yum yum

Not much time found for knitting or sewing this weekend, but lots of time for doing nothing much, which is just how some weekends should be, there was of course time found for some baking, yummy lemon cupcakes - i'm slowly working my way through the recipes in the Rachael Allan 'Bake' book, perfect for an afternoon treat with a cup of earl grey

play mat progress

top of the pond play mat is done, i'm so pleased with how this is coming along, all the planning and forethought paid off, even if i did change my mind at least three times in the planning process

still not sure what to back it with, so getting on with some knitting whilst i have a think about it

nap time sewing

the hot weather round these parts has really been tiring the little people out, giving me a good 'nap time' window of opportunity for some time with the sewing machine, as tempting as it was just to go & sit in the garden, i got on with a little sewing,using the Lizzy House fabric, & i'm at it again with the greens & the blues (but with a little orange thrown in this time too)

my initial thoughts are that this will become a play mat, & i'm thinking through my backing options, as whilst i want to love it, i also want it to be something i can throw down on the grass outside & not get too precious about! but no ideas yet - any suggestions greatly received

i have also started (& nearly finished) another little sophisticate, because clearly one knitting project on the go is not enough for me (queue roll of the eyes from husband!)
this time in a lovely pale blue

crab stick socks

the socks are finished!
knitted up in TOFUtsies yarn (which i won in a giveaway from Linda)
following this pattern - (which was great & i will be using it again)
& i have enough left over to knit a mini matching pair for little O

playing hooky

Clearly in a bid to avoid finishing knitting my 2nd sock, i whipped up a little jam jar cover inspired by Lucy over at attic 24, although i didn't follow her pattern, i made it up as i went along - going back and forth instead of round & round, this made the stripes alternate sizes, so working with an odd number of colours gave me an interesting pattern,it was only when taking the photo that i realised the colours i'd used from my small stash of Rowan handknit cotton, matched really well with my latest quilt!
i have done a little more on my socks, in fact i took them along to my first knit & natter group visit, held at a new wool shop in a village close to me, but i have been very naughty & cast on a new project - oops, more details on that to follow - but here's a little sneak peek!

WIP whipping

i'm on fire today! feels great to get projects finished!
sofa quilt finished, washed & dried (and sitting snugly on the sofa) big G even questioned if it was finished as he tentatively reached out a hand to touch it! (this one really has been a long time in the making)and a rather quicker little project was my 'a little sophisticate' such a cute little knit, for a new baby, although it has been made with plenty of growing room. if i can re size this pattern i'll be making one for little O.
now i have a new knitting project waiting in the wings, for me this time, but i really should finish my socks first, it's just new wool is soooooo tempting me

monkey swap!

i collected my monkey swap from the post office today! hooray
& it was packed full of goodies - lucky me, a big thank you to Katharine from woollywotnots for all the lovely things she sent me, it was so hard to get a photo as little O wanted to play with it all! & i don't doubt that on G's return form pre-school he shall try & adopt little Bert the monkey.
here are some pictures of the things i sent out in my swap parcel to feltmeupdesigns
a very big thank you also goes to Claire for organising this swap, she has set up a flickr group in case you want to see any of the other cheeky monkeys made!

rain rain go away

i have just got soaked walking G down to pre-school & to top that off i missed the postman - with what i hope is my monkey swap parcel! - still that's something to look forward to collecting tomorrow,
In complete contrast to the huge amount of water falling from the sky, our water is off this morning!!! so my finished quilt is waiting patiently for it's first wash in the machine.
Little O has (almost) grown into the Debbie bliss ribbed cardigan i knitted her - which feels like an age ago, i changed the flower i had put on it to a big wooden button, i think this is likely to still fit her a Christmas!
i've started & almost finished a little knitting for a friends new baby, using Debbie Bliss pure cotton in 'Olive' brought on special from here- just the sewing up & buttons to do now - will post a completed picture once it's done.

little bits

it's been far too hot the last few days to get too much done, i've mostly been picking up & putting down various WIPS, the second sock is coming on slowly & the quilt binding is so nearly finished,
i'll share my last ( for the time being!) fabric purchase,some of the lovely 'park slope' by Erin McMorris, brought from etsy (again- i've had to stop looking on there for now as it's far to easy to buy things!)
i also (accidentally of course) brought a copy of weekend sewing - not that i ever get much time for sewing in my weekends!As the weather has been so very lovely, little O has been getting lots of wear of her 'shirt dress' only now we have to team it with little clam diggers, as the crawling outside is not too great on those little knees.

I'll leave you with a sneak peek of something i've been working on for the secret monkey swap

you'll have to wait till next week for the rest.