unleash the power of inspiration...

                                         unleash the power of inspiration...

On the subject of spring flowers, I would like to introduce my latest design, called Pretty Maids. I took the name from a line in the the nursery rhyme "Mary Mary". As a very little girl I loved to grow flowers and had my own tiny patch planted with Sweet Peas. My Gran used to quote this rhyme when I went off to water them - eventually Mary Mary became the verb used to describe my doing this: "I'm going to Mary Mary my flowers".


I was asked to come up with a project using Black Trillium gradient yarns for a Spring Knit along (KAL),  so I came up with a pair of super feminine gauntlets to combat Spring breezes. The patterning uses three different openwork stitches that make me think of flowers and make the clever gradual changes between each of the shades in the gradient kit. My Pretty Maids were made in the colourway Trifle, which is very apt as that was my favourite dessert and my Mum always made one for my birthday parties.


You can find details for the kits and KAL here and on Ravelry here.

Falling between two stools

This month I find myself unexpectedly back in the UK. It is the first time in years that I am celebrating my birthday in the land of my birth and it feels a little strange. As I was growing up, my birthday always seemed to be one of those first true Spring days, when the sun shone, birds sang and there were flowers everywhere. Now living in the Great White North it is one of the things that I miss, early March is still most definitely still Winter in Toronto. I have become resigned to my birthday being a grey, possibly wet and snowy day without a hint of a budding tree anywhere.  The memory of my sunny birthdays is the reason why I always think that I feel like Winter will never end, even though I know that so many people feel the same way. My Mother-in-Law said last week that she thinks that Spring (and also May) are the best times to visit England and I'm inclined to agree - but I pointed out to her that we (in Canada) win at Fall. Proving that there are great things about both places.


Just before this visit I had seen the movie Brooklyn - and really enjoyed it. If you haven't seen it, it's the story of a young woman moving from Ireland to make a new life in New York. Of course it resonated with me as I could identify with many of the same feelings she experienced arriving in a new land. The thing I liked most about the film was how (when she returned for a visit to Ireland) it captured the feeling of being torn between two worlds; familiar things in each country, things to love about both, and the people who mean the world to you in both places. It is indeed a curious feeling and I have been pondering the things that tie us to a location a lot during this trip.


The movie is set in the 1950's and the costuming is terrific. It is one of the vehicles used to demonstrate her feeling out of place, then transitioning into her new world and once again standing out when she returns to her homeland. Now that we have global clothing outlets and fashion trends, I wonder, if the story were to be set in contemporary times, if this would be so easy to do.  This week I have also been thinking about what I would use to convey these personal changes and transitions using modern clothing, and I'm drawing a blank. When I'm flying internationally I play a game of trying to guess where people are from based on their clothes and it's mostly a pretty tricky game. I do think that European's tend to be more formal in the way they dress, or rather many North Americans eschew the formal in favour of very casual dress when traveling.  This is certainly true of dining out, notably over breakfast in hotels. I might miss pancakes from my North American home but I don't miss seeing people wearing pj's in public or being bombarded by loud over-bearing TV's over my cornflakes. I guess it must be one of the things that hangs over from my British upbringing. But again I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on that one either.


As I read all my wonderful birthday messages from both of my worlds it seems that Mother Nature is playing tricks on me (she's sneaky like that), apparently it's sunny in TO and kind of gloomy here in the UK....not that I'm going to let me stop me enjoying the buds on the trees and the hosts of golden daffodils!


I hope that you enjoy the photos - even though it hasn't been that sunny or warm during my trip I am loving seeing all the Spring flowers....so my Canadian friends enjoy the photos...our turn is just around the corner! 


Please check back next month to find out what my latest fascination is.

See you next month      
Fiona xxxx

On-line, On-nine
Monthly post on the 9th of each month! 
On-line, On-nine  March 9th 2016