Ho ho ho!

The big day is drawing near: we now have our Christmas tree up, all gift shopping is complete and items are wrapped, all international cards were sent by the postal dates (yay!), little chap has only three days more at school, our Christmas meat order and veg box order have been submitted, and I have even been caught humming the odd Christmas tune or two!



Christmas came early for me, actually, as I received a wonderful package from Katie at L'aubergine joyeuse. We agreed to make each other a scarf and exchange them for the winter months. I knitted a silk scarf in Autumn jewel colours from The Yarn Gallery. I also included some small trinkets to make a surprise package. Katie crocheted me a lambswool scarf in purple (a favourite colour of mine) and included some gorgeous handmade glass beads in her package to me. I was delighted and have been busy planning how I am going to use them. The scarf has already had many an outing. It is slim and long, which is just perfect as I can wrap it a 2 or 3 times round my neck and it fills the space between collar and skin perfectly. Thank you Katie!



I have had a lot of time to myself this weekend, as the older lad brought a friend up to visit, so all the boys (including little chap) went off to the football yesterday, and this morning Guinness Man has taken little chap swimming at the local pool. It has been nice to have this time, and yesterday I managed to get out my paints for the first time in months. I was pleased with the results... and the colours give it quite a wintry feel, so it might form the basis of some cards next year.



I am glad to be seeing this year draw to a close. It has been a hard year, and there has been much disruption to our normal family routine. I am looking forward to turning the corner and facing life afresh in 2008.



I took little chap and his friend to the school disco on Thursday night... it raised £250 for the school playground refurbishment, and was a lot of fun. Little chap is also having his first sleepover here next week (after school has broken up!). He is so grown up now!

Shamed into action

Today I went to see Alice's Mum to say hello and see how she was. We had a lovely chat. She said that at all sorts of unexpected moments things happen, or occur to her, or are said that evoke sadness, but it is clear that she is forging on with life in a most admirable way. She asked me what craft things I was up to, and I was ashamed to have to say that I had not been doing any. Overall, I have had very little inclination to do any of my art or craft pursuits. I suppose this is not entirely the case... there have been some small dabblings, and also we have had a very busy time socially, visiting or having people to stay here. Anyway, this post is an attempt to follow the admirable example of people around me and get back into gear.

Some tome ago I tried my hand at a bit of machine embroidery. I trapped various threads between layers of light chiffon materials. I was not too pleased with the effect, and received advice to keep stitching and building up the layers and textures. However, I also came across an article in "Fibre and Stitch" magazine about making fabric charms, and so I have been reducing the piece into small squares with close zig-zagged edges. This has much improved the effect, and I am looking forward to continuing with other sections of the larger piece which have denser collections of fibres. My guess is these will make their way onto Christmas cards.

I have also been working with some hand dyed silk boucle from The Yarn Gallery, and using a multi-wrap stitch to make a textured scarf. I am pleased with the results so far, although have found to my great cost how easily silk yarn slips off the needles!

We have a new wool shop in our area (The Wool Cabin), and I had an interesting time there last week browsing. The shop is slightly old fashioned in that its main focus is the traditional brands (e.g. Sirdar, Wendy, Patons) and the proprietress is rather dismissive of the luxury brands (e.g. Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Louisa Harding) or the novelty yarns (e.g. Lanartus, Adriafil). However, I bought some self-patterning sock yarn, and also some lovely hand made beads.

I've still not picked up my paints, but there is always next week. Here is a picture of the various bits and pieces... We got a new scanner recently, and it is not as easy to use as the last one, so apologies for the faded edges.

Felted thank you bag

First craft posting in a while....

When in Ireland recently, a cousin's wife kindly took me on a girly day out while the men folk did manly things with tractors and fishing rods!!!

As a thank you, I made her this felted shibori'd bag... it is made from the shibori piece I made last year, and is lined in cream linen. I hope that she likes it.

I think it works better as an item of use (ie a bag) than a piece of created knitted fabric.

