Islay finds, makes and bakes...

Item 16: check

Yay, we have a finished item from the 2011: a year of hand making list! These are Christmas socks for my father. And yup, I'm able to model them because our feet are more or less identically sized. I'm trying to convince myself it's because his feet are freakishly small rather than mine being freakishly large, but really (if my shoe shopping experiences over the years are to be believed), it's the latter.

The socks are from this pattern, and my Ravelry project page is here. And can I just say how incredibly useful it was to have the notes from the last time I knitted Daddy a pair of socks (on Ravelry here) to refer back to, to make sure I did the right size. Yet another reason to adore Ravelry. Now if only someone would come up with a quilting version...

Of course, most important about this project is that it marks the first finished item from the 2011 list. It feels like I'm a long way from even achieving the items on the January list, but a surprising number of them are a good way through, and I'm optimistic that although I might not get every last item finished, I will achieve pretty much everything I want to. Again, I have to say what a brilliant focus this list is giving me so far, and how I'm really enjoying having my hand making time just a little bit more structured (although I do have to remind myself every now and then that there's no pressure to finish everything on the list if I don't have time).

Spreading the word

My sister's first ever knitting project

It was a lot harder than I was expecting to teach my sister how to knit, because I now knit continental style, rather than English (which is what I was first taught), but when I taught myself continental I already could knit, so I didn't have to learn the whole process from scratch. Rethinking them from a beginner's point of view was a bit challenging, but I think she's doing pretty well on my less than perfect instructions.

I've also been trying to pick the perfect pattern for her to knit. She's, ahem, quite into vintage, so we've been trying to find a nice vintage pattern that uses DK weight yarn (to no avail. She's actually contemplating months of 4-ply stockinette without fear in her heart, as far as I can gather).

Teaching Charlotte made me think about how pleased I am that I learned to knit young. OK, so I only knitted scarves for my first dozen or so projects (my step father, good sport that he is, continued wearing the luminous monstrosity I created especially for him for years. It's possible he still has it). When you learn a skill young, even if it's only the basics (I could only knit, purl, cast on and cast off until I was about 25) it's just so much easier to pick up and develop later. So as I sit tonight, surrounded by WIPS, I will send silent thanks to the two people who spent hours patiently teaching me and correcting my inadvertent increases/cast offs - a sadly-no-longer-with-us elderly neighbour, and my step-sister (who you might be lucky enough to be attended by should you give birth at home in a particular part of London).

Knitting: in progress

 Currently in progress:

1. Baby blanket, first mentioned here (Ravelry project page here) - I'm in no rush to finish this and am actively enjoying dragging it out (something Adam is very perplexed by, being rather more of a practical nature than me). It's actually not even on my 2011 list, although I am obviously hoping to have it finished before the baby arrives.
2. Daddy's Christmas (ahem) socks (they are, in my ahead, never without the ahem, as I'm very aware that Christmas is long gone. Frankly I blame him, since he wanted a longer leg portion than the last pair I knit for him).
3. My tea leaves cardigan (Ravelry project page here). I'm absolutely loving this pattern so far (I'm only about 5% of the way in) - really well written and straightforward, and the Madelinetosh yarn  (I bought mine here, in the absence of a UK supplier with a reasonable selection) is absolutely gorgeous to knit with (although I'm less of a fan of the necessity of keeping two balls on the go at the same time to avoid any discrepancy between balls of the hand dyed yarn).

I'm a bit incapacitated at the moment - not sure what the problem is, but possibly either sciatic or pelvic girdle pain brought on by the pregnancy. Hopefully the doctor will give me a diagnosis tomorrow. The result is being in hobbling agony every time I try to walk more than a few hundred yards. It's a complete and utter nightmare (you try explaining to a toddler that Mummy not only can't pick him up, but also won't walk round town for three hours pretending to be a train), but I'm trying to look on the positive side - an awful lot of knitting is getting done, and we're spending a lot of time in the garden (so I can go inside and sit down if I need to) rather than going into town or to the park. I'd forgotten how nice our garden is, and am enjoying planning the year's growth (don't hold your breath for anything ambitious). I suspect I may soon be found poring over seed packets again, and I really must get on and order some seed potatoes.

Frustratingly, it's not even very comfortable to hand-quilt, as bending over the quilt to sew makes my back sore, so the sunshine quilt is progressing at a very slow rate. I'm hoping to make some sewing machine progress this week though (notably on Teddy's quilt), assuming sitting on a hard chair doesn't make things worse. All in all, things are ticking along rather nicely on the crafting front at the moment.

Christmas smuggler

 

 

OK, so this is more likely to be a sensible fit in winter 2011/12, but we'll gloss over that for now and concentrate on how much I love this sweater. Apart from the throwing-down-the-stairs-before-deigning-to-wear-it that seems to happen with everything I knit for Teddy (I have convinced myself it's a good luck ritual that he hasn't told me about), he seems pretty happy with it too.

