The Family Orbit

Devan and Dhilan meet the family

Heading home for Christmas is an annual ritual for many of us, but one that throws into sharp relief the shortcomings of the family imperfect. (Ok, so who can't identify with the imperfections of family? We'll discuss that another time.) 

This year's visit back to spend time with Mum and Dad involved the usual predictable grumble and groan, but we had more reason than usual to enjoy doing the Christmas rounds: my brother has just become a father to twin boys to the delight of everyone. We met them for the first time at Christmas.

At times, it's seemed as though I've been on a one-woman mission to knit, knit, knit in time for the happy arrival, but the excitement of the event has overtaken us all. Meeting up with my sister-in-law's sisters and brother a few days before the big day, we were all bubbling over with anticipation. Had they been habitual drinkers and superstitions not been so prevalent, I'd have proposed a toast there and then that the very next time we met, there'd be two more of us joining our families together.

When we met, on Boxing Day, it was the happiest of occasions. The little boys were two weeks old and doing well and presents for Christmas, births and birthdays were being opened and other family rituals were being observed. It turned out I wasn't the only knitter, at all. My mum has been making cardigans for when Devan and Dhilan are a few months old (and big enough for them) while the mother of proud Uncle Himi's girlfriend has made two beautiful cream jackets.

All, in time, will become pretty little heirlooms - for now, it's just wonderful to enjoy the safe arrival of two beautiful little boys and watch them grown into - and out of - many more cute little knits along the way.

The vintage vs virtue debate

We've been having a clear out. If you know how much I'm capable of hoarding, you'll understand why. We also acquired a statue and two boxes of heirlooms over the Xmas period and won't be able to pass them on for a while. And when we were at my Mum's over Xmas she insisted I sort through some cases of clothes I'm pretty sure I'd left with her precisely because the contents are out of season and she has far more storage space than me.

So, the clutter. Guiltily I threw out three perfectly good sets of bedding and several shirts. We also offed two other bags of old clothes and some random picture frames and bags. They were to be charity-shop bound but have sat around for months going nowhere. Instead, they've sat around looking messy and I've nowhere to hide them.

The trouble is, however tightly and neatly I pack away what I have, I don't have much room and I have too much old stuff. I'd throw out the old stuff but i'm conditioned not to. That jumper may be 16 years old but it was a good buy and there's nothing wrong with it. You see my problem?

As a would-be vintage fan I'd like to keep some of this stuff so have squirrelled away some favourite fabrics. I hope to surprise myself by reinventing some of these garments as handbags and other accessories - one more item on this year's 'will do' list.

But what of the rest? We often hear that clothes are made to be disposable these days, yet some of my 20-year-old tops and jumpers are still going strong. I'm currently wearing a top from the mid-80s I acquired from my Mum about a decade ago. Not everything stands the test of time as well, but many things come back into fashion eventually. Should there be a rule that anything above a certain age be thrown out and, if so, where on earth will the next generation of 'vintage' come from? 

All roads lead to Retro Row

Retro Row in Long Beach, south of LA, was not in the guide book. We found out about it thanks to a tip-off from the concierge at our hotel (Vanden's - a boutique hotel rightly recommended by TripAdvisor members). It's a collection of shops with a loose vintage vibe, an excellent coffee bar and neighbourhood hangout, Portfolio Coffee House and one of the most fearsome barber shop signs I've come across.


Just five or six blocks from downtown Long Beach, Retro Row has a totally different feel to the modern and sanitised centre and rather dull shopping mall. The first indication that you're about to encounter somewhere different is the splayed out front end of a 1950 Chevrolet marking the corner of a scruffy public park. It ought to look as though the car was abandone; instead it fittingly denotes your entry into a 1950s or earlier nostalgia trip.


Pass the laundromat, mechanics offering deals on smog checks and the clothes exchange and retirement apartments and you'll see a tiny cinema that's been kept neat with regular painting but hasn't been prettified to be filmset-ready. California has preserved many of its striking art deco cinemas - this one feels as though it is simply still in the Fifties. 


Our favourite shop was a kids' gift store with a goth twist - a skull cake had pride of place in the window while a CD of death metal lullabies caught our eye. We couldn't resist buying one as a gift for our friends Neil and Ruth's baby. 

The modest shop signage and a lack of chain stores add to the period appeal of Retro Row. Unfortunately, we were there earlier in the day than the leisurely 11am or noon opening times for some of the stores. This meant we didn't get to go in and nose around the skate shop, so I wasn't able to fulfill my rollerchick fantasy and pick up pink legwarmers, skates and a twirly skirt in which to glide langorously along Venice Beach. (I'll plan my next Retro Row visit accordingly; weekends are clearly the main trading days here.)


We did hang out at Portfolio Coffee House though - a large corner establishment towards the far end of the four-block strip where students, business-y types and casual visitors like ourselves congregated. Its vast windows make it ideal for people-watching and we soon found ourselves relaxing with its chilled-out vibe. 


And lest you forget that California is about more than bikers, rollerskating chicks, surfer dudes and conspicuous consumption, there are several stores devoted to hippie fashion. Entering these is like walking on to the set of Tales Of The City. In fact, Retro Row in general reminded me of San Francisco. In one vintage store, we were greeted by an impossibly handsome, beautifully tanned male shop assistant with a tight bum and wide flares. The fashion itself was more than thrift shop chic, too - apparently set dressers from Hollywood regularly make the 30 minute ride down the highway to source vintage clothes from here. It's certainly well worth the diversion. 

