Country diary: the sheer gall of a wasp writing the US constitution
1 HR AGO - Sandy, Bedfordshire: For centuries, ink made from oak galls was the go-to permanent marker for Expand
1 HR AGO - Sandy, Bedfordshire: For centuries, ink made from oak galls was the go-to permanent marker for every document of note Leonardo da Vinci, JS Bach and the US constitution all owe a considerable debt to the tiny wasp I accidentally entombed behind glass. I found the unlucky creature at the bottom of a sweetie jar that I had filled with cocoa-coloured balls that looked like Maltesers but were as hard as walnut shells.I began picking the oak marble galls out, rolling each smooth sphere in the palm of my hand. Some had been punctured by a single hole, others riddled like a pepperpot, a sign of multiple occupancy. Their inhabitants had survived an infancy in darkness to drill their way out, making a round window into the autumn light long before I plucked these strange fruits towards the end of winter. All except this single shrivelled wasp that had waited too late and emerged only to be trapped under a glass sky. Continue reading... Collapse
What I'm really watching: instructional knitting videos
7 DAYS AGO - Continuing our series on viewing habits in self-isolation, one writer has a ball getting lost in Expand
7 DAYS AGO - Continuing our series on viewing habits in self-isolation, one writer has a ball getting lost in cabling and colourworkIt was 2015 and having just quit smoking, my last regular vice, I walked into a department store in Norwich in search of gym equipment. But instead of buying trainers or weights, I fell in love with the wall of yarn in the haberdashery department across the floor. In some primal, urgent way, I needed to have those balls and skeins of colour and texture in my life, variously fluffy or smooth, shiny mercerised cotton, variegated, solid in rich tonal hues, stippled with flecks of dye. Something about looking at those unwound packets of potential took me back to my childhood, to hours spent with my mom in suburban fabric stores choosing material for homemade clothes she made for me. Some of our happiest times were spent together weighing whether to buy, say, lemon- or saffron-coloured polycotton, the one with the daisies or the one with the Bridget Riley-style op-art Collapse
French designer gives away homemade masks during Covid-19 crisis
21/03/2020 - Brigitte Thivet posts advice on how to make colourful masks for people in lockdown Coronavirus – Expand
21/03/2020 - Brigitte Thivet posts advice on how to make colourful masks for people in lockdown Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFrench people confined to their homes during the national lockdown are being encouraged to engage in some not so haute couture during the coronavirus crisis.A freelance designer has posted advice on how to make colourful face masks and is offering to give some she has made away for free. Related: Cancelled shows and designer masks: Paris fashion week wrestles with coronavirus for improving barrier gestures and lessening hand-mouth contact.for avoiding contaminating others with your spit.for respecting social distances – if someone sees you with a mask, you can be sure they’ll put more than a meter between them and you.not to stop you washing your hands.” Continue reading... Collapse
Update on interrupted gas supply in Tooting
13/03/2020 - An update on SGN’s efforts to restore gas supplies in Tooting. Posted Friday Expand
13/03/2020 - An update on SGN’s efforts to restore gas supplies in Tooting. Posted Friday 13th March, 8am.
SGN have restored gas to 550 homes, across 17 streets.
They’ve pumped more than 82,000 litres of water (and sludge) from their pipes so far.
They still have more water to remove, but they’re very much hoping to restore gas supplies to the majority of homes by Friday evening.
