Still here - just!

Things have felt all over the place lately & i have barely had time to sit at the computer for more than 5 minutes at a time in the last week. Both little people have been under the weather & big G is off pre-school at the moment (with impetigo of all things) so trying to stop this spreading to anyone else has felt like quite a challenge (if only he'd stop kissing his little sister)

We found time to get out for a walk on Sunday, i was in two minds about going & am so glad we did, as it was lovely to get out the house, & both the little people loved the fresh air.

But unfortunately we have been house bound so far this week, Still this has given us time at home together making things. G has really got into the idea of the kids mail swap we are taking part in & we have been sorting out what to post off around the world to his waiting partners (just have to get around to packing it up & sending them off now).

I finished his socks, which he is so pleased with & has already asked for another pair!
I have started another cardi for little O, it's in some beautiful Rowan wool cotton (which i recently got from Kirsty - here) & i love this colour so much, it's just lovely to knit with too - so soft.


I have also been so very lucky to win a giveaway over on Lin's blog, this arrived on my doorstep this morning & how pleased was i, it cheered me up so much, Thanks Lin,

This gorgeous sock wool, great colours (& will be saved for a pair for me).

I have lots of other things i want to share, but will save for another day (when I've got round to taking some photos)

Thank you

Firstly i have to say thank you to Jackie from Button tree crafts for passing on this blog award! it's very sweet of you & nice to know that others take note of my ramblings! so here we go with the first 7 things i love off the top of my head.

1: my family
2: making things (kind of obvious i know!)
3: cream teas -yum yum
4: getting up early when the house is quiet & the sun is shining & sneaking a quiet cup of tea in the garden (not that I've been able to do this for ages)
5: singing loudly in the car
7: daydreaming

I gave up waiting for my new cable needles to arrive & started big G's socks on the DPN's , oh how great it is knitting child sized socks, day 2 & already on the foot! I'm loving watching how this wool knits up too. The new needles did arrive today & will be put to use knitting a pair for mr K - not sure when though as some lovely wool also arrived which will become a new cardigan for little O.

I've also got plans to sew up a couple of bunnies using some jumpers I've felted recently as Easter presents for the children - (fingers crossed I'll find some time over the weekend)

& i've come into a little luck lately but will post about that in the next few days - hopefully!

No rest for this mother!

what a few days I've had, things are normally busy round here, but the last few days have felt a little crazy. The NCT nearly new sale that i both sold stuff at & helped out at was on Saturday, i had to get there for 7:30am!!!!!! luckily little O woke for her morning feed early, as she normally sleeps in till gone 7. The sale went well & i sold about 50 of the 70 items I'd put in, which i was happy with. Then i rushed home about 12:30, only to rush out again to a birthday party with little people in tow, then topped the day off with a weekly shop round the supermarket (so as to avoid going on the Sunday - my day of rest!)

To be fair i did get a lie in on Sunday & some presents. This lovely scrap book, which was from paperchase,
Just look at those birds, just lovely,

and a bunch of tulips,

When i collected big G from pre-school on Friday, all the mummies were invited into the school to watch the children perform a little mothers day song they had learnt. I really had to hold back the tears as big G sang every single word and did all the actions, it was soooooooo lovely & i was so proud of him, he then presented me with the card he'd made, there were two biscuits in the basket on the card and straight away he laid claim to the biggest one!

we've had another party to go to today, pirate themed this time, so as you can imagine I've had little time for making things the last few days & when i sat down last night to start on a new pair of socks - using a 'magic loop' (which was going so well) until my needle came off the cable! luckily I'd not got too far into them, so i gave up & went to bed early. Looking forward to new needles arriving asap (& oops i ordered more wool today too)

I was lucky enough to just make it on the the sign up for the kids mail swap pigeon pair is organising, as big G loves getting mail in the post.

I must also mention the give-away that Sophie over at 'Her library adventures' is having, she makes the most lovely brooches. I imagine I'll be back later in the week, hopefully with some new knitting projects on the go - (i blame ravelry!)

