Introducing...

With the Designer Open House & Arts Trail only two weeks away I decided to take the opportunity to get know some of our contributers a little bit better so I'm very pleased to introduce to you Erica Godfrey - creator of the deliciously quirky, 'environmentally trendy' fashion brand Oddly Enough. Erica's work was first brought to my attenion by Leren Connor of to-be-irreplaceable as another designer who gets their thrills from breathing new life in objects people once regarded as junk. As a blogger, it probably comes as no surprise that I'm a big fan of up-cycling and more and more these days it seems to be cropping up as the fashion buzz-word of the moment so I'm thrilled that Erica has decided to jump on board as we created the Designer Open House  with a view of it being one of the ways we can help promote local creative talent and I would certainly view Oddly Enough as one to watch. She was kind enough to tell us a bit about her self so here she is in her own words:

WHO IS ODDLY ENOUGH?

Oddly Enough makes handmade and up-cycled, gifts and accessories. All items are handmade from odds & ends, we give them new life in one form or another.

Each item has its own individual personality, and is guaranteed to be 100% unique.

WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF YOUR WORK?

My aim is to show the world that with resourcefulness and imagination up-cyled, ethical fashion should not have to compromise on style or more importantly colour! My designs are heavily influenced by the resources available to me, through gathering and hunting for unwanted or unusable stock.

WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION?

Oddly Enough was born as a reaction to waste, responding to the fast changing fashion industry which rids itself frequently of last seasons prints, fabrics and trims. By using traditional craft techniques in new ways and using alternative materials, I turn this waste into something new and desirable.

Taking on a new aesthetic; 'Pop Vintage' our new collection combines garments and accessories incorporating up-cycling and re-use.

In the Crooked Kitchen

Tom Yam (Traditional Thai Soup)

Lately I've been missing Thailand and sometimes it really hits me that this time last year I was happily living and working there. Since coming back though I'd layed off the oriental food for a while, my cravings have tended towards traditonal British grub or mediterranean food, both of which are quite hard to find in South-East Asia.

Last weekend I went to visit my Dad who is currently quite poorly and spending some time in hospital, so I decided to cheer him up with a delicious traditional Thai recipe known for it's immune boosting properties and it's ability to fight off colds and viruses. So much so that it's even been subjected to scientific study. I realise that most people would consider the cold and flu season to be over but I still think this is a great summer recipe packed full of mouth-watering aromatic flavours. Hopefully it will keep any summer sniffles at bay leaving you free to make the most of the sunshine (if/when it returns).

What you will need:

• 3 pints chicken stock
• 4 sticks of lemongrass, lightly crushed
• 1 bunch coriander with roots, crushed
• Tom Yum Paste
• 10 or So cherry tomatoes
• 3 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped
• 1-2 limes, juice only
• 3fl oz tamarind water
• 3 red chillies, thinly sliced
• 3fl oz fish sauce (nam pla), or to taste
• 3oz palm sugar (available from Asian supermarkets), use brown sugar if unavailable
• Pak Choi (optional)
• 1 can on coconut milk 
• 1 Large bag of frozen tiger prawns (shelled and gutted)

 

Just to let you all know we've added a last minute event at Knebworth House & Park, Hertfordshire on the Jubilee weekend to our summer itinerary which we're very excited about. The organizers have also been kind enough to give us an extra 4 feet of space so Megan can demonstrate her mad hot knitting skills for the crowds so if you her demonstrate before and are able to attend you're in for a real treat.

Now that the sun is out and it seems summer is finally starting to win us over, Megan and I have been giving some real thought towards a make over for the trusty Crooked Van. Those of you who know us will often recognise us by the huge, completly consipcuous blue van parked outside the Crooked House that is rather in need of a bit of TLC.  Bless the big blue beast, here he is with Meg.

“Book-love, I say again, lasts throughout life, it never flags or fails, but, like Beauty itself, is a joy forever.”  

- Holbrook Jackson, The Anatomy of Bibliomania

  I don't know about you but I don't just love to read a good book, I like to collect pretty ones, to read and write in. Maybe it's the writer in me but there's something about paper and binding that no Kindle could replace or word proccessor emulate. I'm really glad that Megan understands my fascination with books as she has given me some of my favourites over the years and has some great ones of her own. I present to you now my favourites from around the Crooked House. If you're a book nerd like me we'd love to hear your comments about your favourites or send us a picture, I know I'm not the only one out there!

Spun From Fact

How crazy/beautiful is this notebook? It was hand made and given to Megan buy a woman who makes notebooks from found art. You can literallly flip to any page at random and land on some thing quirky and interesting, which is what I've done here...

Hailey's Cover

This is Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielowski, while not my favourite book of his it is the most astonishingly well made and mind-bogglingly complex. It's a story about two wild and wayward teenagers who are on the run trying to outrace history and never growing old. It alternates betweeen two narratives, Sam's and Hailey's whose story's begin at either cover. This book was meant to read from both ends and each narrative is a strange intermingling of poetry and  stream of conciousness that leaves me dizzy, it is entirely possible with this book to finish either end and then seamlessly circle back to the beginning. Time has no rules in Only Revolutions and for all of the above reasons I love it. There is no one interprettation of this book that I think could ever be wholly correct, but I think most people who have read it on even see it agree that it's beautiful.