I cast this on the day before Christmas eve and finished it a day or two after boxing day, which is pretty good going for me (mark one in its favour). I am also completely in love with the yarn (mark two), which is a mix of 75% British (Cornish, to be precise) organic wool and 25% Peruvian alpaca, making it lovely and soft while retaining a real 'wool' feel (you know what I mean, right? not too smooth and perfect). The colours are gorgeous - saturated and yet not too bright and garish. I live in hope that they might add a few more to the range so I can knit more things from this yarn. Even so, I suspect some might find its way into a baby knit or two (although not from this batch - I finished the sweater with literally four yards of the cream left and not much more in the blue).

My gauge was off and I picked a size up, so naturally the finished sweater is enormous, but I figure at least he'll get maximum wear out of it! (mark three). It could also do with being a fraction more in proportion (it's a little wider than it ought to be for the length), but even that isn't enough to make me resent it. I'm actually tempted to cast on another one in a cotton/wool blend yarn for summer.

If you want more details, here's the Ravelry project page.

2011: A year of hand making (part two)

Umm, it's possible that this is another random and gratuitous family photo from Christmas. Baking with the toddler is mainly a battle to stop him using the spatula to shovel cake mix into his mouth as fast as possible.

I mentioned on Saturday that 2011 is the year in which I shall attempt to keep my hand making (and other family activities) just a teensy bit more organised and on track than I have in the past. I'm not planning on sucking all the fun out of it by scheduling every last minute of crafting and family time, but I am hoping that I'll achieve more of the things I want to by having a rough schedule in mind, instead of being taken by surprise by every single season change, festive event or family party.

I decided that some things were more ongoing projects than tasks that could be slotted into a monthly schedule, so there's a little section of aims for the year, but beyond that I've roughly thought about the months. You'll notice that beyond about March things get progressively more vague. That's partly because of the new baby arriving around the beginning of April (I've learned my lesson the hard way about over-estimating how much I can achieve with a small baby), partly due to the wedding in July (again, not sure how much time/energy I'm going to have around then) and partly due to the fact that I don't want to stress myself out with a year's worth of plans that could be thrown off by any number of changes (like, oh, I don't know, the arrival of a new baby?). My vague aim is to always be planning at least a handful of months ahead in order to retain the benefits of planning without panicking myself about how much I'm trying to achieve.

And so, without further ado, here you go.

Aims for the year (I hate the word resolution)

1. Blog more regularly and more thoughtfully – I’m aiming for somewhere in the region of 4-5 times a week, and actually spending some time over those posts so they say all of what I want to say
2. Carry the camera everywhere – I have missed so many shots this year simply through getting out of the habit of carrying it with me. Also we have a shiny new camera (this one) so I ought to make the most of it
3. Try to make even more of our food from scratch – I currently make most of our bread and treats, but I’d like to increase what I'm doing. I used to make granola and breakfast foods, maybe that's a good place to start.
4. Waste less time – I have an almost limitless ability to idle away hours on the internet or just pottering in my workroom. I’m sure I could increase my hand-making time by about 20% simply by being more efficient
5. Master colourwork – I’m not sure why, but I am suddenly determined to be able to knit colourwork. I think it’s all the cute baby fair isle projects I keep seeing on Ravelry
6. Think about seasonal making more than a week in advance, so I can actually make some of the lovely projects that always inspire me on other blogs come Easter, Halloween or Christmas
7. Spend more time outside, whether it’s in the garden or at the park. Just generally appreciate the natural world a bit more and hopefully instill a bit of that appreciation in Teddy
8. Spend more time crafting, baking and hand making with Teddy – we got quite into this in the run up to Christmas and it was a huge success. Definitely need more where that came from, especially in order to keep Teddy happy and occupied when the new arrival shows up.

January

1. Finish Teddy’s big bed quilt (hoped to finish it in the run up to Christmas, but it never happened)
2. Organise the crafting/art supplies cupboard – it all got a little out of hand towards Christmas. Also I think there's quite a lot more we could be doing in the way of arts and crafts, and I have nowhere to put more supplies
3. Knit Teddy another pair of socks
4. Make quilt tops/blankets for the wedding (the aim is to have a handful of quilts to drape over hay bales and as picnic blankets to sit on, as there won't be any formal seating for the meal)
5. Design and print the wedding invitations (loving the save-the-dates we made, blog post coming soon on them)
6. Quilt half of the sunshine quilt
7. Start a tea leaves cardigan for myself (just as soon as the yarn arrives from the States. Fingers crossed it makes it over the pond soon)
8. Make Teddy an outfit from Ottobre magazine (I've had a handful in mind for months now)
9. Make maternity dress from Handmade Beginnings (Anna Maria Horner’s lovely sewing-for-baby book)
10. Knit a baby cardigan (once I've narrowed it down from the not-very-shortlist of about 30 patterns)
11. Knit a baby hat (I am always sad that Teddy didn't have any hand knitted baby hats. Not sure why)
12. Knit Teddy a new winter hat (the last one had a minor run in with a hot wash, courtesy of Adam being in a bit of a rush to get a laundry on, and is now more fit for use as an egg cosy)
13. Make curtains for the sitting room (we really need to stop being open to stares from everyone walking down the street)
14. Organise my workroom and plan any sewing, making or shopping that needs to happen to keep it under control
15. Knit some practice colourwork swatches
16. Finish my father’s Christmas (ahem) socks
17. Plan what’s going in the garden this year (mainly very simple things that can be planted and forgotten for a few months, thanks to the rather busy summer we have planned)
18. Make marmalade (January tradition in this family)
19. Plan what other wedding hand making needs doing before the baby arrives
20. Sew zippered bags for crayons, pencils etc

