Selfridges rocks the Granny Square ...

I'm not sure what's going on down at Selfridges on London's Oxford Street, but it looks like they're doing a homage to the Granny Square!

This gloriously colourful window caught my eye this morning as I was scampering past (late) for a meeting.

Ode to January ...

We've made it! We've survived January ... and in the end it really wasn't too bad. Cold and chilly, but with lots of blue skies and sunshine; it was a lot better than the murky, grey month I'd been expecting.

So - onwards and upwards - let's move bravely on to February.

All the best for now,

Bonny x

January blues banished ...

I've been known to bleat on about how much I hate January. But you know it hasn't been so bad this year. I've been embracing January, enjoying its cold frosty days that have opened out into blue skies and sunshine. I've enjoyed getting the big coats out of the closet, muffling up in multiple layers of woolliness, snuggling indoors in front of the fire and tucking into winter comfort food - stews and soups and curries and cakes - with gusto.

Walpole Park, Ealing, West London

Moebius infinity scarf

Have you ever tried moebius knitting? It's a bit of a maths challenge. As it knits out from the centre it's hard not to marvel at how it works.

Once you've mastered the moebius cast-on the rest of this scarf is pretty straightforward. It's worked in seed stitch so that it's the same on both sides. I think a moebius works best when the twist reveals a consistent pattern on both sides.

It's been knit using Costa Brava Knitting's Double Knitting Pure Merino in Buttered Caramel with a contrasting trim knit in their Heather Mist using 4 mm circular needles with a 100 cm cord. It's taken about 75 to 80g (150 to 160 metres) of the main colour and about 15g or 25 to 30 metres of the contrasting colour. The finished scarf has a diameter of about 40 cm.

Shoulder of lamb with date and pomegranate stuffing

Did you know that this is Blue Monday? Officially it's the lowest point of the year. With all the fun of Christmas been and gone, but the bills still lingering for payment it's the day when we're all supposed to be feeling the most bleugh!

Looking on the bright side: things can only get better after today ... 😜

And one way to make everything happier is to cook up some soul food indoors. So I'm comfort-eating with hearty winter fare to get me through Blue Monday. Mr B has a partiality for roast lamb, and  I'm rather keen on rolled roasts. I love the contrast of the meat and the stuffing. In this case I've added some dates to add a little sweetness, which works nicely with the lamb and some pomegranate seeds for a little extra zing.

Just read on for my recipe:

January ... bleugh!

At around about this time of year, every year without fail, I pause and think that I'd really like to do a re-wind, and go all the way back to the beginning of December again. You see the thing is I really enjoy Christmas with all the excitement, the getting together with family and friends, the parties, the fairy lights, the simple pleasure of time spent in front of the fire, happy and cosy, with loved ones. And so it follows that I'm always pretty reluctant to let the good times go, and get back to business as usual.

Sant Pere de Rodes ... a flashback to the middle ages

The other day we headed off on a little pilgrimage to the ancient monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes. Once upon a (very long) time (ago) it was a really popular place to go. It was a hot spot, a must-see on the Pilgrim Trail.

According to the legends this is where they took the remains of Saint Peter, the father of the Western Church, after Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 A.D. Rome had fallen to the heathen hordes and the elders of the church wanted to protect their treasures so there was an exodus of precious things such as the mortal remains of the saints, the Relics and the Holy Grail. They were carried off to far flung Christian lands, where the elders prayed they would be safe.

Sant Pere de Rodes

Arrival of the Royal Pages ...

Tonight, 4th January, the Royal Pages who precede the Wise Kings for the Feast of Epiphany have arrived in town. They came by sea with drums beating, and torches blazing, as fireworks exploded all along the waterfront. It was spectacular.

Fireworks to herald the arrival of the Royal Pages on the Eve of the Cavalcada

Cami de Ronda Rock Safari ...

It doesn't have quite the same ring to it as going on a bear hunt, but on New Year's Day we headed out on a rock safari around the Cami de Ronda from Platja de Sant Pol to Cala Sa Conca.

Cami de Ronda, S'Agaró, Catalonia

Happy New Year 2017!

Wishing you a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2017!

Hygge ...

I have to 'fess up to never having been to Denmark, and to have a knowledge of that country, its language and its people that has largely come to me as a by-product of my enthusiasm for crime fiction. So far, so good. These days however there is one aspect of Danish culture that I find myself drawn to, and that is this thing called hygge. Everyone seems to be talking about all over social media.

Now I certainly don't pretend to totally understand what it's all about. For one thing the internet tells me that hygge is a concept incapable of direct translation into English, which is a bit daunting. Apparently we simply haven't got any words to express it.

