Recent crafting success.

Present for a certain gorgeous boy on the other side of the world. Hopefully it is helping to keep the chill of Winter at bay.

International Warthog Rescue. FAB.

What's that?

Someone is in danger?

NeeeNor NeeeNor NeeeNor. International Warthog Rescue ably assisted by Pew, Pew, Barney, McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub.

Don't worry little bugs and butterflies. I will save you.

I accept your adoration and hugs of gratitude.

All systems go.

In brief

I have knitted a warthog.

That is all.

In the past month...

I have ...

* finalised plans for new kitchen/living room building (Yippee! Woohoo! And Yay!) .

* nearly left my husband during IKEA trip to id potential kitchens (not that he even realised but I felt better for considering it).

* transported four highly excited under 9s through the wilds of Wiltshire to their first chess tournament. They only came 8/12 bc of a mahoosive amount of adult-sanctioned cheating by other schools. Seriously a headmaster who calls his under 9 pupils 'stupid' bc they lost a chess match??

* realised not every family plays maths and history and word games during 'long' car trips'! Who knew?

* mortified my son by banning the use of all the blurry DS consoles those children had for an hour during the six we spent at said tournament.

* been reminded of all the fabulous and exciting history there is on our doortsep here in Engerland.

* not been asked for interview to a job I would have loved.

* bought my daughter a new school bag following on from the saga last term.

* met old friend and children (inc god daughter) for lunch in beautiful Cathedral surrounds.

* had verbal smackdown with Mr. HeadTeacher twice. Once about the crazy-arse parking that goes on down there and the other about having held the door for the ENTIRE school (inc one teacher) and only one child said thank you. (And it wasn't my son, about which we have since had words ;-)

* had a meeting about teaching capability of destructoBoy's teacher because he is bored in class, every day.
* been called scarey by a parent at school.
* dobbed in stupid Yr. 8 students clever enough to hide out of sight from staff when smoking at playtime but sufficiently stupid to stand next to railing fence right beside road.

* praised highly to teacher the one child who did thank me for holding open school door.

* extremely lately handed over handmade birthday present to good friend and I think she liked it.

* had double success over at Posh Yarns Sunday night sellout. I foresee perhaps a hat for Princess C-W for Christmas with the pink sparkly one and the kicking-off off a garter stitch scarf kal this Friday with the chunky cashmere.

* nursed destructoboy through a whole month of ear infection. This entailed four visits to the doctors, three lots of antibiotics and one fight with the rottweilerXdoctors' receptionist. TG it has cleared up now and he is playing at top speed again.

* received a phonecall from YOT telling me my phone was being kept in their safe overnight if I would like to come and collect it the following morning. Oops!!
* recognised it is still six months away but have made a decision on d/Boy's birthday present.
* identified OMD's episodes as being epilepsy not a stroke.
* watched freezing on the sidelines as my son captained the under 9s to a distinct non-victory at the local schools football tournament. I was the screeching woman on the sidelines but offset my mania by cheering for the other teams too.

* purchased outfit for 80th birthday party this Saturday.

* attended Princess C-W's first ever secondary parent/teacher evening. Unlike most of her peers she didn't attend and so didn't hear how well-regarded she is by her teachers and how well she is doing in her classes. There was a little glow about us as parents by the end of it all. And I didn't even start-up on her History teacher. Perhaps it was bc she looked so knackered after dealing w grown-ups all evening. Perhaps it was bc she was our last stop and we could go home afterwards. I don't know why but remain impressed that I maintained my silence when she referred to 'our written conversation earlier in the year' and how she 'always encourages parents to help with the homework'. HA!

* taken the big black dog to the vet with a sore eye. Am hoping to stave off need to do this again.

* had The Bat Lady around to visit and am sending off her report today. This in turn means we apply for planning permission by the end of the week. If you want to voice an objection you have two months to lodge it with the relevant authority!

... and the horse you rode in on!

Out walking with my assistant this morning when internationally reknowned photographer said

"What are you wearing on your feet? Are they some kind of boots or something?"

I looked down at the bright orange and turquoise trainers topped by my bright orange and lime green swirly socks visible under the hem of my long skirt.

"These are my socks. Handknitted, took me forever but I made them." I replied feeling quite perky and capable.

"You could have just gone to BHS and got some. Would have been much easier."

To which all my mind could think (and fortunately mouth did not say) was

"Well a photobooth would do for portraits of my children but I still asked you to do it!"

Oh and then she called me scarey!!

Is it me? Is it??

For Sale.

