Recorder recording (recommended)

A Baroque recorder player of my acquaintance has put together a short solo album, 'Ayre, Divided', to raise funds to help keep him studying in Salzburg, and to help fund some future projects that sound seriously cool. You can read about it all in his blog post here.

On the recording, Brendan plays some beautiful melodies taken from English lute airs and madrigals, and continues them with 'divisions' he's devised himself. The art of playing divisions (or variations) on popular melodies was an important skill for Baroque instrumentalists, and I have great respect for those who take up the challenge today. As Brendan notes, the tradition of improvisation is one of the neat parallels between Baroque music and jazz.

You can listen to 'Ayre, Divided' and purchase the tracks here.

Excavation: Part II

More finds from the land of packing...

• A handwritten uni essay draft! It appears to be from my big honours-year Research Essay, on music and science in 17thC England. Also, an actual floppy disc!
• An alpaca scarf composed of forty crocheted flowers, which I made last year after performing in Tallis' 40-part motet Spem in alium. It was a Really Big Deal for me, and I wanted to commemorate it somehow. Being a bit of a weirdo, I chose crochet. :p
• Costumes from various events I've attended and/or organised over the years. Highlights are my attempt at a 14thC outfit for the Feast of Fools, my Blackadder-esque creation for The Queen's Revels (and Willie's outfit!), and my Mrs Bennett costume for Yvonne's Time Travellers' Ball. We have a such kick-ass dress-up box.

Singing some Hildegard, with psaltery (Feast of Fools, 2009)

Dancing the Tedesca (Feast of Fools, 2009)

 

 

Two 'gentlemen' dancing (The Queen's Revels, 2009)

Galliards are fun!

The Doctor and Mrs Bennett (Time Travellers' Ball, 2010)

Rainbows make everything better

I decided to knit something special for myself as a pick-me-up, because the process of moving house is pretty darn stressful for me. Moving is not my favourite thing...

... but rainbows just might be! Right up there with ducklings, anyway. ;) 

The concept for my new shawl is a rainbow appearing on a rainy grey day. A timely reminder that there's a bright side to all this upheaval - a shiny new life in a new place.

This is my first shawl design. I've knit several shawls, some lacy and some not, and have found them a fun and rewarding thing to knit: you can get something really spectacular out of just one skein of yarn, and the transformation after blocking a shawl is simply magic. I gained confidence with the shaping of different kinds of shawls at a class I attended recently ('It's a Wrap', taught by Morag of Vintage Purls).

I came up with the raindrop-lace stitch myself, after lots of test-swatching. Because this stitch only looks like falling raindrops when knitted from the bottom up, I made the shawl a bottom-up design: you begin with the rainbow edge, and the rows get shorter as you go.

I wear my shawls wound around my neck, scarf-style, so I went for a long, crescent shape which is easy to drape in different ways. Both sides of the shawl look good, which is important for wearability. Actually, I'm still not sure which side I prefer! Right now I'm leaning towards the purl side.

The raindrop lace on the 'knit' side

The raindrop lace on the 'purl' side

This was my first time using the lovely local Knitsch Sock yarn, dyed by Tash of Holland Road Yarn Company. I've been hoarding this for a special project! Five mini skeins were included with the main variegated-grey skein, in this limited-run set called 'Rainy Day Rainbow'. Knitsch Sock is a high-twist merino yarn that comes in a range of amazing colours. It's smooth and soft, but also hard-wearing. Just as well - I predict I'll be wearing my rainbow shawl to death...

The pattern for this design will be available soon. Stay tuned. :)

A cosy laptop

After a three-day struggle with the sewing machine, I have a sensible, sturdy bag for my laptop! In my world, sensible totally includes granny-square-printed fabric. ;)

I partially based it on my everyday satchel, which I made back in January using this tutorial. It's a great functional bag with lots of pockets (and, crucially, is much lighter to carry than my old leather satchel). The laptop bag differs in that it has roomier front pockets with velcro closures, but no zip, no inner pocket, and no back pocket.

A peek under the flaps...

Everyday bag: quick-access front pockets for bus card etc.

Laptop bag: velcroed front pockets for cords; no zip.

To get the size right, I made a paper template by drawing around the laptop and then adding an inch to each side to allow for seams and a bit of extra roominess. I made the lining first because it seemed like a more straightforward place to start, and then made the strap and front pockets. The strap is made of corduroy, which means it has less of a tendency to slide off my sloping shoulders. I first tried the corduroy trick on my everyday satchel, and it's made a big difference! I love finding solutions to little niggling things like that.

I attached the front pockets to the main front piece of the bag, and then basted some cotton fleece to the wrong side of the main front and back pieces, and sides+bottom strip. This gives the bag some sturdiness, and will protect the laptop against minor bumps and knocks.

The finishing-off part of the process (attaching the lining) was a bit of a brain-bender, but referring back to the tutorial helped. I certainly don't find sewing bags easy, but I do love the end result of a custom-made bag that's just what you need. :)

Excavation

Items unearthed while packing for The Big Move:

• A little black-and-white photo of my family's much-missed cat, officially named Mischief but universally known as Meece. The photo was inside a book I was putting in the 'to donate' box. Glad I flipped through it first! In the photo, Meece is jumping down from the window box which was my first gardening playground. I grew freesias, alpine strawberries, a miniature rose, and all sorts of things...

 

• Handwritten recipes from my Form 1 'Manual' cooking class, and earlier. Cheese scones and other classics! One recipe was earnestly typed up on an old-school typewriter. :)
  No photos sorry, because they are packed for storage (unpacking a box again would be Not Helpful at this point).

• Mum's renowned tomato chutney recipe. I hope I can get cheap tomatoes in Melbourne!

• My MA thesis (eek) on rhetoric in Baroque-period instrumental music.

• A test-swatch for the amazing mohair stars-and-planets jersey that Mum made for me in the 80s. The jersey itself still fits (yay for oversized 80s styles), but is awaiting repairs after a run-in with dastardly moths at my old house.

No doubt there will be more treasures to come as we make more progress!