Made by me :: round knitted cushion

Thanks to all the people that offered advice on where to get a round cushion pad. John Lewis (and I have two to choose from) only had square ones. Dunelm Mill had a round one but that was too big, so I bought a smallish square cushion pad and used the feathers out of it to make my own 40cm round one.  

I quite enjoyed knitting this cushion cover - it was quick to make, the longest row being only 44 stitches, and easy to do whilst watching television.

I like the design of it, the way the short rows create a spiral effect and the wrapped stitches are deliberately not picked up. I also like the way the button is pulled tight in the centre. The yarn is by Rico and was a little bit splitty and, although it claims to be a dk weight, was a little bit finer than I'm used to for a dk yarn.

needles :: 4mm

yarn :: Rico Essentials Cotton dk, shade 03, silver grey

pattern :: round cushion from 'Simple Knitting' by Erica Knight

Wishing you all a great weekend x

Small things

In the last 5 days the hall, stairs and landing have been taken over by the decorators. I have been spending a lot of time out of the house because I can't even go for a pee without having to squeeze past ladders or risk getting paint on my clothes. And let's not even talk about the dust they created sanding down the woodwork. 


Let's talk, instead, about some of the little things that have been keeping me happy...

frothy blossom appearing as if from nowhere...

finding the cat basking in the sun...

a pot of tenacious pansies that have survived the winter...

drinking coffee from a glass (a habit I picked up in Australia)...

fancy daffodils...

and a finished WIP...

Packing away...

Blimey, that was some response to my post yesterday. About 10 minutes after I published it I thought about deleting it, worried that I'd shared too much, but when I saw the first few comments I thought I'd leave it. Thank you to everyone who took time to comment... I've tried to respond to you all individually but some of you are 'no reply' bloggers. I think all I was trying to say is that, being quite a pessimistic person, I like my blog to focus on the positive things in my life. It's my way of remembering that good things do happen!

Anyway, the weather has taken a turn for the better here in the north-west and with the increase in temperature has come the hatching of moths. When I found a moth crawling on my 'sunshine and shade' cushion I knew the time had come to pack away my woollen cushion and my beloved 'Autumn' blanket.  So I washed them (in the machine, on the cold wool cycle) and draped them over the clothes horse to dry...

and today I have reluctantly packed them away somewhere the moths can't get at them.

I adore this blanket and, judging by the number of hits on the original Autumn blanket post, so do many of you. It's my second most popular post* (4,565 hits as I write) and has given me a lot of traffic from Pinterest.

So, while I'm welcoming many of the changes Spring is bringing (longer days, fresh air, line drying, having the door to the garden open in the afternoon while the children play out, going out without socks on...) I'm going to miss this blanket...

and I think I'm going to need to make a new header...


* in case you're interested, the most popular post is the crochet cable pattern post which is 11 months older than the Autumn blanket post

The truth about blogging

One of the comments on my post yesterday said 'what a fab few days for you', which was lovely, and the post I wrote made it seem like I had been having a lovely time, but, along with something Fee wrote, it got me thinking.  The trouble with blogging is that it can seem like we all live incredibly charmed and happy lives. For many of us, the decision to publish only the positive aspect of our lives is a conscious one and if this makes our lives look better than they really are, then so be it. But the truth can be rather different.

Because, you know, I actually hadn't been having a fab few days...


Just a few short hours before I hit the 'publish' button on that post I was having a 20 minute stand off, 50 yards from the school gates, with a 3 year old who wanted to ride his balance bike without wearing his helmet. It got to the point where I thought we'd never get home - I simply can't carry 2 lunch boxes, 2 book bags, a bike and and a 17kg child the 2/3 of a mile home whilst also supervising another child on a bike. #2 is getting so big I can hardly see over his head when I pick him up and last time I gave him a piggy back it put my neck out for 2 weeks! Do you want to know how I got him to agree to put his helmet on and come home? I threatened to throw his Star Wars lego in the bin. I can be a Very Mean Mother sometimes.


I don't blog about the fact that I'm a little bit bored of being at home alone all day but that I have no idea what I want to do instead. So I go to the gym, or for a run, every morning just for something to do*.


I don't blog about the fact that my children fight all day long, from getting up in the morning until going to bed. They fight constantly when they're together, yet they can't stand to be apart.


I don't blog about the agonising that went on over an unexpected text message from the brother that doesn't speak to us any more. Do I reply or not**? Why is he getting in touch all of a sudden? What does it all mean? 


And I don't blog about the the other worries we have in our lives. Uncertainties over jobs and worries with elderly relatives, for instance... Who wants to hear all that anyway? I certainly don't like to dwell on it. And, in 'real life' I tend to be quite guarded - I don't give a lot away - why should my blog life be any different.


So I will continue to blog about frivolous things like covered lampshades (very professionally made *ahem* with zero sewing and a tube of UHU, by the way, tutorial here)...

and about a sea of daffodils I came across in the park while out running...

rubbish camera phone photograph!

and line-dried bed linen...

and that is all.






* It helps that I actually like exercising and have friends at the gym :-)
** I replied so let's see what happens next

This week...

I've nearly finished my knitted cushion cover. I've one segment left to knit and then it just needs to be sewn together. I reckon the challenge then will be finding a circular cushion pad. Any ideas where I can get one from, UK readers? 

I've just covered a plain cream light shade with some pretty Laura Ashley fabric for #1's room. I ordered this fabric for a roman blind which I got a lovely lady called Kath to make for me. When I went to pick up the finished blind Kath mentioned that I'd ordered way too much fabric. I checked the order form and, as I thought, I'd ordered 2 metres to make a blind with a drop of 165cm. It's strange that Laura Ashley decided to send me 3.5 metres instead of 2 metres, but I don't think I'll ring them to complain.