The Danish word, hygge (pronounced “HUE-gah”) is translated by Babylon as cosiness, which is, I suspect, an over-simplification. Other sources elaborate on it being the art of enjoying life's simple pleasures, such as family, friends and warm homes in cold weather. It could, for example, be the pleasure of taking off your unwieldy ski boots, massaging your cold feet and slipping them into the furry embrace of a comfortable pair of Ugg boots. Do you ever feel elated when you finally get those cumbersome ski boots off? Me too! Well, I'm pretty confident that what we're recognising here is a warm, happy moment of hygge.

Whatever the sense of it I'm probably not doing hygge in a way that many Danes would recognise, but out here on the Costa Brava I'm making a valiant attempt to nail it. These sleepy down-days between Christmas and New Year, when the holiday mentality carries on regardless of whether there are bank holidays or not, seems to present the perfect opportunity to achieve moments of hygge.

Mas Molla ... going strong since 1338 ...

At this time of the year we tend to go through rather a lot of vino, with friends and family dropping in, dinners, celebrations and general merry-making. Having had a fairly thirsty Christmas we headed out yesterday afternoon to replenish supplies for the New Year.

Rather than trekking off to Oddbins, we went to the bodega of Mas Molla, where the same family have been making wine  in the same way on the same land since 1338. I kid you not. They cared for their vines in the fields hereabouts as the Hundred Years War raged across Europe. They shivered with fear as the population round about perished from the Black Death, which flared up for the first time in 1348 - just 10 years into their history here.

When they first started out in business it was still (fairly) respectable to believe that the world was flat, and it would be almost 200 years before Nicolas Copernicus suggested (in 1543) that the earth revolved around the sun. Can you imagine that? The Molla family were working here when heliocentrism was regarded as a dangerous heresy. They were doing their thing whilst poor old Galileo was being investigated, and held under house arrest by the Roman Inquisition for having supported the heretical notion that the sun was at the centre of the solar system.

More than a century and a half would have to pass from the time they opened shop here before Christopher Columbus sailed across the pond and discovered America.

I could go on in this vein for some time ... .

Standing there yesterday looking out over the terrain, dotted with rows of (very dead-looking) winter vines it sent a real shiver down my spine to think about just how long this family-chain, down through the generations of the Molla family, has been tied to these same fields. I was more than a little bit blown away by my own roll-call of events that they've lived through ... .

The cellars of Mas Molla, Calonge

La Sardana

Yesterday was Boxing Day - or Diada de Sant Esteve, as it's known in this part of the world. To celebrate the village went dancing in the Passeig del Mar.  They laid on a live band, everyone brought their dog, and the young and the old and everyone in between came out to dance the Sardana in the bright Christmas sunshine.

Merry Christmas ...

I'm all cosy and snug with my nearest and dearest here on the Costa Brava. Our tree is up, our presents are wrapped, the turkey is stuffed and set for roasting, and there's nothing left to do but enjoy the moment.

Well, seeing as I've got everything under control, how'd you you like to step out with me for a moonlit stroll around my pueblo? They've really pulled out the stops and put on the Ritz with lots and lots of Christmas lights. Come on! You'll hardly need a coat. After the recent winter storms the weather's turned benign.

Sun set over the bay in Sant Feliu de Guíxols

Harbour fix-ups ...

It's a quiet time of the year down at the harbour, with not so many boats going out every night. But that gives the fixer-uppers an opportunity to get ahead. There's been a lot of activity mending nets, painting hulls and doing refits.

Early morning at Sant Feliu de Guíxols harbour

Super-chunky-knit cushions ...

Super chunky knit cushions - pattern follows : dog - an inimitable one-of-a-kind!

I bought some of this ultra super chunky wool a while ago. I'd noticed that other people were getting into all sorts of knit-something-in-a-day projects, and I was curious to see how it would work out. So I ordered some colours that struck me as harmonious without a very clear idea of what I was going to do with them.

Now I have to confess that this kind of knitting is not really my thing. I'd never advocate using the resulting textile for anything other than upholstery. It produces a knit that's just too chunky and unwieldy for my tastes: think Axminster carpet as opposed to 2 ply cashmere ... . Wear it and you're likely to melt in any environment that boasts even the most rudimentary heating system, and, even if you're as thin as a pencil, a padding of this ultra super chunky knit is guaranteed to make you look like a bear who's ate all the honey and is heading off to hibernate.

But where it does come into its own is for seat cushions. I'm a big fan of sitting outside on sunny days right through the winter months. I love to be outdoors with fresh air and winter sunshine. When I'm skiing I love how they cosy up the patio seating with throws and cushions and padding. And this is where ultra super chunky wool comes into its own: if you're looking for über insulation it's the real deal. For seat cushions that are guaranteed to keep your rear end cosy in the depths of winter it's the business. Added to which whatever you make will knit up in super quick time.

I knocked these together in just a few hours. You could have a whole new suite of patio cushions knit and sewn together over the course of a stay-at-home Saturday.

