I'm living by the river

it's a fashion hotspot  - this photograph is a typical example of daywear in Putney

Today I walked out in one of my Frankenstein jumpers - an orange one. I had stopped at a frantically complicated traffic junction - a car braked hard in the middle of the intersection, the driver wound down the window and, amid a torrent of honking, asked (in a way that sounded like she did actually want one) where I got that jumper.

Since Meeting Space Lady

my dread of being buried by things has increased. Over the winter a lot of jumpers were needed to feed my  jumper unknitting fetish - my cupboards are bulging. Today I collected up lots of sad-but-might-be-useful t-shirts, impractical dresses and over-optimistic-trousers when I'd filled a sack I took it to the charity shop.

I have come back with a wild flame-coloured mohair cardigan, it's too long and has a collar that needs un-ridiculousing. When I've fixed it, it will be magnificent.

Reinventing the Wheel

My friend who is a clothing historian and a costume designer laughed at me while I sobbed about my sun-bleached jumper

how sweet - you're doing the history of textile development

I have become a one woman re-enactment society - come and watch while I perform discoveries with woad and lichens

Fugitive

Today has been gloriously gorgeously sunny and I have spent ninety nine point nine nine percent of it inside in a windowless room.

Yesterday I was given an ugly fawn jumper in merino wool so I put it in a hot turmeric and tea dye bath then I washed it, rinsed it and laid it flat to dry on a towel - it was beautifully evenly the colour of caramel toffee.

Before going setting off for the windowless room, I placed this uglynowbeautiful jumper outside to finish drying.

When I came back home the sunnyside of the jumper had faded back to the ugly colour.

I DID NOT KNOW THIS SORT OF THING CAN HAPPEN AND NOW I DAREN'T EVER WEAR MY FIRST YELLOW JUMPER OUTSIDE IN DAYLIGHT

Gold Dust

I haven't been very thorough in my jumper-rinsing. I sat at a table for one hour wearing my yellow jumper - when I got up there was a cloud of golden powder in my place.

Affogato

Affogato is a shot of hot espresso coffee poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream - I LOVE it - by half-way through you are spooning at a tiny bowl of pale creamy coffee-tinted soup.

I like coffee but I like it strong and it gives me the shakes so I don't normally drink it but I needed some strong coffee to dye an arran cardigan that had gone a bit wooden and was an unpleasant yellowy nicotine-stain colour.

I made a big jug of strong coffee for the dyeing it looked so good I had to have some and then there wasn't enough left for dyeing, I have been saving the ends of jugs of coffee for days allthewhile getting shakier and shakier -  just before I died I got enough coffee to dye the wooden cardigan.

IT IS FANTASTIC it looks like the end of an affogato and it smells like a coffee roasting house.

I listened in on a conversation about a new person starting work 

she was dressed quite strangely

strangely - how?

about 20 years too old

I don't know how that's going to end

A Bit Windy

the rain has swollen the doors  - they will either not shut or not open.

when I came home I pulled the door into the door hole until it stopped moving. during the night the wind re-opened it because my obese front door is refusing to engage with the latch.

today the last of my celebratory black beans will be fried up with rice  - soon I will be able to socialise in enclosed spaces.

my jumper cupboard is overflowing. I have readjusted my work-search criteria to include jumper-wearing.

Not Knitting

I want to knit a thing but wool’s really expensive so I haunt charity shops lookingout for actual wool woolies that I can unknit and reknit.  I find them and get them home and like them as they are so I’ve ended up with a pile of ready knitted things and a lot of washing to do.

On my way back from the print studio there was a lone open shop in the Sunday morning quiet - a charity shop. I went in and the assistant followed me excitedly round the shop keeping up a running commentary.

It’s been so dead, you’re only the third in since I opened and that was hours ago, I haven’t taken a penny yet do you think it’ll rain all day? I've got the insurance coming tomorrow to look at my roof which is leaking but if it’s going to be torrential today then I’m really stuck aren’t I? Nice shoes.

He was really really close and put me off my jumper-touching, I backed towards the ‘entertainment’ section and picked up a Motown Chartbuster, gave the guy his first sale then came home and got my record player out - it’s been  a happy afternoon singing along with the Temptations.

reasons to be cheerful that my house is bloody freezing

1. I have a lot of jumpers that need wearing

2. The irises that I put in a vase 10 days ago are still looking fresh (frozen?)

3.   ... ???