>Look What Mama Made!
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More Mama love in this post I’m afraid! This delightful chicken (from Anna Maria Horner’s gorgeous book ‘Handmade Beginnings’) was meant to be among the presents my parents gave to M for her first birthday. When I conveniently got a nasty bout of tonsilitis in the week leading up to P’s birthday, my lovely mummy flew to the rescue, driving 5 hours up the motorway to look after the littles and in the process ran out of time to sew the chicks in time for M’s birthday the following week. As a result, the finished birdy, complete with six chicks with Velcro wings to nestle safely under their mummy’s wings, arrived today in the post, no less special for its tardiness. It must be a good week for chickens, as our dear old hen Penelope has decided that she will honour us with a precious few of her rarely laid eggs- three in a row!
>Making an Entrance
>If you buy a house that needs updating and redecorating, you don’t expect it to happen overnight. This is even more true when you have two little ones running (or crawling) around, their curious little fingers dangerously drawn to power tools, paint and so on. No surprises, then, that we still have a lot of big projects to do. However, this weekend I just wanted one of those instant updates that make a difference to how the house works.
This was how our porch looked on Friday. We’d thrown out some of the crap that was in it when we moved in, but then it had become an unlovely dumping ground for our own crap. Meanwhile, beyond the porch in the hall, tides of shoes, coats and hats kept heaping up on an old table and wrongly-sized-for-the-space shoe rack. As entrances and exits tend to be a flurry of wellies on the wrong feet, nappy bags and emergency bananas shoved into pockets, we needed to get a bit of calm and organisation.
I headed to our local DIY store clutching a load of measurements and with an idea in mind. I had some MDF cut to size and bought paint and hooks for the walls. I went home, found the MDF was not quite the right size and the paint colour was frankly wrong. So I went back and got the MDF cut a bit smaller and bought some new paint. Plus a new door handle for the inner door, some baskets for hats, gloves, waterproofs and so on and the little flower picture.
Many, many coats of antique white paint later, plus a couple of the soft green, some messing around with power tools and wood glue and we can now clear space in the hall and, you never know, get in and out of the house with just a touch more calm.
>Patchwork and Pie Dishes
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The thing about my mum is that she is just the best at listening to what I want and what I need. The week before P’s birthday, when I was laid low with a throat infection, no sooner had I sent a message moaning about how I wished she lived closer than she changed her timetable around and came riding to the rescue, 5 hours up the motorway to mind grandchildren while I slept and grumbled and waited for antibiotics to do their job. That was a big lovely thing she did, as was the job she and my Dad did this weekend hosting M’s birthday party. It’s the little things as well though, like remembering how I said I wanted to get a proper metal pie dish. Then, the next time she was shopping for kitchen stuff, she bought me one. Just because.
I have to say she’s also got me into a rather addictive habit- patchwork. Like I need another craft hobby/drain on scant finances. She’s made lovely baby quilts for both the children, and I followed up with a ‘Big Boy Bed’ quilt for P last year. A dress given to M when she was born got me thinking that I should make all her outgrown frocks into her ‘Big Girl Bed’ quilt so that’s in the pipeline, along with too many other projects. However, we’re also working on decorating our bedroom at the moment and I’ve been thinking that the perfect finish to our shabby chic/country house hotel look would be…a patchwork quilt. As a result, Mum, M and I paid a rather lovely visit to The Patchwork Basket this weekend and I indulged in some retail therapy. Couldn’t resist trying them out as soon as I got home either!
>Baby Shower Knit
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There’s a baby shower happening this weekend that I can’t be at, so it was time to get the needles out so that I could at least send some handmade love by post. I fell back on what’s becoming an old favourite, ‘Aviatrix’, a free pattern on Ravelry. An evening or so’s knitting in Rowan Handknit Cotton and a vintage button adds up to a bit of old-fashioned loveliness for eagerly awaited baby girl.
>Birthday at the Farm
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Our wee boy is three! As usual with parenting moments like this, it feels like ages and yet no time at all since he was in an incubator in Royal Glamorgan Hospital having surprised us all by arriving 2 months before his due date. It’s fair to say he hasn’t stopped since, with the fading remains of a black eye appearing in all his birthday pictures as evidence of how he throws himself full tilt at the world (the injury occurred during nap time for goodness’ sake!). This year he had a party at his Granny and Grandpa’s farm, with a tractor and lambs in the field next door, a straw bale fort to play in and just the right amount of sunshine for a lovely day. Despite a nasty bout of tonsillitis during the previous week I somehow managed to pull off the ‘Combine Harvester’ cake I’d been planning so I felt I did my bit, but it was a host of wonderful family and friends who really made his day.
>This Moment
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Okay, just this week I’m breaking the ‘No Words’ rule below, because I just want to say Happy Birthday to my darling, beautiful son.
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.
>Big Purple Frog
>I’m currently in the throws of having a pattern tested on Ravelry’s ‘Free Pattern Testers’ Forum for the first time. It’s for this sweater:
It’s called ‘Baby Queen Bess’ and I’m hoping to make it my first ‘for sale’ pattern. Obviously wanted to get any glitches out before I start asking people to part with cash and the testing process is certainly doing its job. The only problem was, a few testers pointed out an issue I’d been rather avoiding looking at, mainly because I didn’t know how to solve it- namely one of achieving symmetry through the raglan section, technical knitting fans!
The good news is, with input from the forum and a fresh look at the issue, I’ve worked out how to solve it. The bad news is, with the knowledge that symmetry could be achieved, I wasn’t sure I could cope with M wearing the less symmetrical version I made for her, using lovely and expensive wool, in a size she’ll fit into for the whole of next winter. So….
Big. Fat. Frog. This was a properly finished article, even had to find the ends I’d neatly woven in. Oh well, at least my mind will be at peace when she grows into it. Plus I suppose in a way I’m saving money, as I’m getting to knit two sweaters for the price of one- sort of!
>Mock Cable Stitch
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This is rather a nice variation of the ordinary cable stitch, being less bold and somewhat lighter in texture, and therefore quite suitable for small garments, rather than heavy sports wear. the stitches are not properly crossed over, but convey that impression…