Snipsnaphappy

Throw Cushion (or pillow) Tutorial

2012-02-10T10:38:00.000Z

I wanted to share with you my instructions for making a small throw cushion (or pillow)...

Cute isn't it? I have quite a stash of interesting fabric and this chicken one I bought over a year ago as a fat quarter on eBay. I bought it with my sister in mind - she keeps ex-battery hens and is a bit of a sandal-wearing-animal-loving-vegan geek (except with fabulous shoes instead of sandals) so I knew she would love it....I just had to think of what to actually make with it.

Then I came across some dinky little cushion pads and I knew then that the chicken fabric would become a cushion! I knew I wanted the print to be the central motif with a border around it in a kind of spiral. It took me aaaaages to work out how to do this, I am sure there must be an easier more professional way out there, but the way I worked out is actually pretty simple.

This is a really simple little tutorial, even if you are new to sewing. It is small at only 30x30cm and there are no tricky zips or buttons to contend with :)

So, here we go...

Throw Cushion Tutorial

You will need:

1 cushion pad measuring 30cm x 30cm (mine is from Dunelm Mill)
1 piece of your feature fabric measuring 13cm x 13cm (mine is the chicken fabric)
4 pieces of your border fabric, each measuring 22cm x 10cm (mine is the blue gingham, which is organic cotton and bought here)
2 pieces of your backing fabric, one measuring 18cm x 31cm and the other measuring 23cm x 31cm (mine is the white fabric, also organic cotton from the same place as before)
Thread, scissors, pins and sewing machine (or just a sewing needle of course!)

Start off by cutting out all your pieces and ironing them...

Just a note - I wanted to make sure my chicken print was nice and central. I did this by cutting out a 13cm x 13cm square from a clean sandwich bag. I then placed this over the print so I could make sure it sat in the correct place, marked the corners then drew the lines with tailor's chalk before cutting out with a rotary cutter. It worked for me!

So now let's assemble the front of the cushion. Your pieces will be laid out like this together...

I have numbered the pieces so you can see clearly which piece is which as we continue along.

Take Piece 1 and pin it (right sides together) to the right side of your feature piece...

Now sew from the top to about two thirds of the way down your feature piece...

You will want to have sewed about the same as I've marked below...

Now iron it all nice and flat...

Next take Piece 2 and pin it right sides together along the top of your feature piece and Piece 1...

Now sew it all the way along, then iron it nice and flat...

Make sure you give both sides a good flattening!

Take Piece 3 and pin it right sides together along the left side of your feature fabric and Piece 2...

Sew all the way along then...yup you've guessed it...give everything a really good iron...

Take Piece 4 and pin it right sides together along the bottom of your feature fabric and Piece 3. Make sure you move the unsewn part of Piece 1 out the way while you do this...

Now sew all the way along as before making sure that unsewn bit of Piece 1 is out of the way. Then give everything a good iron.

Your front piece now looks like this with all the parts sewn together apart from that one flappy bit that we left unsewn on Piece 1...

Now for the tricky bit! Though to be honest it really isn't all that tricky: Fold Piece 1 back over so it sits right sides together against your feature fabric and Piece 4. Line up the edges and pin it all together. Make sure it's all neat and flat...

Now start sewing from where you left off earlier and all the way to the end to fully attach Piece 1. Then give everything one final good iron...

If you have managed to sew everything pretty accurately it should all have worked out rather nicely and look something like this!..

Trust me if I can do this anyone can, I am the least accurate seamstress EVER! It does help of course that I am using gingham fabric as it does wonders for helping you to sew in straight lines :)

Ok. that's the hardest work done! Time to whip up the two back pieces. Take one piece and fold one long edge (the 31cm edge) over by 1cm and iron it down...

Then turn it over another 1cm (to hide the raw edge)...

Then iron like crazy! Use steam if you can, you want to get a good crisp fold...

I usually pop a couple of hefty books on top after I've ironed and whilst the fabric is still warm, just for a few minutes, it helps the fold stay flat as it cools.

Now you need to sew the fold in place. How you do this is up to you - I am using matching white thread to sew one long straight line, but you could use a contrasting thread and sew two parallel lines, or a wavy line even, if you want it to be more decorative...

Now to the same thing to the other back piece...

Now take one on your back pieces (doesn't really matter which one) and pin it right sides together on top of your completed front piece. Line up the long raw edge with the bottom of the front piece...

Now take your second back piece and place it right side down on top of both the front piece and the back piece you already pinned. Line up the long raw edge with the top of the front piece, the two back pieces should overlap...

Now sew all around on every side (no need to leave a gap for turning as we will use the envelope opening). Then carefully snip little cuts into the seam allowance at the corners to reduce bulk...

Now turn it right side out through the envelope opening at the back...

Use your finger, or a blunt object like the end of a pencil, to push out the corners fully. Then stuff your cushion pad in through the envelope opening...

Now give it all a good pooph about and a shake to get it all fitting into the corners and sitting nicely and...

Ta da! Stand back and admire your hard work! How easy was that? So easy in fact why not do what I did and make two!..

This really is a simple little cushion cover to make, you could do one in a couple of hours at most. Give it a try!

And now I will reveal how difficult it is to photograph the finished articles with a 1-year-old minibeast running about the place...

Particularly when that minibeast prefers to use the cushions as a bed for her baby doll...

Enjoy making your own cushion! And don't forget to let me know how you get on!

Creative Stitches

2012-02-07T13:43:00.000Z

Well my stint in the "Knitting Lounge" at the Bluewater Creative Stitches show was great fun. I got to meet some very interesting people, see some very interesting exhibits and convert some non-crocheters to wannabe-crocheters!

There were lots of things to see but my favourite, and Lillia's, was All 2 Knit's "Above and Below the Waves" exhibit - a cave full of wonderous knitted sea creatures, surrounded by knitted cliffs, pirates, coves, beaches and treasure...

The photos were taken on my iPhone so but I think still give a good idea of how fabulous this was!

My legs and feet were killing after five hours of preaching crochet but it was worth it :) I managed to teach a couple of people about the basics of crochet, I may have scared a few people too, and one textiles student was delighted to discover you could make a lace-like creation using crochet thread and a very small hook. My sister even dropped by and learnt how to knit at the "knitting tree"...

Erika Knight was running the stall as well as selling some of her yarn and exhibiting in the fashion show.

I hadn't heard of Erika before (though goodness knows how, she has over 300 designs on Ravelry!) but absolutely loved her yarn (which led to me accidentally spending my money...) and also her pattern that I was working on throughout the afternoon. When I got home I decided to raid my bag of leftover yarn and work up a long scarf using her "Edgy Scarf" pattern...

I used mainly yarn leftover from my Colour Bar Blanket as I love the earthy colours and tones.

I added in a little pink for a spring feel too.

The pattern is fun to do, those popcorn stitches are extremely satisfying to make and are so tactile. I am planning on making it extra long so I can wrap it around and around!

All in all a lovely weekend! This week so far is proving to be a difficult one - nothing serious, just sickly children and lots of doctor and dentist appointments to deal with. Roll on next weekend!!

xx

PS - another tutorial is in the making from me this week...! What could it be....

Basic Crochet Tutorial

2012-02-02T09:01:00.000Z

On 4th February I am going to be a volunteer Crochet teacher at the Bluewater Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft Show at Bluewater in Kent! Eep!

I am very excited, but a tad nervous. I taught myself to crochet and I am pretty confident with a hook, but I am not particularly confident in general. In preparation I've been writing some tutorials to get me into the teaching zone, I was rather pleased with how my Basic Crochet Tutorial came out (published as a set on Flickr) so I've decided to share it here too!

This tutorial shows you how to crochet a this very basic little rectangle using two crochet stitches - the single crochet stitch and the double crochet stitch. You could use this just for practice then rip it out afterwards and move on, or you could just keep going and make a nice long (if very narrow!) scarf :)

So are you ready to learn a few crochet basics? Lets get started…

You will need:

Yarn
A crochet hook

Which weight of yarn and size of hook doesn’t matter as long as you are using the hook suitable for the yarn.I am using DK (double knit) yarn with a 4mm hook.If you look on the label of your yarn it will tell you the best size of hook (or knitting needle) to use, this isn’t set in stone of course but it’s a good guide.

Please note: I am right handed so these instructions are for a right handed person. If you are left handed just reverse everything – hold your yarn and work in your right hand and imagine my pictures in mirror image!

Also, I use American crochet terms as that is how I learned and it makes more sense to me. You can find a conversion for American terms to English terms here if you want.

Every crochet project will start with a chain (ok, not strictly true, some will start with a magic ring, but we’ll look at those another day…) I like to think of crochet chains as bricks and ladders – you use them as the foundation for your work, and you also use them to climb up from row to row. So for our rectangle we are going to start with a chain of 11.

Start by making a slip knot (1)…

(1)

(If you don't know how to make a slip knot there are loads of tutorials on YouTube!)

Hold the knot in your left hand and insert your hook into the loop and hook the yarn over your hook (2), and pull it through (3)…

(2)

(3)

You’ve made your first chain!

Now we need to make 10 more. Holding your yarn and your work in your left hand, continue to yarn over your hook again and pull it through the loop on your hook (4)…

(4)

If you lose count here’s how to count the chains you have already made: Look at your chains – they look like little “V”s, I have drawn a diagram below along side the chain, do you see how there are little V shapes of yarn, each one emerging from the the one before? Each V is one chain. So in this picture (5) I have five chains…

(5)

See? (Don’t count the loop hanging on your hook.)

If you flip your chain over you will see a row of little bumps (6)…

(6)

So now you have made your 11 chains!

They look like a neat (or maybe slightly messy but that’s ok) row of“V”s (7)…

(7)

Are you wondering why we have made 11 chains and not a nice even 10? Well, it is because our rectangle is going to be a nice even 10 stitches wide but in order to crochet our first row we use 1 chain to “climb” up. So the first chain from your hook (8) is your ladder, the second chain from your hook (8) is the foundation “brick” for your first stitch.

(8)

Hold your yarn and your work in your left hand (with the Vs on the top and the bumps underneath), skip the first chain from the hook (your ladder!) and insert your hook under the two branches of the V of the second chain (your brick) (9), make sure it slides between the V and the bump underneath (10)...

(9)

(10)

Now, yarn over and pull your yarn back through (11)…

(11)

You now have two loops on your hook (12)…

(12)

Now, yarn over again and pull the yarn through both loops on your hook (13 and 14)…

(13)

(14)

You have just made your first Single Crochet (sc) stitch (15)!

(15)

Now, we are going to move along the rest of your chain and make a Single Crochet (SC) stitch into each one, this can be a bit tricky to get the hang of but persevere, even the most experienced of crocheters still get frustrated with working into the chain, it can be rather fiddly and the cause of much swearing under your breath.

Insert your hook into the next V, remembering to make sure that the bump on the underside is underneath your hook and that both branches of the V are above your hook…repeat steps 9-15 and voila! Another Single Crochet (sc) stitch! Now repeat this process all the way to the last chain.

You now want to check you have done it properly and made the right number of stitches, luckily the top of your stitches also have the same “V” formation that your chains did.

So you just have to count your Vs (16)…

(16)

You should have a row of 10. If you have less you have somehow skipped a chain, if you have more you have somehow worked two or more stitches into the same chain. Just undo your work and start again, it takes a bit of practice at first.

When you have 10 stitches it is time to climb up and do another row! We need to make another chain to be our ladder up to the start of the next row: yarn over and pull it through the loop already on your hook (17 and 18)...

(17)

(18)

You now have a chain (19)...

(19)

Next you make your first single crochet stitch in Row 2, skip the chain you just made (this is your ladder) and work into the first SC in this row (it will be the last SC you made in Row 1) This picture shows which SC you are aiming for (20)...

(20)

Make sure you insert your hook underneath the two branches of the V (21), you don't need to worry about that annoying "bump" like you did working into the previous foundation chain so it's much easier from here on!

(21)

Yarn over and pull through - two loops on your hook (22)...

(22)

Yarn over and pull through both loops (23 and 24)...

(23)

(24)

You have made the first SC in the second row! Now keep going until you get to the end of your row.

When you are starting out it can be tricky to work out which is the final stitch of the row (25). Just look for those tell-tale Vs (26)...

(25)

(26)

Ta dah! You have now made two rows of SC! If you lay your work flat you will see the ten little bumps from the foundation chain right at the bottom (27)...

(27)

Shall we move on to Row 3? Right...Yarn over and pull through the loop on your hook to make a chain (28 and 29)...

(28)

(29)

Now repeat steps 21 -24 to make each SC along this row.

Next we are going to change colour! This is very simple - when you have made your last SC in Row 3 tie your new colour around your working yarn as close as humanly possible to your work (30). Tie it tight! Now snip your blue yarn and start working with your green yarn as if nothing happened :)

(30)

Yarn over with your green yarn and pull through the loop (blue) on your hook (31 and 32)...

(31)

(32)

Now repeat steps 21-24 to make SCs all along Row 4. Then do another 2 rows of SC - remembering to create a chain stitch to "climb" up to each new row.

I then changed colour again and made a 7th row of SC in pink! (33)...

