red squirel hunting

Yesterday was great. I took both girls on the car ferry to the isle of wight. My youngest brother has just brought a house over there. So the girls and I went of for an adventure. We got to put our big car down on the bottom deck with the huge lorries. Then a trip up the lift to the lounge and a fantastic view of the Solent.
The island seems so peaceful when you arrive. Then you get to town and Christmas shopping is just as busy as on the main land. So we had a tour of the house + garage! Lunch. Then off to the forest.
It was lovely searching with #1 for squirels, eventhough none came out to say hello. But it gives me a good excuse to go over again soon. We can search again.
Great weather, would have made some fabulous shots... shame that rechargeable batteries were no more in my little camera. Do not worry they are on charge now, as i write.
today, christmas music is on, a few pressies to complete and give, and worryingly a few to start too!!!

Christmas crafting

I actually had some time at the weekend to do some crafting. I have promised myself that I would make some of my gifts this year. So...
I spent Saturday afternoon with fabric machine and determination to complete a project... but... I have a head and two bodies (1st was a machine disaster!) however they are not joined, yet!
i made decorations with #1, we had glitter, ribbon , glue and loads of fun. We evern made some pomanders, oranges, cloves and ribbon. Now the house has that really lovely christmas smell!
Now I just need to get the mulled wine on the stove and celebrations can begin.........

Too much to do!!

Where has the time gone. I can't even give the excuse that I have been busy blogging, or crafting. I keep starting projects and then just not getting very far. Toddler groups have kept me busy in the mornings, then the hustle and bustle of the shops in the afternoons.
But where has my crafting gone. I thought I could get some done in the evenings, but I keep falling asleep. I have stopped trying to hide gifts from #1 I just tell her that they aren't hers. How mean do I feel.
Really short. Sorry! Will try harder tomorrow.
Off for #2 4 month vaccinations... poor thing.

rain, rain, go away

Today is going to be a library day. The weather is terrible. #2 has taken to shouting at her thumb in her sleep which means mummy and daddy are getting no sleep. I feel exhausted but i have only just woken up, why is that?
it reminds me of my student days, if i got out of bed it meant that I had to go and do some studying, yuck! Talking of student days I have become addicted to that find old friends website. And have I found loads, people from school are now also married with kids! Time does seem to fly by.
Then it leaves me thinking about my 2 1/2 year old, Christmas must be ages away for her. She got an advent calendar from her Grandma, gorgeous, but she is desperate to open the doors. We keep having to say wait until Saturday. She is starting to grasp time, today, tomorrow, 'Friday is music group'. It's amazing to watch her brain develop and start understanding the world around her.
She is even choosing to wear shoes that she can put on herself, because she is developing a sense of independence. It'll be wellies today, another pair of shoes she can do herself. Bless!
Still struggling to get the papoose finished, I sit to knit and then I am distracted by the need for crayons, glue, scissors...or a cat that just needs loving right now!
Talking of which.. I think he is about to start typing on the keyboard so I had better get going.

brussel sprouts...with pasta?

"you've gotta be kidding" was my husband's reply.
Well, I have got them and they need to be earten, but we ate all the potatoes. Now i realise that this makes little or no sense. As i have said before my veg is delivered. But I don't get a say in what is delivered. This means that each week I have a surprise, brussel sprouts. I love them, however with pasta is apparently a bit taboo!
So I need to put on my thinking cap as what to do for dinner.
i have already done my weekly baking. Cookies...mmmm.... very good! Cake, mmmm... pretty good. Now waiting for the muffins, which usually turn out rather nice. A good treat to have when I get my hair done at a friends tomorrow. Good to note, when invited for tea/coffee or hair cut take sugary treats. Us mums love all the treats we can get. I also enjoy seeing how many different things i can bake at once.
So what else have i been doing. Toddler groups are going well. I suppose.#1 decided to pop another child's balloon today. She has a book called Mei Ling's hiccups, the children pop balloons at the end! so she saw no wrong it what she was doing. The poor child, who's ballon it was, was terrified! ( I must cut her finger nails!).
#2 has learnt that she can control her head, this equates to feeding for 10 seconds pulling away and watching the milk spray. Then realising it is her loss, shouting at my boob and re-attaching herself! #1 was such a good baby, what is #2 up to?
I suppose I should talk knitting. I have set my self the challenge to get this papoose finished by the end of the week, which means #2 can get the push chair changed around too. But it is creeping closer to the end of the week and I am not so sure i will manage it.
Keep you posted on the events down here.

