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BJD sweaters

2012-01-27T09:45:00.001Z

Here Felicity models the bolero cardigan from the in-progress Pukifee knitting pattern book, Simple Sweaters (UK working title: Just Jumpers)

Dress and accessories model's own.

Listography - Top 5 Biscuits

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000Z

I haven't done the Listography from Kate Takes 5 before, but when I saw that it was favourite biscuits, I couldn't resist. Biscuits are my favourite snack and narrowing this down to five was very difficult! But here goes.

1. Tunnock's Tea Cakes - same as Kate I know but they are lovely!

2.Chocolate Hob-Nobs - I only buy these when they're on special offer, because they're a bit pricy, and also because if I bought them every time I went to the supermarket I would eat nothing but Hob-Nobs. I am serious.

3.Chocolate Digestives - the biscuit I probably eat most of. Tesco Value chocolate digestives are 44p a packet and still very nice. Yum yum.

4.Bourbons - bourbons are nostalgic for some reason. Make me feel like a little kid. Drink-and-a-biscuit always seemed to be a bourbon.

5.Custard Creams - sometimes I'm not in the mood for chocolate (it's very rare, but it does happen) and a custard cream is just the thing.

Rubbish toys for children

2012-01-23T09:00:00.002Z

or, Adventures in the Recycling Bin

Packaging polystyrene, cut into half-inch cubes, with a pot of cocktail sticks. This kept Laura quiet for hours. The cocktail sticks push into the polystyrene easily and stay in place to make sturdy constructions. The only problem is that you will end up with little white bobbles everywhere.

Four-pint milk jug, cut the bottom off, put some electrical tape round to cover the sharp edges. This was used as a ball-catcher for ages. The other day I made a big pompom and tied it onto the handle to make more of a cup-and-ball style of thing. Emily likes playing with this too, putting the pompom in the jug and then tipping it out again.

And I forgot to take a photo of Laura's boat - a large, flat cardboard box that was part of the packaging for the new kitchen cupboards. It's been painted and decorated with pictures. She sails about the kitchen in it, accompanied by a crew of soft toys, and sighting through a toilet roll telescope.

WIP Friday

2012-01-20T09:00:00.003Z

It's Friday, so here are my Works In Progress!

First up is Emily's blanket. Still working along on this, trying to do a square or two every day. I laid out all the colours in rainbow order the other day and I think I need some more yellow, other than that the colours I have are pretty balanced. I have a lot of green to use but that's a good thing because this is the same yarn I'm going to use for the green cushions in the kitchen.

And I cast on some socks with my new Regia sock yarn. I chose Kalajoki by Tiina Seppälä because I wanted something fairly plain, to show the colours of the yarn, but not completely plain, so I didn't get bored knitting them. These socks are mainly stocking stitch with a rib 'river' meandering down the front, which is perfect.

And finally it's the miniature knitting again. Still working on my sweaters knitting pattern book for Pukifee. At the moment I'm working on a lacy cardigan for spring, then I plan to chart up some different motifs for the front of a picture jumper.

My little corner

2012-01-18T09:00:00.001Z

The new arrangement of the downstairs rooms means a new home for my computer. It's tucked in a corner of the kitchen/dining room, which means I am typing away here while Emily plays on the floor to my left.

Also I now have a nice set of shelves above my desk. They used to be in Emily's room, but all the furniture in the girls' rooms has been moved around and she doesn't need these ones any more. So I can have them for myself.

There's not much up there yet, just my dolls, my Russian dolls, some pretty postcards, my calendar and some bits and bobs. The little jar is going to get a crochet cover soon too and then I can keep some pens in it. And hopefully I can get some more things off my desk and up there so I can reach the keyboard a bit more easily!

And more baking

2012-01-16T09:00:00.004Z

Laura doesn't know about my baking resolution, but she still seems very keen for me to keep it. Nearly every afternoon she asks, 'Mummy, can we BAKE?'. So far, in the last week and a half, we've made chocolate shortbread, chocolate brownies, oaty biscuits and this lovely Victoria sandwich cake (bad photo, sorry):

I think I know what the attraction of baking is, though:

Sometimes it's all I can do to get her to leave off licking the spoon while I finish weighing out all the ingredients.

Crochet blankets

2012-01-13T09:00:00.001Z

While we're talking about crochet blankets, I must show you my favourite Pinterest board, my crochet blankets one. I don't like to put any of the pictures here because they all belong to other people, but go and look at the board. I love it so much. All those amazing colours and combinations, stripes and spots and squares, brights and pastels and darks and lights. Although mainly brights. They make me want to do nothing but make beautiful colourful crochet blankets for the rest of my life. Although my hand would probably fall off.

I do have some more crochet planned, though. We bought some chairs for the new kitchen (it's so big! There's room for chairs!) and they're cream and quite plain. Ikea Poang chairs for those as are interested. We've (I've) chosen green tiles so I'm going to make some green crochet cushion covers for the chairs. Once I find a pattern, and some cushion inners, and the right yarn. Husband says, 'Can't we just buy some green cushions?'. The answer is No.

Emily's blanket

2012-01-12T09:00:00.001Z

I was looking for the post where I first talked about Emily's blanket and I can't find it; obviously I didn't write one! Woops. Anyway. Emily's blanket, which I've been mentioning for the last month or so, is being made as a throw for her Big Girl Bed, which she doesn't have yet but should do by the summer. I thought if I started early, then it might be finished in time. Maybe.

I decided on the Summer Garden blog pattern from Attic24. It's a variation on the granny square, with a circular shape in the middle that makes it look like a flower. I'm going to make some larger blocks too to make it a bit different. And this is what I have so far, yesterday, when I was laying out the small blocks I'd made on the floor to see how I wanted the colours to go.

But there was one problem.

It's a good job she's so cute.

New yarn

2012-01-11T10:03:00.001Z

I got some money for my birthday and I have been converting it into yarn, which is what it wants to be really. Yes it does.

First I bought some Debbie Bliss Rialto 4-ply in cream.

This is the same wool I used for the Pretty Thing I made last year, and that is deliberate, because I want to make some matching gloves. My favourite pattern so far is Veyla by Ysolda Teague but they are fingerless and I want fingered gloves. I may try and adapt them or I may keep looking. At this rate I hope to have a finished pair of gloves by about June.

Then last week Laura and I went to Hobbycraft and we bought some more colourful acrylic yarn for Emily's blanket:

and also some lovely sock yarn. In 2009 Mum and I went to Germany for a couple of days, and in a yarn shop there I saw some gorgeous sock yarn that at the time I had neither the cash nor the suitcase space for. When I saw the same range in Hobbycraft, with birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, I knew I needed a ball. So this is my next pair of socks, and also I promised to make a little pair for Laura as well, so I hope there will be enough!

Etsy treasuries

2012-01-10T09:00:00.001Z

I've been lucky enough to be featured in a couple of Etsy treasuries this week!

Felicity models my rainbow scarf in Honey I've Shrunk The Rainbow

and

Para quedarse con todo features my miniature fair-isle cardigan.

It's always so nice to be picked, and those two treasuries are full of so many other beautiful things as well! There are so many great miniature artists on Etsy.

Look at my brilliant calendar

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000Z

This is January:

I have the 2012 Edward Monkton calendar and I love it. Expect to see more of it.

Daddy Scrapbook

2012-01-06T13:45:00.005Z

Blogger tells me this is post 200, but I haven't planned anything for it! I have blogged quite a lot this week. I've had a few shop things to post about, though.

Anyway, this post is about something I started with Laura a year or two ago. I got the idea from an online friend. I've called it a Daddy Scrapbook, because that's who ours is for, but you could just make one for yourself!

You need:
A scrapbook or large notebook
A4 paper, pens, pencils etc
Camera
Small child

We started our book for I think Father's Day 2010, when Laura was a bit under two years old. On each Father's Day, Christmas and Daddy's birthday, I ask Laura to draw a picture for Daddy on a sheet of A4. I take some photos of her drawing and get them printed. Then I mount the picture and the photos in the scrapbook, on facing pages, and label with her name and the occasion.

Laura doing her Christmas 2011 picture, um, yesterday

This Father's Day I'm going to get Emily to join in. We've not done a huge number of pages so far, but it's already fun to look back at the pictures and the photos, and I know it'll make a wonderful keepsake for my husband (hopefully he'll always let me look at it too).

Another January sale!

2012-01-05T10:40:00.000Z

I just realised I never blogged about the January sale I am also having in my Folksy shop! How negligent of me. Over there, I have discounted everything by 20% for the month of January.