Sam's Cover

Hailey's Inside Cover (which you need a mirror to read)

 

Louis Riel

 

An Excerpt from Lewis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography by Chester Brown

Here's one of my favourite comics/graphic novels. Louis Riel is a historical biography in comic form of the infamous Métis rebel leader by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. It deals with Riel's antagonistic relationship with the Candian government around the time of the Red River Rebellion and profiles his possible bouts into schizophrenia as Riel struggles with his identity as rebel leader and his belief that his is the Prophet of the New World, sent by God. I love it's minimalist style and unemotional dialogue as it comprehensively documents a relatively abstract corner of history. In form and content it is beautiful and deserves a place here. 

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielowski

Another Danielowski book and without a doubt my absolute favourite book, EVER.  Danielowski's original multi-narrative epic and mindblowing exercise in ergodic literature is nigh on impossible to summarize effectively so instead here I include the cover blurb, I don't know who wrote it but it's about the only explanation I've found that does it justice....

 "Johnny Truant, wild and troubled sometime employee in an L.A. tattoo parlor, finds a notebook kept by Zampanò, a reclusive old man found dead in a cluttered apartment. Herein is the heavily annotated story of the Navidson Record. 

  Will Navidson, a photojournalist, and his family move into a new house. What happens next is recorded on videotapes and in interviews. Now the Navidsons are household names. Zampanò, writing on loose sheets, stained napkins, crammed notebooks, has compiled what must be the definitive work on the events of Ash Tree Lane.

  But Johnny has never heard of the Navidson Record. Nor has anyone else he knows. And the more he reads about Will Navidson's house, the more frightened he becomes. Paranoia besets him. The worst part is that he just can't dismiss the notebook as the ramblings of a crazy old man. He's starting to notice things changing around him...

  Immensely imaginative. Impossible to put down. impossible to forget. House of Leaves is thrilling, terrifying and unlike anything you've ever read before." - Too true.

Excepts from the Glossary.

My Diary Circa 2005-2007ish...

  Now no self respecting bibliomanic's collection could be complete without a few diaries. I've had so many over the years for so many different reasons. It's only been over the last couple of years that I've been busy enough to make it worth keeping a diary in the conventional sense i.e. to help remind me when I'm supposed to be doing something. Nowadays my diary is somewhere in between a calender and a notebook. Megan gave me my travel diary and my current diary which I use to keep a track of all my Crooked House projects. I think it's safe to say that I do not like being caught without one of these and a pen on my person at all times because you never know when that bolt of inspiration will hit and I've lost too many good ideas in the frantic search for something to jot them down on.

I was a lot more secretive about my diary back then...

Travel Diary 2011

Contributions made by my Swedish friends and the Kids of Khao San Rd.

One of Megan's

The Current Diary - A Christmas Present from Meg

My Busy Year

Crooked Knitwear Videography

Behind The Scenes: Crooked Knitwear Spring/Summer Collection 2012 from Hatch'd Magazine on Vimeo.

Hello Everybody,

Sorry it's been a while since you've heard from inside the Crooked House but I assure you this is because we've been super busy, but we've got a long awaited treat in store for you today, our friends at Hatch'd Magazine have published a benind the scenes videography of our day at the Clockworks made by the lovely Lara Elizabeth Elliot who's done a cracking job. As promised the website is now also up and running, we still have some odd ends to tie up but we hope you all take some time to check out all the brand new items on sale for the first time online and I promise you can expect much, much more. Read the article at Hatch'd Magazine here.

A word about the weather

So we've decided to make arrangements to compensate for the impending weather ie. apparently it's going to chuck it down.. Do not fret though, we'll just been moving the celebrations indoors where there will be an indoor theatre screening of the videogrpahy. Also we will be serving nibbles and drinks including some home made sangria from 2pm until 8pm so come early to partake of our hospitality. Remember you'll also have a chance to peruse through our new collection so don't forget your purses ladies as we've got new stock coming out of our ear holes and we're also extra exited by all the new fabrics that arrived yesterday that we spent most of yesterday afternoon chewing the fat over. We've also finally went through an X factor style process of finalizing our choices for photos we're going to exhibit on Saturday so we're off to the printers today, it was agonising choosing our favourites out of so many fabulous shots but we think you'll all be impressed. I'm also particularly exited about the progress we've made on the website, products are being uploaded and everything is almost ready to go! So exiting! So as I've probably mentioned about a dozen times, can't wait to see you all on Saturday!

Crooked House Celebrations!

Just to remind everyone, you are all invited to our launch party at The Crooked House on Saturday! We can't wait to show you all the fantastic photos from the Clockworks and we've also got a treat in store because lovely Lara Elliott from Hatch'd Magazine has made a videography about us and we're very much looking forward to seeing it.  So we've decided to have a viewing of it, hopefully in the back garden accompanied by a drink and a nice fire.

