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FFP

May 29, 2009 By 8 Comments

Dare I add a new acronym? Finally Finished Project…

kitten blanket

I took it up to the Lakes and spent a couple of evenings putting the last squares together, before embarking on the border. I even did a little bit of that on the train – crochet is so much easier than trying to knit on the move – which makes me one of those people who have crafted in public. Never thought I’d be able to say that…

closer

I did attempt a mini blocking session, with it spread out on a towel and me on my knees with a water spray, but I don’t think I’ve quite got the hang of it yet (or it could be that hanging about on my knees just isn’t as much fun as it used to be and I got bored and wanted it finished). It’s a great size for the sofa, because if you’re curled up it covers your legs and feet perfectly, without that annoying extra bit of blanket making you too hot, or gathering crumbs under your chin (I have my own cardigans for that). The cat for whom it was intended thinks it’s wonderful too, and she’s had several sleeps curled up on it already, which is lovely as she’d stopped sleeping next to me on the sofa when we got the new leather one.

I started off following the pattern in Simple Crochet for the modern afghan, but departed from it slightly. I used a larger hook (4mm) than asked for, and ended up with more squares (48 in total), but I think this has increased the finished size to something slightly more useful, for me and the cats. The next crochet project will be a crib/pram blanket, which I’m going to make using a combination of squares from the 200 crochet blocks book. No pattern in particular, just whatever square I fancy at the time, which should introduce the little nugget to the random nature of his mama’s mind sooner than he realises.

Filed Under: Crochet, Finished Things - 8 Comments

Unusually Sunny

May 26, 2009 By 7 Comments

We went out of London for the holiday weekend, all the way to the Lake District. Despite growing up on the other side of the Pennines I’d never been before, which is due to a combination of my mum not being able to drive, and my Grandparents having a pub, which meant that the whole familly worked weekends and holidays. (Note to self: never work in a pub again.) Turns out that this ommission is a cracking shame, because the Lakes are beautiful.

Bassenthwaite

Mr J’s Grandmother grew up in the Nothern part of the lakes, close to Bassenthwaite, and every year she rents a cottage round the corner (literally) from the house she used to live in. We went up to join her and Mr J’s dad, who also spent a good deal of his childhood running wild in the hills. They both knew so much about the landscape and the nature in it that I felt quite humbled by my inability to identify more than an oak tree.

Buttermere

We had a tour around the Western Lakes, Crummock and Buttermere, ending up in Keswick by Derwent Water, where me and Mr J joined the launch for a gentle if windswept trip around the lake. (I should point out that he had talked of rowing me around, but I declined. He’s a good rower, but my centre of balance isn’t what it was and I really didn’t fancy stepping in and out of a wee rowing boat.)

on Derwent water

 

By some miracle, the weather was glorious, even though the forecast was for rainy and cold, and we spent the whole weekend bathed in sunshine, save for one evening when I had to get my rain jacket out, but since that resulted in the most beautiful double rainbow we really didn’t care. We spent most of the days outside, and then slept like logs in the almost complete darkness of the middle of nowhere. Utterly and completely restful.

Fletchers Fearless Clothing

 

(we loved this sign – what makes them fearless?)

And now we are home. The cats are pleased about that, as are we, because although it is lovely going away, it is always even lovelier to come back home, especially when you have yourself a new mug for your tea.

new herdy mug

Filed Under: Life, Other Things - 7 Comments

22+6

May 21, 2009 By 10 Comments

So I’ve been quiet, yes? My friends will tell you that I go quiet when I am worried or just plain miserable. This blog silence has been anxiety driven, as we waited for our second scan. Whenever it is someone else’s turn I always assume that things are fine (and they usually are) and the only thing to worry about is whether or not the parents want to know what manner of baby it is. When it is my turn I find that I spend a good deal of time worrying about heart defects and club feet and cysts and cleft lips, all of which is not helped by the hospital calling it the ‘Anomaly Scan’. I’m a hypochondriac so this is deeply unhelpful for my mental wellbeing.