Including such lovelies as this bracelet, now only £4:

This pretty keyring, now £2.40:

And this crochet bowl, now £3.20:

And lots more! Sale ends 31st January.

BOGOF Sale in my Etsy shop!

2012-01-04T09:00:00.002Z

I'm sorting out my craft things and shop stock and I've decided to have a special January sale in my Etsy shop. Lots of clothes and accessories for Pukifee and Lati Yellow are now Buy One, Get One Free! Buy any two items marked 'BOGOF' and I will refund the lowest-priced item by Paypal. But four to get two free, or six to get three free, and so on. Sale will run until either the end of January or until everything goes, whatever happens first!

Included in the sale are such delights as this pink sun dress:

This pink and green outfit (cardigan and leggings):

And these hats:

So why not take a look and grab a bargain!

Baking

2012-01-03T10:09:00.001Z

Laura got some pretty sprinkles from Father Christmas so she's been dying to bake some fairy cakes. We finally got round to buying some eggs a couple of days ago and here are the fruits of our labours.

(same recipe as always)

I took the photo immediately, even though it was dark enough to need the light on and I knew the cakes wouldn't look their best, because I didn't think the cakes would survive very long. They never do round here. And have, in fact, all already been eaten (two days later). But it's OK - Laura tells me we're going to bake biscuits tomorrow.

Emily likes cake.

New Years Resolutions

2012-01-01T20:52:00.002Z

1. A fair amount of my house is currently all shiny and new. While I do not anticipate this state of affairs lasting indefinitely, I would like to prolong it as far as possible. This may be more possible than in the past as Laura will be at pre-school five mornings a week this term (previously she only did three).

2. Due to the size and beauty of my new kitchen, I think I should use it as much as possible and do more baking. Possibly I may decide upon one afternoon a week when Laura and I can bake together (Emily sleeps in the afternoons so will not need entertaining or distracting).

3. Try and do something creative or crafty every day. I pretty much do anyway so this one should hopefully be easy, unless I'm ill or completely ridiculously busy.

Oh and

4. I really need to do some ironing tomorrow because the husband is back at work on Tuesday.

So long 2011

2011-12-31T12:05:00.003Z

I'm not one of those people who ends every year by saying 'Well, this year was awful! I hope next year is better because this one was terrible!' and then say the exact same thing the next New Year's Eve. Last year I certainly couldn't say 2010 was bad, because 2010 was when my sweet little Emily was born. And I don't think 2011 was that awful either. It was incredibly stressful, probably the most stressful year of my life, what with my husband's redundancy and the nearly five months he was unemployed, and the building work that started shortly after he began his new job. But that new job is working out really well and has a lot of potential, and the building work is pretty much finished and the house is amazing (and also has a lot of potential as we get everything in place and sorted out).

I didn't get as much done in 2011 as I'd like, and this autumn/into winter in particular seems to have been pretty un-productive from a crafty point of view. But I did make three BJD pattern books this year, and I did get the Wind The Bobbin Up website up and running, among other things.

So I'm now making my plans for 2012 - personal, business, and crafty. While I won't say 2011 was terrible, on balance, I think I'd like a more straightforward, relaxing year next year. But as long as I have my little family around me, I'll happily take whatever I get.

Victory is mine!

2011-12-30T13:06:00.004Z

I finished Emily's birth sampler!

(Emily is 17 months old)

The sampler was made from a kit by the Historical Sampler Company although they don't seem to make this design any more (they do still have the animal one I made for Laura as well as many other lovely designs).

Now my task for today is to frame it (HOT TIP - Ikea Ribba three photo frames are the exact right size for these long samplers, if you make four vertical cuts to the mount to remove the cross-bars).

I'm thrilled to have this finished because I was very firm with myself a week or so ago and told myself I wasn't allowed to work on anything else until this sampler was finished. Now I don't know what to do next!

One last Christmas craft

2011-12-27T11:08:00.003Z

I did manage to sneak in one more bit of Christmas crafting one afternoon last week.

A couple of years ago a friend gave me the buttonbag winter birds kit for Christmas and this year I finally got round to opening it! I only made one little birdy but the kit made it easy to put the bird together and it was fun decorating it and choosing all the colours.

The little birdy has of course taken up residence on our Christmas tree. There are still plenty of materials in the kit, so maybe I will manage to make another one by next year.

Construction

2011-12-22T20:19:00.004Z

It's the 22nd of December today and I'm finally starting to think about Christmas. By which I mean that I've sent all the cards, bought and wrapped all the presents, and put up two trees and all the other decorations, but now that the kitchen is in and the girls' rooms are finished I finally have the head-space to actually start feeling festive. Which is a bit sad and I feel a little bit like I've been cheated out of the run up to Christmas, which normally I enjoy. For the record, building a large extension in October/November/December with two children under the age of four is COMPLETELY MAD. I would not do it again for a big clock.

But oh my new kitchen is so lovely. And the girls' bedrooms are so sweet. And the new cloakroom is so handy. And any day now I should have the tumble dryer in the house instead of the garage, which is definitely something to look forward to.

And in the meantime, Laura and I have been doing some construction of our own.

I'd been thinking of making a gingerbread house with Laura this year, but I didn't know if I'd have the kitchen/time/mental energy. Then my lovely sister-in-law gave me a gingerbread house kit for my birthday and that settled the question. It was easy to put together and I managed to distract Laura with stickers for the 15 minutes it needed to dry before we could decorate it. Now she is mad to eat it, but I've insisted it stay up until Christmas afternoon (when it shall be demolished in front of the television).

Festivities

2011-12-11T11:03:00.000Z

Does that make me a grown-up now?

Meme

2011-11-28T21:50:00.004Z

My sister Jen tagged me in this one. So thank you Jen and here are seven things about me (that she may already know, being my sister, but the rest of your possibly don't).

1. I have grapheme-to-colour synaesthesia. Numbers and letters have a clear colour that doesn't change. I think it helps my spelling, among other things (for example, definitely is clearly not spelt definately, because that A is a big splash of red in the middle of the word).

2. I've seen the musical Starlight Express more than sixty times on stage - 52 in London, twice on tour in the UK, the rest in Bochum in Germany.

3. My middle name is the same as my sister's married surname (well, spelt differently).

4. I'm very introverted and need a certain amount of time a day in a room by myself or else I feel like I'm going mad.

5. I don't drink fizzy drinks, alcohol or coffee as they all taste very bitter to me. I don't like alcohol-flavoured anything (chocolates, sauces etc) because of the taste.

6. I'm a humanist.

7. I know the full English lyrics to It's A Small World.

I'm supposed to tag 15 (!) people but it's late and I'm tired. Maybe next time.

Recipe: Gingerbread Biscuits

2011-11-22T13:59:00.002Z

Laura loves making gingerbread. Our gingerbread family cutters are in a box in the garage so I gave the playdough cutters a good scrub and we made different-shaped gingerbread biscuits, and then decorated them with Smarties and chocolate buttons. For gingerbread people we usually put chocolate drops on the cut-out biscuits before baking to make their eyes and buttons.

Anyway, here is the recipe.

8oz/225g plain flour
4oz/110g caster sugar
4oz/110g margarine
3 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Preheat oven to 180C/360F. Mix together sugar and margarine, then add remaining mixture. Mix together well, using hands if necessary. Roll to a thickness of about 5mm and cut out. Bake on a lined baking tray for about 9 minutes, until brown but still soft. Cool on a rack.

(They turn out very gingery - much gingerier than gingerbread you buy from the bakers. Yum!)

It'll be lovely when it's finished

2011-11-12T21:35:00.004Z

Up until about last week, the building of the new extension was mainly something that was happening in the garden. But now the walls are up, the roof is on, the windows are going in, and the walls inside the house are coming down.

The back wall upstairs has now gone, and now the girls' bedrooms are rather open plan:

The downstairs is worse, the kitchen and dining room have been knocked together and through into the new extension. Everything in the entire house is dusty. Fortunately I have lovely in-laws who live nearby and are happy for us to turn up whenever we need to hide out from all the dust and noise! I have been taking my crochet so I can work on Emily's blanket while she sleeps and Laura climbs all over Grandad. That's pretty much the only crafting I've been getting done, though, as everything is packed away and there's barely enough room in the usable parts of the house for eating, sleeping and keeping two small children out of trouble. I'm trying to write my winter BJD book, and there's a cardigan I want to make for Laura, and I want to get my sketchbook out, but at the end of the day I'm tired and stressed and I can't find anything.

But it'll be lovely when it's finished.

