Atishoo...atishoo...sorry a bit snuffly here. I guess that's why a few days of none blogging has just slipped me by. Shhhhhhh don't tell anyone but I quite like being a little off colour. Shhhhhhh!!!! No seriously, obviously I dislike being ill immensely, but when I am still with it but just need to cosy up with hot drinks, vitamin c and a some paracetamol. Well the excuse to stay indoors and not do housework, well it sits well with my creative spirit...Before the 'snots' got a big hold of me I had my day at the crochet work shop with the lovely Sarah (From Rowan). This lady has the patience of a saint and before you knew it a table of learners (after munching into muffins and warming endless cups of coffee) sat with smiles on their faces, well actually a few with tongues poking out of their mouth in pure concentration, all happily hooking away. Yes a fabulous day, and yes I feel able to say that one of my New Years Resolutions to learn to crochet properly can now be ticked off.
So with a poorly house hold I found myself a little corner, put my feet up, put on radio 4, and clicked away for a good few hours.
With the snow starting to melt and the pools of water collating all over the place I am wearing my winter woollies less, but my hat (made last February) has been worn most days on the school walk. So good for bad hair days. When I spotted a lush colour of the same yarn I popped it in my shopping bag and rushed it home to start the process off again, who knows maybe next winter this might be my most worn winter hat!!!
When my babes had been safely ensconced into school I still had the excuse of feeling poorly which again gave me the excuse to venture into my sewing room rather than deal with the mounting laundry. Easy projects though, not complicated as I didn't want to hurt my head. Ermmmmm, that would be cushions then...
Two new cushions for my child's bedroom and a big sloppy cushion for sitting up in bed at night reading or maybe a little knitting.
Now what else is an easy project but with a little more bite to it, Oh yes a couple of PJ bags for my boys. Don't you just hate the way that in the evening you can not find your children's PJs or the book/comic they are reading? Or is this just my babes? Anyway a couple of simple bags that can be slung over the bedsteads and keep their bedtime stuff together in one place, I hope, seemed like a good thing to me.
Not a very flowing post this... in fact I am all over the place, but that's how my passed week has been. A little bit of this and a little bit of that...On the 'little' front my youngest has been asking me for a weeks now to make his bedtime bunny some clothes, I confess, I did not jump to the request...untill...he said he wanted the bunny dressed in girls clothes because she is a pretty girlie bunny.
So as a mother of two boys, blue, green, red and at a push a little pinch of apricot is about as colourful as they get. So to play about with pink...BLISS!!! Maybe I went a little too far, this is for the little boy who thinks he is Indiana Jones.
NO, if your going to do something you must do it as you think is right, What could be more girlie than a ballerina. Out with the tulle and the pretties of my ribbons, beautiful pink yarn...
One little white bunny transformed into a pretty ballerina. Bunny was received with delight, oh but she now sits by his bed. On asking why bunny doesn't get a cuddle anymore, "oh she is much too pretty for that now Mommy." You win some you lose some I guess....

Chasing away the blues...

As another evening brings the weekend to a close, I sit here at my kitchen table while my babes sleep peacefully, a glass of rich red wine in hand to send a glow to my cheeks, I reflect on the last few days. The coughs and colds have dragged us down a little and halted our usual play. Not one to miss an opportunity though I did snuggle up under the quilts with my wee ones and start to sew together my blanket...I am so loving the colors and the peaceful therapy the repetitive action this project brings to me.
Its also been a time for catching up on a few unfinished projects, including the knitted cupcakes, usually finished off with a cherry I thought a change was in order and I used the lovely personable 'Little Cotton Rabbits' free pattern for a cupcake flower, rather pleased with the results too.
There is only so much of 'staying in' my boys and I can cope with... so when the calpol had kicked in we escaped for the weekend by the beach, only we never got to the beach, we relished the gifts of Autumn and went on a little nature walk in its place.
With the trees showing off their own fireworks, the chill in the air and the beautiful light that filters through the late afternoon air, it was a perfect day for a walk through the woods. The children running through the fields and splashing in the stream...
...yes if only Autumn did not mark the end of the summer I could truly enjoy this season...

