Sunday 25 November 2012

Back in five.....


Contrary to popular belief, I have not exploded, although I may have come fairly close to popping a couple of times. We are finally (sort of) moved. We are between houses, but not so much in the new house that I know where my camera connecting lead is. I have not picked up any crochet or knitting for three whole days....in fact I don't know where all my project bags are (ouch). But we are eating and doing some laundry, so it's all good! Looking forward to hitting normal again sometime very soon.....until then.x

Sunday 11 November 2012

Year of projects - 11.11.12

So here's the thing.........I've suddenly realised that Christmas is only two weeks away and I haven't finished all my presents........well, that's not strictly true.......but in relation to the number of things I have to finish (and even start in some cases) it may as well be two weeks.


Somehow, in among all the panic, I managed to start another blanket.....but there is some method in this, as I need it finished to wrap and give in a week or so, rather than posting something heavy and bulky.

It's a simple pattern found on ravelry here, and I am using two chunky yarns held together and also some silver cotton to give a subtle twinkle.......so far, so good....and it's a quick grower, so perfect for the job.



I also joined in with Christina Lowry's handmade ornament swap, which is due to be posted out in the next week or so.....I have the ideas.....it's just they are all stuck in my head!


And then, when you think it couldn't get worse, you are quite innocently browsing a blog when you get you arm twisted (....ahem...) into joining in a CAL.  You see, who could have known that Meredith from Mereknits would be so persuasive!



So this is the beginnings of joining in Stitchy's CAL for a gorgeous star table runner......I thought I had plenty of this white four-ply cotton, but I realise that the other ball is actually ivory......

I can't not picture this beautiful runner on my table at Christmas.......

So as you can see, I've switched in to 'mad-dash' mode and my YOP work is going to be varied, frantic and haphazard for the coming weeks....

I am dangerous around anything vaguely christmassy at the moment, don't remind me about those cute mitten advent calenders, or those gorgeous crochet nativity scenes....I may well finally explode....

Anyway...I have just returned from a scoot and skate party followed by a  birthday tea....I am going to sit and read blogs in front of the fire if you don't mind.  Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to this week....please no more christmassy crocheted must-haves....I couldn't take it!

Have a lovely week.x

Friday 9 November 2012

Upping sticks

This week, I have mainly been.....

....Sewing..... I do enjoy a sewing machine project...I am dreadful at preparation and really always sew slightly faster than I am comfortable going.....but then there is nothing like a last minute idea that makes you sew faster.

Littlest's best friend celebrated her birthday with a tea party and we bought her a lovely story about a slug that wanted to be a  snail, complete with sparkly pictures (I can never resist a sparkly childrens' book)

Anyway, on the day of the party, I got it into my head that I was going to make a snail......a search on ravelry and a good dose of being realistic later, I decided that sewing one was the the way to go.  I saw some lovely ideas, but alas, all of them were way beyond my sewing prowess....so I went to a shop bought a big fleece blanket and made something slightly less ambitious.



I cut out some letters and shapes from fleece in my stash and after some careful pinning (this is impressive for me) I sewed away.

I was really pleased with the end piece, something useful and snugly which tied in well with the book and didn't cost a small fortune.


....... enjoying the good bits about the winter......I love bonfire night and although we didn't actually go to a display this year, the boys had fun with some sparklers....and I had some fun with my camera so it seems.




.........Knitting....ooooppppps, I may just have started ANOTHER blanket.....but in my defence it is a Christmas emergency....well, that's my excuse!


...............But actually.....I have been mainly....packing.....

At the end of last year, we knew this would probably be the year for moving, and I thought it may just wait until after Christmas......but I was informed last week that we have three weeks.....well, now we have two!

I am not dreading moving, we are moving to a lovely house....it's just we've been very happy here, and with a move comes a lot of changes......our animals are nearly all sold...and we can no longer call ourselves farmers....but hey, new adventures lie ahead.

In the meantime....I am packing.....there is no way of making it fun, and its only at times like these, you discover how many things you actually own..........I have a lot of yarn and fabric!

I wish I could pack my house on my back and off we go....as long as there was room for kids, hubby, yarn and ipad....well.....now I come to think of it, I'd want the sewing machine, my paints, my piano...............