Favourite Colours

2011-11-11T14:11:00.002Z

Laura has a different favourite colour every day. Today it is red, and she is wearing her red top. Yesterday it was green. Sometimes it's blue, or orange, or pink, or purple. She asked me what my favourite colour was, and I told her it was yellow, but it isn't really. I don't have a favourite colour. I like bright colours, and I like pastels, and sometimes I like jewel tones. I don't like dark colours or earth tones or neutrals. Probably you can get the best idea of what colours I like from my colour and pattern board on Pinterest, here's a screenshot of the most recent things I pinned there:

But also my blog banner is a good place to start! I like cheerful colours.

The husband says his favourite colour is blue. Always blue. What's your favourite colour?

Meme: Music as therapy

2011-11-04T14:55:00.004Z

My sister Jennifer tagged me for this meme, the Music as Therapy meme started by Mammywoo.

It's very simple, you just have to pick:

3 beautiful songs
3 different bands
3 sets of lyrics that touch you in any way you want to show

So here goes.

1 - Falling For The First Time, Barenaked Ladies
In early 2002 I was in my second year at university. It was a bit of an odd time in my life because my grandma had just died, and it hit me hard, and I felt very alone and a long way from home. But it was also around then that I met my husband and started getting to know him through email. He copied two Barenaked Ladies albums for me - Maroon, which this song is from, and Stunt, and I listened to them round and round. It was hard to choose a specific song but I chose this one in honour of Mark and just because I've always loved it.

I'm so cool, too bad I'm a loser
I'm so smart, too bad I can't get anything figured out
I'm so brave, too bad I'm a baby
I'm so fly, that's probably why it feels just like I'm falling for the first time

I'm so green, it's really amazing
I'm so clean, too bad I can't get all the dirt off me
I'm so sane, it's driving me crazy
It's so strange, I can't believe it feels just like I'm falling for the first time

Anyone perfect must be lying
Anything easy has its cost
Anyone plain can be lovely
Anyone loved can be lost
What if I lost my direction
What if I lost a sense of time
What if I nurse this infection
Maybe the worst is behind
It feels just like I'm falling for the first time
It feels just like I'm falling for the first time

I'm so chilled, no wonder it's freezing
I'm so still, I just can't keep my fingers out of anything
I'm so thrilled to finally be failing
I'm so done, turn me over 'cos it feels just like I'm falling for the first time

Anything plain can be lovely
Anything loved can be lost
Maybe I lost my direction
What if our love is the cost
Anyone perfect must be lying
Anything easy has its cost
Anyone plain can be lovely
Anyone loved can be lost
What if I lost my direction
What if I lost a sense of time
What if I nurse this infection
Maybe the worst is behind
Maybe the worst is behind

2 - Five Years Time, Noah and the Whale
This song is the summer of 2008 for me, the summer Laura was born. I specifically remember it playing on the radio in the delivery room at the hospital (I told Mark we had to go to the zoo for Laura's fifth birthday - maybe we will, why not) but it was everywhere. It struck a chord with me I think because it's about looking at the future and not knowing what will happen but thinking that yes, it's probably going to be OK, and we'll all be here in five years. Having your first baby turns everything on its head and it helped me a lot to imagine a calmer time a few years down the road, when I knew what I was doing. Still waiting for it. Never mind then.

Well, in five years time we could be walking round a zoo
With the sun shining down over me and you
And there'll be love in the bodies of the elephants too
I'll put my hands over your eyes but you'll peek through

And there'll be sun, sun, sun, all over our bodies
And sun, sun, sun, all down our necks
And there'll be sun, sun, sun, all over our faces
And sun, sun, sun, so what the heck

Cuz I'll be laughing at all your silly little jokes
And we'll be laughing about how we used to smoke
All those stupid little cigarettes and drink stupid wine
Cuz it's what we needed to have a good time

And it was fun, fun, fun, when we were drinking
It was fun, fun, fun, when we were drunk
And it was fun, fun, fun, when we were laughing
And it was fun, fun, fun, oh it was fun

And I'll look at you and say it's the happiest I've ever been
And I'll say I no longer feel I have to be James Dean
And she'll say yeah well I feel pretty happy too
And I'm always pretty happy when I'm just kicking back with you

And it'll be love, love, love, all through our bodies
And love, love, love all through our minds
And it'll be love, love, love all over her face
And love, love, love all over mine

And though really all these places are just in my head
I'll be thinking of them as I'm lying in bed
And even though I know it might not even come true
But in my mind I'm having a pretty good time with you

In five years time I might not know you
In five years time we might not speak
Oh in five years time we might not get along
In five years time you might just prove me wrong

Oh there'll be love, love, love, wherever you go
There'll be love, love, love, wherever you go (x6)
There'll be love, love, love, wherever you go there'll be love

3 - Shine, Take That
It was about a year ago and we (me, Laura, Emily) were leaving the doctor's surgery. Emily had just had a set of jabs so she was in a foul mood. Laura should have by rights been napping so she was in a foul mood. And just before we stepped out of the door, the heavens opened and it started bucketing down with rain. The car wasn't far away so I went as fast as I could (heavy changing bag on my back, Emily in car seat in one hand with a blanket pulled over her, Laura on my other hand clutching her huge teddy bear) and got us all to the car. I put Emily down inside the car quickly, pulled Teddy out of a puddle, bundled Laura into her seat and clipped her in (while the car roof neatly funnelled the rain down my neck), ran round the car to clip Emily's seat in, and threw myself into the driving seat. Emily was crying and Laura was shouting about Teddy being wet and I was wondering why it was impossible to take both of them anywhere without everyone ending up miserable. I turned on the engine and my iPod started playing and Mark Owen sang 'Stop being so hard on yourself - it's not good for your health'. And it made me realise that it wasn't my fault it had rained, it wasn't my fault Laura dropped her teddy bear or that they both got a bit damp (while I got completely soaked) and that I was doing the best I could. Thank you Take That.

You, you're such a big star to me
You're everything I want to be
But you're stuck in a hole
And I want you to get out
I don't know what there is to see
But I know it's time for you to leave
We're all just pushing along
Trying to figure it out, out, out
Oh, your anticipation pulls you down
When you can have it all, you can have it all

So come on, so come on, get it on
I don't know what you're waiting for
Your time is coming, don't be late
Hey hey, so come on
See the light on your face
Let it shine, just let it shine
Let it shine

Stop being so hard on yourself
It's not good for your health
I know that you can change
So clear your head and come round
You only have to open your eyes
You might just get a big surprise
And it may feel good
And you might want to smile, smile, smile
Oh, don't you let your demons pull you down
Cos you can have it all, you can have it all

So come on, oh come on, get it on
I don't know what you're waiting for
Your time is coming, don't be late
Hey hey, so come on
See the light on your face
Let it shine, just let it shine
Let it shine

Hey, let me know you (let me know you)
You're all that matters to me (you're all that matters to me)
Hey, let me show you (let me show you)
You're all that matters to me (you're all that matters to me)

So come on, get it on
I don't know what you're waiting for
Your time is coming, don't be late
Hey hey, so come on
See the light on your face
Let it shine, just let it shine
Let it shine

Let me know you (let me know you)
You're all that matters to me (you're all that matters to me)
Hey, let me show you (let me show you)
You're all that matters to me (you're all that matters)

Oh come on, see the light on your face
Let it shine, just let it shine
Let it shine

Stay your wandering feet

2011-10-31T13:22:00.003Z

I haven't been able to show you one of my most recent projects, because it was a present for a friend, but she's received it now so I can show it off! My friend Amy just bought her first house so I made her an embroidered picture for her wall.

I chose a quote from Jane Eyre because that is a book we both love.

The background is a blackwork pattern I chose from a cross-stitch book I have, the same one that had the alphabet I used. It took a bit longer than I thought it would but I love the way it looks.

New shop site!

2011-10-27T15:16:00.002+01:00

I finally got round to finishing up the new Wind The Bobbin Up site! It's at windthebobbinup.co.uk and you can now buy all the lovely colourful buttons and ribbons directly through the site.

I'm so pleased to have finally finished it, and have it up for all the world to see! And hopefully treat themselves to some lovely crafty bits. :)

Suncatchers

2011-10-24T10:26:00.002+01:00

I started writing this post about a month ago and just now found it, unfinished. But I think it's still a good one so here goes.

Inspired once again by my lovely sister, Laura made some suncatchers.

You need some clear sticky-backed plastic. I managed to pick up a few rolls at Tesco for only 18p each which I thought was quite a bargain! Cut out a rectangular piece, put it plastic side down on the table, and unpeel and fold back the paper on one half. I used blue-tack to hold the plastic against the table and the paper back in place.

