Mending Monday 2016: #2 Visible Mending

It was Kids Clothes Week last week. I did my best to fit in some kids clothing related crafting each day. 

On Monday night I spent a lazy hour or may be less, darning the knee in a pair of toddler trousers. The trousers are old - handed down to us, and no doubt used by several children before they came to live with us. There are worn and cosy, in a useful muddy green needlecord, with a snuggly jersey lining. 

The first knee went into a hole a while back, and I used some embroidery thread to patch it up. Rather than attach a patch on top of the hole, I just stitched the two layers into a place in a messy jumble of stitches. The lining fabric didn't have a hole - just the outer layer. 

The second knee had the misfortune of developing a hole whilst at nursery, so there was plenty of time for small fingers to enlarge the opening - but, as before, the hole was only in the worn corduroy, and not the inner lining. By the time I got them off the toddler in question, the rip was quite large. I approached this hole in the same way - using embroidery thread to anchor the two layers together. 

Neither repairs are neat or tidy. But, they seem to be working. The first repair is holding up well, and we are ekeing out a little bit more wear from these well worn and well-loved trousers. I think they will do until the little bean grows out of them. 

Mending Monday #5

This week I was inspired to approach my mending in a different way, and rather than just slap some patches on the outside, I took a different path.

Reading around on the tinterwebz somewhere or other, I came across Boro - the Japanese name for a very specific type of repaired textile. The examples I saw all seemed to be blue, repaired with indigo thread and patches, and knowing I had a wee pair of toddler jeans to repair I set to to work.

First I found some suitable patch material, culled from an old top of mine. I cut two patches, and roughly worked out where to place them on the trousers. Then I marked on a stencil of dots to guide my stitch work. I used one of the children's washable markers and a ruler to give me a rough grid to work with.

I pinned the patches in place inside the trousers, and then set to work, stitching across and then up and down to create teeny crosses. 

The inside is fairly neat - and I caught the edges of the patch with a simple running stitch.

Tidying and decluttering for families - a review of Marie Kondo's 'The life-changing magic of tidying'

Last weekend I gave in, powered up the kindle and downloaded *that* book about tidying and read it in two or three sessions. 

It's an easy read, with lots of nice stories about clients/former clients, and some clear thoughts and advice about how to declutter and tidy your home (and life). I did gobble it up pretty quickly, indicating that I was quite eager to absorb all the life-tidying advice/principles on offer. 

It certainly made me think, and I have been tidying a lot since I finished reading it (but I haven't done it all, and I haven't done it in any particular order - I am a Konmari rebel). I realised that I already *knew* some of the things Kondo recommends. Like the thing about folding and storing things on edge, rather than in piles. I have got one drawer that stays tidy, where you can see the contents in one glance and, don't you know, the contents are folded Kondo style and lined up on their edges.

Anyway, I like some of her ideas, and I have been using them to good effect. Drawers are being reorganised, and clothes refolded in the Kondo way. It's nice to open a drawer and see everything that's inside - rather than see the tops of piles, or - more usually in my house - a random jumble of stuff.

An amazing thing happened when I organised the bean's drawers in the Kondo style. I put most of the clothes away, but hadn't quite finished folding and stashing his shorts. Later, he folded and put them away himself, which was good. But, when I opened the drawer I realised that he had spontaneously folded and placed them in the drawer in the same way as I had. 

Totally brilliant.

I hadn't asked him to do it that way. I hadn't explained how to do it, or shown him how I was folding his things. He just did it. 

So, it's good then? Well, yes, but no. Some of the advice just doesn't work for me. Do it all (declutter and tidy) in one 6 month period - okay. But never again? 

Really? 

You don't have children do you Marie? 

Children grow and develop, and as part of that process families have to go through a regular cycle of acquiring new things and disposing of old ones. If you have children in a range of sizes/ages then it is patently absurd not to hand some items (clothes/books/toys) from one child to the next. Add to that the constant flow of paper and objects that come into the home with children, and the tidy 'once' rule soon breaks down. 

I am happy to throw things away - the broken toys, the beads dropped on the floor, the dog-eared card/certificate/picture that has been in the bottom of someone's bag for a fortnight. But I can't and don't police all of the trinkets and favourite sticks/stones/shells that my children collect. These are regularly cleaned up, but it can't be a one-time event, it has to be done over and over and over again. Not very Konmari.

