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Barbelith Women's Institute

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14:12 / 15.09.03

In view of an uncharacteristic outburst of Barbeloid faux patriotism on Saturday, and the undesirable testosterone-fuelled outbursts we have seen in today's Conversation, Miss de Logardiere and I have agreed that what we really need is a branch of the WI to enhance our enjoyment of the gentler arts. I think it is time we had a proper forum in which we can discuss jam-making, cake recipes, knitting, crochet, dressmaking, millinery and pot-plants without fear of ridicule. This is the true foundation of the empire.

Members may give talks on suitable subjects of interest, and animated discussion will no doubt ensue.

I propose a general topic of conversation to get us going: JAM. Which are the best sorts, for what?

I personally find blackcurrant the best all-rounder, though I'm prepared to admit the merits of strawberry for children's birthday cakes. But you really can't beat greengage jam for toast. It's a little difficult to set, though - does anyone have any tips?

Not forgetting the champion pudding jam - raspberry, aka pip jam (when it's properly made).

(A genteel hubbub of conversation is not only permissible but desirable...)

14:19 / 15.09.03

I'll put on the kettle then, dears.

Scones with that?

14:20 / 15.09.03

I can add little to your appreciation of jam, Kit-Cat, but wondered if anyone would be interested in talking about needlework? I am currently trying to find out the difference between half-cross stitch and petit point. In both cases the stitch on the front of the tapestry looks like a slash (thusly: /), but in half-cross stitch the stitches on the back are vertical (thusly: |), whereas I believe in petit point the tapestry is meant to be identical front and back (this makes it more suitable for cushions and other items which will be subjected to friction, as even when worn through the canvas will still hold a pattern; half-cross stitch is used mainly for pictures and decorative items not intended for tactile use).

Ooh, also, does anyone know of a good cheap/free cross-stitch pattern-making program? I can bodge out tapestry patterns with Photoshop, but they are largely unintelligible to anyone except me, it seems.

(I am coming to the end of a two-year half-cross stitch project and need to think of something else to do. Something perhaps potentially more saleable than converting black-and-white photomanips of Avon and Blake doing tender, naked cuddling into tapestry.)

Tryphena Absent

14:21 / 15.09.03

Well of course the modern woman may not have the time to make jam and for those of us who have no friend to provide us with home made we have to resort to off-the-shelf. Truly a horrifying experience, wouldn't you agree Miss Kat Club?

Personally my own tastes run to Strawberry Bon Maman, I am not a greengage lover, preferring to stick to the most traditional types. My dear mother is known to bake a foreign but rather delectable Sachertorte with strawberry in the middle and I'd recommend it highly... though clearly English cakes are superior.

14:37 / 15.09.03

Since retiring, my dear mother has taken up making jams and preserves as a hobby - meaning that I've been bombarded with jars upon jars of treats. Not being much of a toast lover, I've been seeking other uses. So far, the best concoction has been the peach jam on ginger snap. Tasty, but you have to be careful, as they are rather addictive, and it's easy to go through a whole jar at one sitting. Makes for a good accompaniment to tea, when unexpected company drops by.

14:38 / 15.09.03

Jam? Needlework? For goodness sake, no. You lot should just get your clothes off. That is after all what the WI do these days, and I for one think it would be a marvellous way to raise money for charity.

14:42 / 15.09.03

Oh, a gateau - how simply splendid. I do adore Sachertorte. Also strawberry is the essential jam for a really good Victoria sponge; but I prefer Bakewell tarts with raspberry (I'm not sure whether that's actually canon or fanon, mind you).

I agree that Bonne Maman, though foreign, is the best shop-bought jam you gan get - knocks Wilkins, Tiptree et al into a cocked hat. I must confess that I find jam-making a bit of a chore - especially topping and tailing all those goosegogs - and am sneakily inclined to give up the idea of making my own when I get an allotment in my later years...

Deva - my mother has some sort of thingy which allows her to make pattern on her computer, I think - will ask her how she does it. I never ever manage to get anything with the back looking like the front. She has alao made chair seats, cushions etc. but I think she backed them with calico rather than doing petit point, and I think that might count as cheating.

Does anyone have any patchwork tips? I have had a strong desire to make patchwork ever since I read The Chimneys of Green Knowe...

14:51 / 15.09.03

Now, here is some interesting hentai cross-stitch in PDF format.

14:58 / 15.09.03

let's try again:

darn it!

scroll down a bit then for the link to...

15:00 / 15.09.03

KKC:

I believe the software you mentioned about is in the link I provided.

15:08 / 15.09.03

I've been getting all excited about learning to knit. how did you get started, and what would you recommend a novice look into (books, internet instruction, a class)?

also, I'm sorry to say that I have never had homemade jam. I'm really missing out, aren't I?

Tryphena Absent

15:10 / 15.09.03

The cooking of it can be a little tricky but it's a lot of fun.

BiP said she'd teach me to knit but then she was never there! I am very aggrieved!

