Widgets and an Explantion of

Readers who have stayed with Danvers through thick and thin (and there has been much thin due to Danvers' lack of blogging with any constancy and commitment) may notice the appearance of what is commonly known as widgets to her blog (urghh such a vile term, it sounds like a rather wet sneeze) and therefore Danvers is here to calm and comfort her Dear Readers as to the veracity and kosherness of said widgets.

Driven by the boredom of writing of nothing but her knitted and crocheted endeavours, Danvers has decided to write of other things. Things. Things that inspire and are oft discussed around the dinner table with friends and family and in truth, Danvers struggling to find common ground with those present at said culinary occasions, thus leading her to digress into her other secret obsessions. Music. Films. Books.

Never made by her maker to be a 100m dasher, arctic explorer or general health fanatic, Danvers has always found succour in the arts, far preferring to slurp a cup-a-soup whilst watching a black and white movie so old that God may have been the scriptwriter or wandering through an art exhibition wondering why some of the greatest works known to man look so shite and muddy close up, Danvers wishes to beg her stalwart readers to indulge her love and knowledge of aforementioned arts and therefore suffer her widgets.

Never, Nay, Never shall you be led to nasty dimlit websites offering neferious 'click on this link' buttons where your treasured details may be entered and used to buy a despots girlfriend a boob job. All widgets are monitored by Danvers and as such are under threat of death if they should harm any of her visitors.

Danvers hopes that you will enjoy her reviews and delvings into her favourite films, books and music and will not run screaming from her blog thinking that she has sold out..........for she has not. Danvers is as always, honest and true, and just a little slightly mad.
All Danvers' widgets reflect a true love of a particular film (this is also known as a movie to those born out of the confines of The United Kingdom or who are rudely young and know no better), book or musical whatnot that has influenced Danvers throughout the years and continue to do so. CGI is a wonderful  invention but Danvers prefers no such fripperies, so be prepared for what may at first sight to be a somewhat lacklustre explosion or 'made in a lunchtime' alien appearance in any film selected. As with life, cinema is made great by the human performances not the snotty-nosed geeky 'let's try this and spend another 20 mill' ethos. Most of Danvers' fave films are old. Older even than Danvers. How wonderful to know that great films were being produced before one was born, exporting and enthralling ones parents to a world they had never dreamed of , or maybe they did, and still influencing film makers today.

P.S. No pics this time as i have none. Due to my rechargable batteries having died after a long long period of service i ask for a minute of silence for said batteries, they did Danvers proud.

Crochet Booty

Bags of room, drawstrings and with the impressive ability to look like the inside of a hippo's mouth when fully open (see below), Danvers' Flopsy Bag has made her proud. So much room to fill........she really must go shoplifting again soon (i jest). Produced from her own sharply astute brain and aided by a good generous dollop of luck, this bag came out far better than Danvers could have possibly imagined. Double lined with some vintage miniprint fabric and ruffled to within an inch of its life the Flopsy bag is a thing of beauty to which Danvers camera skills can do no justice whatsoever. It also feels extremely nice, always a bonus.
She will make more!

Always living on the edge of reason and sanity Danvers has also been working her hearts and diamonds blanket. A confection of both knitting and crochet now reaching the fine dimensions of 48" x 48" but which she hopes will grow to a handsome 60" x 60" when the repetitive strain injury she accquired from working this project has eventually worn off. Nil Desperandum as they say.

And finally....
Danvers latest ongoing project from the glorious book 'Cute ad Cosy Crochet' by Nicki Trench ~ the Camellia Blanket ~ see below. Worked in a somewhat hideous teal blue yarn that was given to her as a Christmas present but that she feels she must use or forever offend a dear loved one......aaahhh the feel of the 75% acrylic yarn against Danvers delicate hands as she hauls it through and over her crochet hook whilst risking life and limb from the build up of static electricity.........but fear not she has started to wear wellingtons whilst crocheting to earth herself and prevent further shocks.
So farewell for a few days dear readers, Danvers is off to eat chocolate before anyone returns home from their labours and she feels forced into offering them some of her chocolatey stash.

The Happy Hooker

Hooks. Hooking. Hooked.

Danvers is hooking, or in the popular vernacular - crocheting.

Having learnt to crochet in her yoof Danvers spent many a long hour producing crocheted curtains (yes honestly), shelf edgings and tablecloths, all in the finest of cotton yarn. The delicacy! The sheerness! The Idiocy of it All! I can only put it down to an excess of homemaking/nesting hormones which abound when one is in one's 20's. Happily the hormones have subsided to a managable level allowing Danvers's innate mean streak to surface in all its menopausal glory and she now finds herself wondering idly if she still has it in her to produce such glorious works or should she stick to tea cosies, spectacle cases and loo roll covers......a slight hankering for a crochet crinolined lady loo roll cover still lies dormant in her psyche, a throwback to her childhood perhaps?.......anyhoo.

So far Danvers has crocheted a bag (her own design don't you know), 2 coasters (could'nt be bothered to make a full set) and half a blanket (coming along nicely but the old girl got cramp so is having a short break from it). This may not sound like much but crochet is a strange beast. Simple to do, but often with the oddest of pattern instructions to follow, crochet is like having to learn another language at an advanced age. Confusing to the already confused.

However, Danvers battles on and will knock the bejeezers out of her crochet projects even if it gives her palpitations, flushed cheeks and an excuse to exercise her rather extensive vocabulary of oaths, curses and expletives. Due to the somewhat volatile temper of Danvers she can only undertake crocheting in absence of her dear grandchildren, because as a responsible grandmama she would'nt want to send them off to school /nursery armed with a vocabulary that would be the envy of a drug fuelled gun toting ho rapper. Plus their parents would know where they'd got it from.

Pictures to follow of finished crochet projects and the not-so-finished projects as proof of Danvers' hard work and determination to dominate all and any craft she may choose to undertake. Domination. Such a great word, it should be Danvers middle name.

For now, dear long suffering readers, Au Revoir........be back soon with piccies

P.S. I have made a cover for my Kindle reader so have not forsaken knitting completely ~ see top image