Here is the front...

and here is a close up of some of the detail in the back.

and because I cannot help to think about such things... Alice made fabulous bags. She felted using merino tops rather than knitting yarn up first. It is something to do with making a sandwich which you later cut open and scouring it with cut up orange bags. We were going to have a day doing it together this summer.

Tell the bees

I received some Scottish honey as a gift from Dancin' Fool, and the package contained this lovely piece of folk wisdom:

"Since ancient times, honey has been valuable to man. Such was the importance of this food, that when people learned how to keep bees in hives close to their homes, they sought to encourage them to stay, including them in their family by telling them any vital bits of domestic news, such as a new baby, a death or a marriage. Failure to pass on these messages would inevitably result in the bees becoming offended and flying off, thus depriving the family of one of nature's luxuries."

I liked this little story, and so I have decided to share with the bees the 10 highlights of my summer. This is also a way for me to reinforce the positive aspects of the summer, and create a happy memory of this time.

1. Exploring smugglers caves on the East Yorkshire coast and watching puffins fly overhead to and from their nesting places on the cliffs.

2. Playdates and daytrips with my little chap and his friends to Ashby Castle, Snibston discovery park, Tales of Robin Hood.

3. Watching little chap "drive" a tractor for the first time on his uncle's farm in Ireland.

4. Hearing of my step son's success in his GCSEs and knowing he can now go to college to do his chosen course.

5. Having picnic lunches in the garden under the apple tree with my little chap and taking it in turns to make up summer poems.

6. Watching little chap learn to ride his bike without his stabilisers, and then getting him a new bigger bike as a treat. Seeing his joy at this step in independence.

7. Feeling the love that my fella showed when he made a 200 mile round trip to be with me for an hour one evening when I had received bad news.

8. Being taken under the wing of the wife of one of our Irish cousins and having her take me out for a girly day.

9. "Being there" for my friend's family after their sudden bereavement, and showing them love and support.

10. Supporting two local 11 year old entrepreneurs who were offering a car wash and valeting service so that they could save up to attend a modellers' fare, and feeling impressed by their get up and go and determination.

On the craft side, I have almost completed the bag I am making for the Irish cousin's wife as a thankyou for the day out, I have also ordered some had spun and hand dyed silk yarn to make a scarf for a friend, and have begun a lacy mohair scarf for another of the Irish cousins to thank them for having us to stay. Pictures of these will follow soon.

I have also been tagged by Dancin' Fool, so I am about to follow that up and see what it involves.

It's good to blog again, I am glad I waited until it felt right.

The lost summer

My little chap has only one week of the summer holidays left. Where has the time gone?

When the summer began, I knew it would be difficult to post during July, and August, but I did not know how difficult it would become. This blog came very close to being a victim of the delete button, but kind comments and encouragement from family and friends near, far, and Internet enabled have meant that I have managed to find an ounce of resolve, and want to keep posting, sharing, and learning from others through the blogging channel.

There has been little craft done this summer, but this week I have progressed things a little, and hope to use these small accomplishments as a springboard to return to chronicling my dabblings and the wonderful talents of other people I happen across. So the latest FOs and UFOs and new projects include:

- 3 more little woolly hats for the Big Knit challenge;
- a length of rich felted "fabric" made from a previous knit that I had grown tired of and destined to become my autumn everyday bag;
- a promise to knit a bag for one of my Irish cousins-in-law who was kind enough to take me under her wing for a day on our recent holiday while the boys cooed over tractors and heavy plant and also went fishing;
- a very exciting project for winter scarf exchange with Katie from l'aubergine joyeuse.

No pictures as yet... but soon.

I think of Alice at every turn. She'd be smiling and would have lots of news to share. Little chap and I played with her lovely children in the park today.

And still it rained!

This is now our 8th week of rainy weather here... I know because we are going on holiday to Yorkshire on Saturday, and 7 weeks ago we we were having a wet time at the Lincolnshire coast after already having endured a wet week at home! So, you can imagine that packing is a conundrum: wellies and woollies or sunhat and suncream?


