French Knots

That's better

Lovely new sock yarn, soft and such gorgeous colours. Now I have it I don't feel that I have to start the next pair straight away but I had to go and buy it!Thank you for all the sock love, I'm delighted with them.

A Wedding Shadow Box order that I made this week when I bribed the children to leave me in peace for an hour, they got to watch the terrible Power Rangers and I got to fiddle with glue and feathers. Everyone was happy!

We're off to Devon for a week tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed for some sunshine. I can't seem to shake the sore throat and now have a stinky cold too, I'd really like a week sitting by the sea with a good book or six, no interruptions, nobody to cook for and a size 10 bikini body! In the absence of all that we'll have a super time in Devon I'm sure.

Better than an egg!

Oh yes, so much better than an egg! The yarn has produced a magical pattern and by some miracle I had the right number of stitches when it came to shaping the toe. I'm so pleased and rather surprised. I couldn't get to grips with grafting the toe so it's finished with a three needle cast off. So after spending the best part of a week lolling around feeling manky.............

a pair! It's funny how once they are off the needles they go from being my ' don't touch, be careful not to slip the stitched off the end of the needles, keep counting the stitches and writing down how many rows I've done' project to just socks! On my feet all day today and wondering if it would be ok to wear them tomorrow too as I'm so pleased with them! I can't quite believe I've managed to learn to knit and made my first socks in just a couple of months.

I'm desperate to start another pair, John Lewis didn't have any yarn I liked today so will have to brave the gallery ( with the children! Arrgh full of beautiful ceramics - perhaps I can handcuff them?!) to get to the knit studio upstairs and sooth my craving with some more Opal Picture...oh yes...got to have it!!

Thanks for your get well wishes, I manged to force down a Creme Egg or two and can only say thank goodness for Penicillin! Whilst I know the half stone I've lost is due to dehydration and not eating so will go back on in a flash, at least I can enjoy feeling thinner for a day or two!

We had a quick Egg Hunt between the snow flurries on Sunday

and enjoyed watching Over the Hedge all curled up together in front of the fire. Hope your long weekend was chocolate filled!

Laid low

An impromptu blog break - I've got tonsillitis, bleurgh! Earache, swollen glands, temperature and a throat so sore I can't even bear to swallow my saliva (sorry, hope you're not eating while blog surfing!) and a general bout of feeling sorry for myself. Hopefully the antibiotics are beginning to work otherwise the Easter Holidays are not going to get off to a good start. I was awake at 4am and had a brilliant and witty post planned in my head.....of course now I can't think of a word of it!

The floor was laid last weekend and the very nice builder came back and refitted the loo on Tuesday so we're fully functioning again. I've gone for lino with little tiny mosaics squares on it which will probably hide the dirt well and be easy to wipe when a certain Little Helper has trouble with his aim!

Not much sewing or knitting this week but I have managed to flick through this as I was interested in ideas for greening our house, fewer chemical cleaners and recommendations of make up or beauty brands.

Her writing style is getting on my nerves so it wont be a book for keeping once I've got the ideas I'm after it'll be off to the charity shop as part of the great clear out I'm planning as part of my spring cleaning.......well if the generous ' volunteers' ( ahem!) are moving in when we go on the 20::40 trip I need to make some space in my sewing room or they'll be sleeping on piles of fabric and fairy tutus!

Grrrrr!

So what better start to the day could there be than your youngest child climbing in to bed with you at 4am, crying as he had a bad dream, nodding of in your bed and then grinding his teeth to keep you awake till morning?? Well perhaps one that continues with returning from the school run to find water coming through the kitchen ceiling from the bathroom! Wonderful, a call to the insurance company just served to raise my blood pressure further as they suggested they'd be able to send an assessor in the next few days! Great ...no...not a plumber RIGHT NOW but an assessor next week! Fab!

A friend's husband cam to the rescue and has spent the better part of the day sorting out my bathroom, we were somewhat surprised when he lifted the floor boards and there weren't any pipes underneath - where was the water coming from? We investigated by the light of My Little Helper's Spiderman torch, which projected a spider onto the joist but didn't really shed any light on the problem. Eventually it was tracked down to the loo - great I'm so glad I stuck an empty fruit bowl under the leak in the kitchen,wont want fruit in that again! Lucky Mr FK will get in from fighting the traffic on the motorway to find the loo on the landing and a weekend project putting a new, dry floor down in there.

