Gadding about...

To London, again, for lunch with my younger sister.  We emerged this time at Monument, right by the actual monument to the Great Fire of London, which began not far from this spot.

Note the human scale of this giant structure, once one of the tallest constructions in the City.  But not now.

Our destination was the "Walkie Talkie building", aka 20 Fenchurch Street, or Sky Garden Tower, a building so tall that it is impossible to photograph close to.  You can in fact book tickets for free for the viewing platform, but security is airport style as you enter.  Then you are whisked upwards in a superfast lift.

 This is the Monument seen from the 35th floor.

See that column topped with a golden globe midway along the bottom edge of the picture?

Canary Wharf in the distance.

The Tower of London closer to hand.

The Shard, across the river

An aerial view of this curious roof-top garden, laid out like a formal knot garden.

And this is why it is called the Sky Garden - banks of planting on the slopes between the two floors.

We were booked in for a meal at the Darwin Brasserie on the 36th floor.  All I can say is, don't try this if you suffer from vertigo.  The actual restaurant seems to hang over the view in a most implausible fashion.

So, what does one eat in a place like this?  This is sea bream on a bed of borlotti beans.

And followed by a chocolate tart.

It was lovely food in hearty portions.

Once back at ground level, we walked back to Liverpool Street passing a number of rare survivors on our way.

Needless to say, I prefer the human scale of the ancient buildings.  This is St Helen's, Bishopsgate, a parish church which survived the Great Fire and the Blitz but was seriously damaged by IRA bombs.

It is full of memorials of ancient date - these on the wall

And several couples in effigy - here a pair of dogs at the wife's feet.  

As usual, we were more than happy to return to the rural peace of the Essex countryside after our trip to the city.

Geiger

I've made a start on Geiger, by knitting the sleeve. - Oh, and by paying a small fortune for the yarn at my local yarn store, Franklins in Colchester.  This is a 100% merino which the shop assistant assured me could be tumble-dried.  Not that I have a tumble-drier, of course, but who in their right minds would spend hundreds of hours knitting  a really fancy cardigan and then just stick it in the drier?

Norah Gaughan, the designer, has included the unusual feature of putting textured stitches up the edges so the sleeve increases are hidden, but also, I expect, the seam will be less visible.

The central cable may look complex but is fully charted out and really straightforward.  The whole thing looks rather like the elaborate braiding seen on military uniforms of the ceremonial type.  Lucy Hague would have used a contrasting colour for the cable.

I am enjoying seeing the pattern build, and also just following a chart.

Recently a charity shop opened in our village.  As you know, I find them irresistible, but apart from some crockery, nothing in this one has caught my eye until yesterday.  There was a little pile of this yarn.  Yes, ten balls - enough for a whole jumper.  

So, I'm thinking "Hojlandgarn   - must be spun elsewhere."  And it was - but that elsewhere was "Skotland".

This is a yarn which was spun by JC Rennie until 2012 when production moved to Peru.  Looking it up on Ravelry, I find that Loop are selling it at £6.50 a ball.  I paid £5.00 for the ten balls.

Of course, on previous form, it will now sit in my stash for at least five years before its time comes.

The turning of the year...

Finally finished Arboreal by Jennifer Steingass.  This is knitted top-down and the sleeves knitted in the round, so finishing only required the running in of a few ends.  This was fortunate because knitting the sleeves was a pain, with the whole jumper attached to be rotated as you go.

It's a neat fit and may need another inch added to the hem.  The weather is just on the turn, but it will be a few weeks before this will be an obvious choice.  I love the colour though and the yoke does work very well.

I've embarked on a more ambitious project.  No endless rounds of stocking stitch in this one.  It's Geiger by Norah Gaughan, well-known for fabulous cable designs.   The pattern, bought through Ravelry, runs to 30 pages.  Now wouldn't you think the first thing to include in the print pattern would be a really good close-up of the actual sweater, showing some of the unusual design features, so that you can see what you are aiming at?  But the sample shown is in a kind of dark indigo, so you can barely make out the main cables.  There is a mustard version, which I have printed off separately, but even that is styled rather than aiming for clarity.  

I've begun on the lower sleeve.  Even the cast on was a variant new to me, but You-tube makes all clear these days.  I don't know what we did without it.  In the pictures the cuff seems to come right to the knuckles of the model, so that needs to be shortened to be practical in wear.  I expect there to be constant issues of this kind to resolve as we go along.