(33)

So by now you will hopefully be all over the SC like a rash. Are you ready to conquer something new? Shall we do a row of double crochet (DC)? Ok then!

The double crochet stitch is taller than the SC. So we're going to need a bigger ladder: instead of one chain we need to make 2 chains. After making the last SC in Row 7 - yarn over, pull through the loop on your hook, then yarn over the pull through again (34)...

(34)

You have two chains. To make your first DC skip the two chains (marked 1st and 2nd) and also skip the first SC in Row 7, so you will be aiming for the 4th V from the hook (35)...

(35)

To make a double crochet stitch yarn over FIRST, then insert your hook into the SECOND SC (36) in Row 7 (the 4th V from your hook)

(36)

Yarn over again and pull through. You now have 3 loops on your hook (37)...

(37)

Yarn over and pull through the first TWO loops only. You should now have 2 loops on your hook (38)...

(38)

Yarn over again and pull through the remaining 2 loops on your hook. One DC stitch completed! This photo shows the starting chain of 2 (on the right) and the first DC stich (39)...

(39)

Repeat steps 36-39 all the way along to the end. You should now have ten DCs (40)...

(40)

This picture (41)shows the 10 DCs with the starting chain of 2 on the right...

(41)

Ok. For Row 9 we will repeat steps17-24 to make a row of SC into the top of your Row 8 row of DC.

After you have made 9 SC you may well find yourself a bit stuck. Where is the top of the DC stitch? That nice V to work your 10th SC into? Well, think back to the beginning of Row 8 - remember that starting chain of 2? Well that chain of 2 is cheekily acting as a DC stitch! I am pointing to that cheeky chain of 2 with my pen, it can't hide (42)!

(42)

Here's that pesky chain of 2 seen from the side. Can you see the top V of the 2nd chain where I've marked it out in white (43)?

(43)

Insert your hook under the two branches of the V of that top chain. Make sure the "bump" of this chain in under your hook. This can be fiddly to do, especially if the chain is quite tight. Persevere! Wriggle your hook about a bit...have a cup of tea...wriggle a bit more...

When you have your hook inserted in the right place (44) then make your 10th SC to complete Row 9.

(44)

My pen here is pointing to where I have made my SC into the top of the starting chain (45). You can't really tell can you? The starting chain is doing a very good job of acting as a DC :)

(45)

For my practice rectangle I made another 3 rows of SC in green and another 3 rows of SC in blue. You can do this too, or stop sooner, or keep going and going until you have made a long very narrow scarf! Either way, you will need to finish off your work of art so it doesn't unravel. To finish off: work the last stitch in your row then yarn over (46)...

(46)

...pull through the loop on your hook (47)...

(47)

...snip the yarn and pull it all the way through and out (48 and 49)...

(48)

(49)

It's a bit messy (50)! You need to weave in those ends...

(50)

...weave the tail ends into the corresponding colour using a yarn needle (51)...

(51)

Snip the tail ends off (52)...

(52)

Yeah! You did it! A little colourful rectangle of crochet!

You could always now just sit and admire your handiwork and marvel at your own cleverness...or you could find a good use for it. Mine has been stolen for a family of rabbits :)

I hope this little tutorial helps you on your way to starting crochet - you won't regret it! If I have made any glaring errors, or if you have any questions, please do get in touch via email or comments.

Ali
xx

Making Time to Make it: Dolly the Dachshund

2012-01-30T11:45:00.003Z

I was having a tea-break at work and reading through some of my favourite blogs when I came across Gretchen's new pattern for Dolly the Dachshund. I knew right then that Dolly would have to be my Making Time to Make it project for this month! I decided there and then to make Dolly that very evening.

And here she is...

Isn't she lovely?

She has been stolen already of course. Anything soft and cute in this house seems to end up in Lillia's nest. Here's Dolly being held in a pair of very chocolatey sticky hands (post chocolate krispie cake making!)

Of course another was requested. In bright pink naturally. So now Dolly #1 has a new friend in Dolly #2...

This is such a cute pattern, thanks Gretchen!

What are you making time to make this month?

x

Looking back at 2011

2012-01-26T11:17:00.001Z

Morning all!

Well most of the swap information has now been sent out, if you are still waiting for details of your spoilee do not fear, I will hopefully have all the emails sent out by tonight :) I am very much looking forward to this little early 2012 swap!

Speaking of it being 2012 and a new year....I've been looking back over my Flickr and, inspired by Attic24's beautiful mosaic summaries of her year I have created a couple of little photo mosaics to summarise my year here on snipsnaphappy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In the first part of the year I was very much in the midst of Baby Days - lots of lounging around in pyjamas, playing with rattles and feeding. I started the Big Happy blanket in January as a way of crocheting through my post-natal depression...and by March I was back into full creating mode! We had a lovely hot spell in April when the sun shone plenty and we were able to get out into the garden and admire the flowers...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As we approached Summer I enjoyed time with my girls and grabbed the change to try some more arigurumi along the way. I finally wrote a pattern for covering a touch screen iPod (still to be written up and shared here...soon...very soon!) We enjoyed yet more sunshine and I finally made a Mei Tai baby carrier!...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We spent a wonderful summer week on holiday in the beautiful Kent countryside, the skies were blue the entire week...2011 was quite a sunshiney year all in all. I tried my hand at more arigurumi and was delighted with my alien-like "Horge" creature! I made arm-warmers out of tiny alpaca wool granny squares, and crocheted a doormat of all things....

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Heading into the final part of the year I had a sudden spell in hospital :( But at least it gave me the opportunity to start on the latest Happy Hooker Backwards project and Topsy was born! I also tried my hand at colourwork for the first time. Spurred on my successful attempts at arigurumi throughour the year I created Alien from my own pattern. We celebrated our 8 year anniversary and Phoebe's 1st birthday and before we knew it winter was upon us and we waved farewell to 2011!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It's a funny old lark this blogging thing isn't it? Would you believe I have been writing this blog now for three years? I started on 21st December 2008...wow. That's a lot of rambling, a lot of photos, a lot of crochet, a lot of crafting and cake. I often ponder on whether I should continue to do it - it takes a bit of time as you know, and with two girls, a long commute, a full-on job and the school run to contend with do I really need another pressure on my time?

Well, yes. My blog allows me to document my crafty activities and my family life, encourages me to be creative, inspires me to continue living the lifestyle I want to and gives me motivation to challenge myself to do new things. My kids can read this in years to come and laugh at how young we look and how old-fashioned it all is :)

So happy 2012 everyone, a little belated I know, here's to another year of blogging!

xx

Baby leg-warmers

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000Z

We all love those chubby baby legs, and Phoebe's are chubbier than most believe me! When you see them you just have to give them a squeeze...!

I crocheted these legwarmers using the yarn I received from my Ravelry Christmas swap partner, the pattern was in the Crochet Today magazine she sent me too.

This is a really lovely pattern to use and the leg-warmers turn out incredibly cute for very little effort. I love these. Phoebe seems to like them too, though she is slightly baffled by them!

Swapping and baking

2012-01-23T12:00:00.001Z

Thanks everyone who has signed up to the swap! We have seven (me included) of us taking part, I still need a few email addresses so take a look at the list below to see if you need to get in touch!

Lise - I have your email
Claire (The Hookery) - can I get your email please
Fiona (Frou frou) - I have your email
Erica - I have your email
Lily (Making it Vintage) - can I have your email please
Thea (MummyCat) - I need your email

Could all of you please email me your postal address and I will email you details of your swap spoilee! The sooner the better so we can get swapping! Thanks everyone.

Right, now onto the serious business of baking. My sister gave me the Cookie Magic book by Kate Shirazi, it contains cookie recipes galore (you'd hope so given the title) and the recipes promote the use of free range eggs, plus a donation from each sale of the book is made to an animal rescue charity, so well done her, right on :)

I've so far made my own rich tea biscuits (gorgeous) and these rather lovely digestives...

I also made the basic butter biscuits...

...and drizzled them with icing sugar....

Deary me have I eaten far too many of these over the last few days!

It's a pretty good book, I'd recommend it so far. I'm going to try the ginger nuts next :)

Swappity Swap

2012-01-12T08:36:00.000Z

I love snail mail, there is nothing like getting a little beautifully wrapped gift through the post is there? Lovely when it is unexpected, and lovely when you have the anticipation of knowing something is going to arrive soon. I love sending things, choosing, making, wrapping, taking my little parcel along to the post-office. It's all such an enjoyable process. That's why I mentioned a little while ago the idea of a little swap to brighten up the long post-Christmas months. As there have only been a couple of lovely takers I thought I would raise the idea again with a little more detail in case there is anyone else wanting to join in.

The swap would be very simple:

Your sender would be different to your sendee - in other words if you were sending your parcel to me, your own parcel would be coming from somebody else. This makes it all the more exciting :)

Your parcel should contain two handmade items for your sendee, these can be anything you like. If you include any other little shop-bought bits you should spend no more than a couple of quid, it is January and we are all poor after all!

Don't reveal your identity to your sendee before the swap! You can include a card/letter in your parcel to say who you are :)

I will do a short Q and A for all participants so that each sender gets a small overview of what their sendee likes.

Sound good to you?

If so, then please copy and paste the questions below, along with your answers, into a comment below, or email them them to me, by Wednesday 18th January and I shall set it all up (those that have already let me know they are interested could you please fill in the Q and A too!)

Where are your online homes? (e.g. blog name, ravelry username, instagram, twitter etc)
What is your favourite sweet treat?
What crafts do you do?
What crafts would you like to try?
What are your favourite colours?
Do you have a favourite scent?
Do you have children (if so, how many, how old etc)?
Is there anything you wouldn't want to receive (i.e something you don't like or might be allergic to)?

Happy swapping!

Splashes of colour

2012-01-10T07:58:00.003Z

Well this January is testing my optimistic feelings about the first month of the year! Grey and wet and drizzly without a hint of snow to brighten things up. The light is terrible, I know I know, it's annoying to hear people whinging about the lack of light for photos but it's TRUE I tell you!

In between the day-to-day bustle of childcare, work and dashing about in the rain I've been capturing some colourful images to cheer myself up, thought I'd share them with you...

Bath time is always a colourful affair with young children of course, and my own bath times are rather colourful too with my brightly coloured Lush box of goodies...

And even though early mornings in my office are chilly to say the least, there is always some warmth to be found in a mug full of tea :)

I've been making too of course, in fact I have rather a lot to share with you on that front. I just have to find the time to somehow manage to snap photos. I also have a tutorial in the pipeline! Rigt, back to the day job for me for now. Laters alligators.

January - Colour

2012-01-01T18:56:00.000Z

Happy New Year! I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas time?

I can't believe it was only two weeks ago that I was looking forward to completing two more days of work before the holidays, seems like so long ago! We've had a wonderful family Christmas and we managed to catch up with a lot of good friends too. We had a quiet new year at home as Phoebe is still so young, it was lovely to just chill out with some champagne, watch the festivities on the telly, then be snuggled up in bed just after midnight :) And of course a quiet night in means no new year's day hangover to contend with!

There's still a full FOUR days before Lillia goes back to school though, I have to admit I'll be glad when she does! It's been utterly lovely to all be together but she needs to get back to the routine, as do we all really.

So here we are in January 2012, I've always rather loved January. Yes it tends to be cold and wet, and nobody has any energy, money or liver function remaining, but it does signify the start of a brand new year, the time to make plans for a brighter future in the year ahead. Even in this post last year, in the thick of post-natal depression, I managed to feel optimistic in January.

So to celebrate my love of January as a month of new beginnings and positive thinking all my blog posts this month are going to be about COLOUR...

Lillia strolling with her Aerial doll, pink boots & her "gregoire" bag (still to be blogged about!)

Phoebe put together this ensemble by herself

I've been playing with an app on my iPhone called "coloursplash", it's a lot of fun, especially with my two girls and the array of girly colours they adorn themselves with on a daily basis!

In the park on Christmas day

I especially love Phoebe's blue eyes in this last picture. The app converts your photo to black and white and then you select the areas to turn back to colour, so this is her actual eye colour it's not a tint or anything.

So that's my first dose of colour for you, there will be much more to come throughout this grey yet optimistic month! Happy New Year!

xx

Silver Clay Workshop

2011-12-19T08:30:00.000Z

I just posted this over on my other blog, but I thought readers of this blog would be pretty interested too...enjoy!

I recently treated myself to an early Christmas present - a silver clay workshop! I have played with silver clay before but quickly learned that it is not the same beast as the air-drying clay I am so used to working with. So I figured a workshop with someone who really knew what they were talking about would help. I found Charm School in Beckenham through a google search and booked myself onto the one day "Fingerprints in Silver Clay course".

I arrived just before 10 on a very autumnal day and found myself on a pretty South London street. Gill runs the workshops from her converted garage, a lovely little space filled with all the tools and materials necessary to create silver clay jewellery.

My workspace

After a cup of tea and a chat we got started. I was very excited! Yes, I am a geek. Gill explained the different types of silver clay, such as slow dry, paste, syringe etc. and the different types of tools we would be using. Then we got started on our first piece - a charm with a fingerprint on it.

