so long, stokey part II: knitting nirvana

One of the most exciting new places to open up in Stokey over the last few years is Knit With Attitude, run by the lovely Maya. In its first incarnation, it was a tiny shop tucked away on Northwold Road, drawing me in with its delectable all-natural yarns. I didn’t knit when it opened. I must have lasted about two weeks before I caved and announced my decision to Learn Properly. I spent most of the next few weeks poring over online video-tutorials*, lurching wildly between tears of frustration and extreme satisfaction.

It remains my all-time favourite yarn shop. Some yarn shops I walk in and – nothing – no inspiration. And some, within seconds I’m planning the next hundred projects (and struggling to stick to my ‘no buying yarn more than one project in advance’ rule designed to help with stash control). And Knit With Attitude is the resolutely the latter.

I simultaneously blame and thank it for my yarn snobbery (no acrylic thanks very much) and steadfast loyalty to Japanese Clover ‘Takumi’ bamboo needles. And the start of a major new hobby which is showing no signs of going anywhere fast.

Happily, the shop has moved to larger premises on the High Street, and has a knitting group every second Thursday of the month, the key elements of which are chat, nibbles, wine and your work-in-progress. So what better way to say farewell and toast my time in this corner of the city than with a glass of red, DPNs in hand.

For fun, and because I do love a list, here are my top three yarns from Knit With Attitude (all of which you can buy online):

1. Eco-Alpaca by Viking of Norway

This was the yarn that got me when the shop first opened. I never realised yarn could be that soft, and instantly saw countless projects in its subdued but classy hues of cream, dark grey and brown. Hampered as I was by my total lack of skillz, I made a moss-stitch scarf but eventually progressed on to a stripy tea cosy. I’m pleased to see the shop is stocking more colours now but the original muted tones remain my faves.

2. Blue Faced Leicester Dazzle DK by The Natural Dye Studio

This yarn is all about the colours for me. It’s pure wool, so not as soft as others, but I do love a comfortingly straightforward wool yarn for some projects. I found that I couldn’t live without spice, sugar and sunflower in my life, so I promptly bought them all. I’m yet to make the stripy pink/orange ‘sugar and spice’ hottie cover which is their ultimate destiny.

3.  Mirasol by Du Store Alpakka

Aha, now this yarn has bitter-sweet memories for me, but it’s not the yarn’s fault. This is the perfect match between stroke-worthy alpaca and bang-on colours. I’ve spent a long time dreaming up gorgeous combos. I still have the grey and pink logged for future reference. It had the misfortune to be used for my first project knitting in the round with DPNs (cue tears, needles sticking out everywhere and several hundred froggings). That project was my first and only grudge-knit (it will get finished, or else I will die trying) but all credit to the yarn.

A special mention must go to Scrumptious DK/Worsted by Fyberspates, a luxurious mix of merino and silk, which has been set aside for a top secret project which will be revealed in due course.

So farewell Stokey and Knit With Attitude, but I’ll certainly be back.

* As recommended by Maya, www.knittinghelp.com is all you need, should you be in the market for free video tutorials. Their videos are brilliant and very clear, and the voice-over isn’t annoying (not a given).

so long, stokey: part I

Yes, indeed. The reason for the blog silence these past few weeks is because I’ve moved house. I have finally poked my head above the piles of cardboard boxes and mountains of admin, to blog some pics of the place I’ve called my haven for the last (nearly) 7 years – Stoke Newington or Stokey if you’re, y’know, in the cool gang.

When I arrived in London, overwhelmed by the swarms of commuters and petrified of the certain peril of the big city, Stokey was my sanctuary. I ended up there as my sister told me “it’s for people who hate London”. Getting off the 73 on Church Street for the first time, I knew within about 30 seconds it was the place for me.

stoke newington reservoir

abney park cemetery in autumn

abney park cemetery in winter

springfield park – clissold’s prettier, quieter and better-kept cousin

Stokey has got a lot busier than when I first moved there. It’s become slightly less villagey, slightly more clubby (I call it the Dalston creep – possibly a good thing, the jury’s out. Either way, it should definitely be a new dance move). Gone are any residues of non-gentrified shops along Church Street (RIP Haringey Electrics – what they didn’t know about Hoover bags wasn’t worth knowing) and increasingly the same is the case on the high street. But we still love it.