For me, there is a lot missing from Marie Kondo's book about living with children, about coping with the daily onslaught of stuff that comes through the door, about making decisions about what to keep/chuck, when it's not actually your stuff, but your children's. Although I would love to declutter and tidy my home in a one-off event, I suspect that I will have to keep a permanent donate pile somewhere around the house, for the grown out of clothes, the grown out of books and toys, and the other stuff which no longer fills me/them/us with joy. 

Maybe I'm wrong, and once I've Kondo'd my own stuff, my children will also embrace the 'focus on joy - tidy once' philosophy? 

I also suspect that despite failing the joy test, I will continue to keep paint-spattered and old clothes for activities that involve spattering paint and digging the garden. Practicality and pragmatism doesn't feature in Kondo's worldview, and her advice doesn't really help much when you need to sort out the garden shed.

I like Marie Kondo's ideas a lot, but can see that they work best for households with grown ups. Maybe her next book will be about tidying for/with kids (or maybe I should write that one?!) 

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!

Heroes

Lots has been happening here, but the blogger app on my phone has stopped working, so none of the posts I have written recently have made it through the ether to the blog. I'm having to write this on a laptop, which feels very retro and strange...

Anyway, if you are sitting comfortably, then I'll begin.

The other day I found myself at home with two boys (one larger, one smaller). It was raining, so we needed something to do other than watch TV (which the larger boy would do all day if permitted). 

I had seen a blog somewhere (can't find it now) about making superhero masks, which seemed perfect for the bean, as his role play usually involves being a superhero or a ninja (or both). We have a good pile of craft felt in the house, and we set to work using the felt and some aged bondaweb.

The bean chose which masks he wanted to make; we made some templates using paper and bondaweb; cut them out and ironed them onto the felt. Easy peasy.

Of course, I will not mention at all, the small - really very small - incident with the new iron and a piece of black felt. I guess it must be another of those arcane rules of physics that when buying a new iron it is necessary, in a balancing kind of a way, for the dial on the new iron to work in the opposite way to the dial on the old iron. So, I feel entirely blameless here when I tell you that innocently turned the dial the wrong way and melted lots a tiny bit of black felt onto the footplate of our new iron. I say 'our' iron, but I should be clear about this: my husband bought the iron; he chose it and paid for it and has - until last week - been the only person in the house to use it. Fortunately I did manage to remove the evidence of this small mishap from the shiny iron, so my husband is None. The. Wiser.

Anyway, superheroes are not to be phased by such happenings, and we made 3 masks in all, one for each child superhero in the house. Note the glinting eye of Batbaby...

Plotting

As well as welcoming a new baby to our family, in recent weeks we have also been blessed with our first Edinburgh allotment.

We had an allotment in Bristol, which I acquired only a few weeks after moving to the city. Getting an allotment in Edinburgh has been a completely different story. No quick chat with a committee member and turning up to see which plots were on offer. Oh no.

In Edinburgh there is a waiting list; a really LONG list. Shortly after we moved here, we added our names to the list.

8 years later we have finally got a plot. Yes, eight years. A lot has happened in that time: we got married, moved house, moved jobs, had 3 children, put in a new bathroom, put in a new kitchen, had significant birthdays and all the time we were waiting for an allotment....

It's lovely - only a couple of minutes walk from our house, and well loved by its previous holder. So, before we started work there was rhubarb and currants and raspberries and mint and other herbs.

Today we spent a couple of sunny hours at our plot, sewing seeds with the children and doing a bit of watering and tidying up. Not a bad way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

When we got home, a bit of water play in the garden helped take care of the worst of the mud. I hope our little beans look back fondly on these afternoons - carefree play (no roads, no cars) in the sunshine, getting really really dirty.

Projects a-gogo

Much is happening in these parts,and there are oodles of finished and in progress projects stacked up.

The sewing machine has come out of the cupboard again, so I've been whipping up a few things for the children....

This morning I'm off into town to get a few things (thread, ribbon, elastic) including an extra ball of that sparkly blue yarn - if I can find some. Phoebe is coming on nicely, but I think I'll run out of yarn....

Still no sign of the baby.

Phoebe (WIP)

A new project cast itself on yesterday: Phoebe from Rowan Kids. I'm using some sparkly yarn I bought in the sale a few months ago. It's for a friends daughter, soon to be 5, and much neglected by me on the knitting front in times recent. 

It's just what I need while we wait for this new baby to arrive...

