Nothing is sacred

I have been quiet, but right now I need a quick vent so please allow me that.

One of the first rules of parenting is that if it is special, lock it away in your highest cupboard. I didn't, and my lovely knit pros, with a half knitted jumper on them, have been snapped by Happy feet. I was building a Lego house with Lightning and turned round to find my knitting bag strewn across the floor and my lovely needles that the husband bought for my 30th broken. So I am ranting here so I don't explode! On the plus side at least the jumper survived.

*sigh*

And another finish

 

A finish

I have been holding off this post as I am so very very very close to another finish, but I have decided that can wait until another day, and for now I will very quickly just share this blanket finish, that I made for a friend.

It may only be basic, but I am really pleased with it.

4

Yesterday was Lightning's 4th birthday. 4, I don't know whether it seems longer or shorter then 4 years, but they have been 4 fun, frustrating, fabulous years. I love him so much and it is lovely to see him growing up into a lovely, kind (mostly), caring little boy.

We had an absolutely lovely weekend, the promise of very heavy rain and hail passed as mostly sun, we managed to get the bbq out, and lots of fun was had with his new skateboard and scooter. And when the rain did come, there was lego and meccano to play with. Infact the husband was still playing with the meccano long after the boys were in bed.

As for crochet, look something new for me. I am edging one of the blankets I have 98% finished! Nearly there, then I need to finish Lightnings rainbow blanket and then onto things new.

What a week!

Probably a bit late in posting but last week was quite a week. The husband was away for 3 days, the boys played up lots for attention, the sun shone all week, Happy feet slept through for the first time ever, and the end of the week brought an A&E trip and a hospital stay! Happy feet had Croup and was struggling to breathe which meant a Saturday night trip to accident and emergency, some steriods and then an overnight stay for us both. He didn't seem bothered by the whole hospital experience though, and when they brought him toast and juice while on a steroid high at 1.30am he announced he was having a nice day!

Despite all that I actually seem to have got some crafting done. The squares for Lightnings blanket are all done and just waiting to be joined together, have the ends woven in, and edged. I'm really pleased with them and love the colour. As always rubbishy phone pictures don't do this justice.

The jumper I am making for myself is also very slowly making progress. Hopefully I'll take some picture of that soon. I have lots of new projects I want to start but I'm being very disciplined that I need to finish some things before I start anything new! Given that the sun has gone today I may be spending slightly less time in the garden and a bit more knitting and crocheting so hopefully I'll have more updates soon now I have got the bug back.

30

It has been quite a long time since I have posted as I seem to have lost my crafty swing. My knitting and crochet energy must have run off with my painting ability that disappeared a long time ago. I'm slowing starting to pick the needles up again though so hopefully I will have some updates soon.

To temp me back to knitting and crochet though look what I have got!

Last week was my 30th birthday and these lovely presents were from my husband and best friend. I spent my birthday week in Whitby which is one of my favourite places in the world and somewhere I love to visit. I'm not a big party kind of person, but a week on the North Yorkshire coast seemed like the perfect place to celebrate my birthday. Unfortunately both boys had a sickness bug while we were there but it was still a lovely break and good to get some family time. While we were there my husband treated me to a lovely jet ring for my birthday, it matches a necklace I already have and is beautiful. I love whitby jet stones.

Whitby is a beautiful place, and one thing that there is plenty of is steam trains, which equalled 3 very pleased boys, 1 big, 2 little, and I must admit I do rather like steam trains myself. We even got to go in the cab of the train pictured which the boys were very excited about.

We also had a trip down to Scarborough and the sealife centre. Fortunately we had a buy one get one free and the boys are young enough to be free as it can otherwise be a very expensive day, however the boys loved it, they just couldn't stand still and were constantly running on to the next thing. They especially loved the stingrays and sharks, and I loved the jellyfish. We didn't really spend anytime outside looking at the seals,otters and penguins and things as the weather was so very grim, or I'm sure they would have been a big hit too. All in all a good day though

The one thing that never really happened was a beach trip. The tide was always in at mid day, and the boys don't like it on the beach when the waves are crashing even if they are a little way out. I'm sure there will be plenty more trip to Whitby in future though for beach trips.

Spring is finally dawning

The snow has mostly melted and the sun is shining. I saw lambs in the field this week, it feels like Spring has now arrived. Lightening helped me plant some seeds this week, I am finally getting started on the garden. I am so ready for spring to arrive, I  want to be outside and digging over the vegetable plot.

