Review: Horrible Histories Barmy Britain

horrible-histories-barmy-britain

Fun Fact: Did you know that the first Horrible History books were published over 20 years ago?

Published in 1993 by the Scholastic brand, The Terrible Tudors and The Awful Egyptians, were an instant hit. They described British history (of the time) through the context of the ruling dynasties. And they made it fun for the kids. Learning history would never be more ghastly or ghoulish!

Of course, with every successful book series, there should be an obligatory TV show, followed by a successful stage show (we are only waiting for the movies now). And that is Horrible Histories Barmy Britain 2 hour sing-along, dance-along version of 1000 years of British History. Told in the most gruesome, ghoulish way that will have the kids shrieking in delight or fear (I couldn’t tell).

Not only do you learn history, you do it in an almost interactive environment that makes the dead people come alive. And fun. Did I mention fun?

To be honest, I didn’t know much of the history of Britain. Neither did the rest of the audience (this being Australia you know), so relating to the show is a bit hard. Unless you are with a 7 year old who is genuinely interested in the history of England and whether King Henry VIII is portrayed correctly.

This show was live theatre combined with 3D imagery that had us gob-smacked. Talk about high production values!

I am not sure what I retained in the end, but the skulls coming towards us and the dancing Queen Victoria will forever be etched in my memory. I am hoping my 7 year old retained more of the history and knowledge part of it than I did.

It’s the horrible history of Britain with the nasty bits left in!

QPAC, Andrew Kay and Associates in association with The Birmingham Stage Company present:

Horrible Histories – Barmy Britain

When:

30 January at 7.00pm

31 January at 11.00am, 3.00pm and 7.00pm

Where:

Concert Hall, QPAC, Cultural Precinct, South Bank

Bookings:

136 246 or qpac.com.au

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?