* Small assistant. Nice line in shouting to be let out before wee accident occurs. Inability to read clock and recognise 'reasonable hour' dictates sales. Terms negotiable.


* Child (blue 2001 model). Quite tall, sound teeth and advancing fixation w style of hair. Growth spurt and resultant shitty moods when required to do something non-compatible w personal life view demand removal from premises. Kicking of tyres when viewing not recommended. All good offers considered.


* Proto-teen (pink 1998 model). Witty, dry SoH. Despite best efforts and years of practice am still unable to communicate w said model. Result - inability of model to understand need to be aware of PE bag when at school. Minimal negotiation on price as need to buy new PE kit. Sadly instruction booklet unavailable. Would suit patient languages student/lecturer.


* Lace pattern book. Thick book w glossy pages and many colour pics. Sadly all patterns include fatal flaw, some just gibberish. Very useful for jigsaw-loving family or care group. Will ensure all pieces included in posting envelope.


* Swap/Trade - buggery awful cough. Just noise, no yuk. Two weeks of ownership means have gotten best from it. Willing to exchange for new lungs and/or oesophaegus. Benefits - sexy husky voice, great abs workout.

Uhoh...

... think my head may be about to explode.






Want to paint new pattern I found at painting this week.

Want to finish knitting 'plane socks'.


Want to finish knitting Will's Christmas present.

Want to finish Treeclimber's wonky star quilt.


Want to start pirate quilt.

Want to bake fabulous recipes from here.


Want to knit something with the stunning bright red 2 ply lace yarn from Posh.


Want to knit scarf with gorgeous brick red alpaca yarn.

Want to read 'clever' book. (not sure which one but something not chick lit-ish)


NEED to finish current block for Around The World - Christmas - Swap.

Want to finish travel, quilt, picnic blanket and all the other bazillion WIPs I have lying around.





Head-exploding due to fact that someone somewhere has decided that


i) 24 hours is sufficient for a whole day


ii) I require sleep.

I think I have issues with perfection.

OK those of you who have met me or possibly even those who have been reading this blog for more than three minutes need to stop laughing now.

I rooly trooly do think perfection and my expectations of attainment affect the crafting I do (not even going to look at wider aspects in my life).
I see the finished products I make and most of the time they bear little resemblance to the initial idea of what it will look like. Sometimes this is ok because different is not necessarily bad but usually it results in a big ugly mess that I can't fix and yet am unable to throw into the bin (viz Mrs Onion, her shopping bag and the London red bus cushion cover).

Poppy Treffry and those following her style in a flattering manner (sounds better than copiers right?) have aided me in seeing past the strictures of neat edges, french seams and straight lines laid down by Mrs Robinson and Mrs Heighway so many years ago but still I struggle. I know my limitations; I will never get sharp pointy triangles when sewing. Frankly I still get quite joyous when corners meet in an appropriate fashion!

This recent work with zips and bobbles has been useful in meeting my perfection expectation. While not quite professional or shop standard it all looks fairly good and so I went in to creating the pieces for the Snailblazer's Sample Swap (taking place here) on a high. So far so good but have still to attach the base into both the body and the lining. Let me just say though - zips! In circles!

I have been following 'Whip up's Month of mini-quilts' and am loving the designers being highlighted. These fabulously talented women could split wide the cracks laid by all these years hanging around the crafty blogoverse.

Blurry lace!

I opened 'The Cupboard' this weekend and it was brutal.

Once the tears and fainting fits passed I gently began to excavate with the kitchen broom.

There was A LOT of scrappy bits of paper, far more fabric than I remembered buying, pins, elastic, buttons, needles and machine bobbins. Woohoo! Bobbins!! This means I now have more than one. Yay!

There were drawings, books and pens. I found partners to many sad and lonely knitting needles sitting in the library bag. Can anyone remind me when I bought the pattern to the Amy Butler Weekender bag? I read the pattern yesterday over lunch. I am quite a little bit scared of it now. I think it may just be one of those patterns that just sits on the shelf and makes me look competent and capable.

While browsing the stalls with Maria at Ally Pally last year I bought some really fine yarn. In fact I think it is just sewing thread with an angora overcoat. The plan was to make a wide lace scarf. Simple lace you understand. It would be flimsy and fabulous yet warm and wonderful.

(This is not the pattern. But it IS lace. I can't do this one either.)

The pattern asks only simple things - K, K2tog, dbl y/o, P1.

I can do all of those.

I really really can.

But apparently NOT in the same row.

I have now ripped back the blurry lace pattern three times. I think I want to cry.

Do you think this is God's way of telling me I really shouldn't bother with housework???

Bugger.