Last Saturday we had a wonderful time. Little chap was staying with his grandparents (an having a great time might I add. He could not wait to get rid of me!), and we saw an ad in the local paper for a show on at our local theatre... and so we went... and became acquainted with the Spooky Men...

In their own words:

" It is not possible to state when the existence of the Spooky Men first came to light . Early settlers in the Blue Mountains reported attacks on livestock and evidence of scats and the occasional pawprint. It is only in recent years that sceptics have been disabused of the notion that the Spooky Men's Chorale is the stuff of fanciful legend.


The Spooky Men come down from the Mountains like a wolf on the fold. Forged in the red-hot cauldron of Georgian table singing, where anvil strikes bread and like their brothers of old they raise the morning sun with uplifted arms, their ecumenical embrace now extends to songs Paulian and Johnian. They sing paeans in praise of hardware yet are unafraid to face the existential angst that stares up at them from the debris of breakfast. In confronting the big questions facing men today (are they not pretty enough?), the Spooky Men strike while the irony is hot."


They were brilliant! A 20 or so string band of Ozzy a cappella folk singers with the odd comical send up too! A great night out. You can hear some of their tracks on their website, and they are currently doing a UK tour - well worth trying to get along.


The stash busting continues, and the count of little woolly hats for the Big Knit challenge is growing. I have also made a neck warmer and 2 hats for the OCC boxes. I am pleased with this progress considering it is the school holidays. Today I took little chap to the park, and he has now mastered riding his bike including starting, stopping, turning corners, and rising at speed through muddy puddles! He is feeling very pleased with himself, and I am tempted to think that this milestone has been aided by a reverse Samson effect (i.e. I have cut off all his hair for a cooler, easier summertime coiffure).


I have packed some yarn to take on holiday, and my paper and pencils, and a good book. However usually there is no time left for any of those pursuits. We are looking forward to visiting Dracula's landing place in the UK, some Moorland walking ("stick to the paths"), proper fish and chips, and a trip over the Humber Bridge on the way. "See" you when we get back!

Stash Busting!

I am on a mission to deplete my stash by the end of this year! Now I have never heard anyone else say that, so I might now be evicted from the circle of knitters and crafters for such a piece of heresy.

Here is a picture of what is left of my stash after a couple of weeks of intense depletion. I have found all my odds and ends and unused skeins, and am completing planned projects (e.g. lace cowl) or am knitting little woolly hats for the Big Knit challenge, or am making hats, scarves and mittens for the parcels I am making for this year's Samaritans purse. Last year we had so much pleasure from knowing that our parcels would be opened by needy children on Christmas Day and that the contents would bring them a little happiness. This year, I am trying to make a boy and a girl parcel for each of the age ranges covered by Operation Christmas Child. It is humbling to think what simple items will be so appreciated: a notebook and pencils, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a soft toy or a ball.

Back to the stash bash, though. I intend to empty this basket completely so that I can start afresh. The only thing not included in this basket are packs of decorative threads for my sewing.

A similar fate awaits my pile of fabric too. Much will be destined to make toy sacks for our local toy library, although I also have an ambitious embroidery project on the back burner. I want to reclaim my work room, and have chance to think afresh what projects I want to tackle.

It was the first day of 6 weeks of the school summer holiday today. We made the most of it. Last night I made a chicken korma, and little chap and I played at Indian Restaurants with candles, popadoms and chutneys, the works... lots of fun, and reinforcing an adventurous eating habit with him. We are off to a friend's 60th birthday celebration meal next week, and it is at an Indian restaurant, so this little practice will come in very handy!

We have made a list of all the things we would like to do this holiday, and are going to have lots of fun from a train ride, to picking fruit, to camping in the back garden. I am really looking forward to it all.

