French Knots

Sweet Hearts

I love using up little snippets of this and that, bit of pillowcase, old shirt and some lace from an old teacloth that has been made into doorstops. Words stamped on linen and a bit of lavender.

The sewing room smells lovely with all the lavender. If I can stir my stumps ( what does that actually mean?!) I'm going to put some on etsy.

I had an amazing win on ebay this week, I've been looking for fabric to make new curtains for ages and just couldn't find anything that was just right within my budget until I spotted these

The seller had them custom made but never used them, they came in their original packaging without so much as a crease in them. Fully lined. For less than I budgeted for fabric alone. Hurrah. Can I also point out the picture(the lovely picture of my favourite city in the world painted by my talented Mother in Law) is not wonky but the photo is!  Now I just need a new curtain pole as the old one is rather old and brittle and the weight of the new curtains is just too much for it.

Knitting Help!!

Knitting bloggers to the rescue I hope! I

I'm learning to knit - well on Tuesday actually at a get together of proper knitters, oh the pressure!. I fancy trying something simple like a little, short scarf...you know the sort that wraps around your neck and  lies just short of your cleavage. With a button to hold the two ends together?? Where can I find a pattern? Also will the pattern tell me what size needles and what sort of wool or can I choose any wool or will the size be wrong? So many questions!

Thanks experts!

Slowly does it

I bought one of these in the sales

and it's just right for this cold miserable weather. The idea of flinging a few veg and a bit of meat in with water and a stock cube really appeals - I've tried sausage stew, cowboy casserole and a tasty beef stew so far, all of which have been delicious. I've been reading this and it's full of great recipe ideas so I see lots more slow cooking on the horizon.

I've made a couple more tshirts, one with my favourite Michael Miller Rocket Rascals fabric

They've gone down well with My Little Helper and seem to wash well too!

Does anyone use a translation tool or gizmo? I've been looking at the pretty pictures on a few Scandinavian blogs and would love to decipher the writing too.

Right off to do some work on my Valentine swap that Lucy has kindly organised.

Family lego making

such a

busy

Sunday

sigh

20 :: 40

In the spring we will have been married for 20 years and in the summer I will be 40, good reasons for a trip away just the two of us, no children! Babysitters have kindly volunteered and we are enjoying discussing where to go.

About 100 years ago BC (before children!) we had some brilliant trips to Venice, Rome and Paris where we lazed in cafes watching the world go by, marvelled at the architecture and did the ubiquitous tourist things involving gondolas and the Eiffel Tower. More recently we went to Naples to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum where the excavated ruins captivated our imaginations. We stayed in a lovely hotel right on the Bay of Naples and on our second night there there was a wonderful fireworks display over the bay, how kind of them to welcome us so generously!

So where to go for our 20 :: 40 trip? We are leaning towards Stockholm. Has anybody been there? What's good to see? When is the best time to go - when it's cold and wintry or in the spring? 

Any suggestions of other places you have loved? We don't want to fly long haul for a short break, much as I'd love to go to New York again, and want a special hotel, museums, art galleries or architecture to visit and some great cafes for people watching. Somewhere we will look back on with warm memories when we celebrate our 40th Anniversary. When we were catching our breath under a shady tree in Herculaneum we got talking to a couple who were there celebrating their 40th Wedding Anniversary. They were revisiting the area as they had spent their honeymoon there, or perhaps being together, happy together is the most important part even if it's in a bus shelter sharing chips out of the newspaper.

Armchair envy

Oh I wish I could knit!

(from Red)

Janey Janome

Well Janey and I have been getting to know each other better, I think I know what all the buttons do now! My Little Helper requested a dinosaur for the front of his t shirt and fortunately Janey can run at a slow speed which was handy as I zigged and zagged round the feet

and manged to avoid my fingers.

