Thoughts from the Bus Stop

Knitting for UK charity: Save The Children's Knit One, Save One campaign

Save The Children are asking knitters to knit a hat for a newborn baby, and attach a message for Gordon Brown, telling him why he must act now to save newborn lives around the world. Details of the campaign, including a free baby hat pattern and a card for your message to the Prime Minister, are available on the Save The Children website.

Save The Children will ensure the card reaches Mr Brown, and the hat will go directly on to the head of a newborn baby; a baby in places that suffer high numbers of newborn deaths, like Kenya, Sierra Leone or Tibet:

"Parents do everything they can to protect their babies from cold. But the most important thing, putting a hat on the baby's head, is neglected – that’s like leaving a thermos bottle filled with hot water but without a lid."
Tashi Tsering, Save the Children’s Health Project Manager in Tibet

Captain Jack Sparrow knitted doll

Captain Jack Sparrow knitted doll (c) Kristen Bailey, 2008

It was The Blonde's 30th birthday, so I thought I'd better whip up (that's 'whip' with the emphasis on the 'h', Family Guy fans) something special. So here he is - a Captain Jack Sparrow doll, based on Jean Greenhowe's 'Pirate' doll pattern, from her Storybook Dolls booklet.

I ran out of time to knit a bandana, waistcoat and sash, so they're made of remnants from my fabric stash. His hair was done by French knitting (on a Clover Wonder Knitter), and then beads were sewn in. Yarrrr!!!!!!!

Rob Ryan designs for Clothkits

Talented papersmith Rob Ryan has produced an exclusive skirt design for Clothkits. It's a little out of my league, at £46.00, but I might add one of the £25 tiles from Rob Ryan's Etsy shop to my birthday list, along with his gorgeous book This Is For You.

Two Princesses

Two princesses, adapted from a Jean Greenhowe pattern

It is my great honour to introduce to you Princess Isabel and Princess Roxanne of Lewes. They are going to go and live with two very special young friends of mine who just happen to be obsessed with princesses!

These dolls were knitted from the wonderful Jean Greenhowe's Christmas Tree Fairy pattern, taken from her Little Gift Dolls booklet. I then added felt and beaded flowers to the skirts, and felt crowns with sew-on jewels.

I'm such a big fan of Jean Greenhowe's toy patterns. They're colourful, simple and fun to knit - perfect for the amateur knitter who has a short attention span and is easily confused! If you've knitted one of her designs, why not join my Jean Greenhowe knitted toys group on Flickr?

Pirate Penguin for The Blonde

Pirate Penguin doll (c) Kristen Bailey 2008

This little fella was knitted for my pirate- and penguin-obsessed sister. He's adapted from Jean Greenhowe's Christmas Penguin pattern (from her Knitted Animals booklet).

I added a bandana in 'skull and crossbones' fabric, a gold hoop earring and a cutlass and eyepatch stitched from felt. Click on the pic for a closer look. Yaaaarrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!

The Queen's Progress: Knitting Elizabeth I

Knitted Elizabeth I doll in progress, next to the 'Pelican Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1574

When my M.E. forced me to jack my job in, my beloved colleagues at 24 Hour Museum threw me a party and presented me with my very own spoof homepage, which included personalised links to (made-up, sadly) sites such as BuildABaptistBoyfriend.com and KnitYourOwnTudor.com. It's the latter which has spurred me into action!

Using Jean Greenhowe's Pedlar Doll as a base, along with the wig from her Cinderella doll, I have started to create a likeness of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I - in knitting. (It's already been done but I wanted to have a go myself.)

For inspiration, I consulted my gorgeous glossy catalogue from the Elizabeth I exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in 2003.

I'm concentrating on two portraits in particular, both from the 1570s and both depicting the Queen wearing deep red - Nicholas Hilliard's 'Pelican Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1574, which is in the collection of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and the 'Plimpton Sieve Portrait' of 1579, by George Gower.