Fingerprint charm drying

It became apparent to me very quickly that what I had been doing when I previously used silver clay had been waaaaay off the mark. I had been getting myself into a real pickle by using too much water and handling the clay way too much. When I make my air-dry clay creations I tend to make it up as I go along - add bits here and there, change things, work with it as I go along. But with silver clay a little planning is necessary - it dries out pretty quickly so you need to have a clear plan of what you are going to do before you start.

Whilst our fingerprint charms were drying we moved on to create a charm with a stone set into it. This wasn't something I had given much thought to before the course but I think it was my favourite! I loved picking a stone and setting it straight, cleaning it up and putting the whole thing together.

Stone-set pendant drying, before cleaning and finishing

Although it is technically possible to fire a charm set with stone on a hob it's probably not the best idea, fortunately Gill has a proper grown up kiln :) Can you see my little charm firing away?

The kiln takes about 30 minutes, so in the meantime we fired our fingerprint charms on the hob...

Whilst the charms were firing I had a little clay left in my packet to play with, so I made little charms for my girls. A 'L' for Lillia, and a 'P' for Phoebe, plus a tiny little textured heart to go with each. We then fired these on the hob too. In this picture you can actually see the binder burning off in a little plume of smoke...

And the rewards for my efforts? Four solid silver charms (well, six if you count the fact I made two mini hearts too)!

And I still had a little blob of clay left in my 7g packet! Not bad for a few hours work and one small packet of silver clay.

I was really pleased with my creations and thought the whole day was brilliant and really good value for money. I was especially pleased with my stone set charm, especially as in the weeks following I had loads of comments on it and I enjoyed being able to casually say, "Oh this? Yah, I made it..." Hee!

I have a head full of ideas now, I can't wait to try them out! Whether or not I shall sell any silver clay creations I don't know yet, jewellery is a competitive and saturated market and I am not sure yet if I want to join in. I would very much like to develop my silver "Pow" charm that's for sure...so watch this space!

Crochet headband, goodies and...a swap?

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000Z

Just nipping in quickly to share with you pictures of my first ever Crochet A Long! A Crochet A Long, in case you didn't know already, is where you choose a pattern and all work on it at the same time but at your own pace.

This one was on the Hooked for Life group on Ravelry and seemed nice and simple and useful.I didn't have the correct yarn or hook but I just plunged straight in anyway...luckily it came out beautifully and the size is perfect...

The pattern is the Cozy Flowered Headband and it's available for free, woo!

I grabbed the photos whilst the light was semi ok, which meant the only model available was me, hence why you get to see my trusty Nikon too :)

I enjoyed doing this, the CALs are monthly so there's always plenty of time to have a go and it encourages me to try patterns I might not have looked at otherwise.

I've been having other fun via Ravelry this week too as my Secret Santa box arrived from my Spoiler over the pond in Florida! Here's a glimpse of the lovely items I got...

I also got this beautiful hat and scarf set...

(another self portrait..ahem)

Just look at the detail on this quilted bird decoration, amazing...

So it's been a good week what with finally feeling better, completing a project and getting some lovely gifts in the mail. I love snailmail, in fact I feel a swap coming on. Anyone fancy a little swap for new year? To brighten up January? Anyone interested leave me a comment and I shall organise it!

Anniversary gifts - Cath Kidston mad!

2011-12-14T12:39:00.000Z

I am actually feeling better, thank GAWD. There was a point where I actually thought I would never feel well again, so when I woke up this morning not feeling sick and actually feeling hungry I could have danced a little jig of joy...in fact I am doing that right now...jig jig!

So with my new found energy I have managed to snap some pictures of my anniversary pressies from hubby, at last! I took plenty so there's a lot of CK eye candy in this post.

Now, hubby does not have a reputation for being that good at present buying (the year of the paper mache making kit springs to mind...) but every now and then he surpasses all my expectations and comes up trumps, this year was one of his glory moments!

First there was the anniversary card....

This was one of two cards, the other being more wordy, and as you can see I have a lovely badge to use now that my anniversary is over! It shall be pinned to one of my many bags.

Next there was my Little Book of Pins....

I love the CK "little books", which are actually useful and very decorative tins. I have one for my threads and sewing bits and another for my buttons, I was delighted to add this diddy little pin tin to my collection.

But what is that underneath the Little Book of Pins...? Hmmm? Well that would be my CK Crochet Book....!

Eeep! A CK tin that is not only gorgeous in all its chintzy loveliness but is also full of all the necessary ingredients to make a granny square cushion!

Eeep!

How utterly cool is that?! And that's not all, no no! I also got some cute little heart shaped buttons too...

*sigh*

The boy done good. He also bought me a chocolate orange which I couldn't seem to...er...find when I was taking the photos, it must be...um...in the fridge...yes that's it, in the fridge....

Lillia's School Hat

2011-12-12T10:37:00.000Z

Oh my good grief I am SO ill. As soon as one virus goes the next one starts...I have had a bug, I have had a rotten cold, I have had pharyngitis and now I seem to have flu. Jeeeeez. I have had ENOUGH. This latest episode started on Thursday night with me and both the girls being sick ALL night. It was so bad that by 2am we ran out of bedding for Lillia and she slept in our bed with hubby whilst I took the sofa so I wouldn't wake either of them when I had to keep getting up to be sick. It was a truly horrendous night.

*sigh*

I have an ever growing list of things I a desperate to share here; my Cath K anniversary pressies from hubby, "the gregoires", which can only be explained by showing you, my first Ravelry CAL (Crochet A Long), my latest Happy Hooker project, aaaaaaand the very slow progress of the Big Happy Blanket. But of course I have been too damn sick to take the necessary pictures.

I did however manage to snap a few pics of the hat I crocheted for Lillia! I grabbed the camera and got a couple of photos as she left for school one morning last week. She needs to wear a dark hat for school so I made her a black one using this pattern on ravelry...

I added a pink trim as she has to have a touch of pink of everything! (Just look at my girl's enormous dark brown eyes...!)

I really loved this pattern and I am working on one for Phoebe too...at least I would be if I wasn't feeling so blergh.

Right, writing this has pooped me right out so I am off to lie on the sofa and ignore the growing piles of laundry and housework...

Happy 1st Birthday

2011-11-30T19:14:00.001Z

One year ago today at this very time I was in a whole world of pain.

Having driven two hours through a blizzard to get to the hospital (usually just a ten minute drive) and having enlisted the help of the police to get us through, I was about four hours away from meeting our beautiful second daughter, Phoebe Elizabeth. Phoebe was born not long before midnight one year ago today.

The world today looks very different with blue skies and sunshine and not a hint of snow to be seen. But we will never forget the blizzard of 2010 when our little podge decided it was time to make an appearance regardless of the weather.

Celebrations have been relatively low key - a family meal, a sing-and-story class, lots of playing and singing, some presents and a ton of lovely cards. I made a few things, which I shall share with you later in the week when I have had the time to take piccies :)

Hubby and I will toast our little Phoebe with a glass of champagne shortly, it's been quite a year and there were times I thought I might not survive it! But I did, we did, and here we all are remembering that snowy day a year ago when our lives changed for ever...again!

Happy birthday Phoebe-be-be, our hilarious, happy, funny little chubby girl xxx

Eight Years

2011-11-29T11:08:00.001Z

Eight years ago today I got hitched :)

Yesterday hubby presented me with my anniversary presents, which are fabulous and I am dying to share them with you! However what with work and running about like a loon I have not had a minute to take pictures. I will do though, in the meantime lets just say they are along the same theme as a couple of years ago.

The last eight years have been brilliant and very hard at times, I think we have been through more in our first eight years than many face in a lifetime, but we are still here together :)

Happy anniversary Dan!

Preparations

2011-11-24T08:47:00.001Z

There are preparations under way...

It was 51 weeks and five days ago that we had that massive snow storm here in the UK. I know because 51 weeks and five days ago I was in labour and stuck on the motorway for two hours whilst trying to make the usual ten minute trip to the hospital. 51 weeks and 5 days ago Phoebe Elizabeth arrived.

Today she is wreaking havoc by emptying out my handbag and attacking Lillia's Sylvanian Families house...I am glad she is at school or there would be hell to pay.

Lillia has chosen what Phoebe's handmade present should be, something from our old favourite bible of ridiculous toys...

Of course I need to make two, as Lillia couldn't be without :) A creature is slowly forming, but it is causing me some grief...it requires bias binding, I've never used it before and it's all getting rather messy. Hopefully he will be ready by Wednesday...

It is difficult to get these things all completed with Phoebe crawling about the place investigating every nook and cranny...

...and I have still to package up my little birdies for my swap parcels, so many things to do!

I have a couple of fun crochet bits nearly completed for the Big Day...

But they require the addition of an old enemy...

Yes, I need to make Evil Pom Poms...poms poms and me just don't get on, I just never seem to be able to get them right, but I am willing to give them another go with the help of my new Pom Pom maker, I shall let you know how I get on.

Making time to make it - November 11!

2011-11-21T10:13:00.001Z

Hello hello! *cough splutter* I am still an infectious germ machine I'm afraid to say, as are both the girls, and now my mother too, we are all so ill. Every time I think I feel better I suddenly feel worse again, it's very waring after a while. I am looking forward to just feeling better and rejoining the real world.

In the meantime...for my Making Time to Make It this month I am killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, with some cute birdie decorations. The pattern is from the Attic24 blog and it really is incredibly easy to do, makes me wonder why I've waited so long to give them a go...

I'm rather pleased with the colours of these birdies, though I admit they were chosen more as a result of what I had in my yarn bag than any artistic thought! Came out well though didn't they?

I still need to add little wooden beads to the ends of their dangly legs, then they'll be finished!

And they are all destined for new homes! I am taking part in a couple of swaps and these will make great little additions to my parcels being sent out to foreign lands. Plus I have a couple to give as presents to people. I am thinking I might stuff a couple with crushed cinnamon and cloves so they give off a Christmassy scent.

So, what are you making time to make this month?

Loving handmade - Accidental Vix

2011-11-16T10:47:00.000Z

Hello there!

Well the weather here has finally turned and we have that crisp wintery feeling at last, not quite frosty but definitely nippy...that's more like it :)

With the cold air though comes the cold weather germs and I have the flu. Pffft. It's been almost eight years exactly since I last had it I had forgotten how hideous it is. I've had a pretty dire few days but I'm feeling a little better today, my head no longer feels like it is trapped in a vice and I can drink tea without feeling sick, a definite improvement! I am under strict instructions from everybody to REST. So although I am itching to do the washing up and tidy the bedrooms I am instead sat on the sofa with my feet up, a perfect opportunity to blog...

I wanted to start sharing more about my love of handmade. I am such a big believer in buying handmade, second-hand and antique (of the cheap variety) as well as reusing and upcycling things. Recently I am falling more and more out of love with the mass-produced, I just find the handmade things I buy are always more unique, better quality and better value.

So, I thought I would share with you some of my recent handmade finds.

First up - Accidental Vix.

I came across Vicky's shop on Folksy and started following her blog quite some time ago. She makes cards using her beautiful and unique illustrations...

(Click on image to be taken to original images - all courtesy of Accidental Vix)

She sells these in her Folksy and Etsy shops. I especially love the Anonymity range.

When I saw on her blog that she had been working on creating a new range of handmade baby booties and needed some little volunteer testers, well, I knew just the girl to help! Phoebe was delighted to offer her services as Bootie Tester!

Vicky sent two pairs to try and they are so well made. Phoebe has chubby feet but not much of a heel so booties and socks are a nightmare to get to fit her, but these booties stayed on perfectly...

She gave them a good run for their money - crawling about the house in full destruction mode, balancing, rolling, walking with her walker...

She was very pleased with them, but not as pleased as me as I didn't have to follow her around putting booties back on her :)

Plus one of the other advantages of buying handmade is that you will never, or rarely, bump into somebody with the same item. So you will always stand out from the crowd.

Vicky isn't selling her booties yet, but I am hoping she will or what will happen when Phoebe grows out of these ones?!

More Loving Handmade posts will follow from me in due course, now I must get back to resting...Serendipity or You've Got Mail...? Hmmm...

Halloween and Disney

2011-11-08T20:12:00.000Z

It's been a busy fortnight here. My little shop gets more busy at this time of year so I am trying to make time to make lots of Christmassy stock, and of course I have my office-monkey job to do too. So there has been a lot of hours divided between sculpting clay and editing spreadsheets, lots of mugs of tea are being drunk around here lately.

And last week, half term, we popped over to Paris for 3 days (as you do) to take Lillia to Disneyland!

My lovely Dad and step-mum treated us all to two nights in a hotel and a trip to Disneyland Paris, Lillia was delighted. Hubby rather enjoyed himself too...

When we returned it was time for all the festivities of Halloween and all the fun of Pumpkin carving...

Of course I couldn't let the innards go to waste (they has been bought from the local farm where they were grown) so pumpkin muffins were made...but they were disasterous. So we made pumpkin and bacon soup using this recipe from the Asda magazine and that was delightful :)

But all this fun seems a long time ago...at this present moment though both my girls are sick, they have temperatures and Phoebe has been throwing up pretty much everywhere, so it's only a matter of time before the rest of us start....might be quite handy in my case, what with the 7lb weight gain thanks to the steroids I am on, a good dose of a sicky-bug might help..