Seasonal pictures from our walk today: the stubble being harrowed, haws and blackberries in abundance and the state of the forest ponds after our excessively dry summer. 

 So the year turns.

Putting on the Ritz

A very busy week, for us.  After Tuesday's expedition and a visit from friends on Thursday we were off again today, this time into central London.

Alighting at Green Park tube we were caught up as the world, his wife and seven children tried to pat the police horses providing security at the access to Buckingham Palace.  Just round the corner was our destination: The Ritz Hotel.

My elder sister and her family had very generously given us a voucher for lunch for two as a Christmas present.  It was my husband's birthday so we decided to make the most of the occasion.
The restaurant makes its dress code very clear - jacket and tie for males, no sportswear, jeans or trainers - to "complement the architecture of the dining room".  We actually saw a chap, who had slipped off his jacket after entering the room, being asked to conform.  So it was full formal fig for us.

The dining room is indeed very grand, not unlike a stage set, because this is dining as theatre.

As each course was served, two waiters attended the table to lift the covers and reveal the plate of food for each diner.

We began with a plate of amuse-bouches - cheese,coronation chicken and a lemon macaron with a salmon mousse filling.

Then it was on to the starters of red snapper, not the highlight of the meal for me.

And followed by a really delicious serving of lamb with courgette.

Note, that's three slices of courgette, which tells you a lot about the style of cuisine here.  You'd never eat your way through a glut like this.

So then, the piece de resistance.  The main menu offered the option of ordering crepes Suzette to be prepared at your table by the head waiter.  Who could resist this?  I enquired; it was possible.  So we found ourselves witnessing a display of  skill by Enzo, who really knew what he was doing.  First, he heated sugar in his frying pan until it began to caramelise.  So many things could have gone adrift during this process, and in full view of the whole dining-room, but nothing did.

Then he added a knob of butter and fresh orange juice.

He squeezed in half a lemon and reduced the mixture over the heat.  Then he folded up the crepes and placed them to soak in the pan.   In went the Grand Marnier, and then whoosh - the whole thing was a sheet of flame.

But that was not all - the brandy went in next, and again was set alight.

I can tell you that the resulting sauce was a delight to eat: rich and full of marmaladey depth.  It was a spectacular end to the meal.

Day Trip

Yesterday, I took a long-anticipated day trip.  

So, where can this be?  A castle on its hill, an Old Town?

Different money?

Distinctive, monuments in Victorian Gothic style?

I went to Edinburgh, as did George 1V in 1822.  I imagine he did not attempt to do the return trip in one day as I did - that's a round trip of 760 miles.

 So, how was this possible?  Well, if you catch the 6.25 from Kelvedon, a strangely silent commuter train into London, and then the 8.00 London to Edinburgh from King's Cross, that will get you to Waverley station by just after midday.  A quick trot across streets crowded with Festival visitors takes you to George Street, a noble thoroughfare now exclusively housing upmarket clothing chains such as Hollister and White Stuff.  On the second floor above White Stuff is a gallery space rented by the crafts council for a selling exhibition and workshops.

I was here for a class in mosaic-making given by Helen Miles, daughter of Jean.  Helen is an expert mosaicist; her website is a delight and an inspiration.  The tutorials on there would enable you to have a go yourself.

This is an example of Helen's work, using ceramic tesserae.  We were introduced to the idea of halving and quartering the glass and ceramic pieces for use on the pre-prepared designs.  I could not get the grip on the ceramic pieces, so made my sample piece using glass.

Helen had set up the mesh on a backing board, taped down over the design so that the lines were clear to follow.  We had three hours but were massively helped by all the preparation having been done ahead for us.

I chose the bird design and set to work to fill in the outlines.  Others were using a fish design and I could not help but note that my effort increasingly looked like something a six year old might have done, whereas others made more sophisticated choices.  Helen was constantly at hand to offer reassurance and suggestions as to how to introduce more variation into the line to create a more nuanced effect.

Helen finished the session with a demo on how to use tile adhesive and grout to place the sample into a location at home.  It was obvious that she had done this many times before.

My finished piece:  I was quite pleased with the more muted colours in the second wing and the yellow tips to each section.  I was also happy that it held up to the journey home in a carrier bag.

Then it was back to the station for the 5.31 Edinburgh to King's Cross train, round to Liverpool Street on the tube and out to Kelvedon by the 1037.   The whole journey went like clockwork, thankfully, because I was very tired by this point.