On the Second Day of Christmas...

or is it the third? does Christmas Eve count as the first?... anyway...
I finally get to post my Christmassy makes & stuff ( always a risk some lucky recipient will stumble upon a picture of their present before the Big day ( though judging by comments on bloggers by my dad & brother today they wouldn't be reading " self obsessed, self publicists" I think was the phrase they used ;-)

It's been a good Advent, I usually lurch along, swinging between being Little Donkey ( plodding onwards with my heavy load...)and the Alternative Shepherds (washing socks) and somehow manage to concentrate only on what is being prepared for rather than the act of preparation. For no known reason this year has been much less stressy, and actually a really lovely run up to Christmas. I can thoroughly recommend this book for a thought provoking read, my older 2 and I have really enjoyed reading it.

so, back to the fibres :-)
I made a couple of Knitty Knecklaces for my mum & my SIL,
Mum's was done in Debbie Bliss's Pure Silk and beaded too ( my addition) threading on the zillion of beads to start with was a bit of a pain, but the results were worth it.












SILs version was in Twilleys Freedom Spirit in a colourway whose name now escapes me!
checking here I see it's "Energy"






Two ribbed hats to my own pattern were for my brothers - ably modelled by one of them here!
They're again in Twilleys Freedom Spirit "Force" and "Earth" They were knit double stranded and were extremely well received - apparently they are nice and long over the ears ( a rare thing in a hat I was told!)

I'd also done a 1 Hour scarf for MIL but I didn't get a picture of that - nice colours though :-)

Ruthy has the knitting bug again having got a book and some more yarn for Christmas:-) she's doing really well following someone else's instructions too! much better than me trying to show her sometimes.
I was saying to my mum yesterday that I can't remember learning to knit - so I assume I was pretty young, whether it was mum or Granny or someone else who taught me I have NO idea! Knowing me it was a book & self teaching - Ruthy is so like me sometimes!

I did a bit of sewing in December too - PJs mostly, I need to get pictures of those, so watch this space.

It's time for bed said Zebedee...

First Day

He's been waiting (impatiently I have to say) for months now for today - and here it finally is... can we say EXCITED?!
He went in without a backward glance, so I was a very brave mummy too :-0 I'm going to miss his cheeky face this morning though.

Random Musings on flooring...

It's Sunday , its late, the ironing's done, I'm doing this as displacement cos my baby starts school tomorrow ( yes, not *the* baby Obviously... ( durr...as the girls would say) but he's still my baby..) anyway I thought I'd treat you to the random thoughts I had this week about floors.
You know how people say that hard floors are " less work" than carpets? well I think that's rubbish personally ( and I speak as a hard floor keeper) With carpets you hoover and you're done, unless someone spills something especially nasty on it.. ugh, then every what? 6 mths? a year? 4 mths? I have NO idea... you get the carpet cleaners in and they get rid of the build up.
Now if you have a hard floor you hoover, or you brush, and then you wash it, if you don't do the washing part, that build up of muck ( the stuff the carpet cleaners deal with) well it builds up, and hard floors don't hang onto it like carpet does, so *you* have to do the work.. often....
ask me how I know, I have a crawling baby ( yes *the* baby) the other week I was busy, the floor didn't get mopped for 2 days, - just hoovered, the floors looked ok, but he crawled round and he was filthy, yuckity yuck...
Just think though -if I had carpet, all that dirt ( & more ) would still be there, just unseen...bleurgh... I mean it's not as if you suddenly have less dirt just cos you have carpets is it? so it has to be there ...somewhere...lurking...think I'd rather have the mopping to do :-) so, inconclusion, ( if you're still awake..) hard floors - unforgiving but So much nicer... don't you think?!

Normal service will now be resumed.