Then give your small child some bits of tissue paper, sequins, short bits of yarn, anything you like, and have them stick them onto the plastic. The tissue paper worked particularly well.

Then is the tricky bit - once the suncatcher is declared complete, pull off all the paper, and caaaarefully fold the sticky plastic back over the decorated portion and smooth it into place. I will freely admit that most of Laura's ended up a bit creasy in places, it's harder than it sounds!

Edit: and now I've found one of the finished ones, I can add a photo! Here is one of Laura's creations:

Laura's Creative Space

2011-10-20T13:47:00.001+01:00

AKA the dining room table, being used for robot production. Main ingredient: glitter glue.

Songs you sing to your children

2011-10-18T12:16:00.003+01:00

I got this one from my sister Jen (it's her birthday tomorrow, happy birthday Jen!).

I sing around the house a lot. A lot a lot. A lot of the time it's variations on the same song, a song about whichever child is nearest at the time, to whatever tune is in my head at the time. For example, to You Are My Sunshine we might have 'You are my Emily, you are so lovely, you are so cuddly, every day' etc.

But there's also a lot of musical theatre. I sing Someone Else's Story from Chess a lot. Also The Story Of Chess, I Sit In The Sun from Salad Days, Hello Young Lovers from The King & I, and Joseph starting from the beginning (last night making dinner I got all the way up to One More Angel In Heaven).

Emily's favourite song is Nelly the Elephant. For some reason it makes her stop crying pretty much all the time. Sometimes just the first line ('To Bombay, a travelling circus came') does the trick. No idea why. Laura usually asks for Peter Rabbit Has A Fly Upon His Nose or Mm-mm Went The Little Green Frog. They both like old campfire songs as well as nursery rhymes and playgroup songs. And Laura always wants to sing the Bob the Builder theme song.

If you want to post about this, consider yourself tagged!

My Creative Space

2011-10-13T20:15:00.002+01:00

This is where the magic happens.

There's just about enough space for me to sit on the left there, and I can put my cup of tea on the bookshelf behind me. The biscuit tin has yarn for miniature knitting, the black bag has DK yarn for my crochet blanket, the plastic box has things like measuring tape, pin cushion, scissors etc.

Also, birdies!

(toilet paper tubes, coloured feathers, glitter glue, googly eyes, paper for beaks)

Knitting & Stitching Show

2011-10-10T19:56:00.002+01:00

On Friday Mum and I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at the Alexandra Palace in London. We went once before, in 1998, but to be honest I couldn't remember much about it other than that it was good fun! And it was this time too, not just because it was a day out with my mum (which is great all by itself) but because we got to look at all the lovely crafty things and talk about them. We saw many a thing. Lots of yarn, of course, and buttons and ribbons and beads and fabric. I bought some DK acrylic yarn in colours I needed for Emily's crochet bed throw (more details on that another day) and Mum bought some yarn for a friend, and some very lovely silk and cashmere yarn to make a beautiful lacy cardigan for herself.

And after that we went to Covent Garden and ate pizza, and then went to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and saw Shrek: The Musical. The show was chosen for us a bit because it was where we could get a good deal on the tickets (thanks Tim). But it was good, the set/costume design was amazing and we loved the dragon, although some of the writing wasn't great. They should have used more lines from the film than they did. But it was still good fun.

So a day of knitting and stitching, followed by pizza and a musical. I think that's pretty much my perfect day.

Robot

2011-10-03T14:00:00.000+01:00

Laura and I have made a robot.

I did the construction (cardboard boxes, think one was from oatcakes, one from toothpaste, and one was an eggbox) and Laura did the decorating (with squares of silver paper, sparkly pipe cleaners and an awful lot of PVA glue and glitter glue). I also found an R for Robot ('What's his name?' 'Robots don't have names, Mummy.') and made his face.

Laura says he's the best robot ever. I'm inclined to agree.

My garden is full of bricks

2011-09-29T16:28:00.000+01:00

That is the view through the patio doors to my left, and the reason my photos are getting darker. I used to have lovely light on the table behind me but now it is being steadily blocked out. One day the patio doors will be in that new space instead and I'll have a lovely big kitchen diner. In the meantime I just watch the bricks moving around and make a lot of tea.

Doodling

2011-09-26T15:26:00.002+01:00

It's funny, being a grown-up. I enjoyed doing my Art sketchbooks when I was at school (although I usually turned out to be being creative Wrong) and it only recently occurred to me that I could buy a sketchbook now and do whatever I wanted with it. Such as spend a whole page playing with the doodles that I used to draw down the sides of my Science notes.

the M is my favourite

or how about some flowers and twiddly shapes

Apparently this is actually a thing, and it's called 'zentangles' or 'zendoodles'. On Pinterest I found lots of ideas and tutorials and all kinds of things (I made a zentangle board, if you're interested) and I want to give some of those patterns a try. In my very own sketchbook.

Emily's button book

2011-09-23T15:26:00.001+01:00

Emily loves buttons. If you're wearing a top with buttons on she will grab them and chew them, and she chews buttons on her own clothes. She is of course still too little to play with my button box so I dug out some felt and made her a little book she can hold and play with.

It's quite a simple design, two rectangles of felt which I first embroidered and embellished and then sewed together, back to back, with blanket stitch. Then I folded the piece in half to make a book and blanket-stitched down the spine.

I went with a simple colour theme to make it look a little more thought-out.

My main project at the moment is also for Emily - I want to finish her birth sampler, hopefully in time to hang it up in her new bedroom. The bricklayers are nearly up to the first-floor joists so I'd better crack on.

Mr. Dinosaur

2011-09-20T14:05:00.000+01:00

Laura has recently become a fan of Peppa Pig. Peppa, as I'm sure all of you with small children are aware, has a little brother called George, and George has a favourite toy called Mr. Dinosaur. Laura has now decided that her favourite colour is green (it was, previously, red) and she also informed me that she needed a dinosaur. We had a look at Ravelry together and chose the Baby Snow Dragon crochet pattern by Marjorie Jones. Et voilà.

I modified the pattern a bit to point it a bit more dinosaur-wards. I left off the ears and the eyelids, and I made the spine points out of felt because I didn't want them to match the body, but Laura insisted they needed to be green and I didn't have another shade of green yarn handy.

Next up - a felt book with lots of sewn-on buttons for Emily. Child is obsessed with buttons.

Halloween Knitting Patterns for Pukifee and Lati Yellow

2011-09-15T13:38:00.002+01:00

So here's what's in my Hallowe'en book! It's more of a supplement really, just a small collection of fun patterns.

As well as the miniature pumpkin (about 1.5"/3.5cm in diameter)

you can also make this pumpkin hat

a cute black cat trick or treat bag

and this cloak and hat for a wicked witch (or a wizard!).

(the black dress there is made using the Pixie Dress pattern in my first ebook, Brilliant Basics).

The pattern ebook costs £4.

All the items in the book are also now listed in my Etsy shop, so click here if you'd like a tiny pumpkin or witch outfit for your doll, without the effort of making it yourself. :)

Autumn again

2011-09-12T13:53:00.002+01:00

Where did summer go? I don't know.

Laura started pre-school today. She seems to have taken it completely in her stride, no worries, I'm not sure I can say the same for me! She returned with two paintings and a cut-out dinosaur with rice glued onto it. It was very odd to just have Emily at home, but nice to be able to give her some dedicated attention for once.

But the main big going-on here is that work has finally started on our new house extension! We've been planning it for about a year, but the start was delayed by my husband's unemployment. Now he's back in work we can press on. So far we have foundations and some blockwork, more work on the floor this week and then the walls can start going up properly. Very exciting! We'll gain a much bigger kitchen and dining room, and we'll lose the boxroom but have two new bedrooms for the girls.

And in crafty news, I finished my Hallowe'en book a little bit ago. I'll do a proper separate post about it soon, but for the moment, it is available in my Etsy shop or through my beep beep miniatures website if you're interested.

Summer fun

2011-08-25T14:13:00.003+01:00

I couldn't think what to blog about, so I went for my usual technique of rummaging about on my camera for photographs. And found some from the local children's centre summer fun day. I went with the girls and we had a good time!

Laura had her face painted and ate ice cream

and she went on the bouncy castle

and we met Peppa Pig, which was less of a success (Laura wouldn't go any closer to her than about 3 metres so I don't have a photo of that).

By the way, if you have small children, and you want to do fun things with them, you need to read my sister's blog, Jennifer's Little World. She has so many good ideas! None of which include scaring your children witless with six-foot tall character costumes.

Cheese Straws

2011-08-19T15:31:00.004+01:00

Laura and I have made cheese straws a couple of times recently.

