Blogging is addictive. In Manchester (visiting my daughter) find a host of unexpected links to the embroidery trail. It is cold and grey - snowing in Oldham. But my daughter is keeping warm. She has crocheted cuffs for her Primark cashmere cardigan and a patch for a large moth hole in the elbow with Jaeger angora and lambs wool bought in a charity shop.On the way back to the hotel (once a warehouse holding cloth from the north west prior to distribution all over Britain) we pass an embroidery show called Undercover by students at Manchester School of Art in an cafe, promising "to challenge and inspire anyone whose idea of embroidery is limited to the domestic arena."
A great idea and a great display in the showcase window... pieces of embroidery hang in the cafe downstairs. Where on one of the sofas someone happens to have thrown a crocheted blanket.
And later still, a barman peeling lemon for a martini gets distracted, talking about his former maths and physics studies... and pares off at least a foot of rind. Dropped into the glass, it looks like instant embroidery.
