Berry nice...

We are starting to enjoy some produce from the allotment, including a goodly amount of raspberries.

We take no credit for these as they were on the plot when we arrived. But, we are enjoying them nevertheless - here in a tasty cake. Mmmm, yum.

Progress #2

So, after a week at home, this is how the list looks now:

1. Finish Dolly (baby cardigan), block, assemble and send to recipient. 

FAIL. Sat down to finish fronts, but when measured against back, discovered that they bore little resemblance to the size of the back I had knitted. So I ripped them. Completely. From almost finished to nothing. Just like that. I did not cry, I just swigged my beer a little more vehemently, and got out some crochet (ha!) 

2. Before sending Dolly in the post, check that recipient is still small enough to wear 3-6 month size. If not, pass onto smaller baby and start knitting a bigger Dolly for first recipient. Do Not Swear.


Fail (see above). Now inevitable that first baby will be too big for 3-6 month size... 


3. make some cloth nappies for jelly bean's dolls

Have made a paper pattern, but nothing stitched. Part Fail. 


4. make some more doll blankets/quilts for jelly bean/gift stash

Fail. Concentrated on Other Things.

5. make birthday crown for jelly bean

Success! It was even completed in time for the jelly bean's birthday. But there are no photos (yet).


6. make birthday cake(s) for jelly bean

Success: Two cakes were made. DH is now complaining that there is no butter in the house. Oops. I will not mention the slight issue of cake batter leakage which meant one of the cakes had to be stopped mid bake and (successfully) reassembled. 



7. dye some (old) clothes

Fail. I did look at some dye in the shop, but didn't have any cash.



8. tackle UFO pile: ripple blanket; man socks; sewing pile

Part Success: ripple blanket has got another stripe, man socks have now got a second heel and I made a start on (my first) quilt top! Eek. 



9. make a large pile of gift bags 

Success: it may not be the largest of piles, but I managed to whip up 9 bags. All made from the stash. 



10. do some gardening (back garden: veggie plot)

Success: weeding and clearing was begun. Harvests were gathered (broad beans and potatoes) and eaten (yum). 



11. do some more gardening (front garden: flower plot)

Complete Fail. 



12. take books back to library

Success. Whizzed up on my bike one evening, and came back with some new goodies :)



13. ride my bike

Huge Success. I have cycled to school and back with one child; I have cycled to school and back with two children;  I have cycled to cake shops to hire cake tins; I have cycled to town to buy fabric and bits and bobs and new bras; I have cycled to the library (see above); I have cycled to (Edinburgh) Fringe shows with the family and to meet friends for a grown up night out; and yesterday we cycled to the pool for a swim, and then to the park to play with friends. 



14. drink coffee

Success. 



15. eat cake.

There was plenty. 24 fairy cakes and 2 birthday cakes were baked last week, and I had my fair share. 

WIP

Things are happening here. Big things. Things that have been planned and thought about and discussed for some time. In fact, I knew I wanted to do some of these things when we first saw the house (7 years ago!)


We have builders in. We have a temporary kitchen (aka the batcave) and many boxes. There are tiles and lights and worktops and all sorts waiting to be unpacked and installed. 


It's an exciting thing. We've just moved beyond the slow structural elements of the build, and into the quicker and more palpable progress of wall finishes and kitchen installation. Yesterday the kitchen arrived in a myriad of boxes, and this morning the joiners arrived to start putting it together: a three dimensional puzzle of components. 


It feels very grown up, although we are not thinking at all about the grown up bill that will also arrive shortly. 

 the jelly bean tidies herself away in the old kitchen

The contractors have been great - tidy, considerate and punctual. The gaffer, is a very likeable man who says things like 'no problem', 'we can do that' and 'its all pretty straightforward'. We like him. 


There is knitting here too, of course. Hat no #9 sprang off the needles yesterday and no #10 is just being cast on. Tonight it's a knitting night, so I'm planning to take Deli for a night with the girls. Hopefully it'll be her last night as a UFO!


In other news, some sunshine and the long jubilee weekend meant a wee bit of time in the garden. The chiddlers helped me plant the rather wizened seed potatoes that had been waiting to be planted. And, the wigwams for our climbing french and runner beans are also up. Must plant the seeds now!

Making Monday: making, baking and being at home

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...

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:

Smitten

The boys went out on Saturday to watch the rugby sevens at Murrayfield. While they were out I grabbed a little pile of Rowan Denim which has been marinading in the stash for a while. I swatched for Drew - something new to knit for the bean. I got gauge and cast on, and I'm smitten. I can't put it down, even though there are a million other things to do like finish Grace, plant out the runner beans, hoover up the dust bunnies, make the supper, write a presentation for Wednesday. You know how it is. I can't stop. It's only been on the needles since Saturday afternoon and I'm almost at the armholes. It's yummy. I love the feel of the fabric in my hands.

My stash of Rowan Denim doesnt quite run to the required 9 balls of one colour/dye lot, so I'm going all stripey instead. The bean declared yesterday that he "...doesnt like stripes..." but he added that when it's finished, then he might like them then. I'm smitten, even if he isnt (yet). And, as he is only 4, I like to think I'll be able to make him wear it anyway.

Betty is looking pretty good too, but she's one for a quiet corner when there is space and time and light to concentrate on the pattern and the increases (that's a lower cuff in case you're wondering).

The wild weather has kept us mostly inside this weekend. The wind has been incredible and both children have been blown over by it, making outside walks/adventures rather difficult. The sun has been glorious, but the showers frequent and heavy and the wind very, very strong. I managed a few minutes of gardening between the showers, earthing up the spuds and weeding the denuded rows of salad and beetroot. Pesky slugs.

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....