 February

1. Finish tea leaves cardigan, if it’s not already done
2. Baste and quilt wedding quilts (yup, any and all of them. That'll happen)
3. Finish quilting sunshine quilt (along with those wedding quilts)
4. Knit baby bootees
5. Knit a cotton baby vest or sweater for summer
6. Make curtains for our bedroom
7. Plan Easter/spring related hand making
8. Organise the bedroom for the new arrival and plan any hand making that needs to be done
9. Plan and knit a colourwork sweater for baby (maybe the cardigan from Vintage Baby Knits )
10. Make a change bag (mine is nowhere near appropriate for two children, as well as being deeply unstylish)
11. Sew a needle wrap for circular needles

March

1. Make baby toys (I’m thinking possibly some felted balls, or some stacking blocks. We got rid of loads of Teddy’s toys because they were too plastic/noisy/broken, so we’re a bit short on that front now)
2. Go through the baby clothes bags and plan what needs making/buying
3. Finish quilting wedding quilts if not done yet
4. Start knitting wedding shawl/wrap (even if I'm not going to manage the dress, it would be nice to wear something handmade)
5. Find a space to make a nature/seasons table for the house
6. Make curtains for workroom
7. Finish any Easter/spring related making
8. Knit another baby blanket (I have ambitions to make this brightly coloured one and back it with jolly fabric like this one, first seen on Soulemama's blog but who knows)

April

1. Mainly we’ll settle for having a very new baby this month. Anything else achieved is a bonus, including getting dressed

May

1. A bit of more baby knitting maybe
2. Change seasons table at the end of the month
3. Finish piecing charm quilt (remember that one?)

June

1. Make some summer clothes for Teddy (maybe some more Huck Finn style pants and a couple of t-shirts, or maybe a wedding outfit, depending on how much sleep I'm getting)
2. Finish knitting wedding shawl/wrap

July

1. Get married! There will probably be enough hustle and bustle this month not to add more

August

1. Make a winter coat for Teddy
2. Plan and knit a colourwork sweater for Teddy
3. Knit winter jumper for baby

September

1. Change seasons table at beginning of the month
2. Make a round of baby clothes for winter
3. Make a round of Teddy clothes for winter
4. Plan any Halloween making
5. Plan the Christmas/winter solstice time making season, including

• Wrapping paper
• Tree decorations
• Winter table cloth

October

1. Knit two pairs socks for baby
2. Knit two pairs socks for Teddy
3. Make a start on Christmas making
4. Finish Halloween making

November

1. More Christmas making

December

1. Finish Christmas making

See, told you it got vague after the spring! I'm really enjoying reading on other blogs about new projects starting and crafty aims being set (gosh, the temptation to join things like the 365 project, but I know how stressed I'd get when I inevitably missed a day or two), so if you've made some resolutions, I'd love to hear about them.

Incidentally, this list is going to take the place of the list that normally loiters in the menu bar above for the forseeable future. I'm keeping that original list (which is more of a general list of things I want to achieve) updated and all links to it live, but all the things from it that I'm hoping to achieve this year are on the new list. As with the old list, I'll update with links to appropriate posts as projects are tackled and finished (I'll only update the list in the top menu bar - this post will remain as it is today, for the sake of posterity!).

Apologies for the mammoth post, I have some less epic ones coming up to show you all the things I managed to get made over the holiday period (it's actually a bit embarrassing how much more I got made when I was away from home and the lure of the internet. Whoops).

New best friend

I am so in love with my cowl (more details here and on the Ravelry project page here). It has hardly left my neck since I finally finished it last Friday and gave it a good soak in hot soapy water (always alarming with wool, especially cashmere, but necessary to get the industrial oils off when you buy cashmere from here).

The stitch definition with the cashmere yarn is fabulous, and it is, of course, beautifully soft and cosy. I appreciate that it doesn't even slightly match what I'm wearing today, but I don't care even a little bit.

It was a much slower knit than I expected, but the break from quilting has been nice (I'm ready to attack hand quilting the sunshine quilt with renewed enthusiasm now) and it turned out to be well worth the wait.

