Missing you
Who would have thought I would say this about the City’s skyline? But working remotely…
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Holy Mola
We are talking intricate stitching here. And copious amounts of patience. What you are looking…
Tulips in the mirror
It’s tulip time in every garden. The plant stems from well drained mountain slopes in…
Fencing in the raspberries
I built my first fence the other day. Using young hazel sticks, harvested last the…
Darning à la Celia Pym
Moths ate a good chunk of this woollen jacket. As I put my hand in…
Silver petals and violet berries
Pieces can change shape as you work on them. In fact, at the start I…
Making a display of vintage prints
When Marion saved an old skirt from the bin, she had an idea. The scenes…
Something cheerful on a grey Sunday
It is like colouring in with thread rather than pencil. Altogether a most appropriate activity…
Soft gold made in Austria
Not talking about hard metal but about soft wool, this is the marketing slogan of…
A smithy from yesteryear
It felt like stepping into a chiarusco painting. Dark rooms, blackened by a century of…
A dam at the end of the valley
Leaving this charming view across Brandenberg behind, we travelled along gorges and steep valleys towards…
Is it a bike or is it art?
I came across this bike while on a rainy autumn walk. Admirably, somebody went to…
Poppies on a string
I cast dried poppy heads from the allotment in silver to make these pendants. With…
A thing to wear
I was so happy to wander through this exhibition, Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk. The V&A…
Working with kumboo
I have never made a piece of gold jewellery. I find the material simply too…
Great Dixter in summer
My friend was right. Great Dixter was the highlight of our trip to Rye, itself…
Textured necklace
The necklace features sterling silver disks with different surface textures, arranged in a drop as…
Draping as meditation
It looked so easy. The tutor grabbed a men’s shirt from the charity shop and…
Knit one, purl one
It is that tired, old formula – knit one, purl one – but with a…
A present to change a life
Two came to mind immediately when some semi-celebrities on the radio discussed presents that were…
Cycling in London grows up
I discovered a brilliant way to cross London the other day. Cycling from Knightsbridge to…
The most English of flowers
Crataegus monogyna is normally an unassuming little tree. In May, though, it gives the English…
Spring unfolding
Dainty folds of green with delicate downy fringes unfolding from its bud like a butterfly…
Time and a face (3)
The third locket in the series holds the picture of a woman taken closest to…
How I learnt what an armscye is
I learnt a new word as I learnt a new skill. As you do. The…
Forest quilt
‘Growing up in Brandenberg’ is the title of a new quilt. An old photo of…
Fair Isle jumper for Arthur
This is why it makes sense to keep hold of things. They come in handy…
Time and a face (2)
Pink rose quartz with cloudy cracks obscuring the face of a young woman. The tarnish…
The ball season in full swing
A polonnaise opens every important ball. Young men and women in black and white did…
Kaffee und Kuchen
Much of my time in Vienna was devoted to doing some serious research of the…
Red Vienna
To an observant visitor of the less touristy parts of Vienna, letterings like the above…
Hiking the vineyards
As we know, the best way to experience a place is to walk it. Usefully,…
A piece of Tirol in Vienna
If you walk away from the imperial palace of Schoenbrunn and up the hill, you…
View from a Parisian roof
You would never guess that this is Paris. It is a view of the skyscrapers…
Mountain architecture
On a sky blue winter’s day, I enjoyed the best the Tyrol has to offer…
Narrative threads
‘Narrative threads’ is a beautifully apt description of textile art that tells a story. It…
A very ordinary house
In a pretty ordinary street. But once you cross the threshold, you are in a…
Time and a face (1)
The first in a series of portraits viewed across time. The face of a woman…
Ethereal White Persian Pond
Persians captured my attention at Kew Gardens – shiny, transparent swirls of white hovering over…
Gardening up high
On an exposed terrace, plants finish the growing season earlier than in a more proteced…
Summer sky over Margate
JMW Turner famously chose Margate to paint his seascapes. In brilliant sunshine, sparklingly clear air,…
Lost skills
Why these clogs? The wooden base is carved, the leather uppers sewn and nailed on,…
Flower harvest
When people think of an allotment, they imagine orderly rows of cabbages, potatoes and French…