Easter has been a difficult one here, we had another round of sickness bugs, which this time got me and the husband too.

A week has passed since I wrote those first lines. I'm having a bad mummy day today. I'm so tired,  I just need to sleep. I want some peace and space today but instead the boys are intent on falling out constantly. I have been awake far too long. And now happy feet has just upended a cup of milk in a strop. Marvelous.

Yesterday was a better day, hopefully today will improve and I'll stop wallowing soon. Eitherway, look what we did yesterday!

It was lovely to get outside and they both loved riding the pony, who belongs to the people I used to nanny for. They loved brushing the horses and looking at the lambs and it was so nice to be out and enjoy a bit of sunshine. The lambs were so silly and funny, the boys could chatter and squeal at them and they kept coming forward to play, but the second an adult walked close they ran off back to hide with mum.

The boys were also excited by looking at our seedlings and replanting them yesterday. It is amazing how quickly things can grow and change. We are still behind with the garden, but at least the potates have now been planted, the first carrot seeds and spring onions have been planted, the cat poo/vegetable patch has been dug over, the plum tree has been pruned and we have our first seedlings all popping up. Hopefully we'll get more done over the next few days, although tomorrow some much needed rain is supposed to arrive. Despite the snow and the very cold weather there has actually been very little rain and the garden is quite dry.

So hopefully I will start sleeping better soon and I'l be back and more upbeat.

A year

This time last year it was hot and sunny. We went to see my Grandad and I sat in his garden and chased after the boys round the lawn. I took the boys on the local steam railway and it was a definite t shirt day. It was the last time I saw my Grandad, he died a week later and I am always so very grateful I got that last day with him. This year it is cold, the snow is swirling and the wind is whirling round. It is a huddle up at home day. I don't want to dig out the car and I don't want to face the freezing temperature. It is a hats, scarf. gloves, vest, legwarmers and still feel cold kind of a day.

Spring feels late coming this year. Last year it was so early and Spring was then better then nearly all the Summer. I have organised so little for the garden, I have my seeds but I need to get clearing and planting and buy some compost. I'm waiting until this snow has passed before I can do much out there but hopefully the late cold spring will give way to a warm summer and my garden will give me back more then last year. The fruit trees held so little and I'm hoping this year I will get a good crop for jamming and for puddings. Hopefully we will get plenty of salad this year too.


I'm not sure what I want to write today. I have just written and deleted half of it. The boys are currently happy playing in a makeshift den in the middle of the front room. A tunnel, a clothes airer and a couple of blankets seem to be keeping them happy. Oh no, wait, famous last words, they have just found the clean washing basket and emptied it on the kitchen floor. Anyway trying to wean them back off the telly watching we slipped into while ill. It's amazing how quickly they get sucked in, and the more they watch the more they want. When they watch very little they want very little. I must admit I can be similar with the internet. My creativity needs to be sparked a little too, I need to be doing more painting as I miss it so much and the boys love painting too, and hopefully they are getting to the age where it will hold their interest for more then 30 seconds.

I don't have any big knitting or crochet upates at the moment, it has been a bit of one of those weeks when it comes to knitting and the like and I have done very little. However I realise my last post didn't have half the pictures it was supposed to on, for some reason they had broken, so I will leave you with 3 pictures from my last blog. I am just loving these projects at the moment and I am off to do some crochet now.

Normal service has been resumed.

Everyone is finally well in the house and normality has resumed. It feels such a relief to be allowed to sleep and knit and just spend 5 minutes by myself occasionally again.

I have been enjoying my crochet but I'm sure it won't be long until I want to do something beyond the basic granny square so I have treated myself to this book

There are some lovely ideas in there as well as some that just aren't me, but I think I am going to try one of these next. Hopefully they won't be too complicated for me.

 I also love a gorgeous celtic knot square but I think it may be beyond me for a while. As for the crochet I have been doing, I am just glad to pick it up again. I have got another skein of black for my stained glass blanket, so I need to ball that and get on with finishing it. My large granny square isn't too far off done I don't think. And then there is Lightnings blanket that is going to just be 6 large squares. The yarn is King Cole Riot and it is fab.

 Knitting wise I started a new jumper for me a month or so back, but this one is going to be a longer term project for when the boys are asleep. I was surprised how quickly I managed to pick up the pattern repeat.

 
I have tried to get a close up but the picture doesn't do justice to this yarn. It has a slight sparkle to it, I have a long way to go but I love this jumper.

day 9 in sickness house

We have gone from d&v to a horrid fluey bug with a large dose of back molars thrown in. The sleep depravation is starting to show. We never get uninterupted sleep, but most my sleep for the last week has been beyond horrendous. I think the cabin fever has started to show too.