Another hat

I have been busy knitting little woolly hats for the Big Knit challenge, and have also finished a full scale hat for myself. This is a felted cloche hat from a kit given to me by Monica as part of SP10. I'm really pleased with it... the colour, the shape and the overall amount of felting (quite lightly felted). Given the refusal of the British summer to arrive, I am looking forward to taking this on my holiday to Whitby in a couple of weeks.

In other parts of life... little chap has been in his first school play! He was a wiggly bee, with a very cute group song and dance routine. I have the play on video, so family members who read this can look forward to seeing the performance soon. He was very proud of his role and took it all very seriously. It was part of a key stage one (important newish UK teaching milestone) celebration day and the tone of the day was very nice. 3 years' pupils took part in the play (reception, year 1 and year 2) with the older pupils having the speaking parts and the younger ones singing, dancing and playing instruments. The play was called Honey and is about the workings of a hive, so it was educational too. I am very pleased that our school encourages all areas of development - there are lots of good lessons to be learned from working together to perform a play. This week the older years (key stage 2) do their play, including a performance to the senior citizens of the town who visit from a couple of the local day centres and care homes - so there is important community involvement too.

The school summer holidays start on Friday, so I am aware that my time for crafts and blogging might be hard to find for the next few weeks. Little chap and I have made a list of summer holiday activities we want to do, this includes learning a song on the recorder so that we can perform it by the end of the summer. Little chap is keen on putting on a "concert" for his Dad! I ordered a couple of recorders from Amazon, and was amazed to find they still sell the recorder book that I learned from at school back in 1972!!!!! I don't imagine we will set our sights much higher than twinkle twinkle little star, but I think it will be a good summer holiday achievement.

I have also finished sanding down the old oak stairs in our house, ready for the arrival of my newly ordered handwoven jute stair runner, which should come around the end of the month. The hall redecoration is now on the home stretch with the stairs sorted (pending fitting) and new (low energy) light fittings ordered. We have also hung or recently acquired collection of mirrors, and this weekend will also rehang other decorative pieces such as my collection of fish plates.

As I don't imagine I will get much painting done over the summer, I decided to unearth an old hobby and gave my clarinet an airing this morning. It took a while to get to grips with it again, and an effective and reliable embroucher still evades me, so I am prone to the odd ear piercing squeak. I have found a local teacher, however, so I shall enquire about some lessons for September time. A neighbour of mine plays the saxophone, and I hear him practising as I walk back from dropping little chap at school. At present he is trying to master Habanero, so as you can imagine, it puts a spring in my step!

I have just been given a leaflet for the knitting and stitching show at the NEC in September. I am very tempted to try to go. I'll look into it a bit more.

And the winner is...

Thanks to everyone who entered my recent competition (Can you guess what it is yet - June 2007) to guess what my two boys bought their Dad for Father's Day.

The answer is that it is a a digital wireless rain gauge... so as a slightly nerdy family we can monitor the daily rainfall from the dry comfort of our kitchen! It has provided hours (well actually millimetres) of fun so far. Let me know if you want the monthly UK fall from now on! In fact I might just post it anyway!

The winner is Debbie - who concluded that it was a rocket launcher - congratulations! You made me laugh even though it was way off target.

A picture of the knitted flower brooch (pin) that I am sending to Debbie for her prize will follow.

Thanks also to Sun Pat for your suggestion - I couldn't quite see how the antenna fitted in, though. If you would care to elaborate on your answer to include this functionality, then I might stretch to a runner's up prize too!

Raw 'n Pure

This is the name of the new organic box scheme which operates locally, and which I used for the first time yesterday. There have been other box schemes here, but one stopped because it became too popular (a weird kind of irony there) and others, in my opinion deliver from too far away, and so lose points on the eco front.

This one (Raw n Pure) are about 7 miles away, and is run by two very nice women. I had a veg "surprise me" box, and a fruit "surprise me" box. This gives you the best value selection of seasonal and available products with a guarantee that there will be at least 5 items in each. This cost me £10 plus £1 for delivery. Very good value I think. Feast your eye on this....

