Seasonal decorative touches to bring the outdoors in
COMPILATION OF STITCHES
A brand new stitch dictionary from author and knitting pattern designer Andrea Rangel, this guide includes more than 150 colour work motifs to expand knitters’ creative possibilities and draw them into the world of stranded knitting. From beautiful patterns and innovative charts to knitting techniques and tips on yarn choice, this book makes a great gift for experienced knitters or beginners looking for inspiration.
KnitOvation RRP £25, available online and from all good bookshops
A SCENT TO SAVOUR
Down a narrow country lane in the heart of Lancashire’s Ribble Valley, Melt produces beautifully scented, handmade candles from a converted barn on Backridge Farm. Outside the workshop doors, fields of llamas, geese, rescue hens and beehives provide a wonderful rhythm to the manufacturing process. Taking more than two years to develop, its rose-scented candles have blossomed into a popular fragrance, with sweet notes of rosewood, rosa ‘Geranium’ and violet. More Scented Candle Short & Fat £26, www.themeltco.com
BEAUTY UNFOLDING
From a simple handful of leaves to plumes of ostrich feathers, fans have been a means of keeping cool as far back as Ancient Egypt, and in the middle ages were used to swat insects away from the altar in religious ceremonies. They are thought to have arrived in Europe in the 16th century via Portugal: prints of Charles II’s wife Catherine of Braganza show her with one, although there was already a section of ‘fannes’ in the Stowe Inventory of the Royal Wardrobe. There are folding fans; brise fans, comprising solely of sticks; and fixed fans, with a screen. In their zenith in the 18th century, fans were made of painted vellum or paper leaf, mounted on ivory, tortoiseshell, mother of pearl or carved wood, often adorned with gems as status symbols. Today, a decorated fan laid open on a dressing table or chest of drawers adds an ornamental touch to a bedroom.
BOUND BY PASTELS
A shelf unit can become a focal poi