The best apps cop-out

I've just completed a marathon writing and editing job in the form of a feature on the best apps for smartphones, laptops, PCs and web. 

Whereas an app once might have been a sticky note in the form of a Post-It attached to your screen or a digital version of the same concept; these days that same idea will be finessed into a far more personal edition. It might record changes to your golfing average, a dynamically updated team calendar complete with pop-up meeting reminders; or a list of things that need doing shared out between you and your significant other. 

The concept of 'best' apps is tricky. You're only likely to recommend what's personally useful to you or where you can see a direct usefulness or benefit and a there are many thousands apps to choose from. But not everyone has a smartphone - and we certainly don't all have the same one, which makes for plenty of pub debate about which one is the best. I definitely noted at several points that the apps I was writing about said as much about me as anything. I wanted to include the KnitMinder app, for example. 

Many apps are ported across from success iterations on the web or from the original 'app' idea of add-ons for a largely complete computing setup. Others have come about because there's a new hardware platform to which a specific type of app lends itself - the iPad and tablet PCs and various smartphones. For example, a dictation app for a highly portable device such as an iPhone makes much more sense than a similar one for writing a report while sat in a busy shared office. 

In fact, my big conclusion was that the best person qualified to choose the best apps is none other than you. Which ones make your day? 

Gluten-free lemon shortbread

As well as trying to tempt various vegetables to grow, I've been trying out a few bread recipes. The bread maker was consistently turning out unpalatable lumps and is looking forlorn, but mixing and kneading breads by hand seems to work.


I've made three - all different - and each has turned out great despite my slapdash adherence to the instructions.


Unfortunately, I've not yet managed a gluten-free loaf - I bought regular flour rather than bread flour and my online research reveals gluten-free breads involve more than mixing flour, yeast, water and oil.


Instead I used some of the Letheringsett Watermill Gluten-free Flour I got from the farm shop at Norfolk Lavender to good effect in lemon shortbread. I got the recipe from the Doves Farm website, which offers lots of advice on baking organic, gluten-free and for particular dietary requirements.


Doves Farm Lemon Shortbread involves a lemon (rind and juice), 8oz gluten-free flour, 6oz butter and 4oz caster sugar. 


Beat the butter as sugar together first before adding the lemon and the flour and mixing well. Push into a greased baking tray and cook for 20 to 25 minutes at around 180. Mine took nearer half an hour but came out well and were light and moist. 

Knit Minder for iPhone app review

Like most people, I expect, my joy at creating my first scarves and hat quickly turned to dismay when I stepped things up and tried to knit more complex garments. I battled through to make a girl's jacket, but have temporarily abandoned two cardigans for myself. Taking on complex challenges can be very disheartening. 

With some quick knits for babies required, I've gone back to basics - and it's all to the good. Just a few simple knits here and there - I’ve just made this scarf for Mark on a start-knitting-and-see basis - and my confidence and stitch accuracy have improved noticeably. But I can’t take much credit for what are, so far, very simple knits.

Mostly, I’ve been depending on a great little iPhone app called Knit Minder. It’s a step up from the basic StitchMinder I tried before. You can log patterns, pins and yarns, colours, dye lot and other information from the band and keep a log of project progress. Far easier than keeping the yarn band to hand for reference. 


Helpfully, you can replicate elements of a pattern you've entered before and select any such pattern, yarn and needle info across projects. Listings simply pop up when you're on the relevant tab. Colour swatches for yarns are also shown and you can take or import a photo of your project or the yarn used. Multiple counters are supported - keeping track of how many rows I've knitted ranks as one of the most useful aspects for me and saves me jotting things down on easily lost scraps of paper. This feature is also supported in StitchMinder and other knitting apps.  

Given my wont to go off tack and create something different from what the pattern is guiding me to, such a prompt to stay on course is ideal. 

Mobile music downloads - 7digital app review

iTunes may be the stand-out music purchase and download service, but there are several other music and streaming options out there that are worthy of consideration. Not everyone likes to be tied in to the iPod/iTunes alliance and there are plenty of non-iPhone users keen to enjoy digital music on the go.


Perhaps the best known examples in the UK are AmazonMP3 and MSN Music, but coming up fast on the outside track is 7digital.

The service exists in its own right, tempting users in with its offer of free tracks, but also providing the backbone to the hmvdigital download store, for example. It has also recently partnered with PURE and music-recognition service Shazam to offer ‘hear it, tag it, buy it’ purchasing of songs you hear online.

I recently tried out the 7digital app on a BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphone and quickly realised the appeal of the DRM-free music download service. For starters, 7digital has one of the broadest music catalogues around. It also links in with Last.fm.


You can purchase individual tracks or complete albums and, as long as there’s an active web connection, the tracks you choose are available almost instantly. You get either choose to download purchased music as soon as you’ve bought it or you can wait until you’re in a Wi-Fi area so you can download over the air without worrying about how much of your monthly 3G data allowance you’re using up.

Other useful features are the 30-second previews and the Similar to this prompt. Some weird associations come up as a result, but one of the joys of the web being filled with sound is the myriad ways you come across new music. The 7digital app also acts as a library of your songs, automatically offering up those you like best and playing them all over again. You get Napster or Spotify-like artist biographies and featured albums too.


Not everything is as smooth as it should be, but it definitely adds a useful new dimension to the BlackBerry entertainment line-up. For the full review follow the link to pcadvisor.co.uk.