I am kidding of course. Health-wise I am doing better. I have a way to go and the next three weeks or so are pretty crucial as I come off the steroids and see what the new drug can do on its own. Time will tell, for now though I am pretty much symptom free, which is a welcome relief indeed.

There has been making going on, and patterns being written up for you, but these shall have to wait...for now I am getting the tissues ready and preparing the calpol ready for a rough night ahead.

Please use the antibacterial hand rub on your way out...

Creature of the Night

2011-10-24T14:05:00.000+01:00

After making Topsee during my convelesence a couple of weeks ago I got an urge to make another softie, a big chunky huggable one, from my own design. The high dose of steroids I am on tends to wake me in the night, too much cortisone running through my veins, and I had a few nights between 2 and 5am where I just sat and scribbled designs for creatures. There are quite a few to be made but the first to emerge is "Alien" as she has become known...

In my initial little middle-of-the-night sketch I knew I wanted it to have a big head and gangly limbs, and a pot belly was essential too. I wanted it to be simple in colour, with stripey legs and cute little ears. I do want to make another version with floppy ears too.

Lillia referred to the Creature as "Alien" the whole time I was making it, and because it is made with lilac wool she was also declared to be a girl. Every girl needs an accessory so I made Alien a little neck scarf with a funky shell button, I think it suits her well, don't you?

Alien was my first proper go at completely designing something myself. She evolved in a fairly organic way - I applied what I knew about crochet and just did everything by sight. Once the circle for her face was wide enough I started to form the main part of the head, then once that was wide round enough I started to close it off to form the correct size. For her body I worked decreases and increases to form her belly and bottom, although I would like to go back and make the placement of these a bit neater I am quite happy with how it all turned out.

I wrote everything down, every single stitch is documented, so I can make more Aliens and, more importantly, I can share the pattern with you here! So if you love Alien and would like to make one yourself I shall be posting the pattern here very soon, as soon as I can get time to perfect it and write it all up. And I have more to come too, a few more creatures being formed from those sleepless nights sitting up sketching the steroid-induced images in my head.

I really loved designing and making Alien and I can't wait to perfect the pattern and share it, I could really see myself doing many more! Do let me know what you think of her :)

x

Making time to make it

2011-10-20T10:30:00.001+01:00

I am always cutting out recipes and projects from magazines, favouriting patterns on Ravelry, saving tutorials to my bookmarks. And usually they all just sit there - in piles, in the queue, on my hard drive - waiting...and not getting done. They just get lost underneath the ever-lasting To Do lists. Occasionally I will get them out, look at them, sigh at my lack of time and energy and then hide them away again.

So I thought as motivation for myself, and others, I would start a new regular spot on my blog - a monthly reason to stop everything and just crack on with one of these little projects. After all most of them would only take an hour tops, I just need to create the time. So switch the telly off, put down the ironing, leave whatever chores there are and join me in giving yourself time to make it!

The rules are:

1. Choose something from your wish list of things to make or do - could be a recipe, a crochet pattern, a sewing tutorial or a project from a magazine or book.

2. Set aside time in your day or evening to make it - could be an hour, could be all day, could be ten minutes here and there throughout the day, as long as you make the time.

3. Take photos and post about what you have made, or started to make - do not worry about lighting or bad pictures - no apologies to be made for blurriness or autumnal darkness - just snap and post!

4. Enjoy enjoy enjoy! Make the most of this precious little time to get something made, and share it with me here!

I am going to run this every month on the 20th...at least that's the plan :)

It's National Baking Week here in the UK at the moment so I thought I would start with a recipe that I have had lurking in my bookmarks for some time...a long time...Soulemama's lemon scones. A very summery sounding treat for midweek in October...but mmmmm! So I set aside half an hour this morning after the rush of getting everyone out for school, work and nursery and just made them, at last!

A few notes on this recipe - firstly in the first bit where she says mix the milk, sugar and egg together, she means honey, not sugar. For 350 degrees that's 180c, and for the butter about 120g melted makes half a cup! Also baking soda in the UK is bicarbonate of soda, not baking powder which is what I actually put it, oops, but they were still yummy :)

If you decide to make something today do stop by here to let me know! I will set up a linky thingy next time if enough people want to join me. Now, excuse me whilst I go and scoff the rest of this lemon scone...

Mum's Super Duper Chicken Casserole

2011-10-17T09:15:00.003+01:00

I work. It's a drag but it pays the bills and keeps me in crafting supplies :)

Obviously my views on work aren't quite that simplistic of course...being a working mummy is bloody hard work. I have to be able to switch from work-Ali to mum-Ali and back again within seconds at any given moment throughout any given day. I have to be able to get out the door before 6:30am three days a week and still be able to get a healthy meal on the table for everyone come 5:30pm, with a full day's work and a drive in and out of central London in between. On my working-from-home days you can remove the commuting part but add in the school run.

Feeding the family requires some good planning and organisation - everyone needs to like it, it needs to be baby-suitable too, it has to be healthy and every penny counts so every meal has to be economical. Believe me when I say there is no food waste in this house! Everything gets used, nothing gets chucked out.

Recently a Dunelm Mill opened about a 3-minute drive from my house. Yes, 3 measly minutes! I shall be bankrupt by Christmas I tell you, I love that shop. And when they got wind of the fact I was going back to work and could do with some extra cooking equipment to help with the preparation of good value and healthy family meals which I could cook and freeze (I love my freezer but that could be a whole other blog post) in advance they came to the rescue. They sent me a selection of their cookware to try out and review*...and I have been happily testing all of it since returning to work.

So today I am going to share with you a humdinger of a recipe; my mum's Super Duper Chicken Casserole. This is SO tasty and so simple, you literally throw everything together in one pot and that's it. Perfect for making the night before, or to freeze ahead, or to just throw together when you walk in the door.

I asked my mum if I could share this and she was more than happy for me to do so, she adapted it from a cookbook in the 70s, and I have adapted it to make it cheaper and more lazy (that's me, cheap and lazy.)

Mum's Super Duper Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized portions
A cup full of plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper (omit the salt if, like me, you are going to mush this up for a baby too!)
50g butter
2 small onions (I know it says 3 in mum's recipe above but trust me that's too many), finely chopped
2 green peppers, deseeded and chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (see, lazy)
Salt & peppper
Half a pint of chicken stock (I use the extra low salt stuff you get in the baby isle, or real stuff if I have any ready)

Method:

Roll the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour (I usually use scissors to cut them up straight into the flour) until completed coated.
Melt the butter in a pan and brown the chicken pieces. Place into a casserole dish.
Add the onions and peppers to the pan and fry gently for about ten minutes to soften (I usually add a little more butter or olive oil for this bit)
Add the tomatoes and the chicken stock and give everything a good stir before adding to the chicken in the casserole dish.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and cook in the centre of a moderate oven (about 180c) for one hour.

How simple is that? 20 minutes prep then an hour sat down with a glass of wine then you have this...

Absolutely delicious with hot crusty bread, or new potatoes, or even rice. Mmmm! Anyone else hungry now?

All the pots and utensils shown above are from Dunelm Mill and all are fab, truly fab - they look good and work hard and they have made my life that little bit easier :) Oh, and that pie dish you saw earlier in the week too! Now that is fab, I had never made pie before and now I shall be making plenty....So in conclusion, by Christmas I shall be fat and poor. Thanks Dunelm Mill!

In order of appearance:
Cookshop Two Tone Collection Casserole Dish - a really good size dish, handled the chicken casserole for four people with room to spare and looked great on the table.
Red casserole dish - smaller than the blue one but still a good size and was perfect for chicken and chorizo gumbo for two!
This Morning by Prestige Almond Round baker dish - this is such a versatile and useful dish, we have used it so far to make bread, casserole, pasta-bake, soup and even a cake! Plus the shape of it is so gorgeous you can just leave it sitting out, it's almost decorative!
Jamie Oliver bread knife - goodness me was hubby delighted when I presented him with a new bread knife. To me a knife's a knife, but hubby assures me this one is far superior to our old bread knife :)
Lock and Lock food containers - I have never felt the need to spend money on tupperware before, I usually just reuse the plastic tubs leftover from Chinese takeaways. But these are The Business. They microwave, they freeze and they don't leak, they really are complete air-tight and have been a revelation for our packed lunches!
Purple Jewel Large Rectangular Roaster - we have used this for lasagne, toad-in-the-hole and roast chicken and it is the perfect size. You can get a medium to large chicken in this plus your roasties and a load of veg if you are so inclined.

*I need to stress that I am allowed to keep all the goodies they sent me so I could be completely biased...but I would be anyway lets face it, I love that shop!

Happy Hooker Backwards Project #34: Bedfellows

2011-10-14T09:24:00.000+01:00

I started this particular project on my second night in hospital. It took me nearly two hours to get beyond the first round of stitches - no matter what I did I just couldn't get it to work. The old lady in the bed opposite, Joyce, kept encouraging me though. She kept saying "don't give up girl!" So I didn't...I just changed things a bit, altered the slip stitches to become single stitches, changed from an 8mm to a 4.5mm hook, and kind of winged it.

Nearly everything I did was wrong. The size, the yarn, the stitch, the hook, the technique, the increases and decreases. This project was doomed from the very start.

But somewhere along the way....

...a new friend began to take shape...

...and what should have been a disaster....

....actually turned into....Topsee :)

Named by Lillia (the spelling is hers too) Topsee is a new firm favourite in our house.

I made her arms and legs longer than the pattern, and her head is bigger, her ears are floppier. Her eyes are beadier and her nose is wonkier. But Topsee is our beautiful bunny friend...

She is already to be found mingling amongst the toys...

...helping with morning spelling practice...

...and I had a little smile to myself when I found her abandoned in the reclining position in Lillia's bed...

Lillia says she is "nimble and flexible", a Ballerina Bunny, which then led to the request for Topsee to have her own wardrobe. We love Strictly Come Dancing in this house and we always watch it together on Saturday nights. We decided that Topsee's first dress should be just like Holly Valance's salsa dress.

Here's the original...

And here's Topsee's very own crochet and sequinn version...

Yes, we do love Topsee :)

And here's the usual summary of the project:

Cost - about £6 - I used less than a ball of each colour to make topsee, plus a little extra for her dress.
Yarn - The purple is Patons Cottom Twist Aran (55% cotton, 45% acrylic) and is delightfully soft and tactile. The light pink is Patons Smoothie DK.
Hook - 4.5mm and 3mm.
Difficulty - Goodness I struggled with this one! I just couldn't get the hang of the slip stitches, but once I changed to single stitiches instead I got along better, but I had to make a lot of adjustments along the way.
Overall happiness with finished object - Oh very happy!! But not as happy as Lillia and her new best friend :)

Pierrot Yarns

2011-10-12T09:39:00.000+01:00

Just skipping in here in an excited manner to share with you a website I just happened upon whilst looking for a pattern for an oval rug. I found this pattern which is just what I was looking for....

...then I got drawn into the site as they have some simply amazing patterns. Pierrot Yarns is a Japanese site with loads of free patterns translated into English (by using slightly scary looking crochet charts). The patterns are just luv-er-ly!

Here are just some that I have to make immediately, though of course I don't have the time to make them immediately so I shall just have to dream of having the time....

The Newsboy Cap, which would look cute as a pudding on Lillia...and the Carnival Hat for me...

Don't get me started on the bags! Oh the bags!

The Ribbon Accent Bag, oh my!

And the Striped Bag makes me want to grab my hook right now...

The Floral Pouch would be excellent to make for gifts...

And for the home, among all the cute blankets and rugs there's this gorgeous Pillow pattern...

Lastly how about these cosy Blossom Slippers now that the nights are getting cooler?

So now I need to teach myself how to properly read crochet charts (I am a little rusty) so I can get on and start ploughing through all these tempting patterns.

All pictures and patterns are from Pierrot Yarns and are copyright of Gosyo Co. Ltd, who kindly agreed to let me use them so I could share them with you :) They also have a rather lovely online yarn shop, head over there if you dare! My debit card is twitching in my purse already....eek.

Happy Hooker Backwards Project #35: Skullholders

2011-10-10T20:20:00.000+01:00

The day before I went into hospital I had managed to whip up the next project in the Happy Hooker Backwards project. I had been really keen but slightly apprehensive about this one so I was so happy to find the pattern a dream to do :)

Once I got the hang of switching colours I got to enjoy the simple nature of colourwork. Though I must admit the mess on the underside of this kind of crochet makes me very twitchy indeed! It's just not neat, and I love neat. If you are making colourwork things like these you can expect the back side of your work to look rather like this...

*shudder*

Terrifying isn't it? But just try not to think about it because the other side looks like this...

Of course in order to properly show off these potholders I had to recreate the picture in the book itself, which meant I had to make a pie. I used a recipe from one of the contestants in the first series of the wonderful Great British Bake Off. Remember Ruth's beef pie from series one? Well, no, neither did I until I looked it up. The recipe is here and let me tell you it was yummy scrummy...

One beef pie served up in style with the new skullholders :)

And here's the project lowdown:

Cost - about £3 - I used less than a ball of each colour to make a pair.