Just read on for the patterns:

All set for Christmas ... Costa Brava style

You know you're a grown-up when you're the person who has to deliver Christmas. And this year I'm the designated adult. All of Mr B's siblings and their families are coming to us for Christmas Day. And out here on the not-so-sunny Costa Brava finding an ostrich-sized turkey to feed them all with is proving to be a bit of a challenge ... .

Oxtail soup ... the ultimate winter warmer

It's turned really chilly here in London. The days are bright and clear, with blue skies and sunshine, but once the sun goes down it gets s-o-o-o cold.

At this time of the year, as the nights draw and the cold strengthens, I turn to hearty food: soups and stews are the things I want to cook most. And there's nothing better on a cold winter's night than a steaming bowl of oxtail soup. It is the ultimate, luscious, warming, comfort food. Mine gets cooked all day in the slow cooker, filling the house with its tantalising smell. By nightfall the meat is falling off the bone, and the liquid is a rich, deep chocolatey brown ... ambrosia in a soup bowl!

Given that there are only three bears who usually sit down at my table every night, this recipe has been calculated to feed three people. You can big it up if you've got more folk to feed. Just read on for my recipe:

Oxtail soup

Festibear ...

Okay, he's arrived a bit late. I'd intended to have him off the needles in time for Festiwool, but, with one thing and another, life got in the way and poor Festibear missed his launch date. Still, better late than never, as they say. He can be a Christmas bear. I'm sure there are lots of little people up and down the land who'd happily give him a home for the holidays.

He's knit in the round (mostly) from my own-label Costa Brava Knitting Splatter dash Merino double knitting wool on 3.00 mm/  double-pin needles. You'll need about 70 g/ 140 metres for a bear of these proportions (he stands 30 cm/ 12" tall). In addition to the wool you'll need a circle of felt (diameter 9 cm/ 3.5") for inside his head to hold his facial features securely in place, some toy stuffing and a pair of 6 mm safety eyes. You may even like to push the boat out and treat him to a nice length of velvet ribbon, just for decency's sake so that he's not a naked bear ... .

Anyway, whichever way you want to dress him up, please read on for the pattern.

Ealing's swamp cypress ...

Today I'm loving a swamp Cypress - native of a mangrove swamp in the Florida Everglades, - that's made its home in Walpole Park. Who'd have thought? A swamp cypress? In Ealing?

Ealing's Swamp Cypress

The Knitting History Forum ...

Yesterday I went for the first time to a meeting of the Knitting History Forum. I'm an avid knitter and a keen social historian, so it was always guaranteed to be something that I would find interesting. What I wasn't prepared for was the colourful cast of characters, with strong and very well-informed opinions, who made up the audience. Yes, the speakers were interesting, but the folk scattered around the room were brilliant. They listened attentively, needles clicking as the speakers talked, and then asked incisive questions, and chipped in with additional information from learned papers and books that they'd written on related themes themselves.

Here in London I'm an enthusiastic lecture attendee, but I've never been part of an audience in which every other person brandished knitting needles as they listened. Of course it makes total sense that they should be multitasking in this way. Indeed educational psychologists often suggest that having something to fiddle with whilst you listen helps the information go in, and so many of us (self included) enjoy our favourite television programmes curled up on the sofa working as we watch.

We had lectures about Frisian lace making, the publication of knitting and crochet patterns in northern Europe from 1790 to 1870 and debunking the myths around Shetland lace making. The speakers included a museum curator from the Fries Museum in the Netherlands and a clutch of academics.

Listening in the audience were no lesser authorities on the subject that Professor Sandy Black of the London College of Fashion and author of (amongst other books) the wonderful Knitting: Fashion, History Craft, which is one of my favourite reference books, Dr Jane Malcolm-Davies, author of the Tudor Tailor, Dr Angharad Thomas of Knitting Gloves, who is the Textiles Archivist at the Knitting & Crochet Guild and Joyce Meader of the Historic Knit.

We had been invited to watch two recent documentaries on the history of knitting to which several members of the audience had contributed before attending, so that we could talk about them in the discussion section. I found them both interesting, and recommend them to you if you've got an idle hour to fill over the course of the next few days.

Fabric of Britain - available on BBC iPlayer until Thursday, 24th November.

The Secret History of Knitting - available on YouTube.

All the best for now,

Bonny x 

Thank you to all my lovely Festiwool customers ...

It was a truly splendid little fair with lots of lovely, friendly people - both buying and selling. I'm always impressed by how nice yarn-lovers are. I know it sounds schmaltzy and trite, and that there are always exceptions to every rule, but in my experience - gleaned from days on my feet talking to the passing public at yarn fairs, and weeks of my life given over to knitting retreats - I've come to the firm view that a love of all things woolly is, of itself, a pretty good character reference.