Hello, and a big thank you for all your fab comments on my last post! What great comments! I'm sorry I've not had time today to respond to all of them, it's been a worky work day.
I must live a very sheltered existence, because I'd not really thought of putting my yarn bits out for the birds, to make their nests. Can you believe I had never thought of that?! Incredible! I amaze myself sometimes with my a lack of knowledge. Next Spring, none of the birds will have an excuse not to have very colourful, yarny nests, (on the insides), because I will put out lots of bits 'n' bobs of yarn for them to take away.
(I've just had a thought, imagine a camera man, focusing in on a bird's nest, for a programme like Spring Watch. What does he see? A little bird sitting on a nest of colour, like a Kaffe Fassett quilt. I personally, would LOVE to see that one! I suppose it probably wouldn't happen would it? because birds don't like to draw too much attention to their nests. Shame about that).
Today I am focusing on one of my least favourite subjects in the world. Ironing. Yes, you did read that word. Ironing.
Who would like to make me feel better about me ironing my tea towels, by saying they iron their tea towels?! Do I hear one? Do I hear two? Do I hear three people admitting to ironing their tea towels? Or do I just hear people muttering "she irons her tea towels!" in total disbelief? Probably the latter, isn't it?!
I don't actually have the time to iron my tea towels, but nevertheless, I find the time to do it. It just seems like the right thing to do, iron my tea towels. Of course, the world would fall apart if I didn't iron my tea towels, wouldn't it?!
I didn't think to photograph my tea towels when I was last ironing them. I did photograph my stripy tops though. Just because my basket of ironing happened to hold mostly stripy clothing, and I liked all that stripiness, un-ironed, and then ta-da! Ironed! And I felt like showing them to you.
I'm domesticted enough to go through the motions of doing domestic things, I just don't do my domestic chores in a very gracious or jolly manner. Maybe you could describe me as 'domestically challenged'? Hugo does all the cooking, I do all the tidying, and changing of bed linen and ironing of tea towels, and gardening, and other things I haven't remembered I do. I bake sometimes. That's the only cooking I do. And to prove how domestically challenged I am, I am just going to go and have a bowl of cereal for my supper, before I head off to Wednesday night knitting. That will be the second night running I've had Muesli for my supper. Hugo hasn't been able to cook the last two nights because of working late. I've lost the will to cook, because Hugo does it all. I used to cook, before I met Hugo. I used to be able to cook three course meals. Now I can just about do the ironing! Well, I'd better wolf down my cereal, or I'll be late for knitting. Didn't realise the time. Lovely to see you, ta-ra till tomorrow. Love Vanessa xxx
Oo Oo I'm the first today usually I'm the last!
I iron my teatowels, my towels, and all the bedlinen as well as everything else I don't iron knix or sox so I'm not that bad. I also can't put anything away until it has been ironed so just recently it has sat in a HUUUMUNGOUS pile on the spare room bed. But .... decadent irning this month ..... I have just handed a large load to the laundrette to iron for me as I was having a be nice to myself day and really needed to see the back of the pile. B asked how much will that cost I replied I don't know and I don't care! As he can't do very much at all now I am doing what feels like all of your list and some!
Love your stripy top collection.
CKx
Posted by: Calico Kate | July 22, 2009 at 06:50 PM
Well, I don't iron my tea towels. I do eat cereal for tea sometimes though, so I'm glad I'm not the only one on that front. I really don't iron very much, as little as I can possibly get away with!
Posted by: Jacqueline | July 22, 2009 at 07:23 PM
my husband does most of the cooking, but i have a few recipes i'll pull out on days when i feel like it. my daughter has always been gracious about eating what was put before her, my step-son claims he gave up peas for Lent this year. i'll admit that i'm struggling with him and his picky appetite.
i don't currently iron anything, due to the fact that the ironing board went MIA during the last move. there's not enough room in this flat to set it up anyway, so i won't be replacing it anytime soon.
off to check the potatoes cooking in the crock-pot. have fun at knitting night!
<3 tola
Posted by: Tola | July 22, 2009 at 07:36 PM
I have to admit, I'm a bit of an ironing freak. I'll iron tea towels, towels and even sheets. I love the feel of crisp flat sheets when I climb into a freshly made bed. But that's not the real reason . . . the real reason is that I love to look in my linen cupboard and see everything in neat, ordered piles of sized. (To be honest, I keep my sheet sets and their corresponding pillow cases(s) together so know there's someone out there who's truly obsessive :) Belinda
Posted by: Belinda Robertson | July 22, 2009 at 07:42 PM
Now I hate ironing, two nasty baskets of the stuff seem to permanently ruin the loveliness of my den! However, I do iron teatowels, in fact they're one of my fave things to iron because a) they're usually really pretty fabric, b) they're easy to iron because they're small and made of thick cotton which takes a hot steamy iron, c) they look so satisfying all stacked up in their ironed glory. Love the image of the brightly coloured birdy nests. To see one lined with a Kaffe quilt would be tooooo amazing! Just shared that thought with my sister who is sitting here doing her tapestry and is a big Kaffe fan. We met him briefly at a book signing last August and I'm afraid he was really rather boring and un-chatty, v disappointing! Otherwise, he is a genius, of course.