Yarn - Any double knit would do, but I used Patons Smoothie DK as I am slightly in love with its creamy smooth texture.

Hook - 4mm

Difficulty - Once you get the hang of the colour switching this is no more difficult that just crocheting a simple square of single stitches.

Overall happiness with finished object - very pleased with this one. Not only were they a pleasure to make, but they are also very tactile and cool to look at, plus they are super-useful! AND I had to make pie to show them off. Total bonus.

By the way do you like my pie dish? Pretty cool right? More on that later this week!

Home is where the heart is

2011-10-08T17:13:00.000+01:00

Well they released me early for good behaviour. My intestines' good behaviour that is. IV steroids calmed things down, along with the cocktail of other drugs I am now on. So I was well enough to come home and continue my treatment here, albeit with plenty of rest...yada yada. I am not good at resting.

But my goodness it is good to be home.

This week has been a little life-altering. I have had ulcerative colitis for a long time, I have taken various drugs and a lot of steroids for a long time. I didn't expect to end up in hospital for a third time though and it has started me on a rollercoaster of thinking about the life I currently lead and the life I would prefer. I am just so damn sick of being sick. I am an angry coiled up ball of fury right now, liable to blow at any moment.

So completely ignoring all the instructions to rest, and the protests of hubby, I headed straight for the new Cath Kidston shop at Bluewater this morning. My logic for this excursion was that I bloody well deserved a treat...and I just wanted to get out of the damn house and into the world for an hour, then I promised I would have a hot bath and go to bed.

The problem with feeling horribly sorry for yourself and being in a lovely shop full of gorgeously over-priced things is that you will end up spending money. And spend money is what I did. It felt pretty good.

I came back with a modest but tasty haul of goodies...

Lillia got the heart keyring that she fell in love with, and the sheep pencil because I fell in love with it.

I treated myself to a rather pricey new purse. Pricey but so worth it, so preeeeeetty...

I will smile every time I go shopping now, even if I am buying drain cleaner.

I also got a new underbed storage bag. It sounds trivial but I already have one of these for the girls' bedding which I keep under Phoebe's cot and it looks so pretty I am almost pleased at my lack of other useful storage. Who needs to hide things in a practical airing cupboard when you can have a gorgeous flowery storage bag on display, eh?

Because we were one of the first lot of customers I got a free reuseable bag too which was an unexpected bonus...

A successful little trip, finished off nicely with a croissant and a cup of tea before heading home. I am now in bed with my new best friend...my new Fujitsu laptop :) A working laptop, release from hospital, a body full of drugs and a haul of CK goodies all in 24 hours...I need a lie down.

I have lots to share with you of course. Three days in hospital is a LOT of time with nothing but a bag of yarn to keep you occupied. But for now I shall leave you to drool jealously over my new goodies :)

A Crochet Colon

2011-10-04T13:00:00.000+01:00

Yes you heard me. A crochet colon.
Wanna see?

Ok then...

This work of art is not mine. It is the handy work of talented crochet and knit designer Alicia Kachmar.
You may have heard of Alicia - she runs the Etsy shop Eternal Sunshine, she designs and makes some truly brilliant crochet critters, and she has written some books on crafting, the latest being the rather beautiful looking Microcrafts: Tiny Treasures to Make and Share.

I stumbled across Alicia's blog quite some time ago during one of my drooly trawls of crochet on the internet, I was happily gazing away at pictures of her crochet when there staring up at me was the unmistakable shape of an infected colon. Instantly recognisable to me as I have seen so many pictures of my own innards beamed back at me on wobbly hospital screens, and so many diagrams and pictures presented to me in order to explain the pain and the debilitation of my illness.

You see, Alicia has ulcerative colitis. In fact she is about to undergo the third and final surgery required to cure her of this illness. Her writing on her experiences of this illness is incredibly detailed and poignant. I've re-read a lot of her blog the last week or so.

I have pushed away surgery since I was 19 years old, which means I have either been ill, on steroids, in hospital or on other strong drugs for 15 years. Twice I have been in hospital in earshot of the sound of a surgeon's knife being sharpened, and twice I have recovered enough at the final hour to convince them to give me one last chance to beat this on my own, with all my organs intact.

The last couple of weeks I have begun to get sick...again. I am back on steroids, a lot of them...again. But this time around I just can't fight it anymore. After 15 years I am literally getting to the point where I don't want this damn colon anymore, they can take it away, I won't miss it. I have got myself a degree, succeeeded in all my jobs, got married, had two healthy children - all in the shadow of ulcerative colitis, all whilst in and out of hosptial wards, day units, blood testing units, assessment units, consultant appointments, GP visits....there has to be a life beyond this.

Tomorrow I am being admitted into hospital so I will be away from my blog for a while. I will be in for about a week probably, being pumped through of IV steroids and various other hideous drugs to try and get everything under control. Then I will have to make Big Decisions about the future and how this is all going to pan out.

So right now I am packing up my crochet bag and digging out some decent books, because it's going to be a long and difficult week.

See you soon.

Ali
x

Happy Hooker Backwards Project #36: The Doris Day Mat

2011-10-02T09:30:00.000+01:00

A big finale post today! Wooop!

Been working on this one for a while on and off so I am glad it is finally done and I can share the finished result. Ready? Behold the Doris Day Mat!

Made with garden jute and builder's twine (the stuff they use for plumb lines etc) it was a slightly unusual project. The builder's twine in those colours had to be ordered online so it wasn't exactly cheap, but it's all in the name of the Happy Hooker Backwards, so what's a few quid here and there, eh?

Lillia kindly agreed to doing a little modelling for me and I am sure you will agree she makes an excellent foot model...

The flowers are sweet and they were really rather fun to make with the strange builder's twine. I do like pink and white together especially...

So here's the lowdown on the Happy Hooker Backwards Project no.36 - The Doris Day Mat by Faith Landsman:

Cost - about £17. The garden jute was cheap as chips but the builder's twine in funky colours was a bit pricey. So all-in-all this was a pretty expensive door-mat. A Harrods category doormat.

Yarn - Green garden jute and builder's twine.

Hook - 4mm, 6.5mm and 10mm.

Difficulty - It was an easy project, the mat itself is fairly basic and once you get used to working with garden jute (which smells all....gardeny) you zip along. The flowers too are easy as pie, though you should secure the ends with superglue to stop them undoing.

Overall happiness with finished object - I'm a little bit "meh" about this one. Could be the fact that I am not sure how much use this will get, and I do like things to get used. It could also be the vast mount of steroids coursing through my veins and making me a miserable grumpy old moo bag of course. But overall I am rather happy with it, and Lillia thinks it'll make a nice garden for Barbie :)

So that's the fifth project completed! Time for Project 6...or rather 35...

"Skullholders" by Kacy Fallon! I am *SO* excited about this one! I have been crocheting for a while now and I have done most techniques but never colour work and I am so eager to give this a go!

Plus I really need potholders, truly I do. The ones I have are really grotty old ones and I need some new ones to spruce up the kitchen. Plus if I can master these they are going to make excellent gifts for people :) So, time to get started, no time like the present!

Loving today...

2011-09-30T20:02:00.000+01:00

Today was an illness-free day. These days are to be cherished. If you are not sick, if you go through most days in a healthy state, please please make sure you take just 1 second to stop and appreciate it. Your health is the biggest Happy Thing you have.

Other things making me feeling happy today are...

The last of the garden's tomatoes waiting to ripen...

The latest issue of Mollie Makes...I just love this magazine...

Uncovering long-forgotten colourful granny squares and motifs....

A supply of little jars waiting in the sun for a makeover...

Ah, lovely things and a good day:)

One thing I am not particularly enjoying though, and I don't wish to sound rather ungrateful...but this weather. Where's my autumnal freshness?!

Linking up with PaisleyJade :)

Granny Square Therapy

2011-09-28T14:47:00.000+01:00

There are days when nothing goes right. With full on ulcerative colitis, a daily barrel load of steroids and the endless of pressure of juggling work and home life I have had more than a few of Those Days recently.

On Thursday last week, after a bad nights sleep and hours of pain before I had even left the house for work, I found myself sat at my desk at 8am drained and exhausted. I got the important work done, then jumped in my car and drove home in a daze to sit on my sofa and rest.

Living with chronic illness is hard. But this has never stopped me before, I've come through worse. Besides I'm treating myself with a new therapy - Granny Square Therapy...

I got home, I picked up a hook, found some Kentish alpaca yarn and just started making mini squares, loads of them. I lost myself in the repetitive hooking and endless weaving in of ends. As they are so teeny, just two rounds in each, the are very satisfying to make; no sooner have you started than you have a little pile of finished squares. I made 48 squares in all.

Then I crocheted them all together, added some edging and my favourite picot stitch and...

I now have a pair of soft, cosy hand warmers to get me through autumn and winter!

I crocheted together my mini granny squares leaving a small thumb gap, then I edged the thumb and top edge with a simple single stitch (I am talking in US terms here).

For the bottom edge I used my favourite picot edge stitch, pretty!

Of course no less than three days later the weather turned and instead of the lovely autumnal drizzly fresh weather we are SUPPOSED to be experiencing, we are now in the midst of a heatwave. You have me to thank for that. Just think what might have happened had I made an entire jumper.

All this talk of Crochet as Cure reminds me that I need to share with you the progress of the Big Happy blanket, I haven't forgotten of course :)

Right, best make the most of this blasted heat and get the next load of washing out.....

Ali
x

Crochet jar covers

2011-09-26T21:27:00.001+01:00

I'm in love...again.

Another pattern I simply had to make immediately :)

And with all these baby yoghurt jars lying about waiting for a new life, well, what better thing to do...

...than to make them into gorgeous candle holders...

The pattern is on Ravelry and it's only about £3 - click here to go and get it for yourself! It's simple to do, although you need to use crochet thread and size 2mm and 1.5mm hooks, which takes a bit of practice let me tell you...very fiddly! But sooo worth it!

Next I am going to make some with pink thread for the girls' room (with battery operated candles of course..)

Horge - a crochet creature

2011-09-22T09:01:00.000+01:00

Sometimes I come across a crochet pattern I just have to have. My eyes go all starey, I get the look of a hunter about me, my debit card twitches in my purse... Horge was one of those patterns.

The pattern is from Mr Fox's Toy Emporium on Etsy, a UK seller whose shop is stuffed (geddit?) full of wonderous, and sometimes scary, crochet creatures.

Horge is small so is incredibly quick to make - I made mine over the course of two evenings in front of the telly. I couldn't find the recommended 16mm eyes, so mine are 10mm (from Hobbycraft) but I think they work just as well (dare I say even better...)

If you too now have the starey eyed look of one desperate to make your own Horge you can buy the pattern here.

Thanks for those who left comments on the last post, at least now I know it is possible...even if I can't do it myself. I am still trying to sort out my laptop problems, in the meantime I am stealing time on my mum's and...sssssh...at work (during breaks of course...ahem).

Speaking of work, I am still slowly trying to find the balance between working four days a week, commuting, doing the school run, being a mum in general, crafting and blogging...as well as being rather unwell with this blasted ulcerative colitis. Will there ever be a balance? Probably not. In the meantime I am finding lots of cheats to get through. Today for example I took these pictures using my iPhone 4 on the window-sill at work...the light is pretty good at 7:30am. If you look closely you can see the London Gherkin building...

Horge is now off to live with his new owner, K, who writes over at Grillyfish. K is my friend and co-worker (and talented children's book illustrator/writer) who is selfishly abandoning us in return for nothing more than a higher salary and a better job, pffft, some people...

Ali

Super Chocolately Brownies

2011-09-20T14:47:00.001+01:00

Hello hello! Lovely and sunny here in Kent today, sunny and fresh and very autumnal, just the way I like it. I've been doing a bit of blog maintenance at last, I stole my mum's lovely fresh, new, working laptop and have at last been able to get some stuff done without waiting 20 minutes for each page to load. So if you look above *points enthusiastically upwards* you will see some new buttons!

There's an About Me page full of useful stuff about me, why I started this blog, links to some of my favourite bits etc. I also made a page just for the Happy Hooker Backwards Project so I can log all my efforts in one place - I was actually rather surprised to see I am onto the FIFTH project!

I also changed my comments settings so that anybody can comment...at least I thought so...but now it seems I can't comment on my own blog...How does that make any sense at all? So if anybody could tell me their settings I would be very grateful so I can work out what I am doing wrong. Also if you get a minute if could attempt to leave a comment to see if it works that would be very handy too.

Enough of this jibber jabber anyway. I thought today I would share with you a recipe. I was sat here fancying a little something sweet and I thought I would rustle up my super chocolately brownies. These are extremely easy to make and very cheap too, plus the recipe uses mainly cup measurements so no fussing about with scales. I've always made them from memory so the process and ingredients keep changing but here's the recipe I used today...enjoy!

Super chocolately brownies

200g butter (I used Stork as I always have some in the fridge)
Half a cup of cocoa powder
Two large pinches of salt
One teaspoon of vanilla essence
Two cups (yes two!) of soft brown sugar
One cup of plain flour
2 medium eggs
A heaped half cup of chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and grease a shallow baking tray with butter.

