As is always the case, a week was simply not long enough to accomplish everything on my list, but it was good to get some things finished, and some things started, and to have a few days where work interruptions were minimal and the priorities were unashamedly domestic.There was...
: : knitting - two socks finished (but not a pair)
: : sewing - one small t-shirt refashioned and two pairs of trousers cut out ready for stitching (both repurposed from my old trousers)
: : baking - a lemon drizzle cake (from Nigella's domestic goddess book) and a delicious quiche (mushroom and leek) and home-made pizzas and a jumble fruit crumble
and playing, and meeting friends, and some trips out, including one to see this: the Tour of Britain, which started yesterday in Peebles.
And there was a wee bit of gardening (in between the showers) and paperwork and sorting and decluttering (three big bags for the charity shop), but a bit less sleep than we hoped for on account of a small person with a tickly cough but, all in all, it was a good week.
Don't forget to check out other making mondays to see what everyone else has been doing...
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:
Well now. The sun may be shining, but there are clouds overhead, and poor old Drew has gone back to the drawing (drew-ing?) board.
So, having knit furiously up to the armholes and completed the back and started on one of the fronts, I took stock. Hmmm. Less than three balls of yarn used for a project that is supposed to take 9 balls. Hmm. And, only 21cm below the armhole for something meant to fit a 4-5 yr old, even before washing/shrinking. Hmmmmm.
It wasn't stacking up. I checked on Ravelry, and I think there's only one completed Drew (perhaps that says something), which had the comment that it came up small. A forum post about the pattern and yarn requirement mismatch generated various comments mostly saying 'dont forget the hood' - which is a bit bamboozling as this pattern doesn't have a hood, but anyway. I usually find Rowan patterns/sizing to be generous, so thought age 4-5 would be fine for my average/slim 4 1/2 year old son. Then I got the tape measure - you know like proper knitters do - and actually measured my son and a couple of his jackets, and have decided to start all over again. This time I am going to use the age 6-7 size in terms of chest size/width, but aim for something which is about the same length as the age 10-11 size. I hope I'll end up with a jacket which he can wear for a little while at least, and not something which is so short he'll grow out of it before I have had chance to sew the zipper in.
I spend an unhappy half an hour or so on Wednesday morning frogging all the lovely stripes, and then I took a deep breath and started again. I went to an interesting lecture later on that day, and got on with the reknitting while Carolyn Steel talked about cities and food and her book 'Hungry City'. Food for thought. If you are interested at all in issues around food shopping and supermarkets and growing your own (which of course most people are) then it's worth having a look and/or listening to Carolyn speak. She is very passionate about her subject, and there is lots of interesting info on her website and blog.