I also finished the felted bag I was making from yarn sent me by my secret pal. It has turned out a lot hairier than I thought, but it's just the right size to carry my keys and phone when I go to pick my chap up from school. The rosette, and embellishment at the top is made using sari ribbon. I am pleased with it.

I have also cast on the stitches and knitted about 2" of the felted hat kit (colourway: seabreeze and blush). Pictures of that next time. I am using the Denise needle set. They were odd at first - the plastic of the needles takes a bit of getting used to (they are very slippery), as does the very small length of needle, and the long length of interconnecting cord, but I am getting there now. I had to unpick it the first time, as I twisted it when I joined it into the round, so I had a nice Moebius strip of a hat developing. That would have been fun! Thankfully I caught it before I had got too far.

The Big Knit

My new Denise Interchangeable needles arrived this morning - but more on that in another post. What also came in the parcel was a leaflet about Innocent's Big Knit Challenge. They are asking people to knit lots of little woolly hats for their smoothie bottles. These will then go into shops, and for everyone sold 50p will be donated to Age Concern. Last winter 25000 older people dies of cold related illnesses in the UK. Age Concern will use the money raised to provide support to older people including hot meals, blankets and advice on how to keep their houses warm.

Last year 230,000 hats were knitted and £115,000 was raised.

Please join in this fun and worthwhile campaign. There is further information at www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/thebigknit.

When you have made your hats send them to "Little Knitted Wooly Hats" Fruit Towers, 1 The Goldhawk Estate, London W60BA, with a note on the envelope saying how many hats are inside.

Rowan have kindly provided 3 patterns to get people started...

Felted Goodies

On Friday I received another package from my secret pal, Monika. This ticks lots of boxes for me: hats, handbags, and felting courtesy of pick up sticks. Take a look at this:

There is enough yarn to make a child or adult version of the hat, and I am going to claim his one for myself.

I love this bag, and have just knitted my first I-cord, so am looking forward to applying this technique to the decoration of the bag.

Thank you, Monika - you certainly know how to spoil someone, and I have been amazed at your great choices, all of which I have enjoyed.

I have also ordered myself a set of Denise interchangeable needles from I Knit (great site with a fun blog), so that I can do larger projects in the round.

I have a whole range of projects on the go at the moment (bag, cushion, rosettes, collar, cards), all close to completion, so should have some FOs to post soon. It has been a mad couple of weeks, though. My little chap finishes the reception year at school on 3 weeks, and so the school is preparing them for moving up to Year 1, and all the independence and responsibility that involves. They now gather and line up in the big playground with the other children, and are led in by their teacher. Up to now the parents have gone in with them and helped them hang up their coats, find their name tags for self registration, and hand in homework/money for events/letters from home etc. Now we have to let them go on their own, with reminders such as "don't forget your reading pack is in your bag" ringing in their ears. The children are all ready for it, I think this period of adjustment is more for the parents!

I also have to complete a lot of applications for funding for our playground project as part of my PTA duties. We have raised £4,500 this year, and our target is £10,000. This will be used to regenerate the school playgrounds following major building work in the school. It will be used to buy shelters, seating, playground and sports court markings, play and sports equipment and storage. We are going to need to do a lot of fund raising activities next school year. It's quite a daunting prospect, but we'll get there.

I haven't managed to do any painting for 2 weeks, but hope to be able to find some time for that today as well.

Catch up

Sometimes you just have to wait until the time feels right to do something... and that has been the case with blogging, knitting and painting the last couple of weeks. However, last night I got the needles going again...

I have finished the socks (yes both of them!). I won't post a picture as there have been many pics of yarn and progress in recent posts.

I have also wound the Noro yarn I bought with the gift voucher from my secret pal, and have started knitting with it... it is a beautiful mix of colours, and works up nicely in this broken rib pattern. I can't say what I am making as it is going to be a gift for someone.