It was because of its stratospheric rise to house price silliness that we have sadly had to leave the area. Having sworn never to live in another area of London, melodramatically, we thought we’d never love again. But we have, and this time it’s Forest Gate, where we’ve bought our first place.

Ever since I knew I was moving, the nostalgia kicked in and I felt the need to document some classic shop fronts.

And here are my highly subjective top 10 Stokey establishments, in no particular order:

1. Jan’s Bar: on Northwold Road off the main drag, Belgian ales with unusual glasses, and infamous lock-ins. Stokey’s greatest hidden gem
2. Knit With Attitude: the best knitting shop in London. Fact.
3. Yum Yum: quality cocktails (go at happy hour)
4. Borough Wines: bring your bottle back for a refill for a fiver, best sherry selection in Stokey
5. Hub: where nearly all my accessories and shoes are from. Expensive but well-edited selection of scarves, shoes, clothes and jewellery
6. Thai Café: low-key Thai restaurant for cosy, cheap dinners
7. Stoke Newington Green: there’s so many good things about this greengrocers, it’s hard to know where to start – great quality, cheap, they’ve got everything, takes cards…
8. Rio Cinema: bloody brilliant indie cinema with proper snacks
9. Beaucatcher: get a great haircut and catch up on Church Street gossip at the same time
10. Stokey Fish Bar (top of the high street): chip cob, please, and a pickled egg to go

+++++

my first stokey sunrise, september 2006

sewing school finale: le weekend bag

And now for my final trick…

Yep, as the main event and big finale to the excellent six-week sewing school I’ve been doing at Ray Stitch, we made a rather fetching weekend bag. Or large handbag, depending on how you see it. It was certainly the most complex project I’ve tried, and so the sense of achievement is jump-up-and-down high. I loved the cheers of glee and applause that erupted periodically in the room as each of us turned our bags the right way round to reveal the final thing. It took me and my lovely fellow bag-ladies three sessions to complete, and incorporated a zip, lining, piping, an inner pocket and various panels (just don’t mention the gusset…).

We were advised to pick out a medium/heavyweight cotton which makes for a more sturdy bag, and I found this dark blue herringbone design in Ray Stitch, and chose a bright yellow lining, yellow zip and orange tape handles. Certainly a summery combo which is making me yearn for warmer days.

Prior to the bag project, we had a whistle stop tour of all manner of seaming and finishing techniques such piping, bias binding, French seams, gathering and more besides. I never realised that gathering simply involves pulling the thread until it bunches up to the desired length, much like a drawstring. Much less complicated than I thought. And piping is definitely my new favourite thing – so satisfying and looks mega pro.

practising gathering – pjyama-bottoms drawstring style

We also made a cute stuffed heart in time for Mother’s Day. I intended my mum’s to be a pin cushion but I think it’s ended up as a grab-able and chewable soft toy for my baby niece. Endless uses!

disclaimer: this pretty heart is not mine, my one was shipped down to my mum before I got a chance to take a picture…

I’m really tempted to sign up to the sewing school dress making course, which Moyna our teacher is taking, but sadly I think I’ll have to wait as I’m going to have a lot on in the next few months (moving house and getting married!) It will be first on my list of courses once I’m back in the groove though.

east london street chic

shop front in brick lane

It kind of crept up on me, my love of street art.