I'm also looking at portraits of Elizabeth I in the National Portrait Gallery's collection, concentrating on those from the 1570s, and researching fashion in hairstyles and clothing in the 1570s.

As you can see she's taking shape. Now for the fun part - beading, braiding and embroidery-a-go-go!

See also:
ElizabethI.org.uk: Elizabeth I - Appearance
Elizabethan Geek: Elizabethan Costume Review
Extreme Costuming: Two Elizabethan Hairstyles
Elizabethan-Era.org.uk: Elizabethan Hairstyles
themakeupgallery: Queen Elizabeth I
Semptress: Elizabethan Costuming
ElizabethanCostume.net: Elizabethan Hairnets, Cauls & Muffin Caps

The Power of Love: Frankie Goes To Hollywood

via YouTube.com

One of the music channels was showing the video for Frankie Goes to Hollywood's The Power of Love the other day and I found it really moving.

First, there's Holly Johnson's beautiful voice, and the tender lyrics, along with Godley and Creme's nativity-themed video, which (references to vampires and the Hooded Claw aside!) changed the meaning of the lyrics for me from a simple 'human to human' love song to one which speaks about God's 'undying, death-defying' love for mankind:

Feels like fire
I'm so in love with you
Dreams are like angels
They keep bad at bay - bad at bay
Love is the light
Scaring darkness away - yeah

I'm so in love with you
Purge the soul
Make love your goal

The power of love
A force from above
Cleaning my soul
Flame on burn desire
Love with tongues of fire
Purge the soul
Make love your goal

I'll protect you from the Hooded Claw
Keep the vampires from your door
When the chips are down I'll be around
With my undying, death-defying
Love for you

Envy will hurt itself
Let yourself be beautiful
Sparkling love, flowers
And pearls and pretty girls
Love is like an energy
Rushin' rushin' inside of me

This time we go sublime
Lovers entwine - divine divine
Love is danger, love is pleasure
Love is pure - the only treasure

I'm so in love with you
Purge the soul
Make love your goal

The power of love
A force from above
Cleaning my soul
The power of love
A force from above
A sky-scraping dove

Flame on burn desire
Love with tongues of fire
Purge the soul
Make love your goal

YouTube: Holly Johnson sings The Power of Love on Later...with Jools Holland
Official Frankie Goes To Hollywood Website
Official Holly Johnson Website

BBC2 Christmas Idents 2007

BBC2 Christmas ident, 2007. Via YouTube

I love the new papercut / pop-up book idents for BBC Two this Christmas - sort of Tord Boontje meets Rob Ryan. Intricate and atmospheric - beautiful.

See also:
Idents.tv: Cutting up Christmas on BBC Two
BBC: BBC Two Idents and Classic TV - BBC Two Ident Videos
BBC: In pictures: BBC Two's distinctive style
BBC: BBC Two Citizen Idents
BBC: BBC Two Idents Wallchart (pdf)

BBC2 Christmas ident, 2007. Via YouTube

Robot brings breakfast in bed

Robot Twendy One (c) PA Pics, via Ananova

The Blonde has found the perfect Christmas gift for the sister who has M.E. and loves robots...

"Japanese scientists have developed a robot that can help people get out of bed and bring them their breakfast. They claim the 4ft 10ins robot, which has soft hands and fingers, can become even more like its human inventors.

The Japanese humanoid - called Twendy one - has enough strength to support humans as they sit up and stand, and can make supple movements that respond to human touch. It can pick up a loaf of bread without crushing it, serve toast, help lift people out of bed and even lend a hand with the housework."
(Via Ananova)

Bog standards

Images (c) Ecover and Nouvelle

How green is your loo? The Blonde and I are trying to green-up our toilet - so far we have:

* Switched to Ecover toilet cleaner, an eco-friendly alternative to the cleaners made with loads of manmade chemicals. Other alternatives include Bio-D, Sonnett and Eco Line toilet cleaners.
* Switched to 100% recycled toilet paper - usually Nouvelle, as the 12-packs are often on a cracking half-price offer in Somerfield.
* Made our own chemical-free air freshener - one part water to one part the cheapest vodka you can find, and a few drops of your favourite essential oil, shaken together in a pump bottle (in our case, an empty bottle from a body spray).
* Placed a cut-off 2L plastic drinks bottle in the cistern to conserve water during each flush - works on the same principle as a 'Hippo' or 'Save-A-Flush' bag.
* Agreed to apply the 'If it's yellow, let it mellow' rule when it's just the two of us in the house (and if you're letting something mellow, you leave the lid down to give the other a little advanced warning). This rule does not apply to the first pee of the day!

Switching to green electricity

Wind turbine at Swaffham, Norfolk (c) Ecotech

The Blonde and I are always trying to find ways to change the way we live for the better - ethically and environmentally. We don't have much cash, and we live in a rented flat with no garden, so compost bins and solar panels are not an option, but we're keen to make the changes which are feasible and affordable.

We'd seen lots of ads on the telly for 'green' electricity, and wanted to make the switch. However, a bit of research revealed (surprise, surprise) that most of the so-called 'green' tariffs offered by the big suppliers were often just a way for them to get good PR out of the fraction of green electricity they have to produce anyway in order to comply with the Renewables Obligation:

"The Renewables Obligation requires licensed electricity suppliers to source a specific and annually increasing percentage of the electricity they supply from renewable sources. The current level is 7.9% for 2007/08 rising to 15.4% by 2015/16."

Green Electricity Marketplace is a fantastic switching website for green electricity tariffs. It only deals with green tariffs and provides info on how 'green' each tariff really is. It's recognised as a green electricity information provider by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.

We looked at three independent green electricity providers - Green Energy, Good Energy and Ecotricity, and went with Ecotricity. It was dead simple to switch and it doesn't cost any more than the big boys.

Check out Ecotricity's video of one of their wind turbines being built, or visit their Ecotech centre in Norfolk and climb up the 65-metre turbine to the viewing platform, if you like!

A book for Lisa at 30

Here, finally, is the special card/bookform I made my cousin for her 30th birthday. Yes, finished way behind schedule - she turned 30 in June - but leave me alone, I'm not well!

Lisa's my cousin, but she's also been a close friend. We were penpals from the ages of 12 and 10 - you know, back when folk used to write on paper, with a pen - and worked through a lot of teenage (and twenties!) angst together. Our correspondance went on for almost fifteen years, and is now meticulously archived in a series of shoeboxes kept on the tops of wardrobes in Galway City and Brighton.

Over the years she's acquired a husband, a house and a daughter, which I still can't quite get my head around... they grow up so fast, don't they? She's also a very busy wedding photographer, which I'm dead proud of.

These days we don't write letters to each other, just the occasional email or text. Sometimes one of us rings the other to note how crap we are at keeping in touch. But mainly we keep up with each other's news via my mum and her dad!

Dearest Lill, we are crap at keeping in touch...

Fifty Tiny Bobble Hats

Fifty bobble hats for Innocent smoothie bottles (c) Kristen Bailey 2007

Well, they've gone off in the post - only managed to contribute fifty hats towards the target of 400,000, but it was fun playing just a small part in it.

Look out for Innocent Smoothie bottles wearing hats in branches of Sainsburys from 7th November - and buy one, it's in aid of Age Concern!

The Big Knit: Hats for Smoothies!

Well, this looks like just the sort of knitting project someone with a limited concentration span, who tires easily, needs: knitting tiny hats for Innocent Smoothies, in aid of Age Concern's Fight The Freeze campaign. Each hat knitted and sent to Innocent by 22nd October will adorn a bottle of smoothie in Sainsbury's stores from 7th to 21st November, and for each bottle sold, Innocent and Sainsbury's will donate 50p to Age Concern. For inspiration, see the Big Knit group on Flickr, or browse through the Hat of the Week archive. Innocent's target is for 400,000 hats this year, which would mean £200,000 for Age Concern. They will use the money raised to provide support to older people in winter including hot meals, blankets and advice on how to keep their houses warm. So get knitting - and if you can't knit, buy a behatted smoothie!

