Patches and scrapes

My little Mil never crawled, instead went straight to walking.  This was great for us, as we could sit him in the middle of the room and as long as he couldn't reach any furniture then he wasn't going to go anywhere.  He was even pretty safe if left by a piece of furniture or wall as he used to shuffle his way around the edge of the room going in and out of the alcoves, until he got where he wanted.  We never had to have a stairgate at the bottom of the stairs as along with crawling, he didn't get the climbing thing until later either.

However, even with an early start with walking, he didn't take to running in the same way.  Now, he can run pretty well, but like any 3 (nearly 4) year old he still goes flying on a regular basis.  And flying boys means scraped knees, and holey trousers.

I have not been doing much (any) sewing recently.  What can I say?  I've been busy.  I am determined to do a bit more though, and before I can make real progress I have some small 'clearing the ground' jobs to do.  One of which was this patching job. 

I think they look super-cute and am dead chuffed to be back in the sewing saddle.  Of course, now they have patches on Mil will probably not go near these trousers with a barge pole.  He's very fussy about what he wears... but that will remain to be seen... I'll keep you posted.

Some Knitting

I have not been doing much crafting.  I have been snowed under with Backstitch work, and it seems that it may continue that way.  But I do sneak the odd bit in.

Over Christmas I made Mil some Legwarmies... Ravelry link here.  But he rejected them, so they have been adopted by Emmett.  Good old Emmett - always up for a cast off.  They are knitted with the totally gorgeous MillaMia yarn who have brilliant colours... yet another Swedish export that I can't get enough of.

And just in shot there on Mil is his tank that I made him back in Summer.  This was my hospital knitting for when I had Emmett.  Mil did not reject this.  I told him it would make him run faster, and now it is his favourite.  The pattern was recommended by the lovely Helen over at Angharad Handmade it is called 'Bob'.  Ravelry project page here.  The pictures are taken on our allotment at the end of the summer.  We were planting peas and onions for the mice and birds to eat over winter.

And if you're wondering if he noticed the new eiderdown... he didn't.  I couldn't believe it.  I had to point it out to him in the morning having slept under it all night.  I never for a moment thought he wouldn't notice... it was just meant to be a headline.  Oh well.

Do you think he will notice?

Do you think my husband will notice that we have a new eiderdown on our bed?  The red one below is what we used to have and the green one is what we have now.

I couldn't help myself.  It was in the window of the charity shop as I ran past last night.  The shop was closed and I was pawing at the window.  I even had dreams last night of coming into the shop in the morning and seeing someone else at the till with it in their arms... argh! 

This morning I piled the boys (as of course there are now two) into the pushchair and hurried up to the High Street, in the rain, to be there as the shop opened.  I won't say how much I paid, but it is worth it already.  Although, now I want new bed linen to complement the gorgeous eiderdown.  Oh dear.

And, hello!  Is this a one time only appearance or am I back for good?  I would like to think the latter, as I have missed it here. 

Catch you later! x

Emmett

So, he was born a month ago today... all was great, he was 9 lb 2 oz and I am relieved to have him here in the world safely.  We're all settling into our new ways okay... there is a fair bit of yelling going on, but I'm confident it will pass.

Apologies for the absence... I fear it may last a little longer!

Too small and too big

A little while back I finished Mil's jumper.  Ravelry link here. The first thing I have knitted for my lovely boy.  I am fairly happy with it.  I love the yarn (Stylecraft Pure Luxury Merino DK)... so so soft, but I made a bit of a mess of the neck... not thinking very clearly about how the two-tone was going to work.  And then... the damn thing ended up being way too small!  Good old Mil wore it for a while, insisting that it was 'fine' but really it was way too short in the arms and in the body. 

I'm knitting him a new jumper now... a tank top, which will be the right size!  And, luckily there is a cousin this can go straight to, and then it can come back for our next.

So, too big?  That's me.  I'm too big, way too big.  Going for the op on Tuesday... wish me luck!

Backstitch pattern review series

Over at Backstitch, we've started a series of pattern reviews by lovely bloggers. The idea is to give you a useful resource for when choosing patterns from the shop. 

The first of our pattern reviews is by Helen of Angharad Handmade. You all know Helen don't you?  She has a great blog as well as an Etsy shop where you can buy all the nice things she makes.

The review gives you some valuable information about the pattern, as well as some inspiration... who could not be inspired by this lovely spotty number?!

Read the full review here within the articles section on the Backstitch website.

 

Clickerty-clack

I can't get enough of knitting at the moment! I am seriously missing sewing but just can't get my backside off the sofa. I think B is getting a bit bored of me saying 'I know what I'm going to sew next' and then not doing any of it... I have masses on my 'to sew' list and zero motivation for it.



But, those knitting needles? Click, clack, click, clack. I'm in heaven!

I've finished this unborn childs second pair of shoes... I know, daft. I am fully aware that babies don't wear shoes, but those cute little bootie patterns - irresistible! (Saartje's Booties, ravelry link here). That's it though. I've moved on to some serious functional knitting.



I really wanted to knit the boy a cardigan. He likes cardigans over jumpers really, but I couldn't find a pattern I was happy with, so I have opted for the placket neck jumper from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I am knitting it in this super-soft Stylecraft 100% merino.




But, anyone have any ideas how to get me off this sofa and up into that sewing room?