French Knots

oh my goodness

What does the novice knitter choose for her first project following a pattern..........

surely not socks?! It's like knitting with toothpicks but the wool is gorgeous.

K1, P1, drop 1!

Another little hat, for me this time with some wool I've been hoarding for about 15 years. It is a little itchy round the forehead, but reading Lindamade I found the solution. I need to put a hat band inside, I've got some brushed cotton from an old sheet that should do the job and stop me looking like I've got nits as I walk round scratching my head!

I think it was Ginny who mentioned this book, it's designed for children which makes it perfect for a beginner knitter like me - plenty of clear instructions and projects that can be completed quickly. Like the little flowers that teaches you how to knit holes, I have no problem knitting holes put have unravelled it three times as I never have the right number of stitches! I'll have to move onto something more challenging like an ipod cover!

Well, I slept right through the earthquake, which was probably a good thing as Mr FK is away again this week. I seemed to be the only person in the playground this morning to have missed it. I do remember one about 20 odd years ago as I was on holiday in Wales staying in a caravan so certainly felt that one!

A Busy Week

Goodness where did half term week go, flashed by in a whirl! Lots of trips to the park in the sunshine, scooter riding, swimming, a sleepover, a fashion workshop to customise tshirts and jeans and a trip to the museum. The Museum of Science and Industry is a wonderful place to visit - trains, water wheels, weaving looms, spinning jennies, planes and helicopters plus lots of hands on things for me  the children to play with. My Little Helper took some photos of the things that interested him

We went to a great Gravity Workshop, the presenter was really enthusiastic and used lots of funny props to get the children interested and to illustrate the different concepts. My Mummy heart swelled with pride as The Big Sister put her hand up to answer a question and calmly explained to the whole auditorium why a scrunched up ball of paper reached the ground faster than the flat sheet of paper.

Look at my wonderful Valentines Swap parcel! Garden Girl really spoilt me, buttons, ribbon and ric rac plus a cute pink heart made from buttons and of course a packet of Love Hearts. There was a chocolate heart lolly too..humm..where has that gone! The blue beaded bracelet is marvellous, such a lovely combination of my favourite colour and so many beads, they tinkle together when I wear it. Thank you very much Anna!

I also won a prize in Monkee Maker's raffle, can you guess which one....

The chocolate muffin props didn't last long!

Some sewing too

Despite my new love of knitting and being a bit like the girl who drops her old friends once a new boyfriend comes along ,I have squeezed in a bit of sewing too. I have a couple of stalls coming up so needed to get my act together.

I made these for my PIF ( I know Lesley's arrived and as Marsha's and Ashley's were posted a few weeks ago I hope they arrived too, so I shouldn't be spoiling any surprises) and was pleased with how they turned out so have been making a few more this week to sell.

Just need to plunder my pegs to put a few of these together to go with them. Nothing beats the sunny smell of line dried washing - well maybe bacon butties....oh and cut grass too.....and newborn babies....ok back to the washing....so I hope the sunshine we've had this week continues. It makes me feel organised and competent once the line is full of washing as there's no pile of washing or ironing cluttering up the house and whispering to me when I'm trying to sew - easily pleased these days!

Ginny at The Flour Loft has tagged me for an archive meme, have been enjoying reading through the waffle in my archives and will post my findings next week.

Have a lovely weekend, filled with small pleasures

A lovely surprise

Emily from Ravenhill and I did a magazine swap. I was the lucky recipient of

Embroidery magazine with a great feature on Julie Arkell and a review of a Janet Bolton workshop too plus lots of inspiring articles. But look what else Emily included in the parcel

isn't she talented, a beautiful knitted and beaded bracelet! I wore it on Saturday night when I went to the Valentines Ball ( without my husband..long story!) and felt like the belle of the ball, possibly due to the champagne as well as the fabulous bracelet. Thank you Emily!

I must also thank Jessica Daisy at The White Veranda as she gave me an award - weeks ago actually and I've been pants and not thanked her properly. Some days the only person who thinks I'm amazing is the dog and that's only because I feed him! So thanks it's great to be appreciated! 

My password for Ravelry has come through and I've started exploring - there's so much inspiration on there, I just need to get better at knitting very quickly!.....so off to do more research...!

Sunny Monday

Thanks you all for your kind thoughts and supportive comments, much appreciated. So many of us are feeling the same trying to savour the moment and live in the present, perhaps it's our age......or something they're putting in the wine!?

Knitting has continued apace, the first scarf is finished and I've done one in the raspberry wool from Dunelm for The Big Sister

which grew really quickly on some chunky wooden needles from the charity shop. Thanks to Julie for the advice about blocking - the scarf sits nicely and doesn't curl up.

Totally copyingAli I have started a hat...on circular needles...like a proper knitter!

I've also bought some Debbie Bliss cotton to knit myself a cardi for the summer, I reckon if I get started soon it might be done for summer '09.

Tasty chicken pie mmmm nothing like leftover Sunday roast and frozen puff pastry for an easy Monday tea!

Hope your week has got off to a sunny start too.

Time passes quickly

I like to read The Happiness Project where Gretchen records her investigations into the nature of happiness, quotes, studies, tips and information. Recently she has made a short internet film The Years are Short which really struck a chord with me.

We are so busy rushing through life gathering school bags, making pack lunches, shopping, cooking, swimming lessons, Brownies, homework, reading, spellings......that it's sometimes good to pause and grasp the moment. It seems only a moment since my children were babies, just a year or two since I was a newly wed and not long since I was at school myself. Where have all the minutes and moments gone? Washed away on the tide of  life.

Today my Mum would have been 65 had she not died far too early. Some memories are like photos in my mind,  others there but somehow just out of reach .So many moments not lived and too many rushed through, enjoyed but not really remembered as the days are long and the years,sadly, too short.

image from Gardenstuff

....and more knitting

Thanks for the knitting encouragement. I undid the bit I'd started and began again with larger needles and

look how much it's grown! It has a curling thing going on at the edges so I think I might back it with some soft brushed cotton,theser's only a bit of the second ball left so it will certainly be a short little scarf. I think I'm getting addicted - I've signed up to join Ravelry and on Suzie's recommendation went to Dunelm for some more wool, some lovely tempting colours for only 99p a ball

I fancy trying a hat or beret next or perhaps another scarf as I can just sit and do it without having to concentrate too much! I'm going to have a look at some of the sites you have kindly suggested and see what takes my fancy. I might do some dishcloths to learn new stitches, not that they could be used for anything as mundane as washing up if they come out right!

We woke up on Saturday morning to a lovely surprise

so we all got dressed quickly and had a brilliant, invigorating snowball fight before it all melted. The Big Sister made a giant snowball that she wanted to keep in the freezer......wonder where the hoarding gene comes from?!

Knit knit

Well thanks for the advice ladies, I plunged in and got started. Yarn seems very expensive and some of the balls I picked up were over a fiver each!More than I wanted to spend on my first attempt...so I had a rummage in the reduced bin and found a couple of bargain balls.

I think I like the mixture of colours better on the ball than on my fledgling scarf! It was strange but my hands seemed to remember how to cast on and it must be 30 years since Mum showed me how. The Big Sister has started doing some knitting too with some wool and needles she was given last year, hers is a scarf for Barbie - I wonder who will finish first?!