Mothering Sunday involved cake, of course. A Norwegian spiced chocolate cake from Scandilicious. I forgot to take a picture of it, so here's the one from the book. I'd been looking for an excuse to make this cake, so Mothering Sunday came in quite handy. It's a marble cake spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon and with a chocolate/coffee buttercream. 

Mothering Sunday also involved trying to teach #1 to knit. Which involved me having to teach myself to knit left-handed. This was tough, especially the casting on, but we're getting there. Slowly.

There's been more cake since Sunday - a banana and chocolate loaf. I need to stop baking. It was a bit of a struggle to get my jeans on this morning. 

Off the hook :: Pandora Panda

I spent most of yesterday cleaning the upstairs of the house. I even tidied and vacuumed out the airing cupboard - something that I haven't done since we moved in almost 6 years ago.  While I was cleaning I unearthed the other amigurumi I made. Pandora Panda...

I do like to crochet amigurumi. They are perfect for when you want to crochet but can't be bothered with any of your wips.

Hook :: 3mm

Yarn :: acrylic dk (stylecraft I think)

Pattern :: Pandora Panda from 'Amigurumi' by Josephine Wan and Lan-Anh Bui

Off the hook :: A friend for 'Flower'

Flower was the name given to the Spring Bunny I made a couple of weeks ago. Now he has a friend called Petal...

Flower (owned by #2) is much loved to the point where some of his stuffing is escaping already. I do like it when the things I make are appreciated. When #1 found a new crocheted bunny by her bed on Sunday morning she told me I was the best Mummy in the world :-)

I wasn't expecting Petal to be be bigger than Flower - not all cotton dks are equal it would seem. 50g of Debbie Bliss cotton has only slightly less yardage than 50g of Rowan handknit (approx 92yds and 93yds, respectively) so I wouldn't have expected such a difference for a small project like this one. Especially as I'm sure both bunnies were made with the same size hook. 

Hook :: 3.5mm

Yarn :: Debbie Bliss Cotton DK

Pattern :: Spring Bunny by Stephanie Jessica Lau

I've another finished amigurumi knocking about somewhere. When I dig it out of the pit my daughter likes to call a bedroom I'll show it to you.

It's been a craft-packed weekend here, actually... as if a crafty party and 2 amigurumi wasn't enough, #1 was given a sewing kit for her birthday and she seems very keen on it so I've been helping a lot with that. You can imagine the kind of thing - giant plastic needles and thread as thick as a shoe lace. 


And we've fashioned a dolphin out of a piece of cardboard and some emulsion test pots. This is for school of course. Why else?

Decopatch party

For #1's birthday we held a decopatch party at a local craft cafe. The best way to run a children's party is to get someone else to do it for you. The result was ten decopatched chihauhaus and one dinosaur (for #2 - the token boy at the party).

We all came back to our house afterwards for a Hello Kitty piñata and some party games. After watching 10 girls bouncing round the house for half an hour I was exhausted. We tried to stretch a game of sleeping lions out to 10 minutes, but they weren't having it. They all enjoyed themselves though, which is the main thing. 

I've to do it all again in 2 week's time and then it's all over for another year.

P-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-poker face

May I present Lady GooGoo...

Modelled from this image...

Lady GooGoo: TM MoshiMonsters and Mind Candy Ltd

I am quite pleased with how it turned out and, I must say, the ready made sugar dough tastes delicious. How on earth do you get icing to taste of orange sherbert? It'll be all those lovely E numbers, I bet.

Busy, busy

I made this little Babushka last night (from a kit in Mollie Makes). She's gone to school on #1's book bag.

One of the amigurumi is nearly finished and I have remembered to get some white felt so that I can finish the other one.


I had a go at making some shaped crayons using these instructions. Not terribly successful, really. I think my mould was too small. And melting the crayons makes your house stink and your oven fill up with smoke.

The Lady GooGoo cake is underway. I thought I'd better start early in case it all goes wrong. I've also discovered it's not the best idea to do an upper body work out at the gym the day before you need to make a lot of cakes - it makes the beating part twice as hard.  

This cake is for Saturday - see I am starting early - its a basic 7" sponge. On her actual birthday, which is tomorrow, the birthday girl has elected not to have a traditional cake. Instead she wants toffee-marshmallow crispy cakes. The kind that are made of equal amounts of cream toffees, marshmallows and butter melted together and then mixed with double the amount of rice krispies. (i.e. 100g each of butter, marshmallows and toffees; 200g rice krispies). I'm happy to oblige since I love them too.


I need to make a start on the tidying up/cleaning now. The sun shining means I can see all the sticky fingermarks on the front windows. And the front room seems to have been taken over by a giant keyboard that needs hiding somewhere it can't be found before several children descend on the house...

Edited to add :: thanks for all the advice regarding microwaving the crayons... I don't own a microwave, however.

This week...

I have two dismembered amigurumi to sort out...

The second side of my cushion cover to cast on...

I've two birthday parties to plan. A Lady GooGoo cake has been requested for the party this weekend. Just in case you're not in the know, Lady GooGoo is a Moshi Monster. So I have been out and bought an obscene amount of ready made fondant icing. Wish me luck with this one, as I'm not terrible artistic...

But, mostly this week, I am not doing the things I ought to be doing because I am spending all my spare time reading instead.  I've read 10 books since I got my Kindle at Christmas. I haven't read this much since before I had children. 

I'm currently working my way through Stieg Larsson's 'Millennium Trilogy'. I can hardly read these books fast enough and am staying up far too late and neglecting the housework in my effort to find out what happens.

I hope you're all having a great week, whatever you're up to, and enjoying the sunshine if you're in the UK.