Have just finished and sewn up the lovely kidsilk haze hat for my girl. a beautiful slouch beret kind of thing. In a mid level blue. With cream stripes. Pretty, pretty, pretty.


It doesn't fit.


The band is too tight so I have opened it up.


The body of the hat is so mahoosive I think there may be enough room for all seven of us.


I am so pissed.

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! How many days until Christmas morning???

WOW! After our mahoosive day out at Ally Pally and the crazy adventures en route home courtesy of motorway traffic and a recalcitrant satnav my edges were continually smoothed by the knowledge that this was to be published for general release in the near future.

I want it NOW. I need to have it BY Christmas because so help me if this doesn't turn up in my present pile on Christmas morning Santa may just find himself looking for a new job. And a really good orthapaedic surgeon!

Craftiness and a question Blogtoberfest Day 26

As a certified and bona fide 'Crafty Laydee' I like to try new things. While at Alexandra Palace last month (this month?) with Wonderwoman I commented that I really wanted to give felting a go.

So last week when shopping in my local 'lovely things' warehouse I came across this wool . Combining the aforementioned urge with an upcoming birthday present requirement I picked my (free with a magazine) stripey 12mm needles and cast on.

Oh this yarn is so, so soft and light. I had knitted it 40 stitches across and when done it was as wide as my ironing board and nearly as long. The sleeve said it would felt down by 30-40% after a wash soI figured I could estimate the final size by folding it in half. As evidenced in the last picture applied maths was never my forte.

The lining is some rather luvverly elephant material that toned with the flecks of orange in the bag. I am a little ambivalent about the finished article, thinking felted goods may be a little twiggy for me but the birthday girl was pleased with it (as was her mother) so really that is all that matters.


This is more my style than hippy woolly bags (however 'made with love' it was). On a recent 'girl's day out' Pr. C-W and I checked out the remnants bin at a furnishings fabric shop and found TWO pieces of this decorator weight cotton. M girl wanted a skirt so this is the pattern she chose. Fun and relatively quick to make up (except for when the body of the skirt was accidentally stitched to the frill top AND bottom!). The down side is my girl's shape. The skirt is held up with elastic inside a casing but to get this to stay up on Pr. C-W the gather would have to be tighter on the top than the frill.

So my dilemma is - without making her look like she is wearing something 'homemade by my mother' (as opposed to 'handmade with love') how do I bring it in to fit her? This is approximately how I want it to look but how do I achieve it? How do I get there?

Are there going to be darts front and back? Do I unpick side seams and put in a zip? What do I do??????

Blogtoberfest Day 22 Perhaps it hasn't gone after all.....

the very lovely Wonderwoman(not!) braved the heavy rain and came for a visit this morning. Both destructoBoy and I were pleased to see her as it brought a welcome break from the intense competition of the Inaugural Ironing Board Table Tennis World Championships that was taking place in the living room.

With d/Boy off sick for the day he lurked while Maria and I chatted. As you do. One of the things we spoke of was our swap commitments and I confessed my worries that any contributions may be Scarey Mary-ish, not least my first attempt at hand-knitted and then felted fabric.

She was kind enough to not only calm my nerves but give me a few tips for successfully turning this into a bag for Pr. C-W to take to a dinner party (!!!) this weekend.

Feeling a bit cheerier I coyly brought out a few other WIPS for her keen assessment. These are jammie shorts for d/Boy and his mate, Dervish to wear for the Halloween sleepover. Obviously they have a pair each because, quite frankly, sharing a bed with Dervish would be like trying to hold a cyclone in a glass let alone a pair of pyjamas.

I am quite chuffed as I constructed the template from a pair of in-house pj pants. Didn't actually cut around actual jammies as I love them too much and was scared they may end up in pieces.

The two girls aren't getting pjs as I am unsure what size Dynamo wears, just that she is waaaaay taller than Pr.C-W. So I made an accidental trip in the hammering rain to the lovely fabric warehouse down the road and 'found' some lovely Halloween fabrics.

Again suggestions were made. So tomorrow (after doing the bag for Dynamo's birthday present bag) I shall be adding some applique to the Irish linen background (less than £5pm!! Yay for old-fashioned haberdashers) and then quilting in the ditch before backing it with the spooky spider and witchy-poo quilting fabrics to make cushions.

Picture is a bit blurred but this is 2/3 of a teddy bear destined for the school hand-made Christmas.

Finally is this year's Christmas piece for painting. Unfortunately I wasn't there the night we began so Miss painted my background.

