New Things

Amongst all the monotony there have been a few new things here lately which I thought I'd show you. The first one isn't very exciting but extremely necessary.

My laptop Mabel (all my laptops are called Mabel) suddenly stopped working last month and, after  over a week at the repair shop, they came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth mending. Getting a new one was easy enough but it was hard work putting all my software and stuff back on it. It's all done now though so I'm able to get back to work. One good thing is that the new Mabel has a dark keyboard. I made the mistake of getting a silver one last time which meant I couldn't read the letters at all. My touch typing isn't bad but it is nice to be able to actually see what's written on the keys. Does anybody else have this problem?

Much more interesting was the arrival in January of my new recorder.

It's a Yamaha Bass and I bought it from Just Flutes, a woodwind specialist shop who for some reason sell it for a chunk less money than everywhere else. I first realised there were different sized recorders when a group visited my primary school with what were then called Descant, Treble, Tenor and Bass recorders. Now the two smaller sizes are generally called Soprano and Alto. I remember telling my Mum all about them when I got home and thinking maybe one day when my hands were bigger ...

My hands still aren't very big but I've had the first three of these sizes for some years now although I struggle with the reach on the tenor. I've been following Sarah Jeffery's Team Recorder for years (which I thoroughly recommend by the way) and she says that the reach on the bass is actually less than the tenor because it has keys for some of the holes. And she's right! Despite it being so big, I can reach all the notes much more easily on my new recorder and the sound is beautiful.

Mind you, working out how to play it without hurting my back took quite a bit of trial and error. I've ended up wearing the sling across my body rather than just round my neck and that, as well as constantly checking that I'm sitting up straight, seems to have done the trick.

The bass recorder, like the alto, is in F so you can play music written for the alto on it but I thought I'd challenge myself to use music written in the bass clef which is what is used in orchestras. It's harder to find but I ordered several books from Recorder Music Mail who have a very comprehensive catalogue.

As I've played the piano for over fifty years I thought reading bass music wouldn't be too much of a problem. Turns out I was wrong. I'm getting there though. At the moment I'm alternating between the bass and the alto every day so I do sometimes find myself playing the notes for the wrong recorder but it'll settle down eventually.

There's exciting news on the tenor recorder front too. Kunath have just brought out an amazing new recorder called the Sigo which is about the size of an alto recorder but sounds like a tenor. Isn't that exciting?. I am resisting the temptation but one day ... It's also very reasonably priced. If you'd like to know more, Sarah Jeffery did a great review of it on her channel - Sigo Recorder - and here's a little sample of what it can do.

Right. More new things. Isn't this the prettiest notebook ever? 

This notebook is the control centre for my 'make all the birthday cards I send in 2025' project (I know, catchy title) I had a lovely time going through all my saved patterns and kits, working out what to stitch for everyone on my list. I've ordered lots more threads which is always fun and I use my Sizzix machine to cut aperture cards as well as bobbins for all those new threads. 

I stitch most evenings and am really enjoying it. I've only got about three cards to go now and that's despite having well over twenty on my list - not to mention the two people who were inconsiderate enough to move house this year. I can't show you most of them as they haven't been given yet but here's my daughter's birthday card from February ...

... and those two new home cards ...

I did sneak in a bit of my normal cross stitch while waiting for a thread order so my Hogsmeade picture now has another building and a lamp post ready for Hedwig to sit on.

As well as cross stitch, I've used blackwork, ribbon embroidery and counted canvaswork for some of the cards which I've really enjoyed. The source for these patterns is often my collection of old 'New Stitches' magazines. This was unusual among stitching magazines in that it included lots of different techniques rather than just cross stitch. I'm gradually collecting old issues when I can find them and, just before Christmas, I bought a big pile from ebay.