I frogged the black felted bag I was making. I ran out of wool for the pattern I was working to (which was going to have an eyelet design along the top threaded with sari ribbon), and am now going to do something smaller, and perhaps beaded. (I have a lovely stash of assorted beads, and have to confess that I have just ordered a whole pile more from Jilly Beads). I have also been making various brooches and charms... many of which are destined to find their way into Christmas presents (yes, I said the "C" word, but sorry, I am notoriously early in planning!). It is not too clear in the picture, but the bottom one is a beautiful set of tiny Russian Doll beads.

I have made a rosette from the sari ribbon, which I intend to embellish with some beads, and actually, I really like it made into these small items, so I might well make some more for brooches and pins).

I have also been butchering my wardrobe, and cut up a dress bought years ago to make a nice summer skirt. I loved the fabric but the shape of the dress was rather unflattering. Actually, I have just noticed that the fabric is very similar to the wallpaper we have recently put up in our hall, so I had better not stand around in our hallway too much when wearing this skirt!. I just cut it shorter, elasticated the waist (nothing fancy), and think it will look nice worn with a wide belt. I have kept the top part of the dress as well, and think I might just about manage to turn it into a top to wear with jeans. (So thrifty!)

I also drastically shortened a long line tweedy skirt that my husband finally admitted he hated. I zigzagged the bottom and was going to turn a hem, but I noticed the zigzag has made the hem nicely fluted. So I am going to keep it with this rather raw finish. I made a contrast tweed flower to put on it, and reckon it might just see me through this summer.

This wardrobe refashioning has been inspired by the fact that I have managed to lose a bit of weight over the past couple of weeks. I have set myself a target to regain my ideal weight (according to the WHO BMI) before my 40th birthday, it's a bigger target than I have wanted to admit.

Not a case of SSS (single sock syndrome) I promise!

Hey!!! The 1st sock from the lovely soya yarn that my secret pal sent me has been completed and the second one is underway.

I had a lot of fun with this... the yarn is lovely to work with and is very springy when knitted up. I really enjoyed the pattern, I love the way all the decreases work - it's a beautiful kind of symmetry and just so magical when it all comes together. I was pleased with my work... only one small error (that I know of) which happened when I was picking up stitches along the edge for the instep.

Thank you again secret pal!

No will power!

Having said I would save the socks for a holiday project, I just could not resist starting them last night. The yarn is knitting up really nicely, and it only took me a couple of rows to get used to knitting in the round. Everything people say about wooden needles is true! These Brittany needles are lovely to work with. I am hopeful of a completed sock by the end of the weekend, and a completed pair by the end of my holiday.

In the picture you will also see a knitter's charm sent to me by Dancin' Fool (thank you again). It's a keyring, but I am using it as a stitch marker at the moment. It is a very sweet little jumper on a pair of knitting needles.

I still have news from the girlfriend's visit to share, but it is going to have to wait another day or so.

Sock it to me!

Just look at this! This morning my secret pal pulled another of her wonderful tricks out of the bag... I got a fabulous sock knitting package through the post.

It contains 2 balls of yarn made from soy fibre, some beautiful wooden needles (1st I have owned) and a pattern for "beginner socks". The yarn is in beautiful soft colours of green, pink, brown and yellow and is really soft and springy. It's a knitted fibre itself, and I am really looking forward to trying it out.

I have read through the pattern, and it all seems clear enough, although turning the heel is a little daunting. I am tempted to dive in and get started on this project right away, but then again, it is just 10 days until I go on holiday, and I think this might be a nice project to take away with me.

Thank you secret pal... this is a fabulous surprise, and has really made my day.

Flotsam and Jetsam

This will be a mixed bag, indeed! For the last week or so I have felt as if my life has been tossed onto the sea and has been washed hither and thither. There is a lot to catch up on, but it has no coherent pattern and follows no particular direction. Apologies in advance!