It’s not a genre I’d ever thought much about before moving to East London. But living here means that you pass it all the time, on the bus, walking along, caught in the corner of your eye. And whilst some graffiti is undoubtedly rubbish, I love that moment on the bus, say, when you see something quite different and extraordinary, and physically sit up to get a proper look. It’s definitely a thrill for me and an ‘I love London’ kick. It’s just so darn cool.

brick lane wall cartoons

I remember only just spotting a life-size fox stencil in Stoke Newington, poised as if it were about to sneak into a house. It wasn’t that obvious, and I was whizzing by on the bus, so almost missed it. It looks very much like a Stewy, as it’s identical to other foxes I’ve seen as part of his alphabet of 26 British animals series.

possible stewy fox in stoke newington

When I used to get the bus to work, there would be certain pieces of street art that I would look forward to spotting every day and the flip-side is the horror when you see someone has painted over or tried to remove them. That happens quite a lot but I guess it’s all part of the genre in some ways.

The other weekend, I went down to Redchurch Street for the first time in a while, and was saddened to see my favourite Roa work of the giant squirrel on Club Row gone, and a handsome Native American Indian gracing the wall where he once was.

the squirrel that once was

I was heartened though to see an enormous Roa hedgehog round the corner on Chance Street, almost as if to make up for it.

Roa is one of my favourite street artists. I love how unashamedly massive his animals are. You can’t argue with the amazing crane on Hanbury Street.

I enjoyed seeing some new street art up, and I particularly liked this girl crouching down to take a photo (in a clever mirror image of me… see what they’ve done there), and the brilliantly creepy little man just to the right.

look for the creepy ghost-like man

I long to spot a Pablo Delgado work but it’s tricky as they are so tiny. Check out some of his brilliant mini figures with big personalities here and here.

Here are some others shots I took. I don’t know who did them – please let me know if you do!

week-night sewing with ray stitch

Although I know my way around a sewing machine, it’s not quite second nature yet and there are a lot of techniques I don’t know. So when I saw a six-session crash course ‘sewing school’ on at my favourite fabric shop, Ray Stitch, I signed up in a flash. I was loving the claim that by the end, I will know how to do: “zips, darts, piping, elastic casings, pleats, gathering, hemming, facings, handmade buttons and machine buttonholes”. My reaction to that list is still an incredulous ‘really?!’ but I’m keeping the faith!

I’m two weeks in now, and what I’m enjoying most is the guaranteed two and a half hours of quality time with the machine each week, and a highly satisfying ‘thing-I-made’ to show for it at the end of each session. Moyna, our teacher, is great – it could so easily be stressful but she sets us all at ease and the hours fly by in what feels like a second.

wine, snacks and killer chocolate brownie come as standard

In the first week, we made a good old tote bag – a staple of beginners machine sewing classes – but it was a better than usual pattern, and I liked using tape for the handles rather than the same fabric, aesthetically and practically. I chose a slightly heavier fabric with an owl pattern. I liked the way the fabric was very soft and strokeable, which made it feel more luxurious than the standard cotton.

Our next challenge was a lined zipped pouch, which definitely upped the difficulty stakes. The zip was the trickiest bit, as you would expect, but it’s a nice hurdle to have overcome finally.

I wasn’t in love with the fabric I chose, which pained me, as life is too short for less than amazing fabrics, right? But we only have (free) access to the ‘sale rail’ fabrics, and a lot of the ones I liked were too ‘big’ a pattern for them to work on a small pouch. I’m looking forward to the last project where you have to buy the fabric, as I intend to lay aside plenty of time to ponder / drool over Ray Stitch’s lovely selection, in order to choose the perfect one.

Talking of amazing fabrics, I’ve fallen in a big way for this range of soft brushed cotton, ‘pyjama’ fabrics (as I like to think of them), which wink at me from across the room while I’m sewing.

One day, I will sew a pair of perfect pyjamas with one of those. I actually have to – I have no choice now I’ve seen them.

A great perk of the course is 15% off Ray Stitch fabrics as well as a copy of the Merchant and Mills sewing book, which is a thing of beauty. Merchant and Mills have really nailed the utilitarian chic, practical-but-beautiful market in sewing, and I, along with the rest of the craft world, am head over heels.