They are very good to make with toddlers because 1) they include both stirring and mixing-with-your-fingers elements, 2) they also include the all-important rolling-and-cutting-out stage, and 3) they're savoury, so you can bake without feeling like you're loading your children up with cake.

Here's the recipe we use. I have no idea where I got it from, I wrote it down in my recipe notebook at some point a few years ago, but it's a good one.

Cheese Straws
110g/4oz butter
225g/80z plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
110g/4oz grated cheddar cheese
1 egg yolk
splash of milk

Preheat the oven to 230C.

Rub the flour, butter and salt together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the grated cheese and egg yolk to make a soft dough. Add a splash of milk if it's too dry.

Roll out about 0.5cm thick and either cut into straw shapes with a knife, or let a small child have at it with biscuit cutters.

Bake on a lightly greased baking sheet for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack and store in an air-tight container.

Hallowe'en miniature knitting

2011-08-16T15:20:00.002+01:00

Still working on the Hallowe'en book - it stalled a bit for a while there but I want to have it finished and out for the start of September so I need to get a move on! Here is what Laura calls a 'poompkin'.

It is maybe an inch across? Something like that.

I confess that I try to avoid saying 'pumpkin' properly in front of Laura because I love the way she says it. Also, I try and avoid saying 'window sill' because she says 'window shelf' and it is beyond adorable.

Crafting like it's 1995

2011-08-09T14:42:00.000+01:00

So the baby finally completely destroyed my watch strap. I've recently acquired some packs of mixed embroidery silks from a house clearance (long story) and I've been thinking of making some old-style friendship bracelets, so I chose some cheerful colours and tried to remember how to do it.

Not too shabby! Muscle memory is amazing. I must have made hundreds of these bracelets when I was a teenager, all of us sitting in a row on the school wall with the bracelets safety-pinned to our school skirts, knotting away.

I finished this one off with a button and neatly sewed the ends under. I need to put a drop of glue on them to make sure it doesn't all unravel at an inopportune moment.

I'm trying to remember some of the more complicated patterns now. And maybe beads? Hmm.

This moment

2011-08-05T08:00:00.002+01:00

Inspired by soulemama

Dolly bed

2011-08-02T16:34:00.002+01:00

My grandfather made this doll cradle for my mother when she was little:

I can remember playing with it when I was little too, I love the transfers, the other end has a little bear knitting!

The cradle has arrived at our house now and all it needed to keep another little girl happy was some covers for the lucky dolly.

I had in my stash some pieces from a lambswool jumper that Mark accidentally felted for me five or six years ago. Very easy to sew up a little pillow and stuff it, and to cut out a rectangle and blanket-stitch it with some matching thread for her blanket.

Very cosy!

I am not obsessed with buttons, honest

2011-07-28T08:00:00.000+01:00

New socks!

(they are from Tesco)

Birthdays and Caterpillars

2011-07-25T19:46:00.003+01:00

Emily turns one* tomorrow so on Sunday afternoon we had her little birthday party. She now has many new toys and clothes, and more presents to come tomorrow!

I made her a Very Hungry Caterpillar cake

because that is her bedtime story. It has a very straightforward construction, made from two circular cakes

and covered in plenty of green and red butter icing (although a little tip: don't use Dr Oetker Natural Red Colouring. For one thing, it tends to the orange, and for the other, it's made from beetroot extract and leaves a definite vegetable-y aftertaste. I meant to get cochineal and shall make sure I do next time). Also dolly mixtures for his face and feet.

Laura's third* birthday is next month and she wants a kitty cake. She did have a cat cake for her first birthday but I think I want to try something different this time. Not sure what though.

*seriously.

Summer Sun - More Pukifee and Lati Yellow Knitting Patterns!

2011-07-01T15:49:00.003+01:00

I finished my summer book!

Seven more Lati Yellow and Pukifee knitting patterns, all themed around summer and the beach.

Patterns included are:
- short-sleeved shrug
- shorts
- sun top
- sun hat
- swimming costume
- beach bag
- sun dress

The book is available for £4 on Ravelry (you don't have to be a Ravelry member): buy Summer Sun now

Or it's $6.50 on Etsy: Summer Sun - Knitting Pattern eBook for Lati Yellow and Pukifee.

It's great fun to design around a theme - I'm definitely planning to do more of that. The next dolly knitting book though will be a winter one, which perhaps goes with knitting a bit better! Lots of snuggly jumpers and things I think.

From my camera

2011-06-24T20:00:00.000+01:00

Miniature knitting supplies

Sleeping baby

Playing girls

Reasons I Love The Internet

2011-06-21T21:34:00.003+01:00

Number 337: Pinterest.

Pinterest lets you set up 'boards', on any subject you want, and pin photos to them from anywhere on the web.

It's fun to do, and helps keep track of things you saw and liked, and where you saw them

and also you can see what your friends have been pinning, and what everyone on the whole system has been pinning

and maybe you can make a board about the Very Hungry Caterpillar just because.

I'm not sure if you need an invitation to sign up, if you do, comment and I will work out how to send invites. And if you are a member, do follow me! I be here.

Fimo

2011-06-15T16:12:00.001+01:00

Teeny buttons!

It's been a few years since I last spent my birthday money on Fimo, though.

Mia's Cardigan

2011-06-11T16:01:00.004+01:00

So here is the cardigan I designed and knitted for my new little niece Mia!

(not a very good photo, the colours are truer in the second one)

It's knit from the bottom up in five separate pieces (back, fronts, sleeves) then all knit together from the yoke. The edges are a modified feather-and-fan for a ripple effect. And round the yoke is a row of little paper dolls:

The bit I'm not sure about is the bit that gave me trouble when I was designing it - namely, I don't think I got the yoke decreases right. All the decreases are above the colourwork, which I think is fine, but I did them too quickly and the yoke isn't deep enough. I think it should hopefully still fit but it's not ideal.

I am planning to write this up properly at some point but I'll have to reknit it to test the pattern and I've got other things I need to do first, so I'm going to let it sit for a little while. Also if I put difficult things aside for a while they usually percolate through my brain and I can find a solution when I come back to them. It did turn out very close to how I hoped though.

And now I'm doing more designing, because I wanted a cardigan for Laura for the summer so I bought some wool, and I had a very clear picture in my head of what I wanted the cardigan to look like. So clear, that I was convinced I was remembering a cardigan I had seen online, but I looked and looked and couldn't find it. So off we go. This time, however, I've written up the pattern in full first and I'm now knitting it. I used the easiest construction I could think of so hopefully it will work out!

Corners of my home

2011-06-03T19:57:00.002+01:00

I know I haven't posted much recently about what I'm making, but there's a reason for that! I've been designing and knitting a cardigan for my newest niece, Mia, who was born on Tuesday (congrats Jen and Ram!), and I don't want to post about it here until after it has been received. I mean, I'm sure my sister and brother-in-law have got better things to do right now than read my blog, but just in case. So instead I have taken some photos to show you.

Dolly

2011-06-01T14:09:00.001+01:00

I forgot to show you what Felicity can do.

Pretty good eh?

Tuesday

2011-05-22T20:39:00.006+01:00

I have finished the doll quilt and have been trying to get a photograph of it but it's not going well; I usually only remember at naptime, when Laura is tucked up in her bed with Teddy, Daisy, Baby, Baby's new blanket, Bagpuss, Other Daisy, Rosie, Raggles, Makka-pakka and her pig puppet. Soon I hope to remember while she is awake and the blanket is available to me for photography. It turned out very well, although not quite as wide as I expected. But better than I hoped considering I did not measure, press or machine-sew one single thing.

But anyway. Here is Felicity!

She's my new Pukifee Cupid! She's here to help me with modelling and pattern designing. As soon as her hair turns up I'm going to re-photograph all my doll clothes and patterns, and at the moment we're working together on the next book, Lati Yellow and Pukifee knitting patterns for summer and sunny days.

And I wouldn't have it any other way

2011-05-20T21:56:00.001+01:00

In our garden, we're growing a fine crop of apples:

strawberries:

bees:

and round-and-rounds:

Something Completely Different

2011-05-17T21:29:00.002+01:00

Patchwork!

After all that knitting, I felt like doing a bit of hand-sewing, and I had a project in mind. I wanted to do a bit of old-fashioned hexagon patchwork. I had a rummage around in my fabric box and found that I had a lot of bits of blue, so that's what we ended up with.

It's going to be a quilt for Laura's doll, Baby, because that's about how far my attention span will take it. I explained to Laura what I was making and now she keeps handing me pieces of it and saying 'You sew it, Mummy. Sew the blanket for mine baby.'