Melt the butter and cocoa powder over a low heat in a large saucepan, do this gently and don't let it start to boil.

Once it's all melted together add in the salt, sugar and vanilla, I really love Sainsbury's Madagascan vanilla...no I'm not being sponsored by Sainsbury's! It's just what I like to use :)

Stir the lot together and take the pan off the heat, then sift in the flour and mix that in too. Add the eggs and give it a really good beat until everything is smooth and silky looking. Then stir in the walnuts.

Pour the mixture into the baking tray and spread it evenly.

Put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Then let it cool in the tine before cutting into squares and scoffing down with a cup of tea.

All very quick and simple, perfect for when you need a quick sugar fix. This recipe works really well with other nuts, like pecans, too...or if you are really desperate and the local shop is shut you could always just make them without the nuts. And if you are feeling really decadent you can finish the brownies off with a drizzle of chocolate icing...mmmm! Enjoy!

I'm a mei tai convert!

2011-09-17T17:00:00.000+01:00

You may remember that I finally finished my mei tai baby sling back in July and was mightily pleased with the result. It was Gretchen (who writes the June at Noon blog) that first floated the idea of the mei tai in my direction but I wasn't convinced I possessed the sewing know-how to make one. Then the mum of one of Lillia's school friends showed me the mei tai she had made to carry her 4-year-old during last year's snow fall, she showed me just how simple they were and I decided I might have a go after all.And now me and my mei tai are inseperable. It gets slung in the baby bag as one of the essentials - nappies, wipes, drink, sling... During the summer it really came into its own and I became a fully fledged baby carrier!

Here I am at Elham Valley Vineyard carrying a sleeping Phoebe in her mei tai and a tired Lillia...

Waiting for the miniature steam train to Dungeness...

Soaking up the sunshine on the beach at Folkstone...

After a day walking around Port Lympne animal park it was ideal for Lillia and her aching feet, now that's how you give a piggy back!

Mei tai on the "Monkey Trail"...

Mr Snipsnaphappy is a convert too...

And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, my mai tei frees up my hands for holding my wine glass...you can't ask for more than that!

How did I survive before? Even popping to the supermarket I quickly pop Phoebe in her mei tai, it's quicker than getting the pushchair out of the boot and she just loves it. I have two more of these to make for my sister-in-law and one of my best mates so there will soon be more converts I am sure. If you fancy making one yourself the links to the tutorials I used are in my previous post here.

Ali
x

A summer in Kent

2011-09-15T11:11:00.001+01:00

Hello!!

My laptop and I are very nearly ready to part ways. After 7 years (how long is that in laptop years? 100?) it is now coming to a spluttering halt. I am going to need to fork out some cash this month to get a new one but until I get paid that just isn't an option.

Well I am sad to tell you that I am back at work after ten months off on maternity leave. But I am happy to tell you that the smiling person with the two beautiful girls below is Me!

We had a wonderful summer break and I thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks of being a stay-at-home mum. I have very mixed feelings about my return to work. I work four days a week, three of which I work in an office in London and on those days I leave so early in the morning my girls aren't even awake and I am home with half an hour to spare before bedtime. It's not the life I had planned. But more on that another time. I have so much to share! So many crafty projects, crocheted loveliness, navel gazing and lots of other things.

Today I thought I'd start with a mammoth post to share with you our wonderful summer break down by the coast near Dover in Kent. The photo above was taken at Goodnestone Park, a real surprise of a place where we spent a wonderful day. The tree we are on is quite possibly the most wonderful tree I have ever come across, I mean seriously, look at it...

I love big old trees and we stayed playing around and on it for quite some time before continuing our adventures around the grounds. Goodnestone Park has a big grand old house and the most gorgeous walled garden, one day I would love to live in a house with a walled garden, though perhaps on a slightly smaller scale :)

When we were tired of walking around it was time for a spot of tea and cake (of course)...

I was delighted to find an array of mismatched china teacups lined up alongside the cakes, as well as other cute little country style details...

It was one of those days where you decide last minute to go somewhere and it turns out to be a gem.

We stayed in a cottage on an arable farm in Kent, a beautiful location with loads of walks right outside the front door. Lillia used to hate walking and I don't think she's the world's biggest fan now to be honest, but she did enjoy investigating and finding big lumps of chalk to take home and use on her chalkboard.

Meeting the local residents...

Our neighbours...

We visited quite a few award winning vineyards whilst on holiday. I love my wine as you know and I really love good English wine - Chapel Down and Biddenden being among my favourite producers. We've been for lunch at Elham Valley Vineyard a few times too, which is a lovely place to visit. Though my favourite English wine of the moment is definitely from Barnsole Vineyard in Kent, well worth popping down there and buying a case or two of their award-winning tipple.

Handmade masks at Elham Valley Vineyard...

One of my favourite day trips was when we took the mini steam railway from Hythe to Dungeness. If you have never heard of Dungeness it is one of the largest areas of shingle in the world, it's on the coast of Kent and is home to a large nucleur power station...as well as many very rare varieties of plants and insects I believe. If you haven't been, go. Seriously, it's the strangest place you will ever visit.

On our travels around the county we also spend a glorious few hours on the beach at Dymchurch (aptly titled "Children's Paradise) where Lillia built this rather amazing creation...

But by far one of my favourite places to visit in Kent is Port Lympne animal park in Lympne. It is set in endless beautiful grounds overlooking the edge of Kent and out to sea. Every time I go there I enjoy it and it always seems to be sunny, granted £8 for 3 ice-creams nearly made me faint, but you can't fault it otherwise :)

The view from Port Lympne out to sea...

Monkeys...

On safari...

So it has been quite a summer, and to be honest even if my laptop had survived I probably wouldn't have had time for much blogging of any kind until now anyway. And now I am back at work my time is more precious than ever, but the call of blogging is too strong to resist!

I hope you've enjoyed my photo tour of Kent, see you very soon :)

2011-09-11T11:08:00.000+01:00

I'm still here!! My laptop has unfortunately died....bear with me whilst I try to resolve this technical impairment, think it's going to be an expensive month!AliX

Mei tai baby carrier!

2011-07-18T11:00:00.000+01:00

Phoebe is now almost eight months old. Breastfeeding has ceased, in fact milk in general is consumed far less and she favours the huge variety of fruits, vegetables, meats and fish that she is munching her way through. Like her sister this little girl loves her food. Unlike her sister though Phoebe is now a whopping 21lbs! (Lillia was only 18lbs at 1-year-old.)

Quite a few lovely people told me about the "mei tai" baby sling when Phoebe was still tiny (ok, she has never been tiny...but smaller than she is now anyway) but it has taken me until now to get around to making one. One of the school mums gave me some information and links and I scooted about on the interweb for a bit and eventually made my very own mei tai!

(me faffing about getting it sorted..)

I make a lot of stuff, as you know, but seldom have I felt this excited by something I've sewn myself for two main reasons. Firstly whilst following the tutorial I learnt that you can rip fabric to create one long accurate piece. I never knew this! Endless fun! (I am now thinking of all the long things I could possibly make in order to rip long pieces of fabric - draught excluders, curtains, snakes...) Secondly, even though it is essentially a square and three long bits sewn together it holds my 21lb baby as though she is a teddy bear stuffed with feathers...and she loves it...

(me looking like a human being at last!)

I used a combination of this tutorial and this one and made some bits up. I used two bits of fabric for the body panel - I sewed them together right sides together leaving the two openings for the straps un-sewed. I then turned it out and pressed the seams, then I inserted my straps into the holes with about three inches inside, pinned them and then sewed a sturdy x-box to secure them.

This way I had a good sturdy reversible sling and it was very simple. I used a heavy canvas type fabric from Ikea, I bought two metres and used the full length for all the straps, which fits me (and hubby) perfectly.

Although she likes the front carry she especially loves the back carry...

Hubby requested that I make the sling in a "manly" fabric so he can use it too. I think I chose quite well, just look at Mr Snipsnaphappy, manly man! Grrr...girls...lager...football...

Wish I'd made one earlier now! And Phoebe wasn't the only one who wanted a go...

It can even hold a 5-year-old without batting a mei tai eyelid. Impressive.

So, as you may have picked up I am VERY pleased with the mei tai and hubby and I are looking forward to putting it to good use on holiday as we trudge around the glorious Kent countryside. (A big thanks to the two girls who shared their mei tai making wisdom in their tutorials!)

Holiday pressies

2011-07-16T17:38:00.000+01:00

When we were little our summer holidays involved either an eight-hour train journey to Scotland to visit our grandparents, or we travelled the two-day car-trip down into France to go camping. To keep us entertained...and more importantly quiet...my mum used to give us a little bag of things to keep us occupied. It was because of this that I got into modelling with Fimo clay actually which I still love to do now and it even makes me some money :)

Well we are off on holiday in three weeks (our first holiday in two years, not that I am ridculously excited or anything) so I have collected together a few items for Lillia to keep her entertained on the journey and whilst we are there (we are holidaying in the UK so lets face it it will rain). So of course I HAD to make a bag for all the goodies to go into...

The fabric was given to me and has been awaiting the right project until now. I was going to make my usual double handled carry bag, but then I thought a shoulder bag with a velcro closing flap would be quite cool so...voila!

And inside there are goodies waiting to be played with, plus some edible goodies too...

I am very much looking forward to using the pom-pom maker...it may just cure my fear of pom-poms :)

I'll give this to Lillia on the morning we go on holiday, she will be very excited, I can't wait :)

And while we're talking about goodies I have a little goody of my own...

I have been hearing so much about the new UK craft mag Mollie Makes that I signed up for the 3 issues for a fiver offer to see what it's like. I haven't read it yet (I'm saving it, you know how it is) but I shall let you know what it's like. It came with a little free craft project so I am already impressed...

Just one more week of school then the fun can begin!

:)

Summer mornings

2011-07-08T23:32:00.001+01:00

We spent the weekend just gone in Norfolk with Mr Snipsnaphappy's mum and family. The weather was sunny and hot and there were lots of open spaces to run about in or, in my case, sit and drink tea in. Lillia was happy to sit ocassionally but not often :)

I am addicted to photographing flowers, it's so hard to resist!

Speaking of addictions...Talking Tom Cat 2 is out! She just loves that trumping dog...

I am not a summer person as you know, but sometimes I can really appreciate the benefits of sunshine and summer.

Is it just me or does a hot, still, sunny day make everything sound different in the same way that snow does?

Lovely sunny days :)

(But I am really enjoying the rain the last couple of days!)

Hunting out a bargain

2011-07-04T21:33:00.001+01:00

I don't very often write here about my love of bargain shoppng and my inability to let anything (Anything) go to waste, but I think perhaps people might be interested in these times of financial hardships and all that.

I don't have a coffee table in my house (no room for that!), but I do have a footstool and, of course, arm-rests on the chair and sofa, and there's always the floor. This is all well and good but it is rather tricky to balance one's cup of tea or glass of wine on something that is quite squidgey (footstool and arm-rests) or rather uneven (110-year-old wooden floor). The solution came to me in a local charity shop...

For the rather lofty charity shop price of £4 I now have a rather ladylike platform for my beverages!

And one never spills one's wine these days, that would never do :)

Builder's Crochet

2011-06-30T15:18:00.000+01:00

Well for a crochet nerd like myself I have had a rather exciting week. First I took delivery of some builder's plumb-line in some interesting colours...

..and then I managed to track down some jute garden twine (harder to find than I thought)...

Nope I'm not planning on building a wall and trailing some clematis up it, these are in fact the ingredients for my next project in the Happy Hooker Backwards project! And what fun I am having crocheting with such a different material than I am used to. True my hands are getting rough and smell like B&Q, and I have flecks of twine over most of clothes and soft furnishings, but oooh such excitement!

It's working up nice and fast too so hopefully I will have a finished result to share with you all soon.

Thanks for the lovely comments on my crocheted iPod cover, I am in the process of writing up my rather haphazard pattern to share here, might take me a wee while longer though, pattern writing is not my fastest skill :)

I shall leave you in anticipation now, I do hope you UK readers are enjoying all this sunshine (unless you are like me and love a bit of autumnal drizzle...)

:)

Happy Hooker Backwards Project #37

2011-06-22T11:00:00.000+01:00

When I was hit (like a ton of bricks) with post-natal depression I shelved my mission to work my way backwards through the Happy Hooker book for a while until I could once again get my head around the challenge. Then over this past weekend I suddenly felt the need to pick up the book and get on with it...must be a good sign, right?

I am very glad I waited as I had to basically do my own version of this pattern. It rather made my brain hurt...but I got there in the end!

So the fourth project from the back of the book is "Cozy Pod Creatures" by Cynthia Combs, cute little covers for an iPod. Only one problem: the pattern is for the old style iPod and is based around a vinyl cover for the front...not much good for the new touch-screen iPods and phones. So with quite a lot of counting, a fair bit of light swearing and a lot of unravelling (the yarn and me) I eventually managed to come up with my own altered version.

I kept the front open to allow for full access to the touch screen.

Taking inspiration from the original pattern I embellished my iPod cover into a a little cat. It is is definitely cute...