In other news, I suddenly look enormously pregnant (as well as just enormously fat). How did this happen? I swear I wasn't this huge about three days ago.

We may be having a knitting phase

Maybe it's something to do with being ill, or the recent cold snap, or simply boredom with hand quilting (why yes, hand quilting a kingsize quilt is slow, thank you for asking), but my urge to knit cosy warm things has not been sated. Having cast off Teddy's hat and  scarf (and temporarily abandoned the mittens mission, at least until I find a pattern that explains thumbs for idiots), I immediately cast on for a baby blanket. Yup, baby knitting has officially begun. More details on it here (Ravelry link).

And, since the baby blanket is in absolutely no rush to be finished (indeed, I'm rather enjoying knitting a row here, a row there, and generally having the blanket grow alongside me throughout this pregnancy), I also cast on for a cowl. Plus, as Adam will attest, I am a women who likes to have a warm neck (allegedly I own an unreasonably number of scarves. I disagree. And anyway, this is a cowl, not a scarf. And I'm not making excuses. Honest).

  

Also, I can only apologise for the zany lighting on that shot. We have a new, slightly cleverer camera (I am nowhere near upgrading to a digital SLR, although I like the idea of doing so one day), and I'm having fun playing round with all the settings. Of course, it means I can no longer take a halfway sensible photo, but I'm sure I'll get there...

The cowl, by the way, is the Honey Cowl, knit in Colourmart DK cashmere (in a pink that really is about as vivid as it appears above). I want it to be finished right now so I can snuggle up in it. I have visions of knitting some matching Toast wristwarmers, but am aware that could be a teeny bit of pink overkill.

In slightly-less-interesting-news, I am finally (I think, touch wood, fingers crossed etc etc) beginning to feel a bit better. I've been more or less wiped out for two weeks now with one thing or another, and our entire little family has been ill at one time or another during that period. Winter bugs suck, but are slowly being defeated in this household.

Instant gratification required

 

It has not been an easy week chez us, but finally it looks like things might be calming down. Adam's back at work (hopefully for the long term), I'm back on Teddy-duty and I think I might have figured out the problem with my serger - cheap thread (if you follow me on Twitter you'll know how close the serger has come to going out the window on more than one occasion this week).

However, after a week of high stress, last night called for something that would make me feel like I was achieving. I didn't want to move my hand quilting on by another four percent, or sew two more hexagon flowers, and I definitely didn't want to wrestle with the serger to finish Teddy's pyjamas.

So, since Teddy is badly in need of some cosy winter accessories, and I was badly in need of trying out the Rowan/Amy Butler Belle Organic yarn (Ravelry link) that I bought the other day, a hat was born.

I'm loving the Amy Butler yarn - not only is it an actual pretty coloured organic yarn (and it is nigh on impossible to find organic yarns in anything other than natural or pastel shades. I'm prepared to compromise on a tiny bit of eco-perfectionism for pretty colours), but the 50/50 cotton/wool mix makes for a cosy warm knit that still has lovely stitch definition.

I'm hoping to complete the set with a pair of mittens and a stripy scarf at some point this weekend, then I promise normal service will resume on all the ginormo-projects (and also, isn't it time I did some Christmas related crafting?).

And by the way, if you're wondering why there's no cute picture of Teddy actually wearing the hat, it's because he turns his nose up at everything his poor mother knits for him. He'll find it in a couple of days and be impressed, but for now, it's Daddy's bright orange sailing hat all the way.

One for the mother

I started knitting these socks for my mother so long ago that I can't actually remember the start date. We were definitely living in the last house, which means pre-March, at least.

They're not even very advanced - simple heel, simple toe, and no fancy pattern.

I'm itching to cast something else on (always the way with knitting. plus have you seen how many gorgeous baby knits there are in the world?), but am holding off until I've finished quilting the sunshine quilt and have made a bit more progress with the charm quilt. I know that if I don't get on with them they'll go the same way as these socks, and I'll still be blogging about the sunshine quilt this time next year.

Incidentally, it turns out that there are almost no white surfaces in this house on which one can take a photo.

And also, don't feet look enormous from above? I mean, mine actually are enormous (UK 8, is that a US 9? 10?), but they look even more enormous here. The socks are a bit short on me, so hopefully they'll be perfect for my mother's more reasonably sized feet.

And also also, I just looked back in my blog. Apparently I promised to knit these socks last October and cast the on in about February, making them possibly the slowest hand knit socks in history.

These pictures

1. Are all from the past week
2. Didn't justify a post of their own (although some occasionally make their way into other posts...)
3. Make me happy

 Food is your friend. Photograph by my father (aka Papa).

Insert melty heart comment of your choice here.

One FO and a happy boy, what more could a girl ask for?

Scraps, wonderful scraps. Not for me to turn into hexagons though, but Part I of my blogaversary giveaway, keep an eye out for details on Monday.