Fortunately my mum is en route with chippy dinner and the husband has taken Lightning to the airport to go plane spotting, he was getting cabin fever too. I think we have more then made our tv licence fee back in episodes of Woolly and Tig and Numtums this week. Hopefully next week will be back to normal!

Big guy and little guy

I stopped using the boys names on my blog a while ago, and have since been refering to them as the big one and the little one or the little guy. I thought I should probably think of something more interesting to call them, so from now on the big one will be called Lightning and the little guy will be called Happy feet. I'll give you one guess what films we watch lots in this house!

Anyway there are very few updates knitting or crochet wise at the moment as Happy feet has been rather ill the past week. He started being sick on friday and has had such a rough run of it. His tummy seems back to normal now but he still has a temperature and is rather unsettled, which has meant very little sleep and very little crafting. Hopefully he will be back to himself soon as it is never nice to see them unwell.

For now I need to get ready to go and take the Lightning to Preschool, then hopefully back for a nap!

Holidays

Excuse the grainy phone pictures, but look what a holiday can do! I am quickly running out of black so I'm hoping I have enough yarn to complete my stained glass blanket. I have the feeling I may run out 95% of the way round. The giant granny is growing quickly, and I got a very small amount of knitting done too.

Other things the holiday brought was the chance to read a book, I got 3/4 of the way through a book in a week! In the past that would have been very slow but nowadays its a rare chance I get to sit and read a book, and when I get time knitting takes precedent. The book I'm reading is 1356 by Bernard Cornwell and it's great. I have read all the previous books in the series so when I saw this in the library I didn't want to pass it over. I also went swimming by myself, not once but twice, and got to do actual swimming. Me and my friend spent half an hour sat in the jacuzzi chatting while the children were asleep and it was fantastic.

We also did loads with the kids but at the same time very little. For February in Britain you could not have asked for better weather. We spent a lot of time pottering around the farm we were staying at, watching the cows being milked, playing on the toy tractors and diggers, swimming and playing in the games room or at the little park area.

The beach was just a couple of miles away and beautiful. Unfortunately the boys weren't a huge fan after the big one accidentally fell in the sea after being chased by the waves. I think the little one just didn't like the noise! He isn't a fan of thing being too loud and the waves were crashing.

One thing they are both a fan of though is defintely ice cream. Especially if it is pink! Criccieth castle is Free to visit mid week in winter. It has stunning views, and best of all, it has an Ice cream shop at the bottom of the hill.

So that's about it for now. We are home with a bump, back to nursery, husband back to work, and me curled up on the sofa wishing the sun would come back!

A new project.

I never bring enough knitting on holiday. So here is a new crochet project to keep my hands busy. My other blanket is well on it's way to being completed but the rest of the yarn I need is at home so here is my start on a cheap and cheerful. The picture doesn't show how lovely the petrol/teal colour really is.

 

Blissful solitude

 

Running barefoot on the beach at 7am isn't a good idea when it is -3 outside, but the peace was wonderful.

Blankets and underpants.

 We are currently on day 5 of underpants with the little one. There have been a few accidents but generally he is doing so well, the timing probably isn't the best but he has been ready for a while so we are taking the plunge. So far so good. I don't really post that much about them at the moment but we are all bimbling along fine. The big one is enjoying preschool, and he did his first unaided swim at the pool yesterday. The first I realised was when I turned around and he was swimming towards me! He currently wants a pick up truck and to marry his friend Liberty. The little one is saying such a huge amount of things, he sings everything still, and his love is mainly directed towards trains.

We are still nursing, bed sharing, and slinging but I feel like my 2 little boys are getting bigger all the time. These are precious days that I have with them and I'm enjoying all the cuddles while I can.

My free time is currently filled with my knitting and crochet. The blanket is fast coming on, I can't wait to use it, and the big one has already placed an order for a blanket of his own. The wool is on order but I will post about that when it gets here.

The squares for my own blanket are all complete but there are still a few ends to sew in. In future I will sew in ends as I go along! I have just started putting them all together using the join as you go method. I am really loving how it is looking, and the black pulls it all together. There are a lot of errors in some of my first few squares that I thought about redoing, but they were part of the learning and I think putting them in will show my crochet journey. My next blanket will be a bit more of a perfectionist project though. So still a way to go but hopefully I will have a finish to show you soon.