Hen xxx
Posted by: Hen | July 22, 2009 at 08:12 PM
Life is much too short to be ironing tea towels, socks and undie-crackers ;-)
Be careful with the yarn scraps for the birds though ..... my husband breeds birds and would only use natural materials like moss, jute, straw as yarn threads can entwine round little birdie legs and cause all sorts of problems especially with babies.
Posted by: Lalabibaby | July 22, 2009 at 08:32 PM
Oh ow ironing you say! pah hate the stuff. but have been finding myself recently ironing the odd tea towel if I have just put it out to use. Reason being I have just recently started buying really pretty ones, instead of the really horrid cheapy practical ones I used to buy! that my excuse! lol.
Otherwise I only iron on a need to wear crease free clothes basis. Oh and sewing projects of course. But if you see some of the pictures on my blog you can see I am no mistress (or slave) to the hard god that is the iron! he he.
I do do most of the household cooking, but Lala and Boo Bear mainly pick at it and find 'black bits' ie burnt bits. DH does a lot of the cooking at the w/e yay! And me and Boo Bear have been know to have a bowl of ceral each at lunchtime if neither of us can be bothered with anything else!
Have fun at your knitting group.
MBBx
Posted by: Mummy Boo Bear | July 22, 2009 at 09:11 PM
My tea towels are a shameful lot - many of them were from Jonno's bachelor existence with his brothers and are embalazoned with pub slogans that their mum bought on trips away. So no, any extra time spent with them is not enjoyable. In fact, Jonno is the dish dryer so I don't spend that much time with them. On the other hand, when I am at my mama's house, I love doing her ironing. Her pillow cases are thick monogrammed linen and you can trace the history of our family through her tea towels. It smells so good too. Like home and my mum.
Posted by: Kate Bruning | July 22, 2009 at 09:16 PM
I also hate ironing, but have to admitt that I do iron teatowels.
Many years ago when my children were little and I had a huge pile of ironing my mum came to stay, and got to the bottom of the ironing basket. I was shocked to see that some of the things at the bottom of the basket the children had grown out of. they had been there along time.
I still hate ironing wish I could find an ironing lady like my daughter now has. what a delight that would be.
Jane
Posted by: Jane | July 22, 2009 at 09:29 PM
I iron my tea towels and eat cereal for dinner when feeling lazy, and my husband used to cook meals but seems to have forgotten the way to the kitchen since we married ten years ago. Perhaps Hugo could have a quiet word with him?
:)
Cath
Posted by: Cath W | July 22, 2009 at 09:39 PM
No, I don't iron my tea towels (my grandmother used to call them tea cloths, and we call them dish towels), but I do fold them neatly after taking them off the line and stack them in the cupboard. I usually put off ironing as much as possible.
I will eat cereal for supper, though! Usually one of my teen-age daughters will cook our meals, and the 11-yr-old is learning, but if Steve's away them I firmly believe in "yoyo" (You're on your own) for supper!
Posted by: Laura | July 22, 2009 at 09:53 PM
I am proud to scream out loud that I don't iron anything!!!!! Especially not tea towels??!!
I wash and dry flat, then hang in wardrobe!!
But then we don't own clothes that need ironing. We do have an iron for the very rare occasion Darren needs to wear a shirt...but that's all....
Posted by: Liz | July 22, 2009 at 10:05 PM
Muesli is very nourishing. I went running tonight and the only thing I managed to grab on the way out the door was a nasty Fruit Salad chew stick the boy had left on the side in the kitschen. I could have grabbed an apple, I grabbed the chew. ugh!
I iron my vintage tea towels, but they're not to be used. They sit on the aga rail and look pretty. Woe betide anyone silly enough to think they're there for drying dishes or, heaven forfend.. hands! Oh no! Don't use my teatowels! t.x
Posted by: kitschen pink | July 22, 2009 at 10:06 PM
No, no, I don't iron my tea towels, but if my dear hubby would do all the cooking and it was edible, then I would gladly iron the tea towels and the sheets and his underwear if need be!!
Posted by: Shelley in SC | July 22, 2009 at 10:07 PM
i only iron the pretty ones!!!
fliss xx
Posted by: felicity | July 22, 2009 at 10:07 PM
I love ironing my patchwork as I make it, but anything else tends to stay in a heap at the end of my bed until needed! Though occassionally I have an attack of the vapours, iron every thing and hang it up proudly in my wardrobe, excepting the tea towels, of course.
As an aside, may I enquire as to how you always seem to remain so incredibly cheerful?! I supsect there must be something in the water up there... Love, love, love your blog!