***

These pictures is a semi regular Sunday feature with a few pictures from the week that never quite made it into their own blog post. Hope you enjoy it, and feel free to share your own these pictures moments too!

An actual finished object!

I started this pea coat during Kids' Clothes Week, and it's been finished and waiting for buttons for a couple of weeks now (when I say waiting for buttons, I didn't need to plan some massive shopping trip - the buttons were sat next to the jacket in a paper bag, along with thread and needle. I just actually am that lazy). 

Not bad for my first ever garment, hey? (Apart from socks, but they hardly count as a garment). I'm loving the colour combination, although slightly worried that the red is going to turn the blue lilac in the first wash.

The pattern is from this book, which I am pretty impressed with - fairly simple patterns, for clothes your kids might actually need. I knitted the size 2-3 because Teddy's pretty enormous for a 20 month old. I didn't use the yarn called for in the pattern, but instead used Rowan pure wool Aran, because it was cheaper and seemed to be much the same quality. I think I was a shade off gauge, so the finished garment is a fraction bigger than the measurements in the book, but as far as I'm concerned the more use he gets out of it, the better! I'll put up a Ravelry link to the project just as soon as I've done the page for it.

If you're wondering about the less than picturesque backdrop, it's because the only way to get Teddy to stay on his feet long enough to snap any decent shots was to take him to look at the trains. Lots of 'choo choo' accompanied this shoot, along with one very mournful 'chooooo chooooooooooo' when I finally dragged him away.

I'm sorry it's taken so long to post a finished object, especially for those of you that don't visit for random pictures of Teddy/baking/lemon squeezers etc. The trouble is that every spare moment for now is spent on the sunshine quilt, so not a lot else is getting done! Incidentally, have you noticed that I've resisted posting a picture of it since 23rd May? I think that's pretty impressive. I'm hoping to get the top finished in the next week or two, and the backing shouldn't take long to piece (big squares of blue in various Kona cottons), but expect to see a lot of pictures of the hand quilting process (possibly I should have a practise at hand quilting before letting myself loose on the actual quilt). Got to say, though, no complaints here about how long it's taking to do - I've been working on it for 6(ish) weeks and I'm not even slightly bored. If it wasn't for the sheer impatience to see the thing finished, I'd happily continue even longer, and I can't wait to start my next hand piecing project.

A little box of WIP

This is what my WIP box looks like at the moment, sitting next to my badly-in-need-of-replacing chair (Adam's mother has a rocking chair reserved at her thrift store headquarters, which I have utterly failed to pick up thus far). Glossing over the fact that I badly need to make a prettier WIP container, there's an awful lot to do there. That box (and the tupperware next to it) contain:

1. A knitted pea coat for Teddy, started during Kids' Clothes Week (the pattern is from Essential Kids by Debbie Bliss)
2. The sunshine quilt (well, parts of it. The quilt top is too big to store in that basket now, so it's upstairs in my workroom)
3. My charm quilt hexagons
4. The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Fizz Carr (I like to have a good look through all new books before consigning them to the bookshelf - if I don't have at least a vague idea what kinds of things are in there I never take them down again)
5. Weekend Sewing , by Heather Ross (see point 4, above)
6. Somewhere out of sight there's two thirds of a pair of socks (both socks are minus their toes at the moment) that I started for my mother about three months ago. If she's lucky they'll be done just in time for a nice warm summer...

I think it's safe to say I've got too many WIPs at the moment. Particularly considering there's half a (machine) pieced quilt top and Teddy's pyjama top in my workroom as well. I generally like to have one hand sewing/knitting and one machine sewing project on the go at a time, but one thing and another has meant that I've totally exceeded this in recent weeks. I'm finding this hugely unrelaxing because it means I'm spending a lot of time making without ever getting the excitement of finishing something and seeing it in use.

I've got a couple of new projects waiting in the wings, including a couple of big week long challenges for myself (which I'm really looking forward too - all will be revealed soon), and also this calling to me from my workroom

Supplies from Kimonomomo and book from the library (but you can buy it here if you want)

Anyway, my point is that before I'm allowed to pick up that sashiko stuff or begin my monster projects, I've got to completely clear my WIP basket. I'll allow myself a bit of leeway on the charm quilt, since we all knew that wasn't going to be a quick project, but I want all the others cleared in the not-too-distant future, and definitely before anything else joins them

With that in mind, I'm off to make my sunshine quilt even bigger!

Kids' Clothes Week, day 3: lots of WIP

I'm sort of part way through a few of the projects for this week, so I'm afraid that this isn't a very photogenic post (even compared to my usual less-than-perfect photography), but I thought I'd chart where I'm at nonetheless.