Take a look at this movie about last year's Big Knit:

Chronically Fatigued

Exhausted (c) jowra.com, 2005

Here's a turn up for the books - I have M.E.

These days you're supposed to call it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome but that just makes it sound like you're very tired - no mention of how flippin' painful it can get!

It's good to have a diagnosis. Over the past year I've developed a bewildering array of disparate symptoms - depression, IBS, hypersomnia, total exhaustion, muscle twitching, joint and muscular pains; and loss of concentration, short-term memory and word-finding abilities. But until last month, no GP had made the connection. Now at least I know what I'm dealing with.

I've already been signed off work for a month and my doc's said to stay off for at least another three months, so I have plenty of time to swot up on this peculiar, life-disrupting condition. The Blonde got me Dr Anne MacIntyre's book about M.E. out of the library, and it's been really useful in getting my head round the subject. The most difficult concept to grasp is just how much you need to rest.

Having had depression for a while, I'm used to the 'if you feel rundown, some exercise will make you feel better' school of thought. But I'm finding that things I use to do easily - wandering round town for a few hours, doing the food shopping, even doing the washing-up - can leave me completely knackered for some time afterwards.

The other week I went out for the afternoon with a friend and felt fine the whole time but spent the following two days in bed, totally wore out and very sore. I've also come to realise how exhausting mental activity can be - even a long talk on the phone, or an hour on the 'net wears me out.

That said, I'm too tired to type any more... ;)

See also:
Sussex & Kent M.E./CFS Society
The National M.E. Centre
Christians With M.E.
On Eagle's Wings: A Christian Perspective On M.E.

The Blonde and the Bungee

The Blonde doing it for The Kids (c) Kristen Bailey, 2007

Yesterday I stood on Hove lawns with my little sister's camera and a bunch of her mates, all of us frantically taking photos and trying not to wet ourselves as she jumped from a 160ft crane with an elastic rope tied to her ankles (throwing horns as she fell).

The Blonde has long expressed a desire to some day do a bungee jump, and when she heard she could do one for charity right here in Brighton 'n' Hove... well, she jumped (sorry) at the chance. She's raised over £300 so far and donations are still very welcome!

Ode to a Manchester bus route

I met him on a Monday
And my heart stood still
Grey Man
Daisy Hill

Swatch Portraits

Swatch portraits (c) www.purlbee.com

This is a great idea from the Purl Bee - frame favourite pieces of fabric with embroidery hoops and hang 'em on the wall. I've seen fabric framed before in picture frames but this is a more interesting way of doing it and is dead simple - just follow their free online tutorial.

There's even a Swatch Portraits group on Flickr.

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth I: The Golden Age

Still from The Golden Age (c) Working Title

I am SO looking forward to the release of The Golden Age - Shekhar Kapur's sequel to 1998's Elizabeth - one of my favourite films of all time, and (along with David Starkey's book and TV series) largely responsible for triggering my obsession with Elizabeth I and all things Tudor.

Cate Blanchett is my favourite Elizabeth on film, perfectly capturing the wit, intelligence, strength and vulnerability of Elizabeth I. (Anne Marie Duff coming a close second - Cate does have the advantage of already looking like the Elizabeth we know from portraits).

The Golden Age isn't out till November, so am trying to sate my cravings by watching the trailer, rewatching Elizabeth and flicking through production shots on Working Title's website.

Still and production shot from The Golden Age (c) Working Title

Map Quilts by Ian Hundley

Bierbergen Oedelum Black (c) Ian Hundley, 2006

Ian Hundley is a Brooklyn-based artist who transforms maps into amazing large-scale quilts. Watch this video from Cool Hunting, where they meet with Ian to discuss his inspirations and capture his process.