France, food and cycling

We are coming to the end of a 2 week holiday in Brittany in our caravan. I have just eaten a delicious lemon tart.

Whilst eating it I have been busy though, knitting a thick lining for the tea cosy for when we take the caravan out in colder weather. We did that at Easter and there was ice in the fire-bucket, plus the gas heater broke so we used the oven to keep warm. But I am moving off the theme of food and France.

Food, always an enjoyable topic, has been fun this holiday. We have a Remoska cooker which we use when on mains electric which can be used to make tremendous meals. It does great jacket potatoes as well. Salads have featured large though as its been so warm.

Aubergine and Feta bake is tomorrow, but I have made bread, pizza, lasagne, birthday cakes,  bolognese sauce, loads of dishes in the Remoska. The slow cooker is also useful, great for bolognese, stews, curries that will cook whilst we are out during the day. I've not used that this holiday as its so warm, but it was great last summer when we were walking in the New Forest and Forest of Dean. 

We have been cycling along parts of the Nantes to Brest canal towpath - the Velodyssey, and it's been lovely. It's flat, which is ideal for the folding bikes we have with us, and cycling gives you time to see things and the opportunity to just get off and potter in villages and towns. 

The other thing I have managed this holiday is to thoroughly teach myself how to Tunisian crochet. Thanks to Michelle at poppyandbliss.com for her helpful advice and simple pattern to get me started. 

The yarn isn't very good for the stitch as its not got enough twist, so splits easily as you can see, plus of course I have brought a slightly small hook just to make my task more difficult. However, I have the basic technique now so will work on it further.

Illuminated Bernina 1030

I have replaced the LED strip lights my son originally fitted to the underside of the arm of my Bernina 1030 sewing machine. These had to come off when the machine blew it's circuit board and needed repairing. They lost their stickiness, and as the set-up had never been very satisfactory due to lots of wires I looked for a better design. This new configuration of lights in series came from a YouTube video tutorial here: http://youtu.be/7J91Z9rngE0. The tutorial is very clear and simple to understand. 

I bought LED light strips from Maplin (20cm length with 12 LEDs in all in multiples of 3 and which I cut up into 2x6 lengths). I chose the non-waterproof as these mould to the curve better than the plastic coated ones I have tried before. I will see if they catch on the cloth more or get damaged easily - the reasons I originally chose the plastic coated version. These cost £5, the little plug was from the original lights and had cost £1.20 and the wires were odds we had around. The transformer from the original lights was from an old telephone. 

My kind husband helped with the soldering having watched me having problems as the soldering iron would not melt the solder. It was only when we searched this up online that we realised the tip was likely corroded and a new one needed. After a trip to Maplin and £7.99 for new tips it was plain sailing.

It works a treat, and the minimal wires are all held tidily at the back with sticky-backed Velcro cable strips, plus the wire to the transformer is easily removable to allow the machine to fit into the solid plastic cover that comes with the Bernina 1030. The Velcro strips were £4.15 for 10, and although I considered using Sugru to make cable clips I decided to spend the money on these instead.

I bought the 4 original strip LEDs from eBay with the wires already soldered on. However this, and the fact that the seller had cut off the little copper terminals at the opposite end meant they had to be wired in parallel and rendered it impossible to now put them into series. Wiring them up and attaching them in parallel onto the machine looked messy as there was so much wire, and four strips was really overkill. 

Two strips seem more then adequate this time. I could of course buy some more and add another two to the existing two if I find it necessary, or even use one of the waterproof strips if I take off the old wiring. As you can see, even without its own two lights illuminated there is a much better field of light for working on black fabric and at night. 

Whilst installing the lights on the machine I managed to break one of the solder joints, but easily re-soldered it. 

So just to mention, when the machine blew up (hmmm, that was fun), white smoke and stink of melting plastic... I found a really helpful machine repair workshop in Portsmouth, Hampshire called Sueco who fixed and serviced the machine for what was a shocking figure; but far less than the cost of replacing a Bernina of this quality at today's prices. They were the only local company of the many I called who a) knew what the problem I was describing was likely to be b) confidently said they would be able to fix it and  c) could give me a rough estimate for the job. So thank-you Sueco! It now sews smoothly and quietly and, let's hope, for a long time to come.