No. It wouldn't have been my choice either which is a real shame as I am LOVING the pattern and it is soooooo quick to paint up. I just feel a little sad when I look at everyone else painting this on to a plain cream surface.

All this is in the last two weeks so perhaps my crafting mojo wasn't gone but just sleeping.

The first rule of Knitting Club.

We do not talk about Knitting Club.

Eight Yr. Twos and Threes.

Three grown-ups.

Three weeks of intense concentration.

And every girl

has knitting

completely under control.

(oops! I have never been very good at following rules ;-)

**Please note this Blogtoberfest Day Eight post is brought to you early courtesy of my delightful trip out tomorrow with my friend Maria to Ally Pally so we can fondle all the glorious yarn at The Knitting and Stitches Show.**

How we keep Smiley Carol smiley :-)

Smiley Carol is our post lady. For some reason my large black dog reeeeaaaaaaalllly doesn't like her. Fortunately he was sound asleep after breakfast the day Smiley Carol dropped off TWO packages!

The first was all the way East Coast USA from the very humorous WMK.

Humorous because while Sylv was here I may have mentioned her husband's propensity for making squawks, chirps and similar R2D2 noises. I presumed the Lego Leia a la Jabba the Hutt era is for me to emulate and be strong and brave.

During her holiday in August Missus Stashbasket undertook some displacement activity in the flight, as a result of that and some handy sock knitting while in Portugal, Cintia came into my life.

She brought with her a selection of felty, coloured balls.

And some of Missus Stash's kitcheny goodness.

The jam was divine and enjoyed by all of us while just CK and I are sharing the chutney. Pah! Those childer don't know what they are missing out on (but jolly glad they chose not as it means more for my sandwiches ;-)

My assistant was particularly crafty in her attempts to catch Cintia and sample the final delight she brought with her.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Why I now love Smiley Carol.

For the last two days I have opened the post box to find wonderful surprises inside. Yesterday afternoon, after spending the day on Brownsea Island with d/Boy's Yr. 2 class, I returned to find TWO packages left by Smiley Carol.

The first was a surprise win from Est over at My Cuppa Charms. This was a 2nd year blogaversary gift and I am delighted to own it. The beautifully wrapped package contained a sweet notebook, some lovely buttons and this fabulously crafted mini-workstation.

Thank you Est, I love it.

I received my first fat quarter in the 2hippos FQ swap. Isn't it luvverly? It came all the way from 'Canadia'. Now I can hear y'all thinking it but it is TRUE it will look amazing in my Fortnums quilt!

Then today there was shopping! Oh Innernets how I love that you make purchasing so easy :-)

These are so funny! I shall now be forced to make all future presents just so I can attach one of these.
______________________________________________________________________

There has been crafting round these here parts recently. Wanna see?

Got to thinking about Engerland, iconic images and simple shapes.

So I started with a bus (these are blog-finished only).

But I don't love it. So I made a different version.

I still don't love it.

I joined them together into a cushion and I STILL don't love it. I wish that the image in my head matches what I can actually create.

What someone needs to do is create a paper form or template that people who like crafting can apply to their own projects. Something that gives you lines to follow or shapes to cut out. Perhaps it could even include instructions? What do y'all think? There must be someone we could ask about this.

'Member this yarn? This I love. A lot. This love faded just a little when I started knitting it up because that green just sat in a HUGE green pool.

However I kept on going because:
a) if the green was a big heapy pool it wasn't going to alter at a later date.
b) I needed the sock making practice
and c) apparently this yarn was completely me!

So I did but look what happened as I went on .....

Yippee! It is a spiral pattern! Hurray! Now I am really looking forward to seeing how this progresses down the heel.


Finally, my assistant has taken up gardening to aid her recovery.

Ooops! more pictures.

This weekend we are off to the birthday party of one of my ex-children.

I got all inspired and made this cushion cover. I am quite pleased as

a) I made the pattern up as I went along
and
b) I made it from store cupboard staples (except for the cushion pad - there is no room in my lil' cupboard for that. Ask Maria ;-).

You may have heard Maria suggests I laughed because she invented a whole new way of knitting socks. It was more a guffaw of admiration really. But I feel her pain as over a period of several weeks I sent many texts to her, Locket and Lesley bemoaning my inability to count, the general confusion of sock patterns and the weird way I seemed unable to keep track of simple numbers. On more than one occasion the blurry sock and all its octopus needles went flying across the room, through the red fog I heard CK ask if I was really doing this for fun.

It was only last weekend it all began to make sense. You see, I was using the Regia sock pattern-in-a-pamphlet. What you may not know about this is the leaflet contains not just one but TWO sock patterns. Locket's comment when I told her? "Oh? Did I not tell you that?"