I have some blue bias-binding and some suitable fabric for a backing. One thing I'm enjoying about this project is that I haven't bought a single thing for it, everything is from my existing stash - all of the patches are made from old clothes and off-cuts. It makes me feel terribly thrifty.

Ta da! I finally finished my book!

2011-05-12T14:52:00.001+01:00

Here it is!

Brilliant Basics: Knitting Patterns for Lati Yellow and Pukifee

It costs £6 on Ravelry: (you don't have to be a Ravelry member)

Or $9.50 on Etsy: Brilliant Basics: Knitting Patterns for Lati Yellow and Pukifee

The focus of the book is on making a complete basic wardrobe for your doll. The patterns included are:
- t-shirt
- sweater and cardigan
- pixie dress
- pleated skirt
- socks and underwear
- leggings
- shoulder bag
- hat and scarf

All the patterns use 2mm needles and 2-ply/laceweight yarn.

And of course the beauty of making these things yourself is you can customise them however you want - use any colour or combination thereof, add buttons and ribbons and sparkles, change sleeve lengths and leg lengths and skirt lengths - to make completely unique items. If you do make some things, please do send me a picture or add them to Ravelry, I would love love love to see what people make with these patterns!

And of course I'm not finished with doll knitting patterns yet....I have plenty more ideas! I'm thinking a summer book, and a winter one, and maybe some costumes, and plenty of hats, and lots more things!

But for now I'm going to put down my needles and do something completely different. When I post again in a couple of days you'll see that I do know how to do something other than miniature knitting, hopefully.

More miniature knitting I'm afraid

2011-05-10T14:50:00.000+01:00

My book is so nearly finished! One more pattern, then a great big photo shoot, then it can be released to the world. Here's a quick look at a couple of the new patterns you can expect, first a pretty dress:

and secondly a cute shoulder bag:

The socks she's wearing there were knitted by myself, in the round, on 2mm DPNs. They were 14 stitches round and not as difficult as I thought they would be.

Emily's cardigan again

2011-05-06T14:58:00.001+01:00

My mother commented on my last post and said I should put the pattern for Emily's cardigan on Ravelry. I think I will just share the notes I made here:

You're welcome.

A cardigan for Emily

2011-05-04T09:00:00.001+01:00

As the second girl, Emily wears almost exclusively hand-me-downs, as might be expected. But I noticed that she only has one cardigan. This puzzled me for a while until I remembered that the green bamboo cardigan I made for Laura at about this age felted terribly. So I dug out some wool I had left over from something else (James C Brett Marble Chunky in a variegated blue, and I think I bought two balls for Laura's owlet jumper and then used slightly less than one) and set to. I improvised something because I was too lazy at the time to get up and do a search on Ravelry for a suitable pattern.

It's a top-down raglan cardigan. I guessed the size to start with, which had the usual effect - I had to rip it out after a couple of inches and start again. But I got it right second time.

The stitch pattern on the lower body and the ends of the sleeves is from one of the Harmony Stitch Guides, Knit & Purl Stitches I think. I love those books, I have three and might put the rest on my Christmas list next year.

The button bands at the front are only as long as the stocking stitch section as the edge of the textured section doesn't roll in like stocking stitch does. And with babies I only usually do up the top couple of buttons anyway, due to their roly-poly nature and inability to sit still. The buttons have flowers on but you can't see that in my photo.

Of knitting and bears

2011-05-01T19:38:00.002+01:00

A little while ago I was contacted by a lady in Canada who needed a couple of cardigans for a miniature bear that she had. With just the measurements to work from there's always a bit of a worry that they might not fit, but I'm pleased to report the cardigans (and the little scarf) fitted the bear perfectly!

Here he is in his new knitwear. Such a lovely bear and I'm very glad I was able to help make him look so smart!

(the bear is made by Christopher Duquet of http://www.squidwool.blogspot.com/)

Knitting Pattern: Toddler Crown

2011-04-22T21:51:00.003+01:00

Laura's paper crown finally fell to pieces, so I said I would make her one that would last a bit longer. I asked her what colour she wanted and she said pink. So this is what we ended up with.

I used some Patons Symphony that I had hanging around the place. It's a soft chunky yarn in variegated pinks and purples. I invented the pattern. And after it was knitted, I blinged it up a bit with some beads, sequins, buttons etc that I had. Laura thinks it's great so I'm very pleased with that day's work!

Here's the pattern.

Garter Stitch Toddler Crown

I used chunky wool and 5mm needles, but anything would work really. Using a needle a bit smaller than recommended for the yarn is probably a good idea because that makes the points stand up a bit better.

kfb = knit into front and back of stitch

Cast on 6. Knit two rows.
1: sl1, k4, kfb
2: kfb, k6
3: sl1, k6, kfb
4: kfb, k8
5: sl1, k8, kfb
6: kfb, k10
7: sl1, k11
8: cast off 6, k6

Repeat rows 1-8 until the crown is the same length as your child's head is round. Knit two rows plain. Cast off and sew ends together. Decorate with whatever shiny things you can find.

Miniature knits

2011-04-19T19:28:00.002+01:00

Bit of a random assortment! The book is nearly finished, just need to work out one or two more patterns and then work on getting some good photos.

Folksy Friday!

2011-04-08T14:02:00.004+01:00

It's beautifully sunny here, it feels more like June than April. Laura and I were playing in the garden yesterday when she suddenly said 'It's summer, Mummy!'. She's only two, and I didn't think she had much idea of the passing of the seasons, so I asked her why it was summer. Apparently at some point I said that we would play in the garden in the summer, we were playing in the garden, therefore it is summer. QED.

So with that in mind, here are a few lovely summery items that caught my eye on Folksy.

Toddlers, glue and a special offer!

2011-04-06T14:44:00.003+01:00

Laura and I have been crafting:

The girls were invited to a birthday party last week, a Fairytale Party, so they needed princess crowns to wear with their party dresses. I made Emily's and Laura had lots of fun decorating hers. I love doing things like this with her. At the moment we have a cardboard box upside-down in the living room, being a house for her Timmy the sheep. We have been colouring it, and drawing on windows and flowers, and sticking on bits of tissue paper. And she was wearing the crown, although it is now nearly a week old and she's napped in it twice and it's a bit worse for wear.

And now for the special offer! To celebrate spring, the next five purchases from my craft supplies shop, Wind The Bobbin Up, will each get a free gift in with their order. I'll try and find something that goes with what you ordered. So now would be the perfect time to take a look at all the buttons and ribbons and other pretty things, for all your bright and cheerful spring crafting.

(those flowers were featured on the Folksy blog! I was so excited)

Hello April!

2011-04-04T08:51:00.001+01:00

Some months it's a bit of a relief to turn over the calendar. March was, well. Not good. The husband was made redundant at the beginning of the month, then the dishwasher broke again and finally the cat had to have emergency surgery and a stay in kitty hospital (he's home again now and fine as far as we can tell).

But April is a new month, and spring, and I've finally managed to get the girls to co-ordinate their afternoon naps. And I finished my yellow cardigan (but haven't managed to sew on the buttons or take a photograph).

And I have a video of a cute baby.

(Laura is cute as well, of course, but I don't have a new video of her)

Sunshine!

2011-03-29T19:38:00.003+01:00

One of the nicest smells in the world - bedsheets that have been dried outside.

2011-03-21T14:22:00.002Z

My parents came up to visit last week and I was talking with Mum about miniature knitting, specifically for tiny BJD (like the things I sell in my Etsy shop) and I've decided to make some new patterns and maybe make up a pattern book to sell.

Mum had brought up her dolly and she kindly let me borrow her to try and make her a new wardrobe

And also sent me lots of her thin wool in plenty of pretty colours

I have lots of plans for cute items for the little dolls, Lati Yellows etc are usually dressed like little girls and I have plenty of little girls around for inspiration.

Spring is sprung

2011-03-07T14:32:00.004Z

(I'm considering last week a write-off as we were all ill with a terrible lurgy, then we had some other bad news, and generally it wasn't great. But now it's a new week so let's start again!)

Do I use that blog title every year? I think I do. But I do love the spring, and today is so sunny and warm and lovely. We went out to playgroup a bit early and I packed some bread so that we could feed the ducks, but once we got there the pond was deserted. Eventually we found some ducks in the trees, fast asleep with their heads under their wings. Laura was very tickled by the fact that the ducks were still in bed and didn't want their breakfast yet.

I sold a button bookmark last night from my Folksy shop so we went to the postbox as well to send that on its way. I made a new banner for my Folksy shop - what do you think? Not sure if the flower wants to be a different colour.