One type of embroidery that I discovered through these magazines is Lagartera which is a lovely counted thread technique from Spain which can be used to make very nice geometric designs. And no, I can't show you the lagartera card I made yet. However, Mary Hickmott, the editor of 'New Stitches' published several booklets on different embroidery techniques (I have the hardanger ones which are very good) so I've been keeping an eye out for the one she wrote about lagartera. Then, a few weeks ago, I found not only the booklet but also a materials pack to go with it.

It includes all the fabric, threads and finishing bits and pieces to make everything in the book. I can't wait to make that bell pull later in the  year.

Now that I have a working laptop again I'm also trying to write up new patterns as there are a lot of finished things waiting to be published, not to mention an awful lot of half finished designs. Anyway, the next one will be this yellow garter stitch lace scarf, the first of far too many scarf patterns either in progress or waiting to be written up.

I'm also trying to tidy up my craft room after the avalanche of new Stylecraft Special colours which swamped my yarn storage system. I'm slowly getting it back under control. Theoretically, I know where all my craft things are now and this normally proves to be the case apart from ... when it doesn't.

For years I've been looking for a doll from the 1960s who reminds me of one my brother gave me one Christmas. Her name is Kelly and she came as an offer with Kelloggs cereal. One of the reasons I wanted her was that I have a booklet of knitting patterns for her clothes that Patons published specially for her and I though it would be nice to knit some of them. Anyway, I finally got lucky (ebay again) and, after re-stringing her arms and a bit of a tidy up, here she is.

She was only ever a cheaply made doll but I think she's rather nice and she came with her original clothes too which was a bonus. I bet you can guess what's coming next. I went to get the knitting booklet out and it wasn't there! Where have I put it? Who knows? So Kelly will have to wait a bit for her new clothes.

One more new thing which is not at all nice is that I've made a start on the next room in the house to be re-decorated and sorted out. This time I'm having to do it in two halves so, this morning, I made a start.

All I can say is that it looks worse in real life than in the picture. This was the damp corner and those dark patches are where the plaster crumbled as I took off the lining paper. So tomorrow I shall be up the ladder filling them all. That's if I can track the filler down. It will be better when I get on to the painting. At least you feel you're making progress then rather than going backwards.

New Books

I always enjoy a day out in Leamington Spa and I nearly always come back with new books. This is owing to two exciting shops: Presto Music, an independent, proper music shop and The Craft Works. This, as you can probably guess, is a craft only version of the discount chain The Works.

I did particularly well recently and thought you might like to see what I got. Music first, because I always go to the music shop first.

I got two new violin books. The duets are to give me something a bit more 'normal' to try as I've only played Bartok duets so far which, although fun, are something of a challenge. The new book has eight duets from eighteenth century - right up my street. I also got a new book of violin studies, 'More Technique Takes Off' (to follow on from 'Technique Takes Off' naturally). I only had one more study to work on in the first book so I thought I'd be on to this new one soon ... turns out they saved up lots of hard stuff and crammed it all in the last piece - trills, vibrato, tricky timing. I may be a while.

The piano book is Burgmuller's famous set of piano studies. I never did studies when I learnt the piano so didn't know about these until my violin teacher recommended them. They're lovely little pieces, easy to sight read but hard to play really well.

I also got a recorder book (well, we wouldn't want the recorders to feel left out, would we?). A Baroque Anthology for descant recorders which I plan to play on my tenor recorder. Baroque is best. One day, I'm going to make myself a badge with that on. Also, one with 'Music for a while shall all your cares beguile' (from a Purcell song, in case you wondered).

So, that's the new music books. Now for the craft books.

All three of them have lovely covers and, I don't care what anyone says, I do like a book to have a pretty cover. Let's have a closer look at them, one by one.

'Beautiful Stitches' by Susan Bates is full of simple, freestyle embroidery designs. Animals, flowers, gardens - there's something for everyone. I love old-fashioned country scenes, the sort of thing featured in my old Stitchcraft magazines so this was one of my favourites ...

I was rather taken with the seed packet designs too ...

I have a lot of nasturtiums in my garden but, at the moment, they're more leaf than flower.

I think they're pretending to be lily pads.