Firstly, thanks to my fabulous sister for her great encouragement over recent weeks, and then welcome home to my Mum and Dad from their travels. I look forward to hearing more of your trip.

My last post said that I had been having trouble with my art class and felt as though I had lost direction. I made the suggestion that I would sketch every day to build up the hours, and get "back into the groove" (please don't let that conjure up images of Madonna!).

I did do a few sketches. Only 2 of which I am prepared to share. I was pleased to try branching out into a more sketchy style and try to draw people. Not something I have done before, but I am seriously thinking of signing up to a full day life class in the autumn, so wanted to give it a go.

I have to say that these were drawn from photos, not from real life, but given aside the questionable facial attractiveness of each, I am quite pleased...


and I actually think that some adjustment to the left eye of this chap would yield significant improvement...




And here is my woodland scene painted "in the field" at last week's class. I did not really feel that I caught the essence of the view, but for a first watercolour outside from natural surroundings, it was just about OK.



Next is the lovely sampler band I am knitting from one of the yarns my Secret Pal enabled me to get with her thoughtful gift voucher for my LYS. I love this mix, and am knitting a 30 st wide strip to form an appliqued band to a chocolate brown cushion cover to complement my newly decorated hallway.



It has been so much fun to knit a small amount of so many different yarns. I had trouble with the tasselled yarn - I was not sure how much to force the tassells to lay in front or whether to knit them in with the background yarn. I think I made the right decision in having them all lay forward. You can't see it, but I have 7 different bands so far, and another 5 (I think) still on the ball.

Now onto the promised pictures of the finished shrug. I am very pleased with the garment, which is warm but not at all bulky or restrictive. The photos are severely limited by the fact that I had to model the item... sorry for more visual information than was absolutely necessary!

Finally, we are tackling our eco conscience a the moment. We have replaced many of our bulbs with low energy ones. We are still left wth those where the lamp fittings won't accept a low energy bulb, those on dimmer switches and those we need to use with timers. But any such step must be a good one I think.

We are enquiring about changing our ancient gas boiler for a biomass boiler (wood pellet or wood chip) but it is a difficult area to get going in. I have called three companies today and not really had the response I wanted... i.e. I want a surveyor round here to tell us about the practical options for siting, installing and fuelling one in our house. I have also found out today about carbon rationing and amthinking about signing up for our local Carbon Rationing Action Group (CRAG).

We also had elder son's girlfiend to saty for the weekend ("meet the parents"!). But moe of that will have to wait...

Just like Christmas!

At breakfast time this morning, there was a knock at the door, and on my doorstep stood a courier holding out a parcel...



"How exciting!" I thought, "I wonder what it can be." The postal label gave me a clue...



My little chap was keen to share in the excitement, and gave me a hand to open the parcel.



And inside we found a whole host of wonderful goodies:



My wonderful secret pal had worked her magic again, with special treats for both me and my boy. Starting with the yarn, I found two skeins of this wonderful Ironstone "Mesa" wool. "Bright colours mixed in interesting ways" my Sp10 questionnaire said, and this fits the bill beautifully. It is already on my needles and is destined to become a spring/summer shrug so that I can wear these bright and cheery colours. There was also a replica vintage pendant yarn cutter in brass, and a wooden thimble with a flower design and the word "Texas" on it. Both of these will be very useful items. The yarn cutter in particular is practical and unusual.



There were some lavender organic bath products. I have a thing for proper hand made soap... it smells and feels great.

There was also a small box decorated with a kimono, which is now in my sewing and painting room, and will hold all sorts of little treasures and keep them close to hand. A woolly sheep which made me smile, and is very appropriate for where I live, and a hand made zipped pocket which now houses my small collection of crochet hooks.

Finally there was some polka dot "sidewalk chalk" and "Incredibles" action figures for the little chap.


He, needless to say, was delighted...

Thank you, secret pal, for spoiling us both so generously and thoughtfully! I shall keep you posted on progress with the Ironstone yarn. Those colours are wonderful.

