If you’re of a nervous disposition I suggest you go and find photos of kittens and cake on Instagram, and come back when I’ve finished this series. Closeup photos of my embonpoint* to follow!
Ok…I got to try on the Maud cover just before Dave and Summer headed out for karate last night, and my first thought was that the fit was really, really wrong. I know that I’m 52 and gravity it working its magic, but the bust line on this was way out!
I promised you a look-see at the yarn I got for Christmas, and as we’ve had a wee bit of sunshine today, I could take photos to share, so here we go.
The first of the 3 kits is the Breiwick hat by Ella Gordon from Kate Davies’ book Milarrochy Heids.
Hello! I do hope you’re all keeping warm. Unless you’re in Australia, then keeping cool! As I’m typing this there is snow drifting past the window and actually starting to stick. The small peeps will be beside themselves.
Hello there! I do hope that the Christmas holidays, however you celebrate, or if you don’t, have been peaceful for you.
We’ve had the most wonderful time. Christmas Eve was spent at The Lowry theatre watching the marvellous production of Doctor Dolittle.
Christmas Day we went out for Christmas lunch to a local restaurant with the in-laws, and it was stress free and just delightful. The children even waited until late afternoon to open their gifts. Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago I scored a complimentary ticket from the kindly folks at Linton Tweeds (swoon) to attend the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate. I cannot tell you how much I was looking forward to a day off of mummy duties; petting yarn and getting elbow deep in the fabrics at Linton and Rosenbergs. Continue reading
Whilst I’ve been missing from this little corner of the blogosphere, I’ve been off doing ‘real life’ stuff. Most of it has just been the minutiae of everyday life, coupled with a real drive to slow things down (not entirely successfully, but we’re making a start).
However, you may have seen on Insta that Dave and I managed to bunk off parenting for a couple of nights and zip up the motorway to the Southern Lake District for a bit of time just being Mr and Mrs.
Goodness, it’s nearly October!!! We survived that summer holidays alive. It wasn’t elegant, but we made it. The last 3 weeks have been dominated by a renegade molar and regular dentist visits, but I’m hopefully the right side of it now. I’m also hoping that October can be a little more relaxed than the past few months.
Autumn has arrived here in Lancashire, and we are being blessed with chill mornings followed by warm, sunny days filled with that glorious golden light you get at this time of year.
Basically, I couldn’t be happier with the weather. It’s my favourite time of year.
And to herald the new season, new socks for Dave are in order. So here they are.
I’ll admit that whilst I was knitting them, I wasn’t enthused by the colourway. But now they’re finished I’m finding them delightful.
I’m particularly fond of the magenta pink stripe. And the green.
And, of course, they’re perfectly matched! Joy!
I have a very happy husband. And a small girl demanding the next pair of socks to be put on the needles is hers. Pink socks it is, then!
Project notes
| Pattern: | Regia 4ply sock pattern |
| Pattern cost: | Free |
| Yarn: | Drops Fabel |
| Colourway: | Candy Print |
| Purchased at: | Wool Warehouse |
| Yarn cost: | £4.60 (for 2 balls) |
We are so lucky to have many birds living in the woods at the bottom of our garden (including some very noisy woodpeckers, who are some of my favourites). At the moment they are happily feeding their beaky faces with the fruits of a very hot summer. But, for once, I’m ahead of the game and ready for winter with an adorable little bird feeder that I made at The Clay House at Cedar Farm a few weeks ago.
This was another new challenge for me, as whereas previous projects have been made from slabs of clay, this was made from balls pinched into shape.
It’s not terribly easy as the natural inclination of the clay is to do it’s own thing and completely ignore everything you’re asking it to do. And then it just laughs at you and collapses in on itself!
But a bit of perseverance (and the odd Anglo Saxon expletive under my breath) and I had two different sized bowls ready to join together to make my acorn shape.
The large hole above was cut out with a knife…the smaller one made with a piece of wooden dowling. The decoration to the “hat” of the acorn was also made with a knife. It started off very neatly and quite precise, and rapidly descended into boredom and random stabbing!
Which kinda worked in the end!
Coats of glazy stuff were applied. One matt, so the birds don’t slip on it, one shiny and pretty.
A bit of baking in the kiln, and voila!
Now all I need is for my resident handyman to hang it for me and we’re ready for the winter. Just not yet, thank you very much. I’m enjoying the sun too much.
In a break from normal crafty posts , I’ve got a tale to tell that explains the radio silence around here in recent times.
Last autumn I was invited to a group meeting for adoptive parents, and, against my better judgement, decided to attend. I had a feeling that it would all be a bit too “hug a tree” for my taste, but the inviter assured me all would be well.
Right up until I got out of my car in the Starbucks car park, I was ready to go home. But that would have been rude, so I went in, got a large coffee and joined the group of other ladies, none of whom I’d met before.
This is one of those life lessons about how your future can turn on something as simple as walking through the door at Starbucks. And I should know by now that these things happen, because it was under similar circumstances that I met Dave, and look how that turned out.
The ladies around the table were lovely, and we still have monthly meetups, just to remind ourself that we’re not alone with our quite specific parenting challenges. But about 20 minutes in, a latecomer pulled up a seat and joined us. And this is where things take a turn.
I’m sure we knew each other in a past life. I have other friends like that. It’s weird, but cool. And we kept meeting up for coffee, then lunch. All the time laughing and swapping notes about things we did or didn’t know about the resources and support our children need. And just how hard it is to find those resources, because often you don’t even know what you’re looking for until you find it!
And over coffee one day, back in Starbucks, we were bemoaning that fact that this information is sooooooo hard to find, and that it should be easier, and all in one place, and somebody should build a website……..
So we did.
And we’re rather chuffed with it!
This is our first iteration…we have plans for lots more shiny stuff. But for now we’ve hit the main problems that people like us (parents/carers of adopted children with additional health and educational challenges) have to address on a daily basis. And when I say address, I mean battle, because the services are so underfunded you have to fight hard and long to get the support they need.
So if you, or anyone you know, has children who need a bit more support than the average bear, do come and check us out.
Normal crafty service will now be resumed.