This one features several of my favourite things: gardens, tea (although that should be a cup and saucer, not a mug) and, of course, knitting.

DMC colours are given for all the designs in the book or you could just use whatever shades you have, a bit like colouring in with thread.

This next book is the one I'm most excited about.

Sew Flower Quilts & Gifts by Atsuko Matsuyama is just gorgeous. What is it about Japanese quilting books that makes them so stylish? The designs are always appealing and full of the most perfect details. It is possible to use Japanese quilting books even if you don't read Japanese as they normally include diagrams and measurements but this one is in English.

What shall I show you? How about this picnic lunch set and beautiful little bag? Just look at those flowers ... and the lace edging .. and the patchwork strap ...

There are four little seasonal wall hangings too; here are the ones for autumn and winter...

I love all the little details in this sewing kit ...

You can never have too many sewing kits, especially if they're as pretty as this one.

Most of the projects in the book are small but there is one big sampler quilt. 

I just love the fabrics this designer uses - lots of bright pastels, typical of the 1930s. This is one of those books where I could happily make every single project.

The last of the craft books is a bit different as it's all about making flowers out of fabric.

At first I thought the cover was the best part of Fabric Blooms by Megan Hunt but then I found her felt flowers.

Felt, bright colours, buttons? Some of my favourite things. How about this for a fantastic bouquet - the bridesmaids would be fighting each other to catch this one.

You could use these flowers as a starting point for your own designs; they'd make lovely decorations for cards too. 

Now I would never wear this sort of thing (because, frankly, I'd look ridiculous in it) but aren't these felt flowers beautiful?

I don't know when I'll find time to make something from one of these new craft books but who cares? In the meantime, I can enjoy browsing through them; craft books are some of the best comfort reads I know.

Learning New Stuff

There's something about learning how to do new things that's exciting and very satisfying. This is why I try to fit too many crafts into the time available. Recently I've been expanding my Tunisian Crochet skills with the help of a very good book by Michelle Robinson, the Australian designer behind the Poppy & Bliss blog. It's called Tunisian Crochet Workshop and it certainly lives up to its name. There's lots of helpful advice, a good selection of stitch patterns and some really nice patterns.

I'm often disappointed by the projects in craft books; they can be a bit basic. That's definitely not the case with this one. There are several scarves, yes, but they're interesting and focus on different skills. You could learn entrelac by working that beautiful rainbow project bag and there's a fantastic sampler blanket - I think it's worth buying the book just for those two projects.

So, what have I made? Well, I started off with the first project in the book, these Tassel Pouches.

These are worked in the round ... on one straight hook. I know, it doesn't sound possible, does it? Once I grasped the technique, I loved making my little purse. You work the round in sections, back and forth ... which seems to make no sense at all. The author explains it much better than I can.

I used a different weight yarn and adjusted the number of rounds but I was quite pleased with my finished purse.

It took me ages deciding how to decorate it. In the end I settled on some nice old buttons on one side and a bit of weaving on the other. That was another tip from the book - I'd never thought of adding weaving to the finished crochet. As the basic Tunisian simple stitch is square you could also use cross stitch.

Now I'm making this scarf.

This uses one ball of variegated sock yarn and teaches you how to shape your crochet and add eyelets. Michelle recommends blocking the finished scarf to open up the eyelets but I think I'll leave mine as it is; I like the ripply look.

This is mine so far. The yarn is Stylecraft Head Over Heels and the shade is called Matterhorn. I love the way the stripes are working out. The pattern tells you to increase until you've used half your yarn and then decrease - nice and simple - but I stopped at 40 stitches and then worked straight for a while. I'm ready to start the decrease section now. If I have enough yarn left over, I think I'll add some pompoms to the ends.

The other craft I've been playing with lately isn't exactly new. I've made jewellery for many years but it's been a while since I got my beads and stuff out. Anyway, I had a play with some chain, jump rings and buttons the other day and made two bracelets with matching earrings.