Is it time for a glass of wine??

This is my creative output this week, a little picture for a dear friend. The colours look a bit washed out  and the stitches on the background seem to have vanished. I must get to grips with my New Years resolution to improve my photography skills......once I've finished my sock!

Have a happy weekend, especially if you have access to a loo!

Monday

The Big Sister - Mummy when you're not here, I don't mean dead I mean gone to live in Spain or something, can I run French Knots?

Me - Yes, of course you can

TBS - But I'd have to call it French Fries!

Anyone that knows her will not be surprised in the name change as food is a subject very close to her heart!But I'm delighted she's interested in blogging, crafting and selling her creations. If the name suddenly changes you'll know I've been pensioned off to Spain - not quite sure why she chose Spain but as long as there's a good fabric shop, yarn shop, lots of jumble sales, broadband connection and cheap wine I don't mind going soon!

I made these Pizza Swirls for tea the other day, just for a change

Make your pizza dough by hand or machine, roll out into a rectangle, spread with your tasty tomato base ( a la Jamie) and top with cheese and what ever else takes your fancy. Roll it up like a swiss roll, cut into slices and bake. Eat quickly before the children devour them all!

I bought Miss Potter ,as it was reduced in the supermarket, the other day and a bit of Ewan McGregor is always a treat, ok only a couple of years after everyone else watched it, but it was brilliant. In fact Mr FK is away (yet again!) later this week so I think I'll curl up with Ewan again!

uh oh heel approaching!

The ankle part has knitted up quite easily but now those of you who commented that I was brave/mad may be proved right as I try and decipher the instructions for a heel flap!I've really enjoyed it and love the way the yarn magically makes the pattern for me.

I do have a secret weapon though - the experienced knitters at the knitting group I have been going to. It's held in the knit studio of a lovely  art gallery Fibre + Clay and is very tempting as you are surrounded on all sides by knitting goodies, yarn, needles, bags, buttons, markers...and lots of things I don't know what to do with yet!

The gallery has some wonderful, inspiring pieces chosen I'm sure to part you from your money with their loveliness! Felted bags, scarves, hats and wall hangings, amazing ceramics, embroidered brooches

Just the sort of place we all love!

Last week Florence very kindly awarded me an Art Y Pico award for creative and inspiring blogs. I have been totally rubbish at saying 'Thank You' as this week seems to have slipped away somewhere. So Thanks very much Florence, I'm really touched, what an unexpected compliment. It's so nice to think of people enjoying what I write and make, when I started blogging I wondered if anyone would read it and have been amazed at the wonderful people I have met.Florence writes a wonderful blog about her family and sewing adventures, she makes kimonos..proper sewing!!

I need to pass the award on and in part that has been some of the reason for my delay as I read so many wonderful blogs ( Bloglines currently stands at 243!!) it is hard to pick out just a handful but here we go -

So Tread Softly

Domesticali

Syko

Even though I don't go out to work any more I still get that Friday feeling, perhaps more so today as the sun is shining and I'm meeting a friend for lunch, which doesn't happen often! Hope you have the Friday feeling too!

Mother's Day

The day had an early start as the children climbed into our bed giggling at about 6.30, standing on my not-quite-recovered-from-being-sprained-before-Christmas-ankle in the process so Mr FK was woken by my loud screech! Breakfast in bed followed with lovely home made cards, present bags and a poster

We had a lazy morning as Mr FK was out on a course then he kindly took us all out for ice cream. Not just any ice cream but the most enormous, delicious, fresh from the farm ice cream mmmm.

And this is not a picture of my double chin, hand or camera but an attempt to show you the lovely necklace the children gave me and I was too lazy to take it off to photograph properly. Taking photos in the mirror is harder than it looks!

My Little Helper gave me a sunflower kit in a bucket so he's going to help me plant the seeds at the weekend.

All in all a lovely day, hope yours was too.