Moving on...

Things are moving on here. The new kitchen is almost finished, and the days of chaos and the to-ing and fro-ing of joiners and painters and plumbers and the gaffer and the architect and all and sundry are almost at an end. 

I'm ready for it to finish and for things to return to normal. 6 weeks with only a microwave - even if we did have a washing machine and a dishwasher and a sink - was a bit wearing and wearying. But the results are just as good - if not better - than we hoped. We can now see through the house from front to back; we can see out into our garden in a way that we couldn't before. It's nice. Really Nice. I like.


Today the new floor was laid. The fitter left the paper template in situ because of the painting and grouting work happening tomorrow. We couldn't really pass up the opportunity to draw on such an enormous piece of paper, so after supper the chiddlers and I got to work...

As you can see, the decorating didn't stop with the paper, oh no. The jelly bean drew on herself. A. Lot.

In other news, I finished some socks. They are pink, and a bit stripey and I really love them (although they are impossible to photograph). Trouble is, I lost concentration somewhere along the line and they are teensy bit too small for me. 

pattern: generic top-down socks

yarn: Kaffe Fassett Random Stripe for Regia (#02901 colourway) 

combined with some plain pink 4-ply in a grumperina stripe (tute here)

Seeing as I have a dozen or more pairs of handknit socks in my drawer, I don't really need another pair. And, in these days of austerity I don't want to appear to be greedy - so I've put them in the gift stash


and promised myself that 


if I happen to pass the shop where I bought the yarn, I might allow myself to buy a couple of balls because, well, most of my handknit socks are a year or two old now, and must be quite close to wearing out. So, making some more would just help me to keep the others going a bit longer because I wouldn't need to wear them as often....and if there's anything a girl really needs, it's a pair of hot pink stripey socks.

Bike Pride

I am a cyclist. I cycle with my children. I love my bike. I love moving around without an engine, with the wind on my face, and under my own steam. My son can now cycle confidently on his own bike, and can manage rides of several miles without difficulty. That's liberating for us all, because I can now cycle with both children: one self-powered on his own bike and one on the back of my bike.


But. 


Our towns and cities are not well-designed for cyclists, and we lack some of the brilliant facilities which cyclists in other countries and other cities enjoy. The Scottish Government says very clearly in its planning guidance that pedestrians and cyclists are the top priority when it comes to designing streets - but this guidance is yet to bring about a material change in Scottish travel habits, or to make our streets really safe for cyclists. 


So, on Saturday 28th April I joined with thousands of others (yes, thousands!) - and with my family - to pedal on parliament, and ask the Scottish Government to do more, a lot more - to promote cycling, to invest in cycling and to make cycling safer. It will be good for all of us. Good for our health, for our cities, for our planet, for air quality and climate change and peak oil and quality of life and humanity and liveability and sociability and well, just about everything. And yesterday I used my vote in the local elections to vote for more investment in cycling. 


If you are so minded you can see more about the pedal on parliament manifesto, sign the petition or follow the Times campaign for safer cycling. You can also find lots of photos of the day in various places (like here, and here). You could also have a look at a friend's new blog about cycling with children.... 


Happy Bicycle Month!

Birthday

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. At 0628 our daughter climbed into our bed, followed soon after by her brother. After a little bit of whispered direction from me, they wished their father a happy birthday and began to sing to him. We might have preferred another half an hour of sleep, but their sweet duet was certainly worth the early start.

The birthday celebrations begin in earnest. The gifts were piled up and the house decorated. The fabric gift bags I made at Christmas got another outing, along with the bunting a friend made a year or so back.....

The birthday cake was a joint effort. I did most of the measuring and baking, but the little people licked their fingers and decorated the cake as only preschoolers can - with originality and wonkiness.

Happy birthday my love. xx

Winging it...

Elsie marley has got her kids clothes make week again next week. Not sure I can manage it, but I like the idea, and have got things going just now by cutting out some new trousers for the bean.


As you can see they are being upcycled from a pair of moleskins which his dad has just put in the 'to go' bag.


Not much left over once I'd finished cutting!

Still addicted...

The blanket is still the thing. The socks aren't getting a look in. Neither is the cardigan I should finish (all sewn up and just waiting for 300 miles of edging to be knit onto it). There is an itch to be scratched, and I just need to scratch it.

