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Sunday, December 02, 2007

Oxford Bluestockings at Prick Your Finger

We all had a completely lovely time at Prick your Finger on Saturday afternoon. Ellen and I had braved torrential rain in Oxford to catch our train and it was rather dark, cold and damp when we arrived in Bethnal Green. However, we had the warmest of welcomes from Rachael and Louise who thrust mugs of tea into our hands and made us try Felix's gorgeous bread buns with rhubarb jam. My own contribution to the feast was in the form of heart-shaped custard creams* from Feast by Nigella Lawson. They're surprisingly simple to make and really are fun - next time round I want to try orange creams, another childhood favourite.

custard cream with tea

Kirsty was there when we arrived and Lara turned up a little later on with a present for me!

honorary bluestocking

She had these made for people to wear at the i knit Stitch 'n Bitch day. I also got a "fluent knitter" sticker from Rachael which I will be sticking on my knitting journal as soon as I locate it. I didn't feel quite so fluent on the train back to Oxford as I discovered a horrible looking mess a couple of rows back in my Peacock Feathers shawl. I more or less fixed it after two separate attempts but it still looks a bit snarly. I'm just crossing my fingers that it won't be too noticeable after blocking.

The shop itself is lovely. Maybe not the place to go if you have a specific yarn or pattern in mind, but certainly the place to get inspired and pick up gorgeous one-off skeins and cute notions. Ellen and I were very tempted by the contents of the ribbon drawer, especially a bluey/green/silver affair with scalloped lace and sequins. I will definitely be going back there in the future.

Right now I'm heading back to Peacock Feathers. I've just finished row 211 and I really want to get to 224 (the end of the lace pattern) o.n.o. by bedtime.

* These scored very highly on Felix's approval meter being both kitsch and retro (not to mention delish) and I felt the effort of making them, especially dotting all the little holes round the edges, was well repaid by the speed with which they were consumed.

2 comments:

Felicity Ford said...

The effort that went into the delectable custard creams was indeed absolutely worth it; they were exquisite!

I hope the peacock-shawl insanity is looking closer to completion; is it for this weekend that you plan to have it finished?

I've got my fingers crossed for you!

Best bags said...

Where can I find the Bluestockings? Do you still meet?