Posted by: Stephie @ Narrative Self | July 22, 2009 at 10:44 PM
I iron them in spirit as they are so much lovelier that way, plus sit tighter in the drawers, but honestly don't get much time for ironing these days. Too much blogging perhaps? As for the yarn, haven't put any out for birds, but have often pondered putting some out in hope of being surrounded by brightly coloured nests!
Posted by: Lucy Bowler | July 23, 2009 at 12:58 AM
Before I had children, I sent my sheets out to be washed and ironed. Now we're slobs. Happy slobs.
Posted by: knittingoutloud | July 23, 2009 at 01:38 AM
PS Stripes are the best!!!
Posted by: knittingoutloud | July 23, 2009 at 01:40 AM
I feel the same way as Shelley. I would love to swap cooking for ironing...then I would probably only iron my patchwork bits ready for piecing.
Posted by: sally anne | July 23, 2009 at 07:45 AM
I'm a lover of ironing, but don't iron my teatowels...or my bedlinen. I couldn't bear to be seen in a wrinkly t-shirt, but am happy to use shrivelled up looking tea towels. No logic there, oh well! :)
Posted by: Tina | July 23, 2009 at 08:33 AM
Maybe it's a generational thing - maybe if there is anyone else 60-ish out there they might comment - but I never leave my ironing to pile up, and never have. It has been washed, put out to dry and ironed within a morning in summer when the weather co-operates, otherwise ironed as soon as it is dry enough. I never leave things lying around to be put away...they go into the airing cupboard for a day, and then into their respective cupboards and drawers. I never iron towels, teatowels, underwear.... life is just too short.
Posted by: Maggie | July 23, 2009 at 09:30 AM
i am loving the idea of yarn bits for nests!!
im not a fan of ironing if im honest and we have a very nice man that comes and takes most of ours away then brings it back magically all done ;-) although I do feel all housewifey if i get the ironing board our and then iron everything in sight (including tea towels) but in all honesty its very few and far between that it happens!!
Lx
Posted by: Lesley | July 23, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Hi Vanessa,
Yes, indeed, I do iron my teatowels and have taken much flack from friends here in the US because of it. Hardly anyone I know irons anything and they always are amazed that I iron my teatowels, t-shirts, placemats and napkins, jeans, blouses, etc. I have to admit that I no longer iron undies since they go in the dryer but I used to when growing up in England. I remember ironing our twill sheets for my Mum too. I think ironing gives everything a lovely finished look.
Shelagh C. in Houston, TX.
Posted by: Shelagh Campbell | July 23, 2009 at 01:56 PM
Vanessa,
Forgot to mention that those yarn ends look lovely in a clear glass vase, as a base for some silk flowers or greenery.
Shelagh C. in Houston, TX.
Posted by: Shelagh Campbell | July 23, 2009 at 01:58 PM
Ironing?? heavens no! In my house, ironing means to put the wrinkled object into the clothes dryer with a damp cloth for about 10 minutes. Viola! no more wrinkles! to be honest, I don't even think I own an iron any more.
Posted by: melissa | July 23, 2009 at 03:08 PM
We have 2 sets of teatowels, 1 for the kitchen (i always iron them) and 1 for nappy changing to catch any leaks mid change! (i dont iron those but do fold them neatly).
I have a request, well 2 actually - where do u buy your lovely stripey tops from?! Im in the process of replacing most of my pre-pregnancy clothes and would love to embark on some stripey colour! Im thinking Boden? Second request, please remember that birds can get their feet caught in threads and yarns which have been lovingly left out for them - so keep the threads short enough to not cause harm. I have seen myself birds left hanging upside down with their feet in a tangle - usually results in death unless the RSPCA is called. I also know of someone who tried to rescue one of these birds and ended up accidently pulling its legs off. I put all my cotton threads out after cutting them smaller, its an excellent idea if done right!
Still loving ur blog by the way, or as attic 24 would say, i love love love it!
Aqeela xx
Posted by: Aqeela | July 23, 2009 at 03:38 PM
I never iron my tea towels, but maybe if my tea towels were as lovely as yours, I would!
Posted by: Lindseyrose | July 23, 2009 at 03:52 PM
I have to iron Pete's boxers! enough said...love H
Posted by: Helen Lambert | July 23, 2009 at 11:35 PM
I have grown lazy with old age! or maybe its the fact that we are now a household of 7? but the only things I iron these days are hubbies work shirts.
My daily routine involves getting out of bed and ironing his shirt.
hmm and I just looked - I don't even own a tea-towel! Everything here goes into the dishwasher and what doesn't gets air-dryed on the drainer - hmmm I really am lazy :)
Posted by: Chars | July 24, 2009 at 02:44 AM
no i dont iron tea towels !!!
Posted by: Jane Guest | October 31, 2011 at 11:53 AM