Goodbye summer

Summer 2011

It happened at Easter. I remember taking the photos and doing the post. My garden was full of flowers and the trees were heavy with blossom. We had high hopes of a blazing, hot summer to make up for the ravages of winter.

What happened? Well, June, July and August happened.

I know I shouldn't complain. We've had no drought, no sandstorms, no hurricanes but...facts - important ones, not just moaning.

We live in a part of the world that has high rainfall.
The area I live in has an above average rate of adolescent suicides.
I believe these two facts could be linked.

Lack of sunshine lowers vitamin D levels and serotonin levels. Seasonal affective disorder, well it's not good.
This can show itself as anything from poor concentration to severe depression.

So for those of you who have been baking under the summer sun forgive us Brits if we appear miserable, introverted and just plain cranky. We just need some sun to warm up our bones and then we'll be happy again - almost.



Now, take away those tacky adverts, turn up the volume and play it again.

Don't you feel better?

Today I have been mostly

eating Neapolitan ice cream. That's what it says on the tub. It's not how I remember it. There was no green! I was so confused I had to phone my Italian friend and compare notes.

'What is Neapolitan ice cream?' I asked her.

'Strawberry, pistachio and chocolate,' she answered without a pause.

Pistachio! Not vanilla. Pistachio.

Well, it seems we are both wrong. You see like her I grew up eating ice cream made by the Italian families who ran the local cafes.  What we'd been enjoying was spumoni.

Here's what I found out -
Spumoni is a special Italian dessert made of layers of ice cream, whipped cream, candied fruit, and nuts. In spumoni, each layer contains different flavours and ingredients. Traditional  spumoni is made of three layers of flavour: chocolate, pistachio, and cherry.

Spumoni ice cream was originally created in Naples, Italy. Neapolitan ice cream then evolved from spumoni. Neapolitan ice cream is, quite simply, layers of chocolate, berry, and vanilla ice cream.

No argument about pink wafers. They're definitely pink!!

Treasury Sunday

I haven't done one of these in a while. It's just the thing to brighten up a miserable Bank Holiday afternoon. Enjoy the Etsian Artists.

Pantone Colours

Cedar

While we still have leaves on the trees I thought it was fitting to look at cedar. Pantone describes it as,

'evoking the freshness of a cool mist in a dark forest. Cedar is a versatile, mid-tone neutral green.'

At one time I had a few things in my wardrobe that were a sludgy, olive green but I haven't bought this colour in a while. Mainly because for a few seasons we've seldom seen it. For me at the time it was a safe bet. It was smart enough to look professional and it wasn't black.

I wasn't going to focus on cedar this week. That was before Cat House Prints won last week's Etsian Artists treasury challenge. This week's challenge had to include an item from Cat House's shop and the challenge word was Scream. While the treasury might not be strictly cedar there are some lovely earthy greens in the collection. In all honesty I've found this colour to be the most difficult one to match so far but here are some great items I'd like to share.

Cedar is in evidence at Folksy too.





I know Audrey's Cat's little mouse isn't strictly cedar but I couldn't resist another visit from him!

Workroom

I've been painting. I've nearly finished painting. I've chosen this,

cornflower white.

It's bland, unassuming, inoffensive, and above all, easy to work with. How I wish there was more of it around!

I'm not the most organised person. Neither am I a stylist, photographer, interior designer or any of those things that would help me develop my space. But when I want to be I can be ruthless. I've thrown and recycled and thrifted like a good one. Nothing gets into my room now unless it's earned its place. It's getting there.

Little corners of my workroom.

My organic scraps and embroidery scraps.

My non-organic scraps and a lovely reel of vintage thread.

You can see which threads I use the most.

Knitting needles on the go.

Because I always lose my best needles

My favourite chocolates might have gone but these lovely boxes are so useful and because I didn't say  no pink at all. A special corner for Elizabeth!

These beautiful orchids because on a thundery, wet afternoon in August they make me happy!

Have a lovely weekend. To my friends on the east coast - stay safe. Keep away from that nasty Irene!



Pantone Colours

Honeysuckle

Pantone 18-2120

Honeysuckle is Pantone's colour of the Year 2011. It has been described by Leatice Eiseman the executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute as,

a dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.

Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum. The intensity of this festive reddish pink allures and engages.

I have an Italian friend who owns a winter coat in this colour. She says that winter is so dreary that wearing it makes those dark months easier to get through. It gives her a glow that's hard enough to find in the summer here yet alone in the winter. 

Honeysuckle is a colour that I've become more fond of in recent years. I really enjoyed working with the Amy Butler organic cotton when I made my scarf. It cheered up a few rainy days.

Here's more honeysuckle at Etsy, featuring UK shops and the knit1treble2 team.

Have a great weekend!

Pantone Colours

Deep Teal
Pantone 19-4914

I'm going to indulge myself with this one. I love teal. As it's one of Pantone's colours for autumn/winter 2011 I hope there's going to be a lot of it around.

Pantone describes it as a strong, blue-toned green, suggests ocean depths and the color of the sky as daylight descends into darkness.

I put out a request for teal items and it seems as if there's quite a debate about teal. I think of it as a blue, black with a touch of deep green. I've picked out a few of my favourites.

From Folksy we have,








and from Etsy. You can also find this on Etsy Treasury Hunters



Have a great weekend.