But of course, as is generally the case for hypochondriacs, all was and is well. I did come over terribly faint, not once but three times, while he was scanning, but as I’ve been fainting with some regularity since I was young it doesn’t bother me very much. The sonographer made me laugh while I recovered by telling a tale of an American doctor who used to tell the parents what sex he thought the baby was, but write down the opposite in his diary in case of lawsuits. So I know what you’re thinking – did we find out? And how certain was the sonographer of avoiding lawsuits? As it happens, baby was very co-operative, and gave us a view that left no one in the room in any doubt, even us untrained parents – he’s most definitely a boy.

The last thing the sonographer did for us was print a picture of his wee face, using 3D imaging, and if you want a sneek peek at the little fella  you can have one.

Filed Under: Pregnant - 10 Comments

Keep On Doing

May 14, 2009 By 1 Comment

mantle

Whenever I gave homework to my japanese teacher it would always come back with a jolly stamp and the words ‘keep on doing!’ on it. Well, quite. Such a simple phrase but universal in application.

Our mantlepiece is currently obscured by the kitten blanket wip, which has been a wip for well over a year. When I was younger this sort of inability to complete a project in a timely manner would have infuriated me with myself, to the point of condemning me as a ridiculous person. It’s so good to get old. You realise that time taken is not necessarily the yardstick by which everything should be measured, and that, sometimes, just continuing to take the time, when you have it spare, brings the same results, but with less gnashing of teeth.

Progress is good, and I can see an end to it, which seems amazing. My only wish is that I didn’t have to do all that tedious weaving in of tails, but then, isn’t that what box sets of Mad Men were invented for?

Filed Under: Crochet, WIPs - 1 Comment

Fish pies, newborns, boats, aircraft carriers, fabric, shoes, shoe racks, wriggling

May 12, 2009 By 12 Comments

You know I have that category called ‘life getting in the way’? Well sometimes it truly does, but in the best of ways.
leeks for pies 
 On May 1st my oldest friend, who I’ve known for half my life, became a father for the first time. His heroic wife gave birth to their son at 1am, and I felt so priviledged to hold him only 16 hours later. In the hours inbetween I made fish pies for the hungry parents to have in their first few weeks.

aircraft carrier at Greenwich

I also went on a trip down the river on a boat, with a friend who has lived here for years, many more years than me, but has never experienced the delights of the Thames Clipper out to Greenwich – when they get out of the speed restricted part of the river it’s terrific fun, especially on the open decks at the back (just don’t bother doing your hair). When we arrived we were both oddly disconcerted by the huge aircraft carrier moored just along from the pier. We walked across Greenwich Park and Blackheath to get some lunch and then back again, only to find the aircraft carrier shedding its load of helicopters…

fabric from Kent

There was also another bout of stash shopping, with Florence, Helen and Lisa, although I’m refusing to feel guilty about this one. It was a grand day out, though I had to bow out slightly early due to tiredness – there was still time for three hours of laughing over one cup of tea, and I came home with new shoes. Lisa wonders how you get your purchases into the house – I confess I walk in with them boldly and proceed to tell Mr J exactly how much everything cost, while he tells me he doesn’t care. Last week I went home with an Orla Kiely flannel from Heal’s and kept brandishing it at him while I said ‘three pounds!’ repeatedly.

Ikea hacking - shoe rack

We’ve also been doing a spot of Ikea hacking. I bought the shoe rack when it was on offer for £35 (see - now I’m doing it to you) but what it really needs before I can let it live in the hall is a good coating of Farrow & Ball. I don’t know if it counts as true ikea hacking but it’s enough for me, because it’s more than just getting it out of the box and putting it together. This is all part of Operation Holy F*ck, where we have to somehow rearrange the house to fit a baby in it.

And of the baby, all is well according to my lovely midwife. In fact it’s better than that – the wee one really started to squirm around at the weekend, which I am finding incredible and incredibly funny. I hope this baby likes laughing, because that’s all it must be hearing. It quite makes the heartburn and insomnia worthwhile.

Filed Under: Fabric, I've been shopping, Life, Other Things, Pregnant - 12 Comments