I'm loving the colours of the knitted pea coat - that blue is an awful lot paler and greyer in real life than it looks in the photo, more like this, but even paler:

 The lady in the yarn store commented what a nice lilac it was when I bought it - I'm choosing to believe that she's completely colour blind. Either that or Teddy's got a slightly feminine jacket coming up. Ah well, I never liked gender stereotyping. Incidentally, the yarn is not the called for Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran, but the slightly cheaper Rowan pure wool Aran.

The fabric is all cut out for the dungarees, but I've realised that I've made a few of the seam allowances too small - not allowing for them to be tucked under where they'll be exposed. I'm thinking I'll go ahead anyway and just live with some raw edges. I'm treating the dungarees very much as a prototype as Teddy more or less lives in the couple of pairs he has, so I'd like to make more - maybe a fleece lines pair for winter! - once I've worked out the logistics of the process.

The pyjama top to match the trousers is in the pipeline too - I finally bought the lightweight interfacing I need (I hate interfacing with a passion, so this should be entertaining) and I'm hoping to get the fabric cut out tonight.

Ready and waiting

 Kids clothes week, day 1: preparations

I'm really excited about starting Kids' Clothes Week. I guess I feel I've been talking the talk about being a homemaking, homemade-making (you know what I mean) mother for a while now, and perhaps not walking the walk in quite the same way. Hopefully this challenge will give me the push I need to take the next step in our homemade life and make a large proportion of our clothes and household textiles.

I think the first mission is going to be pyjamas. Not because Teddy is most urgently in need of pyjamas, but because I figure that they'll be the easiest thing to sew and it has been years since I attempted a garment more complicated than an A-line skirt.

The striped green flannel is set to turn into the aforementioned pyjamas, the blue ticking a pair of dungarees (although that will involve copying an existing pair, which is terrifying to a novice like me). The animals (Alexander Henry, purchased here) have no particular purpose, I just love them a lot. Teddy's jeans could do with patching as the endless crawling takes its toll, so maybe that rather than a whole separate thing. I also really want to make him some soft summer shorts with that butter coloured linen, but I'm thinking that the pattern and the fabric I've chosen are horribly ill matched, so I might see if I can find some rugged twill for that pattern and make some really simple linen shorts with the pyjama pattern (but, you know, shorter).

There's also a trip to a slightly-further-afield yarn store lined up for some Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran (that's a Ravelry link, go join right this very minute if you're a knitter and haven't already) to start knitting up a thick summer cardigan/coat thingie from this  Debbie Bliss book. Incidentally, that book has lots of practical, simple knits in it, if you're looking for such a thing.

So, reckon I can post every day for a week with actual progress on clothes for my boy? Ask me again on Sunday...

Kids' clothes week

 

I have a slight confession to make. This is a teeny bit embarrassing, given my handmaking-homemaking-ethical-living aspirations, but I have never ever finished a handmade garment for Teddy or Adam, and all I've made myself recently are a couple of skirts (which now don't fit since I lost the last of the baby weight) and several pairs of socks (which I wear all the time). I've started knitting a couple of jumpers for Teddy, but they've never been quite right, so I've abandoned them mid-project.

It's been playing on my mind in a vague sort of way, as I'd quite like to gear up for a season of making everything that we can from scratch (from food to clothes to carpentry, as much as possible), and frankly if I can't knit a pair of socks or throw together a pair of pyjamas, I'm unlikely to be able to meet all of our family's needs for an entire season.

Anyway, I was finally galvanised into action by this post by Elsie Marley (aka Meg) last week, and I'm determined to make at least a couple of pieces for Teddy's summer wardrobe. Look, there's a button on the side of the blog and everything!

Of course, it's at this point that I normally put myself off by saying, 'oh, but I need a serger to make decent t-shirts, and how much use is a couple of pairs of cotton trousers?' This time I am not listening to myself. OK, so I can't make a terribly useful t-shirt, but half a dozen pairs of simple trousers would come in useful for the more frequent changes of clothes that having a garden (and all it's watering can/compost bits and bobs) entails, and I really want to knit a couple of jumpers and cardigans for him.

 
In a jumper knitted by a relative with a kinder soul than I

So, one hour a day, that's all Meg's demanding of us. I can manage that, right? Even if I only do something for Teddy's naptime every day, I'll rack up my seven hours, and I'm hoping to find a little bit of extra time in the evenings.

I've got Debbie Bliss's Essential Kids pattern book out of the library, which has a gorgeous knitted pea coat, along with a simple jumper, and I'm going to get a pattern for some simple trousers (no, my sewing skills are not up to knocking up plain elastic waisted trousers without a pattern, thank you so much) in preparation for the second week of May. I don't for a minute think that I'll get all of these things finished, but if I can get a chunk of knitting done and a pair of trousers, I'll be pretty darn pleased with myself.

And then I just need to get started on all the other WIPS. Maybe I'll have a WIP Week after Kids Clothes Week. Or maybe I'll keep staring at them and feeling guilty for a little longer.