Down at the beach

At last it is dry again!
So we headed out to the beach for some sunshine. The walk there was blindingly bright. We both wished we had taken our sun glasses, #2 slept! But when we got there it just didn't seem as sunny. So we had a drink and ate our homemade 'Jane' biscuits. The recipe called them that and we have a friend called Jane, it seemed appropriate to keep the name.Last Jane biscuit, hope there are more at home! maybe there will be some baking later?
On our return from the beach we were greeted by one of our much loved cats. unfortunately I didn't
 realise that there was a terrier following us. I have never seen my over weight tabby cat run so fast. 
it took him an hour before he would come back home. Now he is home he is making up for his troubles.
Sitting on, around, above the computer, just so that I know he is home. Daft animal!
I have even attempted to photograph how far I have got with the papoose, and knitted dolly. Both projects need to be finished before Christmas. Soon #2 will be too big for the papoose and it will be a disaster. I have even started to worry about how to stitch it together so that the straps of the pushchair will go through. If only I had thought about this problem before I had got half way through.
Well this afternoon we are off to feed the ducks at the pond- weather holding. I have even got her to go for a nap at a reasonable time because she is looking forward to the duck feeding and time at the swings. Such a lucky mummy both #1 and #2 asleep at the same time. Planning pays off, organisation will be the key to my success (just gotta keep it going!).
#1 has been watching mummy use the camera so now she wants to be the photographer. She will be better thatn me soon, which isn't too hard.

All Change

So I thought I would begin with the changed template. There is another blog, similar name, using spots as the template. So I thought I would change it. Simple really, maybe not even worthy of mention.
I had a very wet weekend, so you would think I spent the time crafting. Did I? worryingly no. I spent the time feeding my 3  month old who  is going through a mega growth spurt- I think with the amount she is taking on she might be a giant in disguise as a baby!!!
Well that is my excuse, and I have just been looking at other blogs and I think it is a pretty poor excuse. So I am back to work on doll making. I have arms, body, a leg... just a bit more knitting to go. I would add pictures but at the moment my computer is playing up. Pictures to come later.
I'll also add some English weather pictures.

where did the text go?

i thought that I would have a look at my blog this morning only to realise that my last post had only pictures. I apologise, it is because my husband like the Opera browser and I don't want to play around with his computer.
So... I made two pairs of fingerless gloves, one for me and a mini version for my eldest. I used the pattern from simply knitting and for the mini cast on 28 onto 3mm needles. Both very cute and warm for our cold walks to toddler groups in the mornings. I know I'm a southern softie- but the sun comes up in the afternoon and it its glorious.
Back to toddler groups. I have found a fellow knitter in amoungst the mums. It came about because I took my knitting with me, I had promised that the gloves would be finished the night before and I fell asleep. So I took
 them with me. Anyways this led to lots of people chatting with me about knitting. And this other girl
 said she should bring her knitting to toddlers too! So next week we are both going to knit.
 How fun is that? 
Maybe it could start a group or something.

Gloves

Where has all the time gone?

