette"....

If any of you have yesterday's "Independant" do NOT miss Mark's article on the film about Mrs Let Them Eat Cake ..or rather the dreadful film about her. Many a historical film seems utterly ridiculous to me.They are often bonkathons and the T.V series about Charles IInd was hideous.
I have to say that the series we just watched "Divided by the Sword" was un-pretentious not trying to overdo it's remit.The scenery was rather good , in fact better than that in "Cromwell " in which it is obvious Whitehall is cardboard .I just don't know a funnier comedian and historian .He isn't being critical for the sake of it I know he is really insulted by this rubbish and it's patronising of an audience.Maybe us "girlies" really just want lots of attractive men and pretty dresses ...excuse me but I want the facts as Cromwell would say "Warts and all".

A few of the silks..

spread out they give a better idea of the subtle colours. 

Answer for Amber..

Sorry Amber didn't notice your question "What shawl?" I am just knitting a rectangular version of Kaffe's "Persian Poppies" .A bit like the one Holly is sitting on in some of my photos which is "Jewelled stripes it's going to have a huge amount of colours. I'll never stop with his patterns I am sure.I want to do a "Stars" next but I hate three strands a row .

June Munro's shop url....

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/only-Roses-Vintage-Textiles

Two exquisite little parcels..

From June Munro of E:Bay ( used to be Colourspun yarns) . I will find her new name and post it .The screen doesn't do them justice as a lot are silk and really shine .June's colours just blow me away and I always have trouble thinking what to do with them .This time they are perfect for the shawl I am working on . 

Mum says "Well spread it out" ...

all I can think off is the precariously balanced baskets .Would she have saved me or the stash ? I am modelling this for her I'd rather not go out in shawls yet . As she has white hair I can always say "Come along now Granny the home is expecting you back" . 

Sea-cape no 2 .

Not too bad Mum. 

Mum's who need help work in this mess and knit rather a lot of these

Shawls? But you can still love them because you can make an even bigger mess with paints. 

Adorable Mums buy you a Betty Jackson coat and let you have it two months before ...

your birthday.

Very evil mums ..

knit this six years ago and still think you'd wear it .. 

Slightly evil mums ..

make you model their Donegal Tweed shawl and pretend you'd go out in it. 

Very Good Mums ..a fairy story..

Buy lacework from T.K.Maxx because they are no good at it. 

Terrible cover ,happy memories..

Great republican that I am I adored this book at 13.I read it over and over. I had a bet with Holly that I could remember the first page and it arrived this morning ( E:Bay) and I could .It is about Charles IInd's youngest sister , who he adored.The first part is her life with her exiled mother and the poverty and political struggles . Then The Restoration .Sadly she died at 26 some think poisoned by her husband The Duke of Orleans.It has good reviews by the T.L.S and H.E Bates amongst others ,I could not remember if the writing was good ,the research certainly was excellent. A little like I think The Queen should apologise to Ireland for the Potato Famine etc I think we the British people should remember Minette's mother with a memorial and apology for the treatment she received here. A park would be lovely .She was a human being and an extremely brave one . Bygones can be helped to be so by these gestures. I wonder how many other women ill-treated in history could be honoured . All poor women were ill-treated by not having equal rights etc .I think given a different education Henrietta herself would have been a champion of women's rights .She was lucky to be treated far better than most Queen consorts as she was loved and adored . 

A little treat..

Sent for the new Colinette book .It has four patterns for the new D.K .Blogger is slow to post or I'd put up another. 

Polish Bloggers in England...

If you look at the wooden furniture Holly is playing with please lock up your husbands , partners in a shed and send in wood and tools. When they have made sufficient to sell on your own E:Bay site let them out.I love this stuff , not nasty old plastics , beautiful wood .I no longer see my Polish friend and have not a lot of idea if such lovelies are still made but I also adored these little shoes with brass buckles she had . When I talk about the poor quality of shops in our town that includes toy shops and we do have a large Polish community.Holly is no longer this age but we have kept the furniture. 

Friday is going to town day..

I try to avoid it in the week and especially Saturday.We did go to T.K Maxx last Sunday and found Holly's birthday coat. There is very little of interest in town now except bookshops. I remember with great affection a now boring st. that is very historical that I haunted at Holly's age because it had a large independant bookshop and two art-shops. We have to go to Hobbycraft for art-supplies now which I find boring and revolting.We had a new chocolate shop open last week .You could not have asked for a more boring ,tasteless design.It looks like a warehouse to me.I would hope for something out of "Chocolat" I suppose but this is a stainless steel horror. No individual chocolates picked up with tongs.To make it worse several spotty , gormless looking staff in no uniform .Why not a nice gingham cotton with a lace apron and best of all a hat . They are only out-done by the repulsive staff at the Mac cosmetics counter who wear hardly anything play rap and giggle like morons. What I wouldn't give to see Elizabeth the Elizabeth Arden girl on the counter at Boots when I was a teen .She wore a French pleat a uniform and perfect make-up. I wore Biba and looked like a Vampire more than a vamp but she looked so wonderful. The Yardley lady also had class .I tried to ask some poor dip-stick about Guerlain last week .The poor lass knew nothing .I love some of the names I think they now have one called "Insolence" doesn't that say it all. So much for "Jicky" , "L'heure Blue" or "Mitsouko" .I wonder when "Tart" ,"Trollope" or Whore" will become perfume names ..won't be long.

School work abandoned

Holly had enough of books today and decided to knit Minette a cardigan and leg-warmers. 

Plaid is nearly finished..

only the collar to go then I have an alpaca/silk shawl half made.After that I'm free for a bit and might try socks as there is a pattern in "Vintage Knits" or "Yorkshire Fables" that takes normal needles .