I left no access for earphones as I currently listen to all music via my iPod speakers at home. I may have to rethink this for when I start commuting again so I can show off my iPod cover whilst listening to the Craftypod podcasts on the train :)

All in all a very cute little project and very quick too (once I had worked it out I had the whole thing completed in an afternoon in between feeding times, school runs and playing peek-a-boo.) Another plus of this project is it is small and therefore cheap to do! Here's the breakdown:

Cost - about 50p - I reckon I used less than an 8th of a 100g ball.
Yarn - Wendy Serenity luxury cotton DK. First time I've used this and I am now addicted! Such a lovely yarn :)
Hook - 3mm
Difficulty - Well for me it was a right bugger to do, but now I have it worked out I think my next go at it will be very easy indeed.
Overall happiness with finished object - for the fourth time in four projects I am...delighted!

As I had to completely rewrite the pattern and only used the original in the end for inspiration I think I can quite happily share my version with you, so as soon as I have had time to write it up and take accompanying photos I shall :)

Right now Lillia is at a friend's to play and Phoebe is with her granny for the afternoon, so I shall be making a cuppa and scrolling through some crafty blogs on my very cosy iPod :)

Monkey madness

2011-06-21T12:41:00.001+01:00

Hello hello! And how are you enjoying all this delicious rain, hmm? Just right for me, warm and rainy...perfect.

Things here in the Snipsnaphappy household are Busy (note the capital B). But fear not, I have still found the time to get some lovely things hooked up! When I made this little fellow for Mr Snipsnaphappy's birthday earlier this year I knew that more would inevitably follow, the pattern is, after all, so simple and fun and I'm a simple kind of gal.

This time around I had a little help beside me as I hooked away, Phoebe is by my side chilling out with her fat little legs kicking away...

With her help I finally managed to finish the latest pair of monkeys, resplendent in girly pink this time...

These two girls are currently in a box (with airholes of course) on their way to their new owners, who I hope will love them. I very nearly kept them, it was hard to let go! If you are looking for a first arigurumi pattern this one really is worth a go, it's really easy to follow and good fun to do. It was my first one and I really enjoyed it.

In non-making news I have been unbelieveably absorbed in daily family life. Plus I have been into hopsital for my drug treatment to bring my ulcerative colitis under control. I did take a picture of the IV line into my arm to share with you but then I had a moment of clarity and suddenly realised that it would be a bit..well..a bit eeew. So far so good on that front, getting slowly better :)

And in making news I have more to share! I am back on my Happy Hooker Backwards mission, oh yes! I am very excited to share with you my next project as I actually had to modify the pattern so much I ended up writing my own! My very own crochet pattern! Tune in here tomorrow for more...

Rocks and flowers

2011-06-07T20:49:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to share with you some lovely sunny pictures taken over the weekend. With Mr Snipsnaphappy away on a stag weekend (axe throwing and whisky drinking) the girls and I decamped to my mum's house with it's large sunny back garden, and of course the extra pair of hands offered by Granny!

There is something about bright flowers on a backdrop of stones on a hot day, I just can't resist taking photos of them...

I even got a chance (ok about five minutes) to put my tootsies up and browse through the latest Ideal Home magazine. I like to play my own personal game of "When I Have My Forever House I Will...." when browsing through interiors magazines. In this case When I Have My Forever House I Will have a guest room that looks very much like this...

*sigh* How lovely :)

Not so sunny the last couple of days of course, but that's fine with me, I do love a bit of rain. Half term is now over, Lillia is back at school & we are on the last leg of the school year...lots of change and transition afoot this year...

R.I.P My Favourite Jeans

2011-06-02T22:26:00.000+01:00

It was inevitable. My most favourite jeans ever have finally given up the ghost. The denim had worn so thin it had become impossible to continue to sew the holes that kept appearing.

*sigh*

There was no way they were to be consigned to the bin, that would have been far too environmentally unsound and those jeans and me have been through far too much together to part company forever. No. The only option was to find a new purpose for them. Thank goodness for Very Purple Person and her Reversible Bag pattern...

My favourite jeans ever and I are now enjoying a whole new lease of life together!

The contrast fabric is a wonderfully sturdy organic and fairtrade cotton from this fabulous UK company. I added my little wooden tags too...

My new bag is my new favourite and, rather like my old most favourite jeans (ever), we are having lots of adventures together :)

The Matryoshka returns

2011-05-20T22:08:00.000+01:00

Quite some time ago I wrote a tutorial to make one of my matryoshka dolls. I created a rather rough-round-the-edges template and used Scribd.com to share it. However many readers have had troubles downloading the file :( I have been happily emailing out copies when requested but then I discovered Google docs...so I have now updated the link in my original tutorial. If you would like to download the lovely but scribbly hand-drawn template you can now do so here.

Strangely this all coincides with the discovery of an unfinished matryoshka doll...

Whilst having a clear out I discovered this doll still waiting to be brought to life - completed and pinned and ready to sew, but somehow found hiding in the bottom of my "To Do" basket. I had no idea what she looked like as I have no recollection of making her.

This made the sewing process rather exciting! Two minutes on the sewing machine and I turned out this beautiful lady...

A bit of stuffing and a quick application of make-up and the latest Matryoshka was ready to face the world! Please meet...Thomasina!

She may look like a Lady but Thomasina has a past. Yes indeed. When I asked Mr Snipsnaphappy his opinion on the following photo (I wanted to know if it showed Thomasina's best side) he felt it looked as though she was "standing in the light of a street lamp waiting for trade"...

Thomasina is a bad girl made good, working her way up and out of the streets and onto a better life in the leafy Kentish suberbs. She spreads the word of the Matryoshka Doll Tutorial and encourages people to make their own beautiful friends for themselves and for others! You should listen to her - go try the tutorial! And do stop by to let me know how you got on :)

x

Big Happy Blanket - April/May update

2011-05-17T13:40:00.000+01:00

Caution: This post contains highly colourful scenes of a crocheted nature.

During my unexpected blogging break during April I became a whole year older. I am now at an age where I keep forgetting how old I am, I find myself counting back to 1977 to work it out. I'll let you do the maths! My birthday was a rather understated affair as I was rather sickly with sinusitis (never had it before and never want it again, yuck). Hubby still owes me a White Company wild mint scented candle too as we never made it to the shops to get it... *COUGHITYCOUGH*

Also during April the Big Happy blanket became ever so slightly bigger.

I took all these pictures on Easter Sunday, which was a few weeks ago now, so as I type it is bigger still.

So far the blanket is earning its name. It is very hard not to get happy when you look at it :) The colours are completely random and usually based on whatever colour Lillia pulls out of the bag to use next. I am loving how it is coming together. I am looking forward to the chilly winter days already....only 7 months until Christmas you know, I'd best speed up.

Trying to be clever I went upstairs to get an "aerial" photo of it...

...I wonder if you can see it from space yet?

Hello.

2011-05-14T22:07:00.000+01:00

Major apologies for my sudden extended absence. Our 5-year-old had one day short of three weeks off for the Easter holidays, and with the extended bank holiday weekend for Kate and Wills everything turned into a kind of long and lazy holiday.

The weather has been...well...pretty spectacular. We've had many long,warm,sunny days here in the south of England so there's been lots of yummy eating and drinking in the outdoors...

Pimms o'clock gets earlier and earlier ;)

The Royal Wedding weekend was a patriotic fest of fun and champagne :) Seriously, there's nothing like a bit of good old British pomp and ceremony to cheer you up and give you the excuse to drink before midday.

And during this little hiatus from blogging I have also been doing a small amount of naval-gazing. To be or not to be? To blog or not to blog? Well....

I have been blogging since before blogs existed - anyone remember Diaryland? ;) When I was very sick I blogged through it and never thought about stopping because it was essential to me. If I'm completely honest I edit myself a lot more on Snipsnaphappy. So do I stay or do I go? Well I will always blog that's for sure, so now it's to decide what kind of change I need to make.

In the meantime though there has been a lot of creating going on and I have plenty to share with you. So please bare with me whilst I am indecisive, there's plenty to keep you distracted whilst I muse.

I need to share with you the progress on the Big Happy blanket...

..and a few other things besides...

And finally...I am feeling MUCH better these days. More on this in a future post but I am almost feeling kind of normal again. More from me in a day or two, but for now I have a glass of wine and Eurovision. Until next time dear readers...

I'm still alive...

2011-05-10T17:13:00.000+01:00

...do not fear dear readers I am still alive! But I have been pulled in the very busy direction of easter holidays and school events. I'll be back, very soon I promise, very very soon!

xx

Sewing again

2011-04-11T21:56:00.000+01:00

Well, Day One of the 3-week Easter break went very well. My mum took the 5-year-old off for the day and baby Phoebe decided on a nice long three hour sleep instead of her usual half hour power nap. So I used the opportunity to crack on with a little sewing project. It's been a while since I have sewed properly. My sewing lately revolves around stitching in name tags, performing surgery on soft toys etc. Today though I made my return to the sewing machine at last...

My mum asked if I would make her a bag to give to her friend for her 70th birthday and this is what I came up with. The bottom is remnant suit fabric, the floral fabric is an old Laura Ashley sample, and the lining is organic cotton.

What I like about these bags is that they are mostly one offs. As I make them mainly from cuts of fabric, rather then anything I have a massive supply of, I rarely make any two the same.

I enjoyed sewing again, though it reminded me how time consuming it is. So much equipment required in comparison to crochet! So, until we have a bigger house with a room where I can leave my sewing machine out and my WIPs laying around, sewing will have to be an ocassional treat.

Now do excuse me, I have to go and stitch name tags into some school summer dresses... :)

Lillia's getting crafty

2011-04-10T21:04:00.000+01:00

My lovely Lillia has never really been much into crafts or colouring, she has always preferred to be sorting her toys into boxes or taking things apart and putting them back together again. But recently she has started to enjoy the craftier side of life. She has taken to colouring, cutting, sticking, drawing, stamping. She takes more of an interest in the things I am making and how.

For mother's day we got a plain ceramic vase and some ceramic markers and she created a beautiful present for my mum, her granny...

On one side it is daytime in the garden and on the other it is "me and granny having a holloween party at night"...

So cute! I want one for me so I will probably be making a return journey to Hobbycraft this week for another vase.

At school she designed her own commemorative mug for the Royal Wedding. This is so totally adorable! It is "the prince and princess and their wedding things"...

We have many of these for her many grandparents of course, and I have been enjoying my morning cup of tea out of mine every morning..when Mr Snipsnaphappy isn't using it that is.

It has been a hectic time here in the snipsnaphappy household lately. What with the whirlwind arrival of baby Phoebe, not to mention all the post-natal depression, family get-togethers, birthdays, end-of-term discos etc, life leaves litle time for sitting down at all. I have been crafting away though and I do have plenty to share (more of the Big Happy blanket to be revealed this week!), it's just the time it takes to photograph my crafted goodies and upload those photographs to the ol' blog. So I find myself asking the question - do I continue to blog...or not? It is blooming time consuming after all and time is something that I am pretty short of most of the...um...time. I'll be going back to work in June so time will be even more precious.

I love my blog, I love writing it and I love the record of life it provides for my children in the future. But I am not sure how much it really offers to the wider world, and I would dearly like it to offer something even a little valuable. Hmmm, food for thought anyway, but not right now...right now I am having a glass of wine and preparing for a three week Easter break. Blimey! Wish me luck...

Heart Swap

2011-04-05T21:01:00.000+01:00

I don't often sign up for swaps because I don't need the added pressure :) But when I saw the heart swap over at Beki's blog I thought it seemed a lovely simple swap to join in with; five heart themed things to be sent to your partner by the end of March. No problem, I thought, plenty of time. I still managed to send my parcel off at the very last possible moment though :)

I sent off a modest little parcel containing heart themed bits and pieces and a couple of bits I made.

As well as one of my radiator smellies, I popped in this hanging heart decoration...

I love this pattern - the hearts come out really sweet. If you want to try it out the pattern is on Ravelry and I linked to it in this previous post.

But never mind what I sent! You want to know what I got, right? Well, my partner was Sue at http://blog.suepops.co.uk/ and she sent me a gorgeous package of lovely things...

Ooh! Look at my goodies! Shall we have a closer look?

A handmade card, extremely sparkly...

Phoebe loved this and stared at it for ages whilst drooling and trying to grab it (presumably to eat it...)

I also received this kitsch little hanging heart...

I have added it to my growing collection. Do you think I have enough...? ;)

I love love love this handpainted candle holder (and the little heart candle)...

And just look at this...

LOVE this brooch, it is utterly gorgeous!

Unfortunately the calculator, being pink, has been stolen by 5-year-old Lillia already, I had barely removed the wrapping before it was whisked off to perform complex additions. The bath ballistic from my No.1 Favourite Shop has been fizzed and enjoyed already, and the chocolates? Well...er..ah...ahem... :)

Absolutely lovely gifts, I am so glad I decided to take part in the swap, lucky me! Thanks Sue! xx

Mothers Day 2011

2011-04-03T20:12:00.000+01:00

It is the end of a long lovely day. Time for a glass of wine and the Antiques Roadshow :)

Happy Mother's Day everyone :)

xx

5 years ago today...

