Back in five.....

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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

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

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...............

Man V. Food

If you have an aversion to gluttony.....or if the sight of greediness makes you quake with rage....look away now.

Living in a house of boys, I am often subjected to man-tv....it can be painful for me on occasion.....maybe that is why I like pink and sparkly things so much....to block out the boy-stuff-overload.

All my boys (hubby included) have a fascination with the American TV programme Man V. Food......if you haven't seen it....maybe give it a miss.

Well, my hubby has always been a connoisseur of burgers, but last weekend he took it to a whole other level, when he decided to do a Man v. Food challenge

Ready?

Four half-pounder beef burgers, packet of streaky bacon, portion of beef-chilli, mushrooms, onion rings, cheese and a big roll loaf to put it all in.

Assembled in a scientific-way

 You'd think this would be more than enough already.....but oh, no......forgot the chilli.....

Need I say more?  Have you run for the hills yet?

And afterwards.......

I hasten to add that my hubby is normally a more considered eater......I think it was a one-off personal challenge....although actually he got to the last tiny morsel and the food won....so maybe it will re-occur just to prove his MAN-liness

The very same hubby celebrated his birthday yesterday....and on the menu?  A burger cake of course....which he still had a healthy appetite for.

The cake went down a treat, complete with butter-icing 'ketchup' and royal icing 'cheese'

Like father, like son!

Year of projects - 28.10.12

Well, as you can see, I have finally finished Oor-Flap Muts, modelled here by my biggest boy.

I used Sirdar Click with wool (aran weight) and used just over a skein of each colour, which as it was in the bargain bucket in my LYS, I feel it was money well spent....plus its very cosy for the cold weather that seems to have landed in these here parts.

As it is Brioche knitting, it is fully reversible, a two sided thick and toasty fabric.

The light in the photos is maybe not the best for seeing the project at its clearest, however, I couldn't stop taking pictures as my biggest boy looks so beautiful in the light from the fire......maybe beautiful isn't a word that should be used about a boy....but he's just that....set to break a few hearts I think!

Biggest boy is not the only one enjoying the fire....we call this pose upside-down-head....I think it means she's relaxed!

Right, better get going on boy's bedtimes, which are a little later than normal but as its the start of the half-term hols tomorrow (YIPPEE!) that's not too important.

Looking forward to catching up with y'all....have a great week.x

Left behind......

So biggest boy and hubby have gone on a cub scout sleepover....where does that leave me......?

Ummmm....knitting....crochet....unread magazine....tea.....crisps...dips....roaring fire................

Hhhhmmmm....I think I may cope.......

Year of projects - 21.10.12

Well, being Sunday, it's the time for my progress report....and despite achieving a few new goals, I don't really have anything spectacular to show.

This is my  start on Oor Flap Muts....I won't lie....I'm afraid there's been a lot of holding my breath and..... ashamedly..... some swearing.  The ear flaps (oor flaps) were a relative breeze, ooh, and I learnt how to knit i-cord ....but making the hat with a two-colour Italian cast-on off the pre-made ear flaps, was fairly dreadful, and getting the first row into the cast-on was like nothing else.....but I made it out the other side unscathed!

Because it is brioche knitting, it is totally reversible...so really quite clever.

That's it for YOP related work....I am chuntering along with a few other things, but they aren't really project work.

We went out for a glorious walk late this afternoon, I took loads of photos to try and catch the colours, but it was sooo hard.  The evening sun just made everything glow, and I even did a little tree-hugging which I've become accustomed to on a weekend.  Some of the trees were totally moss-covered and were so soft to touch.  

And just to finish, these are the legs of middle who represented his school in a county cross country running competition....he did well.....and he got pretty muddy too!

Hope that you've all had good weeks, thank you so much for your constant encouragement and general 'loveliness'....its like having your own personal cheerleading team....much appreciated!