The ripping and re-doing of the blanket has been a complete success. I am much happier with everything, and now starting to motor along, getting quicker and quicker all the time. It's a good feeling.

The rugby outing yesterday afternoon was fabulous. I have missed going to big matches like that (the last international I went to was the RWC in 2007, when the bean was about 9 months old), and it was so good to be back at Murrayfield for a sell-out match. The atmosphere of Scotland vs. France matches is always very good natured. The french fans play their part well, with  lots of flags and coloured wigs and silly hats. It meant that there was plenty to look at for our two little people - particularly the jelly bean - at her first rugby international. Her brother went to his first international match as a babe in arms, aged only 2 weeks! He's been to a few more games since then, mostly with his dad and other (male) grownups. This was our first outing as a family of 4 - and a rehearsal for attending sporting events with small people in tow, as we are off to the Olympics in the summer...

Too bad that Scotland couldnt get a win yesterday - but the roar that went up when they scored was incredible. And, we were lucky enough to be sitting in the north stand, so saw the first (Hogg) try fairly close up. A great memory for us all.

I've been thinking about stuff lately. There are so many of us trying to cope with having too much stuff. And, the more I think about, the more I think that the motto of the 21st century should be: don't buy stuff; do stuff. Yesterday was a good day for that.

Drama #2

The drama continues here, although we have now watched all of The Killing (series 1). It's good - and I am looking forward to catching up with series 2 sometime...

Putting that aside, perhaps it is just as well I started my Christmas crafting when I did. There has been little action on that score since the beginning of December. And, the socks I have started for DH have stalled a bit - they are toe-up and just look a bit, well, wrong. I am undecided at the moment, but am waiting for a new moon or something before they go to the frog pond...

The other dramas in our house have been a little less knitterly.

On Saturday the television stopped working - the remote control worked, but the telly did not. Fuse was checked, words were sworn and various things banged, bodged and shaken. To no avail. It was dead. It had departed. It was an ex-TV.

Given that we my husband has been discussing buying a new telly for months now, it didnt take us long to come to the conclusion that we should buy a new one. The old telly (about 10 years old - so box shaped rather than a flat screen) had been on the blink for a while. DH has been researching all the options - wireless, dongles, boxes, recorders, LCD, LED. But it all just made my head hurt, so I told him we should wait until the old one gave up, and that's what we did. On Sunday morning decisions were made, and a new TV was procured (look it up on tinternets, ring up shop, pay and collect later). One thing sorted.

Yesterday, I got into the office and sat quietly at my desk sewing on some buttons while my laptop powered up and my inbox caught up with itself. I was finishing those wee jackets I started a week or so ago, for those little twins I mentioned. As I sat and sewed, I scanned my inbox - and there was a birth announcement! Eek! Born on Friday, a few weeks earlier than expected and hoped, but safely born and good sizes (c. 4lb each). Welcome to the world little ones - Nathaniel and Lilith - we wish you and your clever mama and papa all the very best. There is a parcel of things on its way - including those two hats, and two wee jackets (paxton pattern from stitchymama via ravelry).

Two baby beanies.

Pattern: own recipe/tutorial

yarn: small amounts of 4 ply from the stash

Pattern: Paxton Preemie and Newborn Jacket

Yarn: 100% cotton DK (pink = Sirdar Carousel; blue = Jonelle) from stash

Size: 6-8lb (preemie/small newborn)

Notes: no mods - jacket with long sleeves. buttons from stash. This is the second time I have made these jackets - they knit up quickly and take almost no time to finish because of their top-down seamless construction.

This morning, after counselling both of my small people NOT to sit on window ledge next to Christmas tree, a few moments later the bean arrives in the dining room (where I am waging war on a tsunami of crayons and pens and bits of paper that have suddenly hurled themselves onto the floor) announcing that the wire has got his leg and the christmas tree has fallen down. The jelly bean wets herself at that very moment and my sense of humour disappears very rapidly. No-one was hurt, and the only thing broken (apart from my spirit) were a couple of decorations on the tree. Grrr.

Santa came to the rescue. In times like that emergency chocolate really is the answer, and if that is shaped like santa, then all well and good...

