Here's the thing: yesterday my voice started making its way down towards the bass clef. I fad some phone calls to make, and it was mildly alarming when each 'hello' was deeper and huskier than the last! I coughed a bit, and needed a hanky and soon realised I had a cold.
It's unfortunate because my weekends involve lots of work and preparation for Mondays. It's going to be happening for the next 11 weeks too, so I have already said goodbye to my weekend evenings for the next while. I need to function over the weekend, so that I can function on Mondays. I'm giving this pesky cold 24 hours to vacate my premises. I will be throwing everything at it: gallons of tea and other hot drinks; drugs; soothing baths and anything else I can think of.
Some restorative and mindless knitting might also be on the agenda...
Friday, 16 January 2015
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Jolly Holly (FO)
December was a super crazy work month, so I had barely time to breathe let alone craft or blog. But, because I work part-time and have one day a week at home with children, there was at least a few minutes here and there to make some little things with them.
Inspired by something I saw somewhere (the exact source escapes me now) we made a couple of Jolly Holly brooches to give as teacher gifts.
I used a cookie cutter for the basic shape, then cut it out in two colours of felt, one slightly larger than the other. We sewed along the midline with some embroidery thread, and then added a red button or bell for the berry.
My 7 yr old managed the sewing himself, but my 5 yr old found it a bit hard, so I had to help.
I sewed on the bell/button and attached a safety pin to the back, but a more confident child sewer might be able to do that herself.
We pinned the finished brooches on cards so that they doubled as Christmas cards. Simple and sweet!
Inspired by something I saw somewhere (the exact source escapes me now) we made a couple of Jolly Holly brooches to give as teacher gifts.
I used a cookie cutter for the basic shape, then cut it out in two colours of felt, one slightly larger than the other. We sewed along the midline with some embroidery thread, and then added a red button or bell for the berry.
My 7 yr old managed the sewing himself, but my 5 yr old found it a bit hard, so I had to help.
I sewed on the bell/button and attached a safety pin to the back, but a more confident child sewer might be able to do that herself.
We pinned the finished brooches on cards so that they doubled as Christmas cards. Simple and sweet!
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Stash Busting New Year Styley (FO)
The New Year arrived at our house along with the spring cleaning and sorting bug. Over the weekend there was a flurry of cleaning, sorting, recycling and general tidying up.
Several cupboards and bed bases were sorted and organised, and two or three bags of stuff left the house never to return. My daughter's bed base is the home to part (ahem) of my fabric stash. Because I have been making a few things here and there, I thought I might be able to fit another chunk of the stash in there too, and I did my best to make that happen.
I failed.
I have quite a lot of nearly worn-out clothes which I have put aside for upcycling into something else. This included a pair of pyjamas of mine in a nice red/grey check with a sparkly. As everyone else in the family was happily occupied, I took the opportunity to upcycle these pjs into something useful.
First I cut the trousers and top into useable pieces of fabric that were roughly square or rectangular. I left hem finishes where appropriate.
Then after a quick iron, I set about making a set of fabric gift bags to add the pile we use for Christmas and birthdays. I have been making these bags for a couple of years now, inspired by Soule Mama. They make wrapping gifts pretty quick - no hunting for paper or tape or scissors - and make tidying up a breeze too: fold up and put back in the box. Easy!
Wherever possible I used existing hem/edge finishes for the opening of the bags, and I worked with existing seams too, to minimise my sewing effort. I have learned not to make the bags too small, so aimed for something that is at least big enough to fit a novel. I ended up with 7 bags of various sizes.
It didn't make much of a difference to the fabric stash under my daughters bed, but it's a start. One thing dealt with. And, as we didn't have enough fabric bags for all of our Christmas wrapping, it'll be a good addition to that stash...
Several cupboards and bed bases were sorted and organised, and two or three bags of stuff left the house never to return. My daughter's bed base is the home to part (ahem) of my fabric stash. Because I have been making a few things here and there, I thought I might be able to fit another chunk of the stash in there too, and I did my best to make that happen.
I failed.
I have quite a lot of nearly worn-out clothes which I have put aside for upcycling into something else. This included a pair of pyjamas of mine in a nice red/grey check with a sparkly. As everyone else in the family was happily occupied, I took the opportunity to upcycle these pjs into something useful.
First I cut the trousers and top into useable pieces of fabric that were roughly square or rectangular. I left hem finishes where appropriate.
Then after a quick iron, I set about making a set of fabric gift bags to add the pile we use for Christmas and birthdays. I have been making these bags for a couple of years now, inspired by Soule Mama. They make wrapping gifts pretty quick - no hunting for paper or tape or scissors - and make tidying up a breeze too: fold up and put back in the box. Easy!
Wherever possible I used existing hem/edge finishes for the opening of the bags, and I worked with existing seams too, to minimise my sewing effort. I have learned not to make the bags too small, so aimed for something that is at least big enough to fit a novel. I ended up with 7 bags of various sizes.
It didn't make much of a difference to the fabric stash under my daughters bed, but it's a start. One thing dealt with. And, as we didn't have enough fabric bags for all of our Christmas wrapping, it'll be a good addition to that stash...
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
New Year, New Socks (FO)
In the midst of all the festive travelling and visiting and eating I managed to finish off a laggardly pair of socks that have been hanging about in my knitting bag for aaaages.
Nothing fancy - just plain vanilla socks, knitted top down. I had the yarn for Christmas last year, I think. I seem to have lost the ball band, so can't remember what brand it is - Regia maybe?
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