2011-03-31T11:06:00.000+01:00

5 years ago today I was still in hospital in a daze wondering how on earth I would ever be able to look after the tiny helpless creature in my arms. Well, it was a long road but somehow we have made it through five years without too much incident and we have a perfect, gorgeous, opinionated, clumsy, clever, beautiful, funny, quirky, firey, skinny, energetic, imaginative, sensitive, lovely 5-year-old girl to show for it.

She is in school today then afterwards we are treating her to afternoon tea at the Cadburys Cafe, I don't know who is more excited about this :) As is our tradition I made her one of her presents. This year she chose something out of my Curious Creatures for Immature Adults book.

A pretty floral print doll perhaps? A cuddly princess? A cute little animal? Nooo...

She chose "Mr Skelly", the cheese-eating, dancing skeleton! Not one to disappoint my daughter I set to work last night and after three hours of sewing and stuffing, a bit of swearing, and two glasses of prosecco our very own Mr Skelly was finished...

Of all the things I have made her Mr Skelly was the one that has had the biggest reaction. She came downstairs to see her pile of pressies with Mr Skelly on top and ran squealing across the living room yelling "Mr Skelly Mr Skelly!" So it was well worth the effort :)

I have to say I do rather love him. He is settling in nicely and is currently sat in the armchair opposite me reading Lillia's new copy of The BFG.

Now earlier this week I promised you a dancing skeleton and a cake the colour of a dead fish. Having delivered on my first promise it is only fair I share with you the cake. Before I do I must first explain. I made a fabulous (and huge) two layer madeira cake sandwiched together with jam and buttercream. I then went to ice it using ready-to-roll royal icing but failed miserably. I just couldn't get it to look like anything other than a big white lump of wibbly wobbliness. So hubby whipped up a ton of buttercream and we dyed it pink, not counting for the fact that buttercream is slightly yellow and therefore the whole thing went a kind of dead salmon colour...

Believe me it tasted divine...it just looked like salmon mousse.

I am now off to get ready for the next round of celebrations and chat to Mr Skelly about cheese. Happy 5th birthday Lillia!

My first arigurumi - Blue Monkey

2011-03-28T10:53:00.000+01:00

March sees the start of Birthday Season here in the Snipsnaphappy household. It starts with Hubby's birthday (god he is scarily old now...closer to 40 than 30) and ends with mine in April with various parents, siblings, friends, god-chidren and relatives in between. It is utterly exhausting and more expensive than Christmas.

For my nearest and dearest I always like to give a little handmade gift and this year is no exception. I've never really tried arigurumi before, I made a little heart but not a proper creature, so being me I waited until three days before Hubby's birthday before starting. Nothing like a little pressure to get things moving.

Now, I don't know if it was the lovely yarn (Patons Smoothie in cream and Rowan Alpaca Cotton in blue) or the pattern, or just the fact I love monkeys, but this project was thoroughly enjoyable. Best of all though is that at the end of it I had a new little friend...

Lillia has named him Bluey White, which suits him well I am sure you agree! I added a jaunty little bow made from Cath Kidston ribbon as he seemed to be a dapper little fellow.

He was waiting with Hubby's pressies when he got home from work. Hubby was delighted! Though possibly more delighted with the lovely bottle of Chateauneuf...

Bluey White will have to spend his days above floor level at all times though. You see his bottom is stuffed with lentils and the last creation I made with lentils in its bottom (a gremlin named Rosie) had a rather unfortunate injury when we had mice. The mice have now been evicted and Rosie has recovered well but still bears the scars and doesn't like to talk about it...

Bluey will therefore be protected from a similar fate, just in case the mice sniff a treat and return :)

More birthday makes from me later this week, including a cake the colour of a dead fish and a dancing skeleton...you have been warned.

Crochet booties not made by me

2011-03-21T13:30:00.001Z

Look away now if you don't want your eyes aching from too much cuteness...

My sister made these gorgeous wee booties for baby Phoebe. They only just fit her so she is wearing them pretty much constantly whilst she still can. Can you see a glimpse of those chubby legs? She is properly squishy :)

Too too cute, I think I need a lie down.

Bombay Dreams

2011-03-20T13:18:00.001Z

Every so often I come across a crochet pattern that I just know I will keep coming back to time and time again (remember the sock addiction of last year?) I found this luverly pattern on Ravelry when I was frantically clicking through the iterweb trying to find a baby cardigan pattern the day before my neice's christening. It is incredibly simple and very quick to do, I can see myself whipping up many of these...

If you are my friend on Flickr you can see Phoebe modelling her new cardy and totally rocking the crochet look (very on-trend) If you are not my friend on Flickr, why not?

March (and evil pom-poms)

2011-03-18T13:17:00.000Z

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

Charles Dickens

Ok so I am a bit late with this one given that we are already half way through the month (where does my time go?) March to me feels like the first serious step into the year. Whereas January and February feel like dipping your toes into a cold pool, March is when you finally take the brave and bracing waist deep plunge.

This week we have been dusting off our gardening gloves and venturing out into the garden...

We've raked leaves, composted old dead plants, sifted through the piles of broken pots and tidied up ready for Spring. We've also been planting cress seeds in various places for a school project to see where they will and won't grow...

...which is why I have to explain to visitors the old trainer in a container on my kitchen windowsill....

The things we do for our kids. Though I was intrigued to discover that the cress has grown in the inner part of the shoe as well, where there is no light! I didn't know cress would do that. Strange plant.

Meanwhile, inside, my crochet hooks have been working hard on various projects, more of which I will share with you in the next few days. Here is a wee sneak preview though of one of my latest creations, just finished...

What could it be??

Before this particular project I had considered zips to be my ultimate nemesis of crafting, but no! It turns out that actually pom-poms are my Dr Evil...

They look innocent enough don't they? Don't be fooled! They are little evil balls of fluffy deception. Grrr.

I cannot show you any more of this project as it is a surprise for a reader of this blog, all will be revealed once she receives it.

More from me later this week, in the meantime Happy March everyone :)

Malteser Muffins

2011-03-04T09:47:00.001Z

I was twittering on about my favourite recipe for malteser muffins when Fi of Childcare is Fun asked if I would like to share the recipe on her site. Of course I was more than happy to spread the joy of malteser muffins. I must admit the recipe is not of my own conception, I am not that clever, it comes from an old and cake mix splattered cutting from a magazine. I've had it for years and can't say which mag it came from so I am guessing it's ok to share. So without further ado please click here or on the pictures to be taken to the recipe, you are just a click away from muffin heaven, trust me...

If you make them do leave a comment here or over on the recipe at Childcare is Fun to let me know how you got on. Enjoy!

Big Happy blanket update - February

2011-03-02T12:22:00.000Z

Just three more blocks of colour have appeared on the Big Happy this month. Progress has been slow indeed. But this is a Good Thing. Why? Well...

...progress has been slow because life has been busy, but also because I have been diverted by other crafty projects (to be revealed later!)

It's a good sign. In the beginning, in the earlier weeks after Phoebe was born, I could couldn't have contemplated doing any kind of project, let alone the many I seem to keep getting stuck into now. The Big Happy was always supposed to be a great lumbering slow project...

Progress is slow but steady, which as we all know will win the race :)

February: Progress

2011-03-01T10:54:00.000Z

Well here we are already at the start of another month. The grey months of January and February now behind us with the first month of Spring ahead. February has been a definite improvement for me, though I still have a way to go, progress has been made.

My February in summary looked like this...

Click on any of the photos to be taken to the original post. Not a lot of blogging from me this last month. Mainly because of this...

My first half term with two children! It was busy and hectic (and messy as you can see) but a lot of fun, much to my surprise. Baby Phoebe treated us to a full week of sleeping through from 7pm until gone 7am which helped tremendously, daytimes are so much easier after a good night :)

More from me tomorrow with an update on The Big Happy blanket! For now though there is a post-injection baby snuffling for my attention....

To Ali, With Love

2011-02-24T21:41:00.000Z

Well well, a whole week has zoomed passed in a whirlwind! So much to share with you! Firstly, I finally decided to make the move away from breastfeeding. It had been a long hard and exhausting experience and one I was determined to give my best go, I am very sad to be stopping, very sad, but at the same time I am now emerging faster and stronger (and ever so slightly fatter) from this post-natal depression. For the first time in over three months I straightened my hair, bought a new top, stopped subconsciously wearing only black, started enjoying my baby. I am still feeding her every evenng and there is a lot to say about this whole story, but another time.

This week is half term and it has been insane here. My first week alone with my two girls has been...brilliant. Granted it has been hectic, messy, nuts, noisy, stressy, sometimes verging on impossible but on the whole it has been so bloody rewarding, the sense of achievement I get from surviving the day with nothing to show for it but two exhausted, snoring and happy girls I can't put into words. Plus, we've had four nights with the baby sleeping through (touch wood) which means I can finally indulge in a couple of well earned glasses of wine :)

Two other things have brought smiles to me this week - both of which arrived via snailmail...

What's my favourite colour? That would be yellow. What's my favourite combination of colours? Um, yellow, orange and pink actually. What's my favourite craft? That'd be crochet.

The ever glamorous and ever fabulous Charlotte who writes the hugely inspirational Lottie Loves blog sent me this scarf. It was a huge surprise when I reached into my mailbox (yes we have a mailbox) and retrieved the parcel.

"What is it mummy?", asked Lillia.
"I don't know but it's from America", said I.
"Ooooh, Amerwica...can I open it?", said Lillia.

I shall be wearing this scarf until the weather turns spring-like and warm and the other mums on the school run think I am nuts. Ha! Thank you Charlotte, it really has made me smile :)

The second snailmail surprise I received was this utterly gorgeous print...

Gretchen, who writes at June at Noon, has been a long-term bloggy friend, but she is also somebody whose work I am in awe of. Her sewing and embroidery is amazing, but her illustration...well...

I just love it, it is totally my "thing", completely my style. I love to collect original prints of art that just appeals to me but I don't often treat myself. Hubby surprised me by ordering me this print of Gretchen's "unexpected" illustration for Valentine's day.

Included was a small print of her "catch" illustration too.

I am a lucky girl. I have a friend who cares enough to make me something gorgeous just to cheer me up, a bloggy mate who is an inspiration on many levels, a husband who surprises me with something he knows I will love. Plus I have two beautiful girls who I am at last appreciating and enjoying fully. And it's only February...

Friday Club Home Carnival - My Granny's needle

2011-02-17T13:28:00.001Z

I've been thoroughly enjoying the range of interesting topics and posts in notesfromhome's Friday Club, so I thought I'd have a bash myself. This week's topic is to write about a cherished item I have in my home, what it means to me and why. I had a wee think and a look about and then I decided to tell you about this...

No, not the purse, but what's inside...

Safety pins? Nooo. I use those for stitch marking. Look closer...

Yes, it's a needle.

No ordinary needle though. This is the needle I use to weave in ends when I am making my crochet creations. My mum gave it to me, and my paternal grandmother gave it to her. So it's pretty old, it's pretty small and it means a lot to me. My grandmother and my mother used it in knitting, I use it in crochet, but we all used it for our own creative things.

I never met my paternal granny, she died a few weeks before I was born so it means a lot to use something every day that she used many moons ago. I came to crochet on my own, nobody taught me, my mum never crocheted. I saw my sister doing it and thought, oooh, I fancy a go at that, and bought myself a book to teach myself. The rest is history. Could it be a genetic predisposition to crafts involving yarn? :)

I still do lots and lots of crafts, even sell my clay creations (though my shops are on vacation mode right now) But crochet is my chill out craft, my sit-back-and-relax activity, my treat on bad days, my occupation on long car journeys. It's good to know that the granny I never met is somehow with me whilst I while away the cold winter evenings with crochet hook and needle in hand.

So to me this tiny little slither of metal means a lot and I am hoping, if I am very careful with it, it will pass on to another generation of crafter. Unless of course my girls prefer football and sport to sewing and crafts. But you know, footballers will always need socks...

For more stories from other Friday Club participants see below....
Making It Up gives us her favourite cherished items.

The Diary of a Frugal Family shares her family's most Special Things.

Scribbling Mum tells us about her photo wall.

Make Do Mum writes about a precious item in Tick tock tick tock.

Cheeky Wipes gives us her cherished item in Tables Aren't Just For Eating At....

Red Ted Art tells us about her DIY Hobby Horse.

Snipsnaphappy tells us about her cherished item in My Granny's needle.

I Need Curtains for the Window inside my Head writes about the pieces of jewellery that mean the most to her.

Tiddlyompompom tells us about Adopted Ted.

Freckles Family shares A treasured possession.

Mymumdom posts about A Small Boy's Treasure.

Notes From Home posts about her cherished reclaimed box.

Happy belated Valentine's day!

2011-02-16T10:17:00.000Z

Ok so I am a day or two behind...oops! The rather simple heart pattern I was saving for a Valentine's post proved rather more difficult than I expected...so I was still hooking and cursing away on Valentine's night whilst sipping white wine and eating my Valentine's chocs.

I finally conquered the pattern yesterday though and here's the result...

Ta dah! Cute isn't it? If you want to try it for yourself the pattern is on Ravelry here. Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's.