I was reading Vintage Pleasure the other day who commented about the amount of fabric she has and the feelings of greed and self indulgence. It struck a chord with me as I had spent the afternoon riffling through my stash with an idea in mind for a project but unable to find just what I wanted out of the boxes and boxes of fabric and saved clothes & linens. I've decided to try and reduce it by a) weeding out the bits I'll never use and freecycling it b) making some projects to use up the stash even if the fabric isn't just what I wanted and c) encouraging the children to choose fabrics for their own ideas. If I keep collecting it at this rate we'll have to move out of the house and live in a tent in the garden! I've got that New Year clean slate feeling - clearing out, tidying and editing our stuff to what we need/love. Perhaps I'll tackle my extensive shoe collection later in the week - bearing in mind I've only been able to wear one pair since spraining my ankle as the bandaged foot won fit in most of my shoes or boots!

We had a lovely lazy weekend, I'm getting better at inactivity, in fact I've been practising hard! Before ( ie when I was working and stressed out) I found it hard to take it easy, to just be, perhaps because I was living on adrenaline and felt every moment had to be 'used' for something. Didn't leave the house on Sunday, got dressed at lunchtime, watched Scooby Doo with My Little Helper while The Big Sister and Mr FK were at the footie and generally mooched about. Lovely.

Hope your week is getting of to a good start.

Winter flakes

Doesn't the house look bigger and emptier once the decorations come down? And it shows the bits that need dusting!

What better than an afternoon spent snipping bits of paper all over the floor making snowflakes to add a wintry touch

some recycled scraps of paper and the twigs that held my Sarah Lugg Christmas decoration and the play room looks more crafty.

I have been playing with my new machine and yes you are all right I am very lucky! I've worked out most of the functions now but there are still some buttons that are a mystery! I also got a lot of lovely extras with it -scissors, thread, a holder for a big cone of thread, lots of different feet and a large bag on wheels to keep it in. I'd like one of those wooden holders for reels of cotton to hang on the wall, wonder if Mr FK fancies making me one?!

I didn't make these but they were so cute ( and in the sale) I had to bring them home with me to replenish my present box

Don't tell me I'm the only one who like to have a box filled with gifts to hand?? Invariably I don't have chance to find/make something suitable when the children are invited to parties so a box with a great selection of presents takes the pressure off.

Right, the sun's come out so in line with my walking goal I'm off for a brisk walk before school pick up....hope it's sunny where you are

I know it's not about the presents but....

look what I got for Christmas

It does about a gazillion different stitches, letters and all sorts of things I've not even discovered yet! I'm hoping it'll do the ironing and help The Big Sister learn her times tables.

Sadly it's not been properly light here for days so the photos are pants.

So far I've sewn lots of rows trying out the different stitches and a fleecey little bag to keep my MP3 player in. It's like learning all over again as I go to push the reverse button and it's not in the right place, the hi tech nature of the automatic needle threader has me sticking my tongue out of the side of my mouth in concentration and it's a bit like going from driving a Reliant Robin to Ferrari   in one jump! I love it!

I was also really lucky in the Secret Santa swap as my partner Toni sent me some wonderful surprises

patchwork squares, a button filled pincushion, floral and gingham bias binding, sweeties......oh my goodness and the most amazing runner. I've not got the colours right here so sorry Toni, but it is a lovely selection of icy, wintry fabrics. Thanks so much! 

2008

I can't quite believe how quickly last year passed by, my first year as a stay at home Mum. A year of adjusting to a different pace of life, looking for a new rhythm to my days and finding a more contented life for me and my family.

This time last year I had a few goals in mind -

• Learn to Knit
• Take better photos (and not just on the automatic setting on the camera!)
• Take an evening course at the local college to learn something new
• Improve my repertoire of recipes and cook better quality food for the family
• Take more exercise, even if it's only walking more instead of using the car

Well still can't knit, camera skills are still poor and I never did sign up to a course. I've really enjoyed cooking from scratch and hopefully we are all healthier for it. I have a folder of recipes and plan the main meals each week so I know what I need to buy when I go shopping. This has helped me budget too and control spending. Sounds a bit anal I know, but I like to know where we are up to money wise in our new single salary life.

Lucy has a list of goal for 2008 which is very similar to mine, but if I try for too much change I know I'll give up. So drinking more water and walking more ( heard that one before?!) are on the list for January.

Now what could this lovely parcel be?

A package of treats from Suzie some great fabric and the pincushion is gorgeous. It's a good size, mine is a bit thin and quite often I get pricked when I pick it up as the pins stick out of the bottom. So Thanks Suzie, it was a great start to 2008!