Easter progress

Well, the cotton shawl is complete as far as the knitting goes, there are just the beads to add. I knitted it on 7mm needles this time and used 100g of cotton, but it still was not as large as I had imagined it would be. I have also found out how unforgiving cotton can be. I always thought my tension was very even, but you can see every slight irregularity in the shawl, although maybe this will settle down when I was it. I'll post a picture when the beads have been added.

Tonight I started knitting a handbag which I am going to felt. I have made a row of eyelets at the top of the side, and through this I will thread the Louisa Harding sari ribbon as embellishment... in fact, here we go, let's thread some through now to see what it looks like. I am not sure I should felt it with the ribbon in, though, so I will need some thick cord to keep the eyelets open during felting. I am pleased with the idea for this bag, and also very pleased to be using some of the yarn I got from my secret pal (by means of the gift voucher).




As well as the knitting, I am considering trying to alter a couple of old dresses of mine and turning them into skirts. I'm battling with how to do the waistband for them. My Mum gave me some dressmaking books, so I shall have to see what advice they contain on this matter. I am going to try out the process on the dress with the most forgiving fabric!

I have been spending some very enjoyable time researching yarns for the next package I send to my secret pal. I know she would appreciate yarns that are specific to the UK, and therefore that she is unlikely to be able to get herself. I have found some lovely alpaca from a UK herd! And also some hand dyed silk and a silk/wool mix produced locally(ish). It's a wonderfully guilt free way to purchase exciting yarns (i.e. for someone else)!

Little chap and I did our trial run at camping last night. We set up the tent in the garden, had a sausage and beans camp tea outside, then turned in and listed to the radio and told stories until it got dark. It all went well. He slept through, and I managed about 2 hours sleep due to louder than usual traffic noise, falling temperatures (5 degrees... brrr...) and having to check on the little fella every 15 minutes to make sure he was still in his sleeping bag and not too cold. Anyway at 6:00am this morning we decided to come indoors to defrost! But I am pleased we did it, and I now feel happy about the idea of taking him camping for real later in the year.

While we were decamping, we also noticed that our blackbird chicks have hatched (lots of chirping noises coming from the nest over the kitchen window). This is both a matter of delight and trepidation for me, given the saga of the prematurely fledged chicks last summer. I shall be keeping a keen eye on the matter.

So it has been a busy few days, but it has been so good to have my chap at home. I shall find it a wrench to take him back to school next week.

Easter fun...

I promised to explain a bit more about the yarn I showed in my last post... My fabulous secret pal found out which was my local yarn shop and arranged for a gift voucher to be sent to me so that I could start off my secret pal experience with my own choice of yarns. That in itself is lovely, but the extra effort that she went to in order to contact a UK shop from the US, explain all about secret pal, and get them to post out a voucher to me makes the surprise all the more wonderful.

The postman delivered the voucher at 12:30pm on Thursday, and by 1:00pm I was in the shop and making my choices. I got some Noro blossom (destined to be a very fancy and luxurious wool and silk scarf), some Louisa Harding sari ribbon (to use as an embellishment for a felted bag I am making) and some fabulously crazy yarn called Filorosa, which is hand knotted lengths of all sorts of textured yarns built up into a mad colour themed ball of loveliness which I think I am going to make into an eye catching, heart stopping cushion cover.

I have also been making another shawl. I mentioned that the one I did in Rowan kidsilk haze turned out smaller than I expected, and when I am honest it is more scarf size than shawl size. So I have started another one in some lovely cotton that my Mum bought me. I have not knitted in cotton before. It is lovely to work with, it glides on the needles. It's a simple pattern, but the slight sheen in the cotton makes the item look more interesting, I am also planning to edge it with some lovely glass millefeuille beads.

As soon as the shawl is finished (hopefully by Monday) I shall start on either the felted bag with sari ribbon embellishment, or the cushion cover which is destined for our newly decorated hallway.

My yarn basket now overfloweth with good things!