Admitting defeat

Some days, this parenting lark, it's just about surviving. Not surviving anything remotely terrible or awful, just surviving the mostly wonderful but very occasionally long hard slog of looking after a baby (I'm refusing to use the word toddler until he toddles. Whether he's 18 months or three years when it happens). Why is it that some days I can leap around, dance, extract crayon fragments from mouth (of Teddy, not me), go 'Uh oh!' countless times, swing on the swings and face yet another food splattering with complete and utter joy, and some days I just want a rest? And some silence. Oh, sweet silence.

Today was one of those limp-through-till-5pm-when-Adam-walks-in-the-door-and-thrust-Teddy-at-him days. Fortunately Adam understands that these days exist, and uncomplainingly takes Teddy from dinner to bed with little or no help from me.

And for once, instead of continuing to push myself to do all the chores before tomorrow starts, I am, just for today, abandoning this

(Yes, that is our ironing mountain and yes, there really are only three of us here) in favour of this

Knitting and reading. Bliss. I may even go so far as catching up with Google Reader and designing the next quilt.

In view of the anticipated abandonment of all domesticity this evening, I also purchased two individual portions of banoffee cheesecake when I did the food shopping earlier. I'd love to say that I feel even slightly guilty about this.

Sometimes, a little pink is necessary

 I made this blanket for Adam's sister's new baby girl. We're hoping to go and meet her next weekend, and will be presenting this to her. Pure merino wool with a satin binding, perfect and snuggly for a little baby, but (magically) machine washable, so it can go in with everything else when it inevitably gets covered in grime! I hate to knit things that can't be properly used. I'd much rather a blanket or anything else I make got used, even ruined, rather than sitting on a shelf being kept 'for best' forever.

I love giving handmade gifts now that I've got a bit more in the swing of doing it - I found it a little stressful when I first started, but now I'm beginning to get into the habit of thinking what I might like to give people a couple of months in advance (of birthdays, Chrismas and other celebrations), giving myself plenty of time to plan and make things, I'm really loving it. I've yet to give a handmade gift to someone who hasn't appreciated all the time, effort, love and enjoyment (yes, I really do enjoy doing it!) that goes into something handmade.

 Knitting this blanket has been an education as well as a lovely way to pass the evenings (giving me a fabulous excuse to sit in front of the TV doing nothing else), I've learned loads of new techniques (I had never attempted a cable before starting this blanket, and the bobbles took more than a few attempts to perfect), and can't wait to start a new project, perhaps using some of my new skill set. Maybe I'll even - finally - knit Teddy a blanket! Or maybe I'll continue on my quilt top. Or maybe I'll finish the baby album. Or maybe... who knows?

I know that Adam's sister and her husband aren't hugely into gender sterotyping, but I wanted to lift the blanket a little and I thought that the spotty pink binding was the perfect way to do it. Hopefully they'll agree!

 p.s: always include washing instructions and a bit of spare yarn for mending whenever you give anyone a knitted gift. Makes life much less confusing for them, especially if they are non-knitters!

Some knitted things, past and present

I think I need to make some more time to knit. You know, because between the imminently opening Etsy store, the current Etsy store, the baby and the journalism, I don't have enough things to keep me going...

I mostly knit socks (quick, nice yarn, easy, what's not to love?):

 But I am currently midway through a blanket in gorgeous merino wool (considerably more done than this image suggests, but don't have an up to date picture):

 However, I have to come up with something to do with the following (and I should add, this is just a selection of the 'waiting to be knitted' stash, which is distinct and different from the 'no idea what to knit with this' stash):

  
 Perhaps a little knit therapy this evening to distract me from the excitement of the new store.... But what to knit?

I think I've been sucked in by The Craft

Not the witchy variety, but the homemade, scraps of paper/wool/fabric/glue/half done projects/finished objects dotted around the house kind.

It's very worrying. When I first started being eco, I consciously avoided that whole homemade home malarky, as I particularly didn't want to become one of those women who can't take a picture without planning a scrapbook page (you know who you are!) or hearing of a pregnant relative without getting out the needles to make baby bootees. However, it seems to have happened while I was looking the other way.

Speaking of looking the other way, Father and Step-father, look away now please. You can read this post when I've next seen you both and you've received your presents. Show some self control!

I've always knitted (and done the odd bit of cross stitch. I suppose with hindsight it's clear that I was prone to temptation from Craft), and have recently discovered the frugal opportunities in knitted gifts - as long as you don't go overboard, you can make really lovely presents for a fraction of the cost that you might otherwise spend (this probably doesn't hold true if you usually buy the recipient a bag of pick'n'mix, but if you spend more than about a tenner normally, you can cut costs by making stuff). For instance, here is my step father's birthday present:

 NB: I have freakishly enormous feet, so can more or less model men's socks on my feet. Don't pick on me. Also, the toes have holes in for a reason. It's easier to adjust the length a bit when you see the recipient if you don't graft the toes closed before giving them.

