when all else fails - sew!

oh my days, i have been feeling ever so unsettled this week, in a nutshell, the house we were buying is now no longer going through, on one hand we were the ones to come to this decision, & i know it was the right decision, however it leaves us in a very tricky situation, as we've exchanged on our house & have agreed a date for completion, so we are left looking for a rental place, which is proving harder than first thought at such short notice, so in an attempt to forget our woes (& stop myself from constantly checking right move) i turned to sewing, & it worked out a treat! 

little O now has the loveliest of lovely summer tops! i used this tutorial & it couldn't have worked out better, i loosely followed the size two, but made it slightly wider, as her chest size came up a little bigger, the only thing i would do differently is make the sleeves a little longer, she'd gone down for a nap by the time i got to the sleeves, so they weren't actually measured,  

i also left it as long as my half yard of fabric would allow, as i love this print so much, then added a little jumbo ricrac to trim the bottom, i did double fold the elastic casings for the neck & sleeves, as this fabric seemed very likely to fray, despite her grumpy face in the above picture, she loves her new top! (she just didn't want her photo taken!)

the fabric is from the far, far away range by Heather Ross, i'd love to give this a go in some of anna maria horner's new voile fabrics, maybe making it longer, so it could be a sweet little dress

however now it's finished, my fingers (& mind) still need to be kept busy, so it's back to the knitting for now

opps new yarn, how did that happen?

being a member of the 'kemp's wool shop fans' group on ravelry is fatal! as it means i am alerted to any new clearance yarns they are getting in, so at the end of last week when they let us all in on the fact they were getting some lovely sublime yarns in stock, i really couldn't resist, an order turned up on Saturday & it was so very lovely that i went back for more! (did i mention they've got free postage on it too at the mo - how could i not!)

so after a fun morning with 24 two - four years, i sat myself down in the garden (nana was entertaining little O) & i cast on for another little cardigan, i'm using the soya cotton in shade 080, & it's lovely lovely to knit with, i have more yarn, waiting in the wings, with project ideas lined up (but i've ever so tempted to buy more!)

i also took in the view of my lovely garden at the moment (& the divine smell of the wisteria) whilst i can, we've got to be out of our house in two weeks, & currently don't have anywhere to move to (eek)

up in the air

i got very little of anything (other than having fun & relaxing) done this weekend, but what a lovely way to spend it, the weather has been so delightful, my needles, hook & sewing machine were pretty much abandoned, 

i did make time to bake some cinnamon buns, using  this recipe, (thanks Nancy), we packed them up, & with a thermos of tea, we headed off to the village green after dinner, to watch the weekend balloon flights take off, 

this is something we used to do a lot with big G  before little O was born, we have since just got used to seeing them rise over the trees behind our garden, 

we picked a great evening to introduce her to the awe inspiring sight, as there were three going up, she really was amazed by them, 

i love watching them too, they head off most weekends throughout the summer,

& i'll definitely be making more of the cinnamon buns to take again, they disappeared almost as quickly as the balloons did!

the mixed up mushroom

i've just about had it with the house selling / buying / moving business for this week! but will save that rant for another day, 

i did manage to get a couple of snaps of the latest knitting project, but not great ones as big G smuggled it off to school with him today, 

from the same book as in the last post, let me introduce the 'mixed up mushroom'

he had wanted the toadstool pattern, but i was worried i didn't have enough yarn in my odds & ends box, so i followed the pattern for the mushroom, but made up a colour chart similar to that of the toadstool, & he turned out just fine,

not the prettiest of characters, but G is ever so pleased with it, so no complaints from me, & again it was made up from odd bit's of yarn i already had, 

i have already picked out the one i want to make for myself, but it may just have to wait a while

mini oscar

my sister in-law gave me this book for Christmas, & there it has sat on my shelf ever since, until last week that was, i wanted to make something for a little man's first birthday present & found the perfect pattern, meet little oscar

i'm really pleased with how he turned out, he's so cute & was such a quick knit, i used up left over yarn i had in my stash too! 

i did make a few little changes to the pattern, details of which can be found here

however having the book out  was a little too tempting for one of my little folk, & big G wasted no time in picking out a pattern he wanted knitted up for himself! i finished it this afternoon & haven't seen it since, i'm hoping i'll be able to find it tomorrow whilst he's at school, to get a few pictures of it (in all it's odd glory!)

Noro boneyard

i finished the shawl this last week too, hooray, it really is very lovely, 

i'd heard very mixed reviews about knitting with this yarn but i have to say i rather liked using it, it was a little slubby in places but it only broke the once (& i blame myself for that one, not the yarn) & i love love loved watching the colours unfold, 

the pattern was a very easy one, i did tire of the rows as they started getting very long, but once the end was in sight, i was encouraged enough to get it finished, i also have about 60g left over from my 2nd skein , which may become a hat i think!

i even wore it last week to do the school run, as it really had been very chilly here, 

i've been baking tons of cookies today, for the pre-school stall at our village fete tomorrow, so please all keep you fingers crossed the rain stays away this year, we can't have another revels like the one last year!