15:11 / 15.09.03

Do we get to shout at Maggie Thatcher?

I make a mean cherry cake- chuck in some whisky, and its mmmmmmmmmie.

15:16 / 15.09.03

Damn, BIll beat me to the joke (goes off in a sulk)

15:17 / 15.09.03

Yes kittie, yes indeed you are...

homemadejam

15:20 / 15.09.03

I want to learn to knit, too, particularly after seeing a book called Knitting for Anarchists in a shop on Gertrude Street in Melbourne: alas, I did not buy it at the time and now Amazon says they won't sell it to me.

15:21 / 15.09.03

hey, kittie... am a self-taught knitter via the internet... about.com is where i learned. great library of different stitches too.
and this website has some lovely free patterns. i'm starting on a cute little capelet for meself... maybe some nice fingerless gloves too -- yum!

15:21 / 15.09.03

yeah but adam, I got to be the one who invaded the women's space with pervey comments - now my new masculinity is all in shreds!

Deva, I am fairly certain you're joking, but the anarchist's bookfair is on soon in London so I'll keep an eye out for it if it's real. I am rather intrigued as to how knitting is done differently by anarchists... i hasn't thought it was an awfully hierarchical business in the first place.

15:43 / 15.09.03

No, it's a real book, Bill - search for it on amazon (tho' it's out of stock). I didn't open it (the shop was shut, I just saw it in the window) but I'm guessing it's using 'anarchist' more as a fashion category - anarchists are likely to want to knit clothes they can wear to Glastonbury, rather than cardigans and baby booties - or possibly as synonymous with 'environmentally aware'. (If you do any handicrafts, you might already be aware of the very limited range of, eg, cross-stitch patterns available to people who don't want to sew unicorns, teddy bears or flowers, and/or of non-toxically-dyed embroidery thread, wool, etc.)

15:57 / 15.09.03

I am rather intrigued as to how knitting is done differently by anarchists

Surely an anarchist wouldn't follow the pattern, merely make up their own

16:54 / 15.09.03

OMG....whew!

safer in here...it is a shitstorm out there!

pours self a tea and pulls out knitting needles

17:03 / 15.09.03

i like tea, but can't knit*, am i allowed in this thread?

*i tried once, and it came out rather funny looking, but not half as funny as i looked doing it. y'see, i am sort of left handed, and by sort of i mean i write and eat and brush my teeth left handed, but for most other things i use my right hand. so i never know, when learning a new task, which hand i'll be wanting to use. so i was sort of knitting left handed, even though i was taught the right handed way, so my arms were up and twisted a bit at an angle.

p.s. bill gets no cake!

17:11 / 15.09.03

Any of you credits to your sex and nation know anything about home wine-making?

17:39 / 15.09.03

Willing to pose naked for a fundraising calendar!

Now, cake or death?

17:43 / 15.09.03

Death, then cake.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:09 / 15.09.03

Despite my obviously oh-so-butch masculine appearance, you may be surprised that when I was a kid I got WAY into crocheting. My gran taught me, and it was ace. Unfortunately, one night our dog got very sick... I mean like VERY, VERY sick, and we were miles from the nearest vets.

We stayed up all night.

Until the dog had the weirdest looking dump I ever did see... about three feet of crocheting I'd done a couple of days before (I could only ever crochet in straight lines, y'see...)

The story is true, but I do have to admit I'm hiding in this thread because it's gone all nasty elsewhere.

18:15 / 15.09.03

Yup. Welcome. Try the legos thread too. How nasty could that get?

Back to minding my own business then...and keeping my opinions to myself.

*whistles*

18:20 / 15.09.03

may - doesn't seem as if they've updated in a while!

pixilated - thank you for all of the links! I will investigate them further when I get home.

praying mantis - that's me, too...so I wonder what troubles it'll cause me?

stoat - dogs will eat the most bizarre things, and lots of it! sometimes I watch that animal channel pet rescue show and there's one on every time

18:21 / 15.09.03

I've brought some nice fresh honey from the farm for our tea.

19:14 / 15.09.03

I brought some vegan scones! I made them myself so they're a bit mis-shapen and, well, brown, but they'll be nice with a bit of jam. Dunk them in your tea if they're too hard.

I'm going to try knitting with this polyester yarn. Watch the sparks fly.

ONLY NICE THINGS

19:32 / 15.09.03

I am interested by the way Americans say "legos", which makes far more sense, whereas the English say "lego".

Oooh, lovely cushions.

19:37 / 15.09.03

I wonder what they call stickle bricks in America?

19:38 / 15.09.03

For God's sake! Don't sit on that! It's not petit point, you know, it's half-cross stitch; it needs framing!

19:44 / 15.09.03

Um, that made more sense next to the "cushions" thread. Obviously no-one would sit on a stickle brick. Or if they did, I don't think they'd be welcome here.

19:49 / 15.09.03

They'd just think someone had left pins in the cushion, I suppose.

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