Their Customer Service team has been at Tooting Leisure Centre between 8am and..... Collapse
Ailie Worster obituary
27/02/2020 - My mother, Ailie Worster, who has died aged 86, was briefly a BBC announcer and then a secretary Expand
27/02/2020 - My mother, Ailie Worster, who has died aged 86, was briefly a BBC announcer and then a secretary in the advertising world before moving into the full-time job of bringing up her four children.Though never professionally trained, she was also a dressmaker, an upholsterer and an interior designer; she was also skilled at knitting, needlepoint and tapestry. Creative, kind, funny and frugal, she was a believer in the William Morris theory that you should “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. Continue reading... Collapse
A stitch during time: artists and prisoners sew together – in pictures
15/02/2020 - Since 1997, the charity Fine Cell Work has been teaching British prisoners creative needlework. Expand
15/02/2020 - Since 1997, the charity Fine Cell Work has been teaching British prisoners creative needlework. Now these stitchers, 95% of whom are men, have collaborated with eight artists, including Ai Weiwei and Cornelia Parker, to create artworks to appear in an exhibition and auction at Sotheby’s called Human Touch.Human Touch is at Sotheby’s, London W1, from 26 February to 3 March. Continue reading... Collapse
A tangled, teasing show: Unbound: Visionary Women Collecting Textiles – review
31/01/2020 - Two Temple Place, LondonThere are some exquisite sights to admire in an exhibition of opulence and Expand
31/01/2020 - Two Temple Place, LondonThere are some exquisite sights to admire in an exhibition of opulence and vision – but what exactly is it trying to do?Two Temple Place is one of London’s most lavishly decorated buildings. Once the estate office of William Waldorf Astor, it opens its doors to the public for a few months each year to host a themed exhibition drawing on Britain’s regional museum collections. The opulent context means there’s a tendency toward craft and antiquities – which makes Unbound: Visionary Women Collecting Textiles a classic Two Temple Place exhibition.Drawn from seven institutions, there are some exquisite pieces here. Edith Durham’s glorious collection of textiles and garments from the Balkans includes a waistcoat made in Berat, Albania. Embroidered with gold and silver on black velvet, it is as richly worked as a glistening jewel. The garment was presented to Durham by the provisional government of Berat in 1913 in recognition of her role in petitioning the British Collapse
John Scott Returns to TV With Brand New Sewing Show
23/01/2020 - The official Craft Business Magazine website - all the latest news and product reviews from the Expand
23/01/2020 - The official Craft Business Magazine website - all the latest news and product reviews from the crafts sector, plus interviews with key industry figures Collapse
Crafter’s Companion Release New Gemini 3-in-1 Multifunction Dies
20/01/2020 - The official Craft Business Magazine website - all the latest news and product reviews from the Expand
20/01/2020 - The official Craft Business Magazine website - all the latest news and product reviews from the crafts sector, plus interviews with key industry figures Collapse
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Tiger King and a bloody mary: Hilary Mantel, Simon Armitage and other writers on lockdown life
4 DAYS AGO - Simon Armitage pogos to neo-punk, Anne Enright craves for Cary Grant, The Seventh Seal cheers up Expand
4 DAYS AGO - Simon Armitage pogos to neo-punk, Anne Enright craves for Cary Grant, The Seventh Seal cheers up Julian Barnes, Diane Evans works out to hip-hop and Jeanette Winterson talks to herself … writers reveal how they’re surviving the corona crisis Continue reading... Collapse
The future is in our hands: drive to save traditional skills
29/03/2020 - A new campaign hopes to revive ‘critically endangered’ ancient techniquesClay pipe making, Expand
29/03/2020 - A new campaign hopes to revive ‘critically endangered’ ancient techniquesClay pipe making, wainwrighting, tanning and making spinning wheels – all are skills of the past that can offer us a sustainable future. This is the message behind a drive, launched this spring, to preserve endangered traditional crafts in Britain.With a new award of £3,000 available, together with fresh support from outdoor pursuits company Farlows, the Heritage Crafts Association is calling for a renewed effort to save old skills and pass them down to the next generation. Continue reading... Collapse
Celebrating Balham & Tooting's 2020 Community Heroes
19/03/2020 - The BATCA (Balham And Tooting Community Association) Community Awards have been announced, Expand
19/03/2020 - The BATCA (Balham And Tooting Community Association) Community Awards have been announced, with eleven individuals and teams recognised for their service to the community.
Though the celebration evening planned for tonight, Thursday 19th March, could not go ahead, BATCA would proudly like to celebrate those honoured.
The award recipients come from a wide variety of fields, including improving the environment, the visual and performing arts, supporting the elderly, and..... Collapse
Hair-raising: embroidered female portraits - in pictures
07/03/2020 - “I never studied embroidery formally,” says Malaysian-born artist Sheena Liam, who creates female Expand
07/03/2020 - “I never studied embroidery formally,” says Malaysian-born artist Sheena Liam, who creates female portraits in dark thread, with strands used to represent hair escaping in locks and plaits from the canvas. Liam is also a successful model – she won Asia’s Next Top Model in 2014 – and says that she embroiders to unwind. “I find stitching almost meditative.” See more at timesnewromance.net Continue reading... Collapse
Tooting's First Touch celebrates one of its originators!
