Happy Birthday Burns!

He'd have been 250 today...

We had our traditional Burns Supper this evening - haggis neeps n tatties - and very good it was too! With an extra-special creamy mash and one of McSweens finest :)

In honour of the occasion, I would like to share with you the

Address To a Haggis

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the pudding-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch , tripe, or thairm :
Weel are ye wordy o'a grace
As lang's my arm.

"The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o'need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

"His knife see rustic Labour dight ,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin' , rich!

"Then, horn for horn , they stretch an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive ,
Bethankit ! hums.

"Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad make her spew
Wi' perfect sconner ,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

"Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as wither'd rash ,
His spindle shank , a guid whip-lash;
His nieve a nit ;
Thro' bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

"But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed ,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle ;
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned ,
Like taps o' thrissle .

"Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies ;
But , if ye wish her gratefu' prayer
Gie her a haggis !"

- Robert Burns

One of the strange things about this is, I think our night in celebration of good old Rabbie Burns is almost certainly more widely celebrated than St. Andrew's day.

V is for Valentine

♥♥♥

Valentine's Day is fast approaching - yes it's that time of year again! - so I thought I would do a little prize draw. I'm giving away a Valentine's Day Goody Bag - handmade, knitted & felted WildCat Designs goodies that is.
To enter, just leave a comment for this post.
Closing date is Sunday 8th February 2009. The winner will be chosen at random :)

♥♥♥

Good luck!

[edit: I know some of you have had problems leaving a comment (sorry!) so I've modified my settings - please feel free to try again!]

For the love of Print

When reading through the Poppytalk blog recently, I stumbled across this post in which I couldn't help but be captivated by Katie Muth's gorgeous lino cut printed cards, which really caught my eye.

Needless to say, I loved them instantly and wanted to find out more. So I checked out Katie's website and I was not disappointed. As I'd been looking for a special Valentine's day card, I found just that - but couldn't buy just one card, so treated myself to one of her occasion card packs as well, covering various different greeting needs. I have to say I was impressed because not only are they lovely, they also arrived v quickly all the way from Toronto!



The cake one looks a bit like the lovely chocolate cake my folks and I have been demolishing this evening, in celebration of my mother's birthday! :)

Oh! I also finished my mittens, which makes me a very very happy bunny, not to mention one with much warmer, nay, toasty fingers. Soft, cosy and stripy. Just the way I like 'em.

Wanna make something like this?

This is a really pretty wirework necklace, made using silver plated wire, chain, faceted Czech glass and other beads. It just so happens that I'm teaching a workshop in Edinburgh on how to make one like it! If you're interested, it's being held next month at the Bead Shop in Stockbridge, details here. Even beginners can make this - not as tricky as it looks :)

Also, in other news, I'll be announcing a special little *Prize Draw* later this week - so watch this space!

I would also like to say that I admit I am becoming ever-so-slightly addicted to last.fm! I discovered it through a friend just before Christmas, and have been playing with it ever since. The fun thing about it is that you essentially create your own radio station, adding just the bands/songs that you personally like. I like the fact that it can suggest music it thinks you might like, based on the bands you've already added.

You're heard of two left feet...

...well, I almost ended up with two right mittens!?! Which would have been a nightmare to say the least. I mean, I'm left-handed.

Last winter I knitted myself a gorgeous pair of striped mittens, which I loved. Then I stupidly lost them - by accidentally leaving them on the bus, in my rush to get off at the right stop!

I promised myself I would knit another replacement pair, so that's what I've been working on, it helped to keep me occupied and my hands busy in the couple of days before Hogmanay and quite a few days since.

The other night, I was thrilled to be on mitten no. 2 and getting on well. So engrossed was I, that I'd done all the fiddly shaping bits for the thumb and even finished sewing that part up. I was about to proceed onwards, when I realised that I'd omitted to notice the shaping should have been different to make the left mitten! As a result I had to undo the sewing and rip right back to where I got lost...ah the joys.

I guess it will make the stripy mittens that much more rewarding when they are finally finished! (I hope so, anyway.)