I've nearly finished my cardigan - here's a photo of the pieces blocking on the dining room table:

But by now I have sewn the sleeves on (I hate doing set-in sleeves, bah) and sewn up the hem, and now I'm working on the button bands. Typing that has reminded me that I need to get some buttons for it, believe it or not, I don't have any that will do! I think I want mother of pearl ones. Hmm.

Laura's in my button box

2011-02-24T14:51:00.002Z

All I did was open the tin.

Wind The Bobbin Up

2011-02-18T12:20:00.000Z

I've got quite a few bits listed in my Wind The Bobbin Up craft supplies shop now, so I thought I'd share the prettiest with you! Although of course you should go and look at everything and decide for yourself which is prettiest.

(all photos are links, click on them to go and see the item in the shop)

First of all, buttons!

We have big bold ones:

Little spotty ones:

And little butterflies:

Laura likes the butterflies best but I can't decide which are my favourite. I think maybe the pink and orange ones I posted first. Or the spotty hearts and stars.

I also have much ribbon, but I think that's a long enough post for today, so I will return with those next week.

Have a nice weekend everybody!

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-15T15:31:00.002Z

Yes, I know it was yesterday but for some reason I didn't get around to blogging. Let's pretend I was whisked away to Paris to be wined and dined.

All right, instead I made and decorated these:

With this young lady here:

Which is clearly nearly as good.

(she is standing on a chair)
(she is not actually that tall)

Folksy Friday

2011-02-11T13:13:00.006Z

Work at Wind The Bobbin Up continues apace, and BeepBeep has new listings too. I've been spending some time on Folksy, on the forum chatting with all the lovely people, and generally ~~sizing up the competition~~ looking at what everyone else is making and listing. It seems the thing to do on a Friday is to showcase some of the other things you've found and liked on Folksy. So here we are, my first Folksy Friday.

No theme, just 'things I think are pretty'. Click on the picture to see the item in the shop and maybe look at their other things!

Does anyone still say e-commerce?

2011-02-08T13:33:00.002Z

I remember when I started university in September 2000, studying Computing Science. It was the height of the dot-com boom and we were all going to be internet millionaires. It's taken me more than ten years, but I'm finally ready to open my first proper fully-functioning E-COMMERCE BUSINESS. Hooray!

I received my first box of stock today for Wind The Bobbin Up, my new craft supplies business!

I'll be photographing and listing it over the coming week or two so keep an eye on the shop for all the new lovely things. Or you could become a fan on Facebook and you'll get updates on your Facebook feed! I had lots of fun choosing the very prettiest buttons and ribbons and hope to have many more things to share with you in the future.

Hooray!

Emily's blanket

2011-02-03T14:56:00.003Z

I just realised the other day that I never showed you Emily's baby blanket! Which I did actually finish on time - in fact, early, which was just as well because Emily was a couple of weeks early too.

And here it is!

The pattern is the Twining Vine Strip-Knitted Afghan by Sivia Harding. The pattern makes a full bed-sized blanket, but I didn't make one of the strips (there should be four) and only did eleven repeats (there should be....I forget, more than that) to make a baby-sized one.

I used Wendy Mode DK, the same as I used for Laura's blanket, and again it was a good choice. It's warm and snuggly, easy to knit with, has good stitch definition and machine-washes beautifully.

Next week: hopefully I can share my shop news with you! Very excited about that.

Bits and Bobs

2011-02-01T14:11:00.004Z

I made a new banner but I'm not sure about it. There may be another new one at some point soon, if I have some new inspiration.

My mum pointed out a while ago that my Etsy shop had 99 sales, so I thought I'd mention it on my blog and maybe have a prize for sale 100, but it's now 102 sales! Goodness me.

I added the RSS feed from my Folksy shop to the sidebar - it's over there on the right. Just text links, photos would be better but I need to play with it a bit I think and maybe find a widgety thing that does it. Anyone know of one?

And there's some big shop news coming - hopefully this week, maybe next. I'll keep you posted.

I meant to put this photo in the last post

2011-01-27T22:04:00.002Z

But I forgot. Sorry Emily.

She is such a little cutie-pie. Yet also quite loud.

January is almost over, February is a short month, and March will be spring

2011-01-27T16:28:00.004Z

Still here, still hating winter. Blah. Had to have a wisdom tooth taken out last week, which wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but still. I did get a couple of Etsy sales last week, though, and my first two Folksy sales this week (yay!) so it's not all bad! And I have plenty of company to make sure I don't get lonely.

MUMMY COME IN THE LIVING ROOM MUMMY COME IN THE LIVING ROOM MUMMY COME IN THE LIVING ROOM MUMMY COME IN THE LIVING ROOM

(aside: I love the outfits with the stripy top, matching stripy tights and pinafore dress over. Love them. So cute)

So it's mainly been shop crafting recently. I have however started knitting a cardigan for myself - Idylewylde, using some Patons 100% Cotton 4-ply that I think my sister bought me for my birthday three or four years ago. I was going to make a different cardigan, but it went badly and I pulled it out and buried the yarn where I wouldn't have to look at it and be reminded of my failure. But now it was time to dig it out and find a different pretty cardigan it could be. And it's going well so far, so fingers crossed!

Have I mentioned that I don't like winter?

2011-01-17T14:51:00.002Z

I don't like winter. So here are some colourful things that have been cheering me up.

New slippers

Crochet blanket to snuggle under on the sofa

Toddler art

Roll on spring!

Swatching

2011-01-12T14:35:00.003Z

Thoughts of a new cardigan...bug-sized, as always. :)

Rosie & Raggles

2011-01-07T09:00:00.000Z

They do not make a single piece of merchandise or toy for the CBeebies programme Everything's Rosie. Which is really quite shocking if you think about it. And Laura loves this programme so I knew she would love a Rosie of her own.

Good job she has a crafty mummy!

I made Rosie using the Ragdoll pattern by Debbie Bliss. I made her head twice as large as the pattern said (Rosie has a big head), the top is based on one of my miniature knitting patterns and the skirt was improvised. Her hair is strips of felt.

Laura was ecstatic when she received Rosie - but immediately asked where Raggles, Rosie's rabbit friend, was. I was quite amused that she assumed that if I'd make Rosie, I must have made Raggles as well.

Fortunately I already had the wool! I've made amigurumi in the past so I just improvised the pattern for Raggles.

Both the dolls were fun to make, I loved the challenge of trying to work out how to make the toys looks like the characters. They took a week or two each to make, but it's worth it to see her carrying them about, and hugging them, and saying cheerfully 'Mummy made them for Laura!' I love making things for someone who really appreciates them.

Things I Didn't Do In December

2011-01-04T14:45:00.003Z

I didn't make the lovely winter birds sewing kit that I got for my birthday.

I didn't make any crochet snowflakes for my Christmas tree (when I first saw that pattern I thought 'I could make loads and put one in with every Christmas card!!' but fortunately a few seconds later I realised that was COMPLETELY MAD).

I didn't make my own Yule Log.

But I DID make myself a beautiful, warm, snuggly cowl.

The pattern is of course Pretty Thing by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and I love it. Fun to make, beautiful to look at, and warm and cosy to wear. I don't like the extra bulk of scarves and I don't like having to faff with them to keep them snug, so this cowl is perfect. I used Debbie Bliss Rialto 4-ply - a bit dearer than I would normally buy, but I had some birthday money so I thought I'd treat myself a bit and I'm glad I did. It's soft and warm and lovely. Now I just need matching gloves. And maybe a hat.

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-24T20:48:00.002Z

Did I show you this last year?

It's Laura's Christmas stocking! I forgot to put anything in the photo for scale, but it isn't hugely big - maybe about eight inches by ten (but maybe not, I'm not very good at estimating sizes).

And this year of course Emily needed one too:

They're both made in the same way - I cut out the coloured fabric and appliqued on the design and the name, then sewed it into a bag, sewed another bag sliiiightly smaller out of white fabric, and sewed that inside the coloured one. I can't explain exactly how I made the drawstring work so I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader. But it wasn't too difficult.

I made the letters by printing them out the size I wanted, and using that as a template. The designs I did freehand but they're quite simple shapes.

And now both stockings are ready and waiting for Father Christmas, along with a mince pie for him and a carrot for the reindeer! Growing up we always used to leave a glass of sherry as well, but we don't have any, so he'll have to manage without at our house. Sorry Father Christmas!

So I wish you all a very happy Christmas with your families. Have a good one!

Anna x

Knitting!