This sock is now finished and waiting patiently for its mate AND for me to find it again because I have put it somewhere reeeeeaaaallly safe.


I love that this is how Pr.C-W and destructoBoy spent their holidays :)

However..... are mine the only ones who, despite having been up by 7:00am every single day of the holidays, had to be dragged out of bed at 8:00am first day back at school????

Aaak! **EDITED

Baby Will has grown so much he is becoming too tall for the wee prem.size cardi I made some many months ago. His mother asked if I would do one a little bigger for him.

With great delight I took myself off to the walking distance wool shop and in among all the esoteric yarns and fibres and what and what I found a LOT of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. Mama Will likes stripes so I went for something which appealed to me as much as I knew it would her. That's right - green!!

I know have shoulder shaping to do before calling it 'knitted' with just a touch of sewing up and edging is required until it can be properly called 'finished' An evening or two of work and then Voila!.

So why 'AAAAAAAK! in the title? Because with just these three inches left I have misplaced the pattern! I cannot find that blurry book anywhere. Neither under couch nor under dog. Not behind other books or behind small children. It has just gone missing!

I know the basic premise. K2, SKPO, knit to last 4, K2tog, K2.Or is that decrease for the sleeve? But to how many stitches? Didn't I have to do an extra row on this side of the front? How many buttonholes???

So if any one can tell me about the decreasing on the stripey baby cardigan (3-6 month size) in the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Book 2 I would be ever so grateful.


Does anyone else have a deep and abiding love for Nuno? Also for 'A little goodness'. But this week I bought from Nuno so they are first in my affection as I type.

I placed an order on Sunday afternoon GMT+1 and this morning at just after 11 the nice parcel force man arrived with my packet of fabric joy all the way from Japan.




Now I just need to figure out what to do with it all?!?!?!


EDIT

I found the book. Strangely enough it was on top of my 'rescued from neighbour's trip to the tip' craft cupboard, which (since about six weeks ago) is where all my craft books live. So all ye do not despair. Sometimes when you are looking for things there is always a possibility they might actually be where they are supposed to be!


BTW, as I write this the black hound is lying next to me on the floor having just completed his dog ablutions (does anyone else have a dog which bites its nails?). I have released him from vet bling hell for a little bit and discovered that he is now missing about a 3" square patch of fur from his throat area :-( Poor thing it is in the regrowth stage and must be v. itchy.

Crafting this week

(There is a typo I have left in quite deliberately b/c it made me laugh.)

I mentioned previously about knitting a Hugo because I actually enjoy intarsia.



Sometimes.


I had ripped this back once already and begun again. This time I actually got 2/3 of the way up lovely little Hugo before realising I was out by one stitch and so I pullled it back. Just a little bit.




Not all the way back, as you can see I kept the ribbing and once I had sorted out the twisty bits (get me! no scissors involved!!) I began again.

I printed the pattern off again. The paper was white and the ink (finally!) black and came out a little darkened but quite well. I sat with a pen and at each colour change wrote the number of stitches. Last week at painting I sat and knitted, twisted the yarn to my heart's content. At the end of each row I coloured through the line and everything was triffic. Just ready to begin the white only section before the end when I noticed that the space on his front leg actually required colouring in!

Curses! What was girl to do? Keep going and use swiss embroidery over the top at the end? Ignore it and just say Hugo was a special kind of terrier or rip it all back. Again. With just a few tears I pulled the needles out and started rolling up the little boys of yarn. Again.

So now poor old Hugo sits languishing in my W.I.P. basket until I can face it again. I have to have it done before the next twiggy cake meeting next month. Pride and principles and all that. But I still love him and will finish it.


These I found at Robson and Mason when I went browsing. There was no way I could leave them there so a pair of them came to live here on top of the hill, one temporarily. It was en route to Locket's and has landed now (believe her next post may mention them) . The other lives in my notions bag. Think I need to get some for Sylv's Christmas parcel.

Apprently we are in the middle of the Summer holidays. Certainly it has been holidays - no routine, no rushing, lots of oozing around but there hasn't been much in the way of Summer so we have done quite a lot inside.

Princess Curly-Wurly rediscovered paper dolls. Aren't these triffic?



These four are my favourites. Especially the one on the end with the pockets on her skirt. I love her face.


And finally it was with great excitement that Babyman came racing upstairs with a fabulous pink padded envelope. My Russian Doll Swap parcel had arrived!

Thanks Tracy! What with the bags from Monkee Maker and Lesley I am starting a whole new collection!!




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