I’m dying to go to their new shop in Rye. Along with Rye’s many antique shops, it’s an excuse for a weekend away if ever I saw one. The patterns in the book are all flawlessly stylish as well as practical (fisherman’s top anyone?) and I want to make all of them. So many patterns, so little time…

Stay tuned for more sewing school updates.

ephemera take two (or three or four)

Ever since I first discovered the Ephemera Society‘s fairs, I’ve been dying to return. And return I did, the Sunday before last.

It’s hard to describe the sheer excitement and overwhelm that makes me want to hide in a corner at first. It’s an endless treasure trove of gorgeous typography and vintage graphics, and the fear of wanting everything briefly paralyses me before I take a deep breath and dig in.

burma, kelloggs and silk stockings

To keep me company in my excitement-slash-angst, I went with a friend of mine who shares the same crush on old bits of paper. I thought we might just egg each other on but actually he played a key part in my not bringing home a hundred sheets of vintage ads, and helped me to choose a small haul, which I’m very pleased with. Ephemera high-five!

First up, a page advertising Cadbury’s Cocoa Essence and Mexican Chocolate. This was one that pained me to leave behind last time and since it was still there, I took it as a sign. There’s something lovely and neat about how they’ve squeezed all the words on vertically and horizontally, and of course the bright colours.

The next is perhaps my favourite, a label for Wm. P. Hartley’s Table Jellies. I’ve been wanting to make some jellies for a while, since Bompass and Carr became all the rage, and while this hasn’t happened (yet!), this will satisfy my craving for Victorian-style moulds in the meantime.

This ‘Welcome to Europe’ print is published by the Post Office. I do love the Post Office’s old ads, and I’ve long been coveting several of their old prints, which you can buy here. The font is striking, particularly the ‘M’. I’m reading Just My Type by Simon Garfield at the moment, which is giving me a fascinating insight into typefaces, and means I’m noticing fonts way more than before.

The last print I found in a tempting pile of pages detached from The English Encyclopaedia: being a collection of treatises, and a dictionary of terms, illustrative of the arts and sciences, published in 1802. Both of us loved the intricate and precise drawings, which were of everything from shells to husbandry to chemistry equipment, often all on the same page. From a ‘short’-list of around 25, I managed to pick this one of burning lenses.

Aside from the lovely drawings, there’s something I like about it that I can’t quite put my finger on. I think it has to do with the way the ‘Burning Mirror of M. Buffon’ and the old-fashioned science equipment seem to belong in one of my childhood fantasy adventure books.

You can find out when the next London fairs are here.

sewing and snowing

Well, after agonising for many months, I decided to bite the bullet and get a brand new sewing machine. I’m very pleased with it. It sews like a dream and everything just seems so easy. Shock of shocks, even the product manual was simple to follow.

It was like a snow dome outside last Sunday with big fat flakes falling all day so I when I got back into the warm, it seemed an idyllic moment to crack out the new machine.

I decided to test run it on an easy project: two tea towels with hanging loops.

When I was in Japan, I found some lovely linen (in an enormous craft shop called Okadaya) which had ‘cute kitchen fabric’ written all over it. It was the perfect cloth for the job. It’s quite unusual in that it has a different pattern on each side – spots on one side, stripes on the other – which in my eyes is the best of both worlds. You get the double-sided pattern without having to line it separately. It also means there’s no ‘wrong’ side on a tea towel. In fact I actually prefer the ‘wrong’ side as it has the thin line of contrasting fabric around the edge, in a bias binding effect.

I followed the instructions from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter but barely needed to, as tea towels are as simple as it gets really. A great quick win for adding some colour or pattern to your kitchen.

I have quite a bit of the fabric left over and, if I’ve interpreted correctly, it seems to be saying  ’make me into an apron’. I’ll post the results in due course!