The Cardigan of Doom (again)

On Saturday evening, I was booked to baby sit for a family we know. They had a dinner of spectacular proportion to go to (17 courses or perhaps 29), and I knew that I would have a long evening to entertain myself. The plan was this: to seam the cardigan of doom and continue with the knitted edging which goes on for several hundred yards seemingly. I got my bag ready in good time, and when the time was right, I set off to supervise someone else's children into bed (with an obligatory story or two) and then settle down on someone else's sofa for the evening. After reading the paper and spending some time trying to work out which combination of FOUR remote controls resulted in a tv with both sound AND picture, I picked up my bag to begin. I hauled the sorry nicely blocked pieces out of my knitting bag and set them aside. Then I reached in for my scissors and needle case. And, it was at this point that my plans for the evening broke down. Neither scissors nor needle case were actually in my bag - and I believe scientists have established beyond doubt that those two things are fundamental for sewing up anything you might care to mention. I was stumped. I was flummoxed. I was completely bojangled.

Fortunately, before leaving my own two chiddlers at home for the evening, I had stuffed the boy socks into my knitting bag, just in case.

Just as well. Sock two progressed from just started to more than half done, just like that. I finished it last night, and tried it on my sleeping son to make sure it wasn't too small. Save for one small detail (some blocks of duplicate stitch on the sole to indicate the approximate size of the sock- I'll show you sometime) - they are all done and in the (very smug) Christmas box. And the cardigan of doom still mocks me from the knitting bag...

Glasgow School of Yarn (and an FO)

On Saturday we went to Glasgow. A family day out and a birthday treat for my mother-in-law. While the boys went to see the new transport museum, we made our way to the Mackintosh Church to the Glasgow School of Yarn 2011. Unfortunately, I booked too late to get into any of the workshops, but we spent a happy hour or two in the market place choosing yarn, drinking tea, eating cake and chatting to knitters.

Natalie from the yarnyard was there with her lovely yarns and magic carpets (which she explained to me) and a lovely warm hug; and the jelly bean helped me choose some yarn to make some boy socks with - and we carried off some lovely BFL yarn in the colourway 'Lochside' from Abstractcat.

Once the second handwarmer was finished, the skein was quickly wound and a pair of boy socks cast on. I'm adopting/creating a new tradition to make my children socks each Christmas. And, while we watched the last episode of Spooks (sniff, sniff) I soon rattled through the leg of the first sock (I don't know why this picture insists on appearing sideways... I've tried to put it right, but it just won't go...)

Everyone else has got much better pictures than me of Glasgow and the CRM church (try here and here for lovely pics), and everyone was super friendly, and I only hope that it happens again next year.

In other news, the handwarmers are finished and rather lovely (even if I say so myself). There will definitely be some more of these in the near future...

Pattern: handwarmers (based loosely on the purlbee's pattern)

yarn: Jenny Cook hand dyed yarn (multi-coloured) with some green 4 ply from the stash (Jaeger?) 40g used

I'm trying to make better use of my time by being a bit more focused and organised about things both at home and at work. To this end, I am tending to having one 'big' project (for the house) and one 'little' knitting project (for out of the house) on the needles at any one time. At the moment, my big focus is on the cardigan of doom which is now blocked and waiting to be seamed and finished. I'm also focussing on my sewing basket/mountain a bit more regularly. Apparently you actually have to get your sewing machine out for things to be made and repaired - just thinking about it is not enough; who knew? Anyway, serious roll of drums and trumpet fanfare, because I have just made my first quilt! Tada!

It may be an itty bitty doll sized quilt for the jelly bean, but it's a quilt and I pieced the top and bagged it and stitched in the ditch and everything. And, it's all recycled/repurpose from old shirts and some old flannel sheets...

Making Lists

No work for me this week, so my making monday is all about lists: planning the week ahead to make the most of my time at home, some of it without children(!)

: : read/finish reading the lovely books that are cluttering up my side of the bed
: : convert as many WIPs as possible to FOs
: : sort and rationalise the fabric stash (see item above)
: : bake and cook good things
: : weed, deadhead and tidy up the garden
: : attend to personal grooming (pedicure and haircut both booked)
: : catch up on paperwork/tax affairs
: : sleep
: : eat
: : play
: : blog

I hope there'll some more of these:

And plenty more of this:

WIPs

The WIPs are getting a bit out of hand.

1. Grace is still OTN, but progress has been made. I've redone the button bands - with the correct number of buttonholes this time - and I've knitted the collar again but have a little modification in mind to make it look even better. Then there's the small matter of sewing it up...

2. The Java socks are not done. I'm just about ready to do the toe decreases on the first sock - but I need to check the length with DH's foot, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I dont have enough yarn to make two - which is a major drawback in a sock project.