 Most importantly we will also be celebrating the launch of the brand new website which many of you have contributed to, this is our way of thanking everyone who helped us with their talents and hard work.  So I hope to see you all there in your party wear and since I'm feeling generous I'll leave you with a sneaky picture of our day at the Clockworks taken by Ewan Mathers. Just a reminder of a lovely day, just as Saturday promises to be. Can't wait to see you all!

  Saturday at 2pm at The Crooked House, 31 Gerard Street, Derby.

Struck Gold

Tailored Jacket by Bennett, dress from New Look, bag from Primark and boots borrowed form Megan.

I am rather in love with the Life charity shop on Green Lane right now. Today, not only did they give Bambi a huge bag full of priceless vintage sewing patterns for the modest sum of £3 but I have also just picked up a vintage Bennett camel wool suit for £5.50! I'm so delighted with it, I've been searching for something just like it all year and now I finally have the perfect tailored jacket to go with my summer wardrobe and it fits me like a dream.

Pushing the Boat Out

Well it's been an interesting week in the Crooked House, we've had some great feedback about our day at the Clockworks and now we're looking forward to getting ready for the launch party on April 21st. We've been catching up on commissions and Megan put in a performance on Wednesday as a guest creative professional at the Quad, lending her expertise and advice to young Derby creative. Now we're getting set for the big Crooked House reshuffle so soon we will have a new attic workroom in which we'll be hosting Crooked House workshops so all you budding designers and makers can pick up some exclusive mad skills from our own Megan Crook. Megan is also taking a well earned holiday in Berlin this week where she'll be sporting the new collection for the first time, which leaves little ole me captaining the Crooked ship this week.  Also I'm pleased to see our entrepreneurial friends ElizaLeren getting some great publicity lately, they've been featured in today's Derby Telegraph with an article about their boutique on Green Lane which you should all check out and you can read the article here. Not only that but Bambi managed to find her way into a national Ugandan publication New Vision  courtesy of one a favourite blogger of ours, Isaac Fashionare256.  Nice one guys.

Courtesy of Fashionaire256

Here Comes The Sun

Well we've just got the first photos back from Sunday and are really happy them.  Mother nature decided to be on our side and broke out a another gloriously sunny day for us and now, that we've had some time to relax and digest the day I can tell you that thanks to an overwhelming response from our community we felt the whole day was a tremendous success, so thank you!
Our friends at the Clockworks we're great hosts, everyone pitched in and what can I say? Teamwork makes the dreamwork.  We had some great music, food, performances even had our own rag tag stage that we borrowed from D-man's school. 
It's been great to hear over the last 48 hours or so, that everyone had a lot of fun and there were a lot of memorable moments, like Meg jumping up and down screaming whilst Emilie Lecocq spews fiery breath in a pink handmade tweed jacket that's just the right side of the circus.  I remember feeling glad that I'm not the only one who gets that exited about clothes and I can't wait to see more of the pictures.  Don't forget that this event is just the beginning, we've got a fabulous summer planned and our Relaunch Party is already under a month away where we will be exhibiting all of our favourite photos from the day and celebrating our brand new website so stay tuned. x

Pictures Courtesy of Lawrence De Gruchy

A Stitch In Time

So it's here finally, tomorrow is the big day. All hands are on deck and the Crooked House is brimming with people. The outfit count is up to 31, everybody's sewing cutting and the knitting machines have been whirring relentlessly all day, even I've been pulled of the computer/phone to muck in on the knitting. There have been a few hiccups but we've been doing our best to put out fires all over the place and as far as I can tell everything seems to be finally coming together. We've dropped off the stage, had hair consultations, found a new make-up artist, picked up food, tracked down decks, finalized outfits, been filmed/interviewed and called to remind just about everyone. All these bits and pieces, odd and ends are really taking form, the excitement is brewing, we're kicking this to-do-list in the ass. Not much else to say except can't wait to see you all tomorrow and we can't thank everyone enough for all their help so far.

Look out for ElizaLeren!

We're tickled pink for our very good friends and Crooked House regulars Bambi and Cole. As part of the furniture round these parts we were thrilled when they burst in and broadcasted in stereo "WE'RE GETTING A SHOP!!" This is no small achievement for two girls who are still at university and I have to admit I'm just a wee bit jealous. Megan and I went to visit the shop on Green Lane for the first time yesterday to see it before it get's painted and in a word - it's perfect, for what will be ElizaLeren Boutique. So those of you out there looking for something completely different at competative high street prices get down to the big opening and check it out on March 10th, and for and extra 5% off be one of the first 50 people to like this page. Congratulations girls! Mwah x

Menswear like you don't care.

Here's the first ever mens jumper from Crooked Knitwear. It's  of course 100% handmade and took two days to make. I know it's supposed to be for the guys but how badly do I want want one?

Booty Tooch Skirt!

Yes it is a picture of her bum!

Megan's newest creation, like nothing she's made before and in which she periodically breaks out into the "booty tooch" dance. Jumping round corners and swaggering around the house like a proffessional, er... swaggerrer? Think summer knitwear meets rave princess in flamingo pinks with unmissable florescent orange fringing. Literally as I type Meg is next to me wildly shaking her hips and shouting "Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle Yeah!"