(having just read through that post i can safely say i topped last years cookie baking record!- but then i haven't had to make any costumes this year)

my new favourite bag

this was the product of the lovely little 'me sewing' i found time for this week, & i LOVE it

i'd bookmarked this pattern a few weeks ago, i even had some beautiful echino fabric waiting in the wings in which to make it up in, but when i pulled out my fabrics, i couldn't find anything i was happy to use for the lining, so in a very last minute change of plan, i cut into some fabric i'd been stashing for an age!

i'd been saving this fabric for something special, but thought why not use it on something i will use & get to see everyday! & i still have enough left over with which to make something else,

the pattern was easy to follow & the size of the bag means i will use it alot, it came together in little O's nap time (but she has very generously been sleeping for at least 2 hours in the afternoon this week)

i just love those little elephants

just a quickie

a little while ago, i was really very lucky to win a little giveaway from this lovely, lovely blog

this little parcel of goodies arrived on my door step last week, & i have to say it almost brought me to tears, it was full of so many lovely & thoughtful things, 

so thank you Kelly, (i have to say i've been loving using the lavender bookmark, it's been making my bedtime reading even more relaxing,)

last week, i also finished off the baby quilt, i'd started on a while ago, i machined the binding on in the end, mainly just because it was quicker, the baby is due any day now & lets face it, she won't mind!

i'll be back  soon to share a little more sewing i've been up to, something for myself this time!

completely random

7 random facts all about me!

- I love pancakes, (banana ones are my favourites) i make them most weekends, it's probably the only recipe i know off the top off my head, 

- early morning is my favourite time of day, i used to love getting up before anyone else, to go and sit in the garden with a cuppa, but since having two children i'm not so great at this time of day, i tend to need to drink my cuppa in bed before i can face getting up,

- i am (rather embarrassingly) hooked on glee,

- i love (the idea) of having another baby, but would probably be just as happy to get a dog instead,  

- tulips are my favourite flowers, 

- i miss listening to the adam & joe show on a saturday, 

- i don't really like beer but i love Bacchus frambozenbier


thanks again to Jenny for tagging me, in the true spirit of playing along i now need to tag another two bloggers, very hard to do (those of you who may have seen my profile will have seen i follow a whole heap of blogs!) 
*now only play along should the mood take you!* firstly i will tag a new blog 'flora & purl' (who coincidently also happens to be a friend of mine) following her blog is making up for my lack of spending any time working out in my own garden this year (& hopefully i will pick up a few tips for when i get my veggie patch going next year)
& i'm also going to have to pass it on to Alex from pink feather paradise, for coming to my rescue so amazingly quickly, she posted out some of the debbie bliss yarn i was in need of on Friday & it arrived this morning!!!! (thus ensuring i shall be able to snuggle under a lovely big granny blanket come autumn) 

the 90 minute shirt

i've no idea how long this took me to make, it may have been a little under 90 minutes,  as i did cut a few corners! i'd had this tutorial bookmarked for a while now, thinking i would be making one for little O, but as it turned out G got one first, 

it was a rush job, as i remembered at the last minute that he was supposed to wear yellow to school today (nothing to do with the election, but purely for the privilege of bringing a plant in for the school grounds!) well of course he had nothing yellow to wear, i panicked, but as luck would have it, i had an old yellow gap vest & some grey knit fabric lying about, 

just don't look to close, panic sewing at 10pm is not what i'm best at, still he was happy (oh to be four again & so easily pleased)

it was far easier than i'd thought it would be & i would love to make one again, but maybe take a little more time on a better finish, 

*gold star to whoever can guess who he is impersonating in the last photo?* 


edited to add - well done Alex, you guessed it, he does a very good mick jagger impression, if i had any idea how to upload a video i would have to share it & thanks again Alex for coming to the rescue with the debbie bliss pure cotton yarn! i'll now have plenty to finish the granny blanket with!

almost friday

well, it's now even nearer to Friday than when i first started writing this post, but what a week so far, being back at work & still trying to fit in all the regular stuff has really wiped me out, i've also not been sleeping so great due to house moving related worries!

our buyer is pushing things along at a very quick pace (she's currently in rented), we've had an offer accepted on a house (far from my dream house, but it's BIG! & in a great location, i've had to use my head for the decision making & not my heart)

so yesterday i picked up my hook & worked on another row for the granny blanket, which really did help to calm the mind & slow me down a little, 

every time i work on this i love it more & more, although i am so upset to have noticed i'm going to be short on the white/gray i'm using for the borders, (Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton shade #18 - now discontinued, darn it, so if anyone spots some anywhere, please please do let me know)

Also to kick start my 12 hours of sewing a month pledge, i set about making a cosy for our coffee cafetiere, i made this up as i went along & was really pleased with how it turned out, 

i need to make another one to match for our mini cafetiere!

ofcourse little O wanted to get in on the act too! (she rather annoyingly just wanted to take the cosy on & off, over & over)

i've been at the sewing machine again tonight, having just remembered at bath time, that it's a 'non-uniform, wear yellow & bring a plant into school' day tomorrow, just great, G had nothing in yellow (& i've yet to buy a plant) so i set about this evening, chopping up a yellow vest of mine, with which to make a t'shirt for him to wear tomorrow, not my finest work, i just hope it's going to fit him!

the first day of may

we had a lovely start to May by driving down to Brighton, to visit my sister, i had forgotten that the 1st of May was the start of the Brighton festival & the day of the children's parade this year  (& i only lived in Brighton for almost 30 years!) as luck would have it, she has recently moved (to the most amazing house!) in the lanes, so we had a great view of some of the action!

her house really is amazing (almost makes me want to move back to Brighton) 

we can't seem to visit Brighton without a visit to the lego shop (even when we haven't got the children with us)

Also i really have to say thank you to Jenny over at sew obsessed for passing on a beautiful blog award to me, i'll be back later when i've had time to think about the 'seven random things about me'

oh & i'm planning on following Juliette's lead & her 12 step program, to give me the kick i need to get back on my poor neglected sewing machine!