Blogging from the phone

Dave is away Edinburgh and today has been a very challenging day.  It came on the back of a mammoth town visit yesterday to talk wedding plans and visit the florist with Tom's mum.  I came home from that lovely visit absolutely shattered and could barely string a sentence together!  Today was a chaotic start getting to the station, followed by food shopping, unloading the car, making lunch, checking that a wedding dress fits, ironing, more food prep and a fifteen minute snooze before the tea and bedtime scramble.

I have not been at my best today and "lost it" several times with the kids.  There has been a whole heap of sorrys and eating of humble pie.  The saving grace was catching a live webinar between Dr Perrin from Classical Education and Sarah Mackenzie "Amongst Lovely Things" about teaching from a state of rest.  I listened and knitted.  The chat box was open but I find them irritating and a distraction from the matter at hand.  The talk has given me plenty to think about during these forthcoming weeks.

As I had finished listening I went into Benedict's room to declare "Lights Out" after all it was ten in the evening!  I removed the pile of books and Legos from his bed and just as I was leaving he whispered, "Hug please mum". His words and those few moments of peace more than made up for the irritations of the day.  

Thank you Benedict for ministering to your mum xx

Sewing Round The Clock {Literally}

I have almost taken up permanent residence in the loft room, although I have yet to be found sleeping on the job!  This evening I am downstairs just before ten, as my back has given way and I'm currently sat with a hot water bottle and tablets!  I know I am on overdrive but I have a deadline to meet by the 2nd of June as a local charity is opening its space for local makers to display their wares and I will be the resident "bag lady" LOL.  So not only do I need stock for the pop up shop but I also need a supply of items for the online place too, crazy!

In amongst all the shop work, I also realised that my summer wardrobe was woefully inadequate and so far I have made myself two fully lined A-line skirts and a dress!  The dress is from the simplicity Lisette Range and the pattern comes with a short jacket which I have yet to road test.  I loved this dress so much that I think I will make it in a floral pattern for the wedding and pick out a contrasting colour for a plain jacket.

Pip finishes school tomorrow for a two week break, {I think she is relieved!}  so with a bit of luck a more normal family life pattern will evolve, with hopefully a few outings for us all.

Without further ado here are this week's makes:

 One Round Trip Dress, complete with waist and bust darts, a 22" invisible zip down the back and pleats on the skirt section.  I wore this when