26/02/2020 - Sarah Collins of First Touch NNU in Tooting celebrates Jeannie Walls, who helped launch First Expand
26/02/2020 - Sarah Collins of First Touch NNU in Tooting celebrates Jeannie Walls, who helped launch First Touch in 1998...
First Touch charity, which was originally called The Friends of the Neonatal Unit at St George's, started in 1998. The charity has grown and continues to evolve and change to respond to the needs of the babies, families and staff at St George's Hospital, but remains true to the ideals and aims of the super people who set it up in the late '90s.
One of the..... Collapse
What does the Tooting property market look like in 2020?
10/02/2020 - In this month’s guest blog, the team at Marsh & Parsons Tooting discuss how the Expand
10/02/2020 - In this month’s guest blog, the team at Marsh & Parsons Tooting discuss how the UK’s current political landscape is shaping Tooting’s property market in 2020.
Now the dust has settled on 2019’s general election result and a new government is in place, we’re starting to see some more movement in the Tooting property market.
“So far this year, people’s attitude towards the market is much more positive,” says our Sales Manager..... Collapse
Share Nurseries in Tooting is now on social media!
30/01/2020 - Rachel Healy, Marketing and Communications Manager at Share Community has exciting news about Expand
30/01/2020 - Rachel Healy, Marketing and Communications Manager at Share Community has exciting news about Share Nurseries in Tooting!
We feel it’s about time we launched dedicated social media accounts for Share Nurseries, our social enterprise in Tooting, selling a wide range of organically grown plants, seasonal creations including wreaths and hanging baskets, and garden sundries.
We’re pleased to have strong links in the local area and we want to connect more with communities in..... Collapse
Local literacy problems tackled by reading charity Bookmark
22/01/2020 - Reading charity Bookmark is aiming to improve the levels of child literacy in Wandsworth. Their Expand
22/01/2020 - Reading charity Bookmark is aiming to improve the levels of child literacy in Wandsworth. Their volunteers have been visiting their nearest primary school, twice a week for six weeks, to help children aged 5 to 8 develop their reading skills and confidence.
Local councillor Jo Rigby started volunteering with Bookmark last term and supported a child in Tooting:
“At our first session I opened a book and he pushed it away. I asked him why he didn’t want us to read. He said,..... Collapse
Working with the master glassmakers of Italy – in pictures
18/01/2020 - The Veneto region of Italy is home to some of the greatest glassmakers on the planet. For the most Expand
18/01/2020 - The Veneto region of Italy is home to some of the greatest glassmakers on the planet. For the most part, they’re located on the small island of Murano, where names such as Salviati, Seguso and Barovier & Toso have established their reputations over centuries. But there’s a new team in town: Wonderglass, launched in 2013 by father-and-son team Christian and Maurizio Mussati, to create furniture and lighting that blends craft with innovation. Continue reading... Collapse
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DIY fashion: designers' tips on what to make from home
7 DAYS AGO - From a patchwork quilt to a crisp-packet necklace, learn new skills with the help of some top Expand
7 DAYS AGO - From a patchwork quilt to a crisp-packet necklace, learn new skills with the help of some top British designersCreative director and star of Netflix’s Next in Fashion, Daniel W Fletcher has plenty to get on with while in social isolation, designing a collection for Fiorucci as well as one for his own brand. In his down time, he is taking up a DIY challenge to make a patchwork quilt based on a dress he made during the filming of Next in Fashion, using other designers’ leftover scraps. The design – inspired by concerns over the melting polar ice caps – is an arctic landscape. To help beat quarantine boredom, @guardianfashion @guardian asked me to make a ‘how to’ guide for something you can do at home. Thankfully @abbifletcher was there to document it I’m always looking for ways to reduce my waste and make use of fabric scraps from the studio. So inspired by my @nextinfashion denim challenge I created this arctic landscape throw. You can use anything for this, old clothes, tea towels, Collapse
Food businesses in Tooting offering delivery
24/03/2020 - We’ve rounded up a list of Tooting-based eateries that are currently offering Expand
24/03/2020 - We’ve rounded up a list of Tooting-based eateries that are currently offering a delivery service. Please visit their website or Instagram page (listed below if they have one) for further information, or search them on Deliveroo, Just Eat or Uber Eats.
If we’ve missed any, please email tooting@localnewsie.co.uk with the relevant details and we’ll add them in. Please note, we are only listing businesses based in Tooting.