2010-12-13T14:42:00.002Z

Laura has a new cardigan! But she doesn't want to stand still and have her photo taken.

She needs to run!

Round and round!

Funny little bug.

Fun With Folksy

2010-12-04T14:46:00.002Z

So here's what I've been up to! I finally got round to setting up a shop on Folksy.

beepbeep on Folksy

I've been meaning to do this for ages and probably a month or so ago would have been a much better time but it's there now! Only a few things up yet but I'm adding more all the time. So far we have:

Three red/orange/purple crochet bowls

One blue/white crochet bowl with a pretty beaded heart

And an orange flower button bookmark

Don't worry, I won't bang on here every time I add something (although if you want to know, you could Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter). And I have plenty of other things to talk about as well. But that's what I've been up to over the last week. Let me know what you think!

Cold cold cold brrr

2010-11-26T12:30:00.003Z

I started working from home in January 2006, and I've been at home with babies since August 2008, and it's only this week that I finally remembered to ask Mark to change the settings on the central heating so that the heating will be on all day during the week (he knows how to do it, and I could probably figure it out, but I've been meaning to ask him because it'll be quicker. Hmm). For nearly five years I've had a warm house in the morning, then by lunchtime the heating has been off for a couple of hours and it gets pretty cold, so I turn it on manually, then it takes an hour or two to warm up again. Yesterday the house was warm ALL DAY LONG. It was amazing.

The other day, quite by coincidence, I had to do three sewing/mending jobs. A button came off my coat, and a pair of my hand-knitted socks sprang a hole so I darned them, and the zip seam on the armchair cushion had come away a bit. I like to think of these things as being more like DIY than anything else. I also patched a pair of Laura's jeans (with dark pink hearts) and they turned out pretty cute, maybe at some point I will remember to take a picture. Or more likely not.

Baking with Laura

2010-11-24T14:06:00.002Z

Laura and I made some fairy cakes (which I realise now I completely neglected to take a photo of - next time). Laura chose red icing and after putting on some of that, we decorated them with dolly mixtures - and I clearly have a fantastically well-behaved child, because after being told the sweeties were for the cakes and not to eat, she didn't try to sneak even one! Or maybe she was ramming them in her mouth every time I turned my back. But I don't think so.

I followed my friend Sarah's tip for baking with small children - when you measure out the ingredients, put a quarter or so in a separate bowl, and let the child have at that while you mix up the rest properly. Then even if they do dump theirs all over the floor (or sneeze in it) you know there'll still be cake. On this occasion I was able to mix all of Laura's mixture in with mine, but it felt good to have the contingency plan.

Button Bookmarks - now knittable!

2010-11-17T15:53:00.002Z

I finally got off my bum and worked out how to knit my crochet button bookmarks. Then I lost the pattern, then I found it again, then I asked my mother to look at it and she polished it up to a beautiful shine, and then it was finally ready for public consumption.

Like the crochet pattern, it uses small amounts of 4-ply/fingering-weight yarn (leftover sock yarn is ideal) and is designed to button securely round the spine of the book so you don't lose your place.

The pattern is currently available both in my Etsy shop ($2.50) and on Ravelry (£1.50).

Hats!

2010-11-12T12:38:00.003Z

I don't know what was over there, either, but if getting one child to sit still for a photo is difficult then getting them both to do it was nearly impossible. Maybe I will share the outtakes later.

I had some chunky wool (the blue left over from the Laura's owlet jumper, the pink was some leftovers my mother-in-law gave me) and my darlings needed hats for the winter. I made up the pattern as I went along but I jotted it down so here it is. No idea on gauge, sorry, but I used chunky wool and 6.5mm needles.

Easy Ribbed Bug Hats

K = knit
P = purl
P2tog = purl two together
K2tog = knit two together

Cast on 48 (baby) or 60 (toddler) stitches and join to work in the round.
Work in K2P2 rib for 6"/15cm (baby) or 7.5"/19cm (toddler).

Work crown as follows:
1. K2, P2tog round
2. K2, P1 round
3. K2tog, P1 round
4. K1, P1 round until one stitch remains
5. K2tog round, 12 (baby)/15 (toddler) stitches on needle

Cut yarn leaving a short length, draw it through the stitches using a darning needle, pull tight and sew in firmly. Sew in other end.

Owlet Jumper

2010-11-09T09:00:00.000Z

While I was away from the blog I made many a thing, and I intend to share as many of them as I can remember. But here's a fairly recent one - I made the Owlet (Ravelry link) jumper for Laura. It's a knit jumper with a yoke of cabled owls, with button eyes. I used James C. Brett Marble Chunky in blue and it came out very cute and very snuggly. And then I had the Toddler Photograph Difficulty.

But I think you can get the idea.

Remember, Remember etc

2010-11-05T20:05:00.000Z

My father was a Lewes man and while I was growing up, every 5th of November we would go there for the Bonfire Night celebrations, which are the largest in the world. I haven't been able to make it the last few years, since I live further away now and have babies and things, but at least I can still make bonfire toffee to mark the occasion.

Bonfire Toffee

4oz butter
8oz sugar
8oz golden syrup

Put it all in a saucepan

and boil for about ten minutes.

Test by dropping a bit into a cup of cold water - when it sets hard, it's done. Pour into a lined tin and leave to set

then break up into mouth-sized pieces and share with friends, family, people you wish would stop talking, etc.

(be careful as the mixture does get VERY hot - and don't get it on a ceramic hob as I understand Bad Things will happen)

Another introduction

2010-11-05T14:59:00.004Z

Emily Megan, born on the 26th July 2010...

...and already a little smiler like her big sister!

Pip's Blanket

2010-02-12T09:32:00.004Z

(Pip is the new baby's inside name)

So here's my new big project (other than the baby, of course) - a lovely blanket for said baby. I think the blanket I made for Laura is one of the nicest things I've ever made, so it was a bit of challenge to find another pattern that I liked as much. I contemplated designing my own, but I don't think I'm really good enough, and it's such a big project that I want something I know will 'work' from the start.

So I spent some time on Ravelry and finally chose the Twining Vine Afghan (Ravelry link). The pattern is for an adult-sized blanket, so I'm going to work significantly fewer repeats, in order to hopefully end up with a cot-sized blanket.

I bought the wool last week - Wendy Mode DK, same as before. I loved this wool for Laura's blanket. It's 50% merino which makes it soft and warm and cosy, and 50% acrylic which makes it washable and hard-wearing. It also has lovely stitch definition and is very reasonably priced. Not sure what else I could want, really! And now I have just a bit less than six months. Which will be fine, though it depends on how distracted I get. :)

Knitted Belt - French Translation

2010-02-08T11:54:00.001Z

Just a quick note - Casa has translated my knitted belt pattern into French! It's on her blog here.

What's new with me

2010-02-05T14:36:00.002Z

Number two will be with us sometime around mid-August. :)

I was ill in December (winter vomiting bug thing, not fun at all), then I was pregnant and tired all the time so I cut down on non-essential activities like blogging. Then after Christmas it seemed weird to blog without mentioning the new baby, but pre-scan it was still a secret. And for the last week I have no excuse except laziness. But here we are!

More info on crafty things etc soon, for now just a little photo of my first (eek) baby, whom I suppose I should now call a toddler:

She took all the blocks out of the trolley and then sat in it. No idea why.

Treasuries!

2009-11-29T13:22:00.002Z

I'm in two treasuries at the moment! Both the same item, my little red and white Christmas cardigan.

First of all this one by dalesdreams:

And then the next day, this one by auntyanndesigns:

So many gorgeous little miniatures!

Busy week

2009-11-27T21:32:00.003Z

Busy busy busy! On top of the fact that the husband had surgery this week (day surgery on his wrist for carpal tunnel syndrome, so he can't drive and therefore can't get to work, so has been hanging around the house) I've had lots of orders in my shop, and have been knitting away as fast as I can to keep everything in stock. I have lots of ideas for new designs, but no time to try them out! I'm sure once the Christmas rush is over, though, I'll have plenty of time, and I'll be complaining that I'm not getting orders any more. :)

Turning this

into this

and away!

Further tininess

2009-11-20T18:03:00.002Z

More tiny knitting!

Christmas stockings

And little cardigans, pink

and blue (the colour in this one isn't right - it's actually more of a medium blue, not so green)

The Christmas stockings are already in the shop, the cardigans will join them soon.

I am doing other knitting as well, but it's for a present, so I can't show it just yet. Hopefully next month. As long as I remember to take photos before I send it, which is my usual problem - last month I knitted a baby hat and bootees for a friend, and didn't take a picture, so I can't show them to you. They were cute though.