I would show you a picture of the ones for my father too, but they're all the way upstairs, and I'm waiting for a call, and if I go upstairs, I promise you that the man will call, and I'll blame you lot.

Those socks, which are incredibly comfortable and rather nice looking (if I do say so myself), cost me the grand total of (Roger, if you didn't look away before and have therefore spoiled the surprise, please do so now)... £7.95. I already had the needles, and I download all the patterns I use free from Ravelry (a wonderful website for knitters. If you knit and you're not on it, get over there immediately), but even so it's not an expensive hobby to take up. Lots of instructional videos online.

Now, back to craft taking over my life. Knitting is acceptable, it can be used to create (broadly) useful things. However, I find myself looking to (gasp!) other crafts.

My first offence: I salvaged all the leftovers from the children's candle making kits that Charlotte and I both demanded for consecutive birthdays:

I am planning on giving it another go (I seem to recall that my early efforts resulted in one blotchy blue/green blob that sat proudly foryears on my parents dresser. I hope that, for the candle's sake, it has been burned now). I'm thinking that, combined with some nice fragrances, this could be another frugal gift opportunity. Expect reports of severe burns any day now...

My second offence: I recently bought a book on quilting, in the hope that I can use up all of the old scraps of fabric dotted around our house (and possibly my mother's, if she looks the other way for long enough):

I have not the least idea how to begin, but it can't be that hard, right? I'll gloss over the fact that my mother still has the little plastic pouch of neatly cut out hexagons with which she planned to make my sister a quilt soon after (or possibly before? I forget) her birth. Charlotte is going to be 30 this year.

I have also finally completely taken over our office space. Here it is:

  There was never any pretence that Adam was going to get an equal share, but while 'tidying' (read: rearranging my knitting and sewing) last night, I finally managed to defeat his last stronghold, a top shelf that I can barely reach. So now, from top to bottom, the 'office' now holds:

1) Books on various crafty things (in my defence, they are almost all from the library).
2) An album-in-progress of various holidays. It is just going to be embarrassing if I don't finish this soon, as I won't be able to tell which photos are from where and will end up proudly showing off about our Japan holiday by offering up photos of Longleat maze.
3) Card making stuff - this really is useful, card making saves a packet! Especially if you have a sister who combines a love of scrapbooking and cardmaking with severe shopaholic tendencies (she also buys vintage clothes a lot. Check out her blog if you're interested in all that). I recently bought a 'happy birthday' ink stamp and some bits and bobs for about £10 in total, which will make loads and loads of cards, for the price of four actual cards. Not bad.
4) Candle making stuff and some magazines that wouldn't fit anywhere else. I covered this earlier, but hopefully lots of frugal presents in that box of tricks.
5) Sewing box (with sewing machine next to it) - lots of money to be saved by mending/making things.
6) An empty shelf! I'm planning on filling this soon with all of Teddy's birth congratulations cards, as I'm planning on doing Something with them. Not a clue what, but it seems silly keeping them all and not doing something with them.
7) Magazines, some of which are actually to do with proper work.
8) My in-tray. It's normally a lot fuller than this.
9) Fabric I've found around the house which I'm hoping to put towards my new quilting adventure.
10) Box file - booooring.
By the way, that work area, seriously cheap from Ikea, painted to make it prettier. Practically crafty all by itself.

You see, I've managed to completely fill our work area with things that I have completely convinced myself are not only crafty loveliness, but will save us money, be more ethical (if I'm making it, it's one less step that I'm paying nasty multi-national corporations to carry out for me) and generally make us happy shiny people. I should also confess here that the knitting section of my life does not fit in this area. It would need a whole shelving unit to itself. It is currently residing in a cupboard in our sitting room, but Adam has finally noticed that the doors are straining, and he's too scared to go in there in case the yarn leaps out and eats him, so I may have to come up with a more sensible solution.

Run away! Before the Craft gets you!

Charity shops: sometimes worth the effort

Look what I got! For the grand total of £2:

 

It's all merino wool, which is lovely and soft, and I've already got plans for the lighter blue to make a lovely winter jumper for Teddy. It will go really well with jeans, should he ever actually work up the energy to crawl/walk (and therefore make it worth dressing him in something other than sleepsuits). At current rate of progress on the movement front, I should probably make the jumper in an appropriate size for winter 2010/11...

Charity shops can definitely be a great source of anything and everything, but really only if (like me) you happen to have the time to trawl them every week or so. Most of the useful stuff for the aspiring Efficient Sufficient-er (preserving jars, clothes that you might actually want to wear, nice fabric etc etc) goes quite quickly once it's put out.

In general, I think it is a million times easier to be frugal when you've got time on your hands. It's got to be seriously challenging to work full time and manage to go foraging, make jam, tend vegetables, trawl the charity shops etc etc. I certainly never used to have either the time or the inclination to do any of that while I was working full time. Does anyone manage to live a frugal life and actually hold down a real job?