For the first set I used various brightly coloured plastic buttons; I think these will look nice in the summer. The second set is made with antique looking chain and rings that I bought intending to venture into Steampunk jewellery. The buttons are all old ones with shanks. I had a lovely time choosing these. It reminded me that I've been collecting special buttons, intending to make a Charmstring; I really must get started on threading them.

The third thing I've been learning recently isn't completely new either. I've had my Tenor recorder for some years but have never got very far with it because of the stretch for the fingers of my right hand. So, I've been concentrating on the Alto instead. I've found Sarah Jeffery's videos on her Team Recorder channel really helpful. She's full of energy and the videos are always entertaining as well as packed with useful information and tips. She talks about Baroque music, modern music, all the different recorders, how to breathe properly, hand position ... oh, and there's also a video on how to make a recorder out of a carrot. 

Anyway, recently Sarah made a video just about the Tenor recorder, Getting Started on the Tenor Recorder and this has made me get my Tenor out again and have another go. Not that I'm easily influenced, but the fact that one of the recorders she plays in the video is the same as mine really encouraged me. Then it occurred to me that if I can stretch the fingers on my left hand for the violin as I have over the last year, then I can do the same for the recorder.

And, so far, it seems to be working. I can't say that I can suddenly get those bottom notes easily but I am improving. I think half the battle is having the confidence that you will get there eventually with practice. The music I've been playing is a collection of English Folk Tunes which is great. I particularly like the tunes from John Playford's 17th Century dance book. The ones on the pages in the picture are 'Jack's Maggot', 'Portsmouth' and 'Old Noll's Jig' - wonderful names.

In case you're wondering about the different recorders, there are many sizes ranging from the tiny Garkleins which are about 6" long to the Contrabasses which are as tall as a person. The most commonly played sizes however are the Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. These are in the keys of C, F, C and F respectively, which means that any music in C written for the Soprano recorder can also be played on the Tenor. Here are my Soprano, Alto and Tenor recorders together to give you an idea of the sizes.

The Soprano is also known as the Descant recorder and is the one most children start with. I've had mine for many years and, although it was good at the time, there are much better plastic recorders available now. I'm thinking of buying one to match my Alto which is an Aulos 709W and has a lovely tone. My Tenor is a Yamaha YRT304B. Obviously, good wooden recorders are much better than plastic ones but they're also much more expensive so I'm happy with these.

I'll leave you with a video of the Royal Wind Recorder Consort playing a short piece by the wonderful John Dowland. Isn't the recorder a beautiful instrument?

Who Was Richard Haka?

I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering just that so I'll put  you out of your misery. Richard Haka was born in England in 1645 but moved with his parents to Amsterdam as a child. He went on to become a renowned maker of recorders and other woodwind instruments. Which leads me to this ...

Aulos 709 BW 'Haka' Alto Recorder

... my new recorder. This is a plastic Alto or Treble recorder, inspired by one of Haka's designs and I love it. It has a lovely tone and the matt finish makes it less slippery to hold. It also clogs up less than my old recorder (one of the less refined aspects of recorder playing).

I bought my recorder in Leamington Spa from Presto Classical, a wonderful music shop that I've only just discovered. The staff are all musicians which is great and, as well as instruments, they also have a huge stock of sheet music and CDs. After choosing my recorder, I had a lovely time looking through their music - they actually stock recorder repertoire as well as tutors which is unusual. These are the two books I bought.

I love baroque music so the first one, Baroque Recorder Anthology Volume 3, was an obvious choice. The other book, English Folk Tunes for Recorder, is for my other recorder which you might say is the new one's big brother.

Alto and Tenor Recorders

My tenor is a Yamaha and was a birthday present from my Mum some years ago. I struggle a bit with the stretch on this one but tenors have a lovely deep sound. If you're not familiar with the recorder as a serious instrument, I can recommend The Flautadors. Here they are, playing a medley of the tracks on their CD Cynthia's Revels - more lovely baroque music.