Afters (Desserts)
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Coronavirus news and updates for Tooting
15/03/2020 - With news on Coronavirus (Covid-19) changing on a frequent basis, we’ve rounded up a list of Expand
15/03/2020 - With news on Coronavirus (Covid-19) changing on a frequent basis, we’ve rounded up a list of resources to help you navigate your way through the situation. We’ll be updating the page regularly with news of local groups and initiatives that are providing advice and assistance.
St George’s Hospital have a dedicated information page for patients and visitors. If you’re planning to visit the hospital, please check before doing so:..... Collapse
Bulbs, glorious bulbs – in Tooting!
03/03/2020 - Rachel Healy, Marketing and Communications Manager at Share Community is celebrating spring Expand
03/03/2020 - Rachel Healy, Marketing and Communications Manager at Share Community is celebrating spring as daffodils burst into bloom!
Once more commonly known as Narcissus, the humble daffodil is a much-loved flower that traditionally heralds the start of spring as it starts bursting through the ground. Coming across a swathe of yellow trumpeting flowers is a sight to behold and has inspired many an artist and poet. Tooting residents may be aware of the area’s strong association with..... Collapse
Knitting influencer gets in a tangle after mocking wokeness with yarn
20/02/2020 - Maria Tusken has released a collection of ‘Polarized Knits’ whose names include ‘Micro-aggression’ Expand
20/02/2020 - Maria Tusken has released a collection of ‘Polarized Knits’ whose names include ‘Micro-aggression’ and ‘Em-ocean-al labor’So here’s a yarn to get your head around: critics are attacking a knitting influencer online for naming her dyed wools after “words that are meant to protect marginalized folks”.As originally reported by BuzzFeed, Maria Tusken’s Instagram blew up after she released a new line of skeins called “the Polarized Knits collection” on Wednesday. The dyed wools had names such as “Micro-aggression”, “Gaslight” and “Em-ocean-al labor”. Happy Valentines Day! ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you everyone for the wonderful reception of my Polarized Knits collection There will be more colors coming very soon (and the mini-skeins I just released will be replenished!). . . Pictured here are Love Struck Baby, and three minis from my Polarized Knits collection: Purity Spiral, Woke, and Sitting With My Discomfort. #tuskenknits #polarizedknits Related: Knitting website's war on Trump forces crafting Collapse
Hanging trees and hollering ghosts: the unsettling art of the American deep south
05/02/2020 - From lynching and slavery to the civil rights movement, Alabama’s artists expressed the momentous Expand
05/02/2020 - From lynching and slavery to the civil rights movement, Alabama’s artists expressed the momentous events they lived through – as a landmark new exhibition revealsThe quilters of Gee’s Bend make art out of recycled cloth. Lonnie Holley crafts sculptures out of car tyres and other human detritus. Self-taught luthier Freeman Vines carves guitars out of wood that came from a “hanging tree” once used to lynch black men. The “yard shows” of Dinah Young and Joe Minter are permanent exhibitions of their art – a cacophony of “scrap-iron elegies”. Almost all of this art comes from Alabama, and it all features in We Will Walk, Turner Contemporary’s groundbreaking new exhibition of African-American art from the southern state and its surroundings.Made from found and recycled material, this is art truly from the margins. It’s from places such as Gee’s Bend, the segregated hamlet now known as Boykin, where Martin Luther King travelled in 1965, taking his message about the importance of voter Collapse
Re-building the Towers of Summerstown
23/01/2020 - Work and Play Scrapstore (WaPS) – the Tooting-based re-use charity which promotes artful Expand
23/01/2020 - Work and Play Scrapstore (WaPS) – the Tooting-based re-use charity which promotes artful re-use of of donated surplus/waste materials – is rebuilding the second of the two Towers of Summerstown, brick by brick, with the help of its members.
The fun begins on Tuesday January 28th, 2pm-5pm, in the foyer of the Scrapstore, when members will decorate a (foam) brick using repurposed materials to create a 15-block-high tower – replicating the 15-storey real..... Collapse
Ceramic Art London Returns for 2020
21/01/2020 - The official Craft Business Magazine website - all the latest news and product reviews from the Expand
21/01/2020 - The official Craft Business Magazine website - all the latest news and product reviews from the crafts sector, plus interviews with key industry figures Collapse
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