Serendipitous shopping

Planning ahead slightly (only about 2 weeks ahead actually but it's better than nothing )
I bought these trousers for the boys in H&M , partly cos they need something to wear for a Christening we're off to, and partly cos look what I had in my stash waiting to be something!
Serendipity or what? stripey T shirts are the order of the day I think, and what would you know - I had unbleached ribbing hiding here too:-)

Pirates Ahoy

We went to a party last weekend, all of us, Kate's Godmother's husband's 40th ... you following this? pay attention or I'll make you walk the plank...
Anyway, it was Pirates & Princesses. Mr Fibre-Fairy was going to go as a Princess, but our little Princesses vetoed that as "too embarrassing daddy" so we went with Pirates. in actual fact Kate went as Elizabeth Swann.. she had her eye on a costume in Woolies so we went shopping. My sewing pride was hurt, but honestly.. it was £15, came with a fan & a hat, was not at all badly made and most importantly looked good - I did go & roughly cost up gold satiny stuff in what has to be the cheapest fabric shop south of Birmingham, and it would have cost me probably £20 just for the stuff... and time was short! Then I discovered a £5 woolies card thingy and the deal was sealed! I have to say though that the Jack Sparrow costume was pants.
Back at the sewing machines I made not one, but 4 Darcy-esque piratey shirts, for Ruthy, Charlie and Ben and one for me... oh the flash back caused by wearing a voluminous white cotton 18C style shirt -Where are you now Adam Ant?! For these shirts I drew on my 1980s sewing experince of making such shirts to original 18C instructions thanks to a friend who worked at the V&A... these were a bit simplified (no underarm or collar gussets for speed,)
A few piratical accessories and we were done - ( MrFF slightly bottled out at this point and wore a striped T shirt - but someone had to go into the offy on the way there looking vaguely normal I suppose.
Here are the boys ( no pictures exist of the rest of us... odd that..)

I love this extract... I love the autumn :-) - well except the Back To Skool thing... ( that was today as it happens :-(

September has come, it is hers
Whose vitality leaps in the autumn,
Whose nature prefers
Trees without leaves and a fire in the fireplace.
So I give her this month and the next
Though the whole of my year should be hers who has rendered already
So many of its days intolerable or perplexed
But so many more so happy.
Who has left a scent on my life, and left my walls
Dancing over and over with her shadow
Whose hair is twined in all my waterfalls
And all of London littered with remembered kisses.

--Louis MacNeice - Autumn Journal -1939

kind of cool...!

What kind of a freaky mother are you?

You're a punk rock mommy! DIY is probably your motto, because you're a punk mama at heart. Your kids are getting your independent spirit and guts, and learning to solve problems themselves. You love it when they show their independence, even when it's breaking your heart.

Take this quiz!

Quizilla |

Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Time Travel

not backwards, but forwards... half way through the school summer holidays..umm how?!
Ben turned 1, nooo that can't be right can it? and even occasionally sleeps in the evenings these days so I've been getting a bit of sewing done.
I have some pics to sort out and some catching up to do, but for now, here're my new PJ bottoms, just in time for the nights drawing in and the cooler weather ( I'm not kidding, that duvet'll be back on soon) yummy Amy Butler flannel that has been maturing for... ooh, a while. Pattern by Ottobre, you'd think there was nothing to choose from in a simple 4 part elastic waist trouser pattern wouldn't you... but you'd be wrong - these are a great shape both in looks & comfort.
Best do something for the children now I spose.... :-)

My first chocolate

He had to have my 70% cocoa stuff with no dairy.... but do you think he liked it?!

green gorgeousness

I think ths might be destined for a bag for ME!
Hand dyed wool roving and some scrummy-lumptious eyelashy stuff and some spring green Freedom
mmmmm:-)

They think it's all over...

Whoosh! looks like it came & went! School holidays began March 31st and they go back tomorrow! Wahhhhh why do they go so fast!
I spent the first weekend meeting up with some friends at the Sewing exhibition at NEC, very inspirational but not too spendy this year! More sock yarn, a little fabric, honest, I was really good!! That first week of the holidays was tainted by illness though -all the big three at one point or other -blah!
We had a few days at Granny's in between ick, then suddenly it was last weekend and now it's the end of this one!
So what have we done? The girls as you can see started knitting ( nearly typed knotting which might not be an altogether inappropriate typo, but actually they're doing very well!) We've seen some friends, been to the zoo, chilled out a bit, done tons of craft stuff... usual kind of thing.

Only a year late!

I finally got this finished for a friend's birthday present - I'd given her a "promise" for it last year...and finally ta da! I can be really slow sometimes!!!

my time stamp

whatever the change to BST seems to have done to the nation's body clocks it seems to have fixed my time stamp... I think

Mothering Sunday

If you give it its proper name, at the very least it avoids the "where does the apostrophe go" dilemma!! Nice link about its origins here.
So, while the carrots cook for lunch, my day so far...
Breakfast cooked for me, (not in bed though, we're running out of room for everyone to be eating in our bed these days ;-)
and a huge haul of lovely stuff that they've all made for me - that's what's in the picture! Keyrings, candles, bookmarks, cards, loads of lovely bits, hand made truffles, flowers...mmm yummy. Then off to church for the Mothering Sunday service, Ruthy was singing which was lovely, and back to do lunch. Mr Fibre~fairy peeled the veg while I had a peaceful G&T and I'm just finishing off lunch now (cooking I mean not finishing eating!) ThenI think I might knit a bit, or finish the zip in the bag I made myself on Friday. More later, possibly :-)

Chablis & Kettle Chips

that's my supper.. oh yessssss.... the KC are saltless, if that wins me any points
I'm enjoying an uncharacteristic interlude in which all four children are asleep, now what I *should* be doing is finishing Ruthy's costume for her school play. Thankfully she's only a villager. What do I mean *only* -she's a vital villager with lots to say - kind of Shop Floor Manager type villager, but I mean " only" in the sense that it doesn't involve a great palaver of a costume... I quote, " croppped trousers and a plain T shirt" Just the thing for a sojourn in Sherwood Forest wouldn't you say? No mention of colour. ( she's getting dirty brown with artistically space dyed green grassstain-a-like blobs, didn't think purple embroidered quite cut the mustard)
Can you tell that none of these teachers have children?! Parents have to be psychic these days...
The great thing about villagers' trousers is they don't need hemming... :-) No, really... there were no coverhemmer machines in 13C Nottinghamshire.
Did I mention this play was something to do with Robin Hood?

Mr Fibre~fairy is back in the country! Where's he been this time? Oh yes, Switzerland, he's not too chuffed with being called Mr Fibre~fairy though, no more than I would with being called Mrs Petrol Head or something similar, but there you go!

~~~~
brief interlude ended - Ben woke up and took 15 mins to settle again, I finished R's trousers and hope they past muster with the teachers! and now I really ought to go to bed... tomorrow, as the great Mizz Scarlett said, is another day.
There's something wrong with my time stamp and I can't fix it... it's showing an hour earlier than real life.. I'm not that sad as to go to bed an hour ago.. honest...

Reading the papers

I managed one section anyhow!

he doesn't get it!

she does

Anyone would think it was spring...

oh yeah, it's supposed to be isn't it..
It's turned a bit warmer here today ( you know, like it's not snowing!) and the sun's out, so the children have been playing outside on their bikes, I got called to watch..brrr not exactly tropical, but Kate was happily running round in a strappy top. Mr Fibre~fairy has taken them all to the shop to buy cake for tea, so it's gone all quiet round here! I s'pose I ought to unpack my boxes from yesterday and start taking pictures but then again...

Craft Fair

Back from the Craft fair today - managed to get a reasonable table of stock together! Last minute as ever... it was a good day - sold a little, not vast quantites, but pleasing!! I made some progress on the little bag I was knitting too, and lots of comments about knitting on 5 10mm DPNs! I had intended to start my long awaited Booga Bag from Black Sheep bags as my reward for getting done for today but I went for " work" knitting instead. Hey ho...

no sewing or knitting tonight... supper with friends and beaucoup de vin :-)

and another...

catching up here.. in my dreams haha...
this one is a wee bag - second picture shows truer colours but is pre blocking, the first (flash lit) shows the shape much better.

finished product

so here it is, knitted up & felted and ready to sell -hopefully along with some friends! I'm doing a craft fair on the 18th -eek ! what was it Douglas Adams said about deadlines? - something about loving them because of the whooshing sound they made as they rushed passed..
anyway onwards and knitwards... and I need to sew some too :-)

this tangle of colour is 400g of wool dyed with KoolAid - a drink powder from America that has a double use as a dye for animal fibres ( inicluding human hair should you fancy a new look!) I've been playing around with it for a while now, and took the plunge to dye a whole load! I used 5 sachets on this lot - pink lemonade which gave the pale candyfloss shade, black cherry - the deeper pink, blue lemonade the pale aqua and blue berry the turquoise, and grape for the purple.












and here it is de tangled, balled as a WIP. I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, nice soft spring colours, the knitting up is pretty fast so the next stage ought to be posted soon enough;-)