3. My fingers were itching the other evening, so I cast on for a Betty (Rowan Winter Kids)in a lovely raspberry pink colour very similar to this (although it a substitute yarn) ...

4. The scarf is bimbling along. I am not expecting to finish this soon - it's my fall back project, something to grab when there's a chance of knitting a few rows here or there. The colours are gorgeous...

5. And then there's the sewing. We've been having a few nappy issues lately, and it's getting harder to wrangle the jelly bean (now almost 21 months) into her nappies because she's getting bigger, and they aren't, and there's been a lot of leaking and changing of clothes going on (particularly at nursery). For the most part we use Totsbot bamboozles - a shaped nappy made from bamboo terry, and we also have a couple of the Ella's house hemp nappy. The hemp nappies have a longer rise and fit better than the bamboozles now that the jelly bean is bigger. We love our cloth nappies, and have used them very happily for both of our babies. Given that we are hoping not to need them for too much longer, I have been experimenting. I have made a nappy!!

It makes me very happy. I'm not an accomplished seamstress (I find using a sewing machine awkward, no doubt because it is not designed for a left-hander) so I feel very pleased to have done this. Of course, things may yet unravel when we try it out for real, but so far so good. I used the hemp nappy as a template and constructed the new nappy from a single bamboo terry square and two layers of cotton flannel cut from a crib sheet/head cloth. I elasticated the waist/leg openings with regular elastic from my sewing box, and I'm now waiting for some aplix to arrive so that I can finish it off and try it out! While I had the machine out the other evening, I also got started on the pile of wipes and dribble bibs that I cut out a few weeks ago, and I ironed some patchwork pieces ready for stitching. It's satisfying to get things done...

Slooooow progress

Grace is still on the needles. The back is almost done, but so is the yarn and my optimism about having enough to fnish it now seems misplaced. Heaven only know what I'll do to complete the collar and button bands... oh well. On the plus side, it seems pretty big as age 3-4, so it should fit the intended recipient for a while yet!

In other news, we helped a young friend of ours celebrate her 4th birthday last weekend. The bean and I made her this lovely card. We also gave her a copy of one of our favourite books: 'Iggy Peck, architect' which the bean received for his 4th birthday. It has some fabulous rhymes, and great illustrations - and is perfectly suited to the daughter of a trained (if not practising) architect. Happy birthday Ruby.

In the spirit of ongoing discussions about going off-grid and supporting the local economy, we bought the book in a real bookshop. You know one that you actually physically go to,  and where you can touch and read the books before you buy them! It was lovely, and as an added bonus DH found a lovely book for his dad's birthday - something always to give thanks for, so we heartily recommend the Edinburgh bookshop if you are ever in Bruntsfield/Morningside or Edinburgh for that matter... [As I was holding a sleeping toddler, I was unable to rifle very effectively through the craft books, of which there is a nice selection. looks like I need a return trip...]

Finally, in terms of the lenten aspirations: I have made 3 loaves of bread; been out on my bike twice; been to Pilates classes once a week and generally managed to keep myself off the biscuits, cakes and chocolate (except on Sundays of course). No sewing to report (except sewing on a button and reattaching some elastic in my pyjama trousers), and a bit more knitting. Things should get a bit easier from now on because teaching (but not marking) for this semester is now over, and some other project deadlines have also passed, so the mountain of work is no longer so mountainous. Phew. And, summer time is here to boot, so a chance perhaps to get out in the garden in the evening and continue the work sowing and growing.

Home Alone...

It's Saturday and the sun is shining weakly outside. My husband and children are elsewhere and I am all alone. I should be in the garden, trying to unwreak the havoc therein, and getting ready to plant seeds and bulbs and things to eat in the coming months. But inside, looking at a computer screen, trying to catch up with work or get ahead or somehow effect some change in my never-ending list of things to do and the blizzard of emails that fall thickly into my mailbox each day. So am trapped and free all at the same time.

I might, just might, have spent a few minutes searching in my stash for some more yarn for Grace. I found little bit more, but as I still haven't finished the fronts and the yoke seems to be eating yarn, I am more and more sure that the yarn will run out. I may even have to unravel my tension square, except that it's not very big and wouldn't help very much... The trouble is there is nothing else in my stash that I can use to make up for the missing yardage. Rats. Looks like I might have to go shopping....