One sock, two socks

The socks are finally finished, i got them done over the weekend & I'm so pleased with them, the wool is super soft & cosy. I can't wait to start my next pair, which i am planning to be pair for big G, we have already picked out the wool, just got to find a pattern now.


I would definitely buy the Colinette 'jitter bug' wool again, but am keen to try out a different pattern. Think i could just about get my head round knitting them on a 'magic loop' but get a bit lost on the 'how to's when it comes to short row heels! it hurts my brain & then i give up, but it's something i really want to try & so will hopefully give it a go.

and the winner is.....

Big G picked out 'Jackie' from button tree crafts as the winner of the flower brooch. (so send me an email with your address & I'll get it in the post to you as soon as i can) Thank you for your comments, i would have to say i love most of the flowers you'd mentioned, i would have to go with sweet peas as my favourite, as these were the flowers we grew to have on the tables at our wedding (oh my - 5 years ago this summer!) so they always bring back many happy memories.

I found a little time this morning for some sewing, so after blowing the cobwebs off the sewing machine, i wipped this little pin cushion up as a birthday present for my sister in law, as she's getting her first sewing machine!

Cosy

I knitted this little cosy up last night - thinking about making some as Easter presents - but not sure i like how it turned out? I like the idea - might just need a little tweaking. (its also missing it's pompom on the top)

I had also hoped to get some more done on my baby ripple before sharing it, but it's not to be! Having finished my 2nd sock, i have decided to go back & re-knit the 1st one, which i know is the right decision, so i am really trying to get that finished real soon, as i already want to start another pair.

What with MOTs due & sorting through piles of clothes to sell at an upcoming NCT nearly new sale, I think this will get put away for a little longer.

Oh & still a little time to enter the giveaway below.

My first 'Giveaway' !

Having been following Luce's blog over at Attic 24 for a while now, i tried my crocheting skills out on making some of her little flowers & leaves, which then borrowing her idea, i turned into a lovely little brooch. I was so pleased with how it turned out that i made a few, thinking that they would make lovely gifts for big G's preschool teachers when he leaves to go to big school. (i made them using the lovely Rowan wool i brought from Kirsty at five vallys)
well, he doesn't leave till July, so i have plenty of time to make all that will be needed by then, so in the meantime i thought i would share one with one lucky reader, just leave me a comment - perhaps telling me what your favourite flowers are - if you have one!
I will leave the giveaway open for a week & pick a name out the hat next Saturday!
On another note, after my last baking disaster, i returned to a faithful cupcake recipe and enlisted big G to help with the decoration - i think you can probably guess which ones he did.

Just a quickie

I finally got round to taking some pictures of the new fabric I got in Ikea, i won't even start on what a nightmare that place was ( we tried out the new one in Southampton),

I love this fabric & brought it without really having any plans of what to do with it, hence only buying a metre of each. I love the colours, and think I'll have just enough to recover a garden bench cushion in one of the fabrics, & maybe make some new cushion covers in the other - not sure yet.
& here's a little snippet of something I've been working on for mother day.

Can't stop knitting

Another mild & sunny day, which brought with it more time to sit out in the garden finishing off another cardigan for little O.
Big G & i had made some cakes early today, but for some reason (unknown to me) they were a bit of a disaster & had stuck really badly to the parer cases, it wasn't a recipe i had tried before but it seemed pretty basic, it may have been because i substituted blueberries for strawberries? but that's the only reason i can think of. Anyway we made light work of removing all trace of this mishap by eating all the evidence (having peeled as much of the paper as we could off first!)

This is the finished cardi, I'm so pleased with how this turned out, the pattern was from ravelry, but i changed it quite a bit. I knitted it up in patons 'washed haze' aran, which was a lucky find in the odd ball bin in the Chichester C&H fabrics, i barley broke into the 4th ball, so the total cost was about £3.50! i had planned on using the lovely cupcake buttons from Joanne, but they were too big for my button holes. Now i really must get on with those socks of mine!

ohh & after a little trip to Ikea at the weekend, i have got some new fabric to share with you, but haven't taken any pictures yet - will do later in the week.