The Antidote

Nine

My beautiful baby girl turned nine over the weekend.  How does that happen?  We bowled, ate pizza, baked cakes and cherished the little treasure in our lives, which is Ivy.

Banner made by me copied from here by her.

Grey

I am rather hoping that my little stash which I shared last week will yield two lovely blankets.  I know that there will not be enough yarn for two blankets, but the palette will be shared between two very different projects.

I completely adore grey, and plan to paint the living room this colour.  Painting a room takes a lot less time than crocheting a blanket, so I thought I would give myself a head start.

I like my living space quite muted, with my family providing the colour, but I also like a peaceful and restful room which is both comfortable and tasteful.  One of my blankets will cosy up a leather sofa in this room.

I loved the other blanket which is not yet finished (ahem!) and wanted to do a similar one, but this time sashed in beautiful Shale Grey by Rowan.  Sumptuous grown up colours bound together with an elegant grey border.  I love it with all my heart!

Some of the little circles appear random and clashing in shades until they are joined with woollen clouds of smoke.

As I said in my last post, the dusky dove grey days of January make it a challenge to take photos, but I think my little circles both benefit from, and are complemented by the murky light.

 

Stash

I have been meaning to share my little Christmas present to myself all year, where did that three weeks go?  I got a little bit of money as a gift from my in-laws, and spent the whole lot on lovely yummy pure wool DK.

I have since added to this little stash and have a rapidly diminishing little bag of loveliness.  My little stash is evolving happily into two very different blankets, the first of which I will share before the end of the week, a cushion cover for a special girls birthday - is it weird to give a nine year old a cushion cover as a gift? and one or two little secrets.

I hope to replace yarn as I use it and create my own never ending stash of DK, what I am really enjoying is using the same yarn to create very different projects

Lack of posts lately are not only due to bumped heads, bad weather etc, but there is hardly ever any decent light for good photos, I'll bet I am not alone in this predicament, Blogland does seem rather quiet lately.

Sledging

Oh dear.  I was going to share so much this week.  My new yarn stash, my new projects some lovely yarny pics which I took over the weekend, then... oh dear..!

Poor little Ivy took a bang on the back of her head after a particularly steep sledging session and wound up with concussion.  Nausea, dizziness, headaches, poor little dot, she has really been through it this week.  All is well right now, we have just got back from the hospital and she has been thoroughly checked out and just needs a little more rest and she will be fighting fit.

I didn't know how miserable concussion could be, nor how long it could last.  We have rather enjoyed our rest though, sofa, tea, dvd's and books, hooking (me) peg dolls (her).  I am rather going to miss her when she is all better.

Snow Wool

I couldn't resist using today's fresh blanket of snow as a backdrop for my newest addition to my little stash.  I promise to show and tell more soon.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year! 

My little lot are all back at work/school today, so I thought it is high time I paid some attention to my poor neglected little blog.

This was the first New Years Eve which I have ever worked, the first in my nursing career, which also meant the first time in 17 years that my husband was not the first person to plant a big old smacker on my lips, many thanks to Emma who stood in for him beautifully mid drug round!

Working New Year did buy me Christmas off, which was very nice.  Whilst I adore Christmas and enjoy a New Year party, my absolute favourite and best is the week in between.  Quite, relaxed family time, pyjama days and lie ins. Christmas cake and tea and devouring new books and dvds.  Munching on leftovers and wearing new slippers.  Deciphering the instructions for new toys and rules for new games.  This is the time to exhale and enjoy.

This lovely bit of time where the husband is home to help with chores and there is no school routine, allowed for lots of hooky business as well.  Oh My, I didn't even notice that I had four WIP's on the go until I took this picture!

The very best of New Year wishes to you all, and I hope our little cold spell does not cause to many problems for you 

ps We did make it to London to see the Snowman, to our amazement, when we arrived at Fenchurch St, there was not even one flake of snow! 

 

A Snowy Post

This was the view from my front door yesterday morning.  And today we are going to see this. I hope hope hope the trains are running!

Let the Festivities Commence

What with carols and nativity's being practised in school, songs being played in shops and Christmas advertisements starting in October, it is really difficult to explain to children that Christmas is a LONG way off.  However, once they begin opening those little doors, it is not a long way off!  And let's be fair, the magic Christmas holds to a small child does not last forever, so once December hits, I fully indulge in their excitement.

Our house is the proud owner of 7 advent calenders (I know!).  It thrills me ever so slightly that my two love these colour-in ones the most, shunning the gimmicks of plastic toys and chocolates (although they do have these also).  Do you spy my little crochet pile which sits with me as I hook away whilst observing my little artists? They colour the surprises for each other and do the front for themselves, and are so proud each day when their little picture is revealed.   Now the merriment has begun!

Stillness

Oh my time do fly!  This is my first year of blogging in the lead up to the Christmas season, and isn't it tricky to squeeze everything in?  I barely have a moment to catch my breath, let alone thirty minutes to scribble a post.

I have, however been so busy with my knitting and crochet.  The blanket continues to gobble yarn and is growing and growing.  Gifts are on the needles (see above), I can't say I am really enjoying this project, it is a Kim Hargreaves Beret and the second one I have made.  The first was in grey and didn't seem such a chore, but this one is black and combined with tiny winey needles is making my eyes go quite funny!  And my little head is bursting with ideas for presents and decorations to make.

In addition to this, a few like minded friends and I have set up a little Knit n' Natter group.  Sometimes meeting three (I know three) times a week.  We LOVE it!  We stitch, problem solve, eat cake and generally put the world to right, and are such a glamourous bunch, I quite regularly let the group down with my (literally) just got out of bed look!

Plus, I cannot stop daydreaming about this as a Christmas party outfit.  So today for just a few moments, I am going to sit still, and knit,  whilst visions of Lacey Playsuits dance in my head!

Broken Rules

When I started my latest WIP, I made a few rules to adhere to.  One of them  was to both join the squares together and sew in the ends as I went along.  I have failed miserably.  Now I know that the UK postal strikes have been blamed for unpaid bills and forgotten birthdays, but I maintain that these strikes are the reason for these piles which are all over my house.

To explain further, this blanket is literally GUZZLING Rowan Pure New Wool in Enamel and Frost.  I source most of my yarns on line and it is just not arriving as quickly as I am hooking it.

Thankfully, my stash is replenished and at the moment, my wool supply can be maintained.  And, on the plus side, my other rule was to finish this project in three months and for once I seem to be on track....postal strikes permitting!