I hope your weekend was bathed in the rays of the Autumnal sun and your time was spent with loved ones...

Happy Hooker

Back in my kitchen after a couple of glorious days on the beach, it felt like the last few days of summer and as the seasons are changing I wanted to get out there and make the most of the warm rays of sunshine on my skin before I pull on the long sleeves and boots! SO forgive my absence but I was doing what I do best and spending time on the beach.
When not on the beach this past week, I was sitting in my rather overgrown garden (due to being away at the beach all summer) trying to teach myself to crochet, you may remember I tried this a couple of years ago and I just got frustrated by all the ends to sew in. A little wiser now and with the desire to make a ripple crochet blanket with stash, (my yarn diet lasted 9 weeks, then I needed to finish a project and had to buy a couple of balls). The desire outweighs my capabilities and as I poked around blogland I saw I was not the only one with this desire, must be the thought of the cooler and darker evenings. The lovely MOOGSMUM directed me to ATTICA24. A delight of a blog, and with the news of a new baby, I poured through the many pages of this informative and beautifully put together blog.
SO I sat with my laptop and my knitting bag and worked through one of her tutorials. Within a couple of days I was one Happy Hooker...
But what about the sewing? Well my thoughts have returned to my sewing and its just time that is keeping me away from my sewing room. So it was a delight of an opportunity to go and spend a day with friends doing a little hand sewing using the fabric that I had dyed earlier in the year. (See this post).
After selecting my design, I light boxed the pattern on to the fabric, layered up with wadding and backing muslin, with the 'rocking technique' I sewed little stitches all the way around the pattern. Therapy for the soul indeed, I felt calm, relaxed and happy as I sipped my tea and eating too many bickies, chatting and catching up with what my friends had got up to in the summer, yes a pleasant way to spend the day indeed.

Brown paper packages

Busy, fun, boxes and rain, that just about sums up my weekend. Man this week is going to be really busy also, then its school holidays...Yippee!!!!! As its the end of the school year and I have two children in different school I have lots of shows, school parties and dress up days to be going to, the children are moving in a zombie like state as they are just sooooooo tired. Its all good fun. Yet more rain again this weekend, so the garden still resembles a nature field, Archie went out yesterday for some fresh air and ended up looking more like an enormous hedgehog than a rabbit, all his fur was wet and sticking up in spine like points!!!!
So not a lot of crafty goodness took place although plenty of housework got done, I had a visit from my Mom and brother and it was all worth it as for the first time ever my Mom did not say a negative word about the way I run my house. Although she was a little uncomfortable about the piggies (Charlie and Lola) being in the living room.
My Boden sale order arrived...Yummy only one thing needs to go back. I did manage a little sewing time as I wanted to alter a top I had got in my lovely Boden box full of goodies and pretty tissue paper!!!I am such a sucker for these details....
I wanted this top for a while, but being large in the bust department, but petite in height I did not think this top would fit well. It was such a good buy in the sale I took the chance. Well I was so right, it fitted the bust, but far to long in the straps, it is one long binded piece, so with a faint heart I took the scissors to it. Chopped a good inch off each shoulder strap, hand sewed the hem and got busy with my button hole foot. I could not make my mind up on buttons and after a lot of playing around I went with the aubergine colour of the bust line, I still felt it had a look of a maternity top (although that is what is 'in' at the moment) so I darted the front. I am rather impressed with the results, now I just need some sun shine to wear it... I leave you with a rather blurry bit of crochet. I have been trying in vain to master the granny square, I need someone to show me really, so whilst away I played about with spare wool and came up with my Ipod bag, yer its a bit naff, but it does the job and stops me worrying it will fall out of my pocket as I move around.

I have had little time to blog (write or read) this weekend, I caught up on a few comments (still have a few to reply to) this morning and I read one blog that positively had me in heaps of laughter, if you want to have a laugh out loud moment click on to MonkeeMaker and go back to the post 'How camp is my Monkey'...such fab pictures, as I am thinking a lot about camping at the moment so it especially touched my giggle button...go on put a smile on your face...