Ah, those April Showers. They’re still going, and frankly, at the moment it’s more like a May Deluge. It seems a time for staying in, reading books and blogs, knitting, baking and snuggling up. Here are a few things that I wanted to share with you to help along your own rainy weekends.
I have a question for my British readers. Do you wish that you could attend one of those American knitting retreats that other bloggers and podcasters talk about going to? Do you want to learn all the new skills and hang out with all the really cool kids?
To me, the North American retreats and camps sound as exciting and alluring as going on summer camp did when I was a teenager.* It’s unlikely that I’ll be able to go to one any time soon, due to the financials, and we all know what happened a couple of years ago when one was attempted in Scotland. But help is at hand. Fret not, British peeps, for the excellent Kim Werker has had ace ideas for how to host your own ‘poor man’s’ version at home.
Do you need a recipe for the weekend? Maybe for your knitting retreat? I’ve been making Nigella’s courgette cake from How to be a Domestic Goddess into muffins. I use exactly the same recipe, except to double the amount of raisins, add some walnuts if I have some handy and to ice them with normal icing sugar made up with lime juice rather than water. I don’t go in for putting cream cheese in the middle either. They don’t need it.
For those who like to listen while you knit, have you noticed that Knitmore Girls podcast is back? Jasmin has had her baby girl, Genevieve, and they’re back on a fortnightly basis until the summer when they’ll be going weekly once more.
Lastly, did you see the google doodle last week – the one where you could unzip the page? It was in honour of Gideon Sundback and his (sort of) invention of the Hookless No 2, the zip that is now ubiquitous in our clothing and interiors. The always excellent textile history blog, Worn Through, has a fascinating (and very funny) article on the history of the zip that is well worth a read.
I hope that it doesn’t rain on you too much this weekend, especially not if you’re camping.
*For those not in the UK, we don’t really go in for summer camps, apart from the odd week in a tent in the midst of a soggy field at Girl Guide camp (or Scout camp if you were a boy).