I had forgotton how going away for a weekend can put the rest of my unorganised week out of sorts. Don't look in my kitchen or the huge pile of laundry, that seems to be growing. So I thought I would ignore it all and work on my blog. You may ask why I don not use my evenings to go on the computer? Well the simple truth is... children! last night I was up with the youngest. She had her 3 month vaccinations in the afternoon (another story). And she made sure that we all knew she was suffering, even the dose of 'pink medicine' didn't calm her. In the end daddy had to sit with her until she cried herself to sleep.
Now, this morning, she is as happy as larry. You wouldn't even know she had a bad day yesterday.
My eldest however wants mummy to make her some gloves because her hands are cold. I have started and made one glove already, except that I think I have made them too small. i might just look in the winter wardrobe a bit harder and find last years gloves. Which is easier, make new or look for old? I'm sure once I have finished the gloves she will then ask for a scarf and hat to match. She did say that I could go to the knitting shop, if I want!!! That is something coming from a two year old who refused to go last week. Can I afford to take her up on the offer?
Well I now have a day to do 'what you want mummy!'... Of course that isn't true, there is toddlers, shopping, clean the kitchen and I suppose I should do something with all that laundry!

Remembrance Day

Just wanted to say... Think of all those who have served our country.

knitters on TV!

I saw it! Knitters on BBC Breakfast. Well to be honest my husband told me to watch because he had heard that Debbie Stoller would be on TV. So it is only tomorrow and hopefully I will meet SnB queen in the flesh, not just on TV.

Yesterday was a rushed day so I didn't get a chance to blog my daughters wonderful creations so I thought I would show her working hard.

her little men creations. One drawn by mummy and the other by herself. Her own little man appears to have three eyes but she assured me that it was perfect!

I hope that the journey to town is good this afternoon so that i get a good rest before my big day into London.

mini projects

i thought I would up date on my weekend project.
While I was browsing my old copies of simply knitting I became inspired to try some new stitches. So I have used the swatches to make covers for some old jam jars. These I am now using as utensil pots in the kitchen. I'll have to stop when I have run out of worktop space.

I've tried some close up shots of the stitches. If you want to know what they are called I will look them up and give the issue number where you can find the pattern.
I think I need to do one more, displays work better in odd numbers.
Still counting the days until SnB day (3!!).
Today is going to be a crafty day, little one needs some activities to do. I think we will get out some yarn and fabric and make some dolls, at a very basic non-machine sewing level. I'll show the results tomorrow.
Happy Crafting !!!

I've got mine, Have you got yours?

Tickets!!
I got my Iknit SnB day tickets. They came in the post at the weekend actually but I got an email saying what is going to be going on today. Debbie Stoller will be there with her new book. It's going to be a good excuse to buy more yarn. I have a few tops ideas for my girls, my husband and of course for me so I need to look for some yarn to make them. I'm not going to make the mistake that I made at the Ally Pally show, this time I 'm going to go with a list of yarn ideas and the
 number of balls I will need for each project, such a rookie mistake. Also I'm going to take cash and that is it, once it is gone it is gone.
Do I sound excited? I really am! I can't wait for the weekend.

Getting the hang of this?

I've been busy today organising my house and creating little projects on the way. I made a folder for all my receipe cards that I get with my riverford organic delivery. 
Some great food and clever ideas about how to cook with them.
I'm trying out the links too, seeing if I can get them to work on my blog.
I'll post some of my other craftings later in the week once they are complete.
But for now have a look at my folder, I'm quite chuffed with the binding. It's only my second attempt I feel like I'm getting the hang of it.

Now I need to find some more little projects that will require some binding. So next week I'm off to find some fabric shops...

Skirts, skirts, skirts

mmm.... do you think i should make another. i made these with Patons cotton DK, lovely to knit with. The edging is crochet, still need more practice. Got a book from the library but not inspired yet.
I borrowed Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker from my sister, now I need to sit and read it properly...or start another knitting project.
Maybe it would be better if I worked out how to put pictures where I want them to go.
Any whoo, back with more ideas later.

we've only just begun...

Well, I've only just begun a blog.
After weeks of reading others I thought I would start.
I have been knitting up mini projects, baby cardies, bonets etc...
See my matinee jacket that I am very proud of...