Blocking knit 2

Point to point linking.mp4

Bernina 1030 repaired and revitalised

Sadly my treasured Bernina 1030 sewing machine blew its electrics a few weeks ago, and it smelled and sounded expensive. After ringing round a number of repair centres I found one who knew what the fault was likely to be and what might have caused it. They couldn't do the repair for a few weeks so I hauled my old Bernina 730 out and refreshed my love for that whilst the 'newbie' sulked in the corner awaiting repair. 

The 730 is a lovely machine, but I miss the knee lift and needle-up features of the 1030 and that wonderful automatic basting stitch. I didn't realise how much I used and appreciated them until they weren't there! 

I bought the 730 in 1985, secondhand, and it was expensive but has served me incredibly well. It's taken on everything from leather, tents and motorbike covers to silk chiffon, stretch lace and slinky satins with regular cleaning and oiling and only (to my shame), a couple of services. I rather regret the lack of services as the buttonhole mechanism jammed and something has snapped off causing the auto buttonhole mechanism to stop working. It still works great buttonholes, I just need to manually swing the lever through the required sequence of positions.

A significant problem with all sewing machines as I get older is their lighting when's working at night , especially on dark fabrics. My son has rigged up led strips on the underside of the top arm for me and that is wonderful. The downside is the sticky tapes etc needed to attach it all. 

The 1030 went to be repaired today and my lovely husband took it for as I was at work. It's now sitting waiting for me to try out. Too tired tonight, but my fingers are itching to start with it tomorrow. Apparently it is quieter, smoother and fit for another 20 years. Surprisingly the only thing they couldn't fix was the cord reel that used to pull tthe lead inside the machine for storage. Whilst trying to find out what had happened when it went 'bang' and started smoking we innocently undid the base plate, which did something to the spring inside the reel, and it stopped 'reeling in' the cord. Apparently it can't be repaired but needs fully replacing, at quite considerable cost. So be warned, never undo the base plate on a Bernina with an auto-reel cord! 

If anyone has one from a scrapped machine do get in touch and let me know, as once I have recovered from the cost of this repair I would like to replace the cord reel. 

Return to hand-spinning

Although I teach in knitted textiles, this is the first year I have taught spinning as part of a module, so in a fit or inspiration I asked my son to climb into the loft and retrieve my Ashford wheel that had been up there for 15-20 years. 

I used to have two wheels, and spin on both at one time. However a succession of small children  couldn't resist fiddling with them, and. I didn't have time to use them. First of all one went in the loft, and then I reluctantly sold the other as there wasn't space for it and I couldn't bear to see it being damaged. Now child-free, but sadder for it, I have resurrected the Ashford.

A year or two ago I had prematurely acquired a fleece thinking my time had come, only to myself busier than ever.  By the time I got there, apart from the smallish amount I had had time to scour I had to throw the rest away as it was infested with moth. So I am starting to spin with the small amount of Kent wool mixed with Merino tops I had bought in for felting. It's not a problem as I need LOTS of practise, so odd colour mixes rule at the moment. 

Of course the wheel seems to have shed bits during its vacation in the loft, and a refurb was necessary. I have purchased a flexible drive belt because the one on the Kiwi wheel we have at University does seem to give a nice drive to the wheel, plus the old one is a little brittle. The tension knob and spring has disappeared, so they needed replacing, and I wanted a drop in to make the bobbin easier to swap. Finally one of the Lazy Kate spikes and a bobbin have gone walkabout, so new ones of those were required. 

This photo is of the first hand-spun yarn I have made for years, so apologies for its unevenness and it's mish mash of colours. I just needed to celebrate my enjoyment.

 

Adapting thin crochet hooks for arthritic hands

Because thin crochet hooks are making my hands ache I decided to experiment making my own version of the soft handled ones. I don't want to have to replace all of the thin metal ones I have collected over the years at considerable cost with commercially available soft or chunky handles ones, nice as they may be. I decided at first that I was going to use Sugru, but very quickly realised that to mould each handle would require lots of Sugru, which would cost the same as replacing the hooks because Sugru is expensive. 

After some experimenting I used a combination of Oogoo (homemade version of silicone rubber from Instructables.com) plus one pack of Sugru for the finger hold as it is easier to smooth off. The resulting crochet hook is far easier on the hands and comfortable to use. I wrote the size in permanent marker on the white Ogoo handle, as I had had to cover over the central area where the size is engraved in order to get the balance right. 

OK, it's still a little lumpy, but the next one will be better!