FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the jumper which I started knitting for my eldest before Christmas (.... yes I KNOW it's nearly March now) and I finally finished it this week. It took sooooo long because I stopped halfway through to get the Christmas presents finished and ALL my Christmas knitting got pushed back because of that nasty chest infection I had. Apparently it was worth waiting for tho because he's worn it after school every day since I finished it on Tuesday! I have to admit that the sizing is a little bit off ... it'll probably fit him til he's about 12!

It's fun, funky and furry!

This is the hot water bottle cover that I have just knitted for one of my friends who takes her hottie bottie EVERYWHERE with her .... even while she's waiting for the kids after school! She wanted something with pink, turquoise and cream and said the more OTT the better so I think she got her request! Hubby says it looks like a rat but I think it's probably more chinchilla ;o)

I got the pattern from a calendar which was given away with a magazine last year and I used plain black aran wool with pink "chinchilla" eyelash yarn and turquoise "fizz" eyelash yarn. It is fastened with little turquoise flower buttons since the suppliers sent yellow butterfly buttons rather than the blue ones I ordered but I think they still count as extra OTT elements. Now I just have to hope that she likes it when I give it to her this week.

On the subject of liking what I've made, I delivered the completed Christening invitation order that I got last week earlier today and got some really positive feedback. It's always really nice to hear that people really like what you have made.

Now I'm away to start on making some more Christmas presents for this year. I've got a load of yellowy eyelash yarn so I'm thinking of making some luxurious fluffy scarves for some of my friends and I'm also trawling magazines for patterns for bigger presents for the family ... if only I wasn't so indecisive! So many patterns ..... so little time! Mind you since it's pouring with rain I think knitting is preferable to stripping turf off the allotment plot!

It's a learning curve

This time last year I decided I was going to learn how to knit and crochet and I have to admit that I am very proud of myself with my progress. I have crochetted scarves, mittens, hats, jumpers, cardigans and a full medieval peasant's costume(!) and knitted scarves, bags, socks, jumpers and cardigans. I have just completed my first cabling efforts and now I'm working on a hot water bottle cover for a friend which uses stranded colour work in the intarsia style. I'm using some rather funky pink and turquoise eyelash yarns which are confusing the issue a little but I am slowly getting there. Today's lesson was creating button holes using a mid-row cast on. I have used the backwards loop method and it is so far so good as far as that is concerned.

My other new learning curve is to do with our new allotment. We were allocated an allotment last month and went and bought a ton and a half of seeds yesterday so this morning while my little munchkin was at nursery, hubby and I went to start stripping the turf off the plot. Luckily he was a horticulturalist in one of his former career paths so he knows what he is doing but I'm learning from scratch. Today he showed me how to lift the turf without damaging too much of the top soil and how to roll the turf strips efficiently to allow them to dry and reclaim the soil that is attached to them. We were only there for about 2 hours and we managed about 4 rows of stripping so hopefully by this time next week we'll be ready to prep the soil and can start potting the seeds to start them off..... ooooh I can't wait!

Pretty Tilda

I was making a card for a crafty friend this week so I was trawling through my stamps and had a flash of inspiration moment ..... the layout I used in this card just really reminded me of Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts and Richard Gere are at the piano.

As you probably predicted, the image is coloured with promarkers.

Believe it or not ...... I actually made a card today!

Not the card that I NEED to make (it's my eldest's birthday tomorrow and there is still no card for him!) but one for my sister for her birthday next week.

I used my new Tilda sitting in dungarees stamp and a couch stamp ..... it's not Magnolia but it's the right size for Tilda to sit on! I coloured the image with promarkers in an attempt to practice my shading since I am SOOOOOOO rusty!

What do you think of it? Do you think it is suitable for a 26 year old? Well it better had be coz I doubt I'll be making a replacement hahahaha!

OK so I'm a RUBBISH blogger :o(

I've been soooooo lame at blogging over the past six months I wholeheartedly apologise!

It's been one of those times when life got in the way of crafting. I had some orders for Christmas cards but apart from that there was very little in the way of work and as a result very little in the way of stash cash :o(

I had a bit of a health issue in the autumn when I found a lump in my breast but luckily I was referred to the Primrose Unit very quickly and was VERY relieved to find that the lump was not sinister. It has been and gone and come back again but at least I know it's nothing to worry about. I've also had my usual bout of S.A.D. this winter and I have to say it seems to be getting worse ...... I used to be able to shake it off with a bit of Christmas hype but this year even that didn't work and I spent part of Christmas Day in tears. Hopefully now that January has been replaced by February and the snow that seemed to close Cornwall for half of January is behind us (tho further North still seems to be suffering from the big freeze) I can start to pick up again.

I have been keeping busy with plenty of woolcraft while I've been AWOL tho, friends and family almost ALL got hand knitted or crochetted gifts from us for Christmas - scarves, hats, jumpers, shrugs ...... stand still long enough and I'll knit something to cover you up!

Most recently tho I have actually made something for MYSELF!



I got the pattern from a knitting magazine from last year but it is also available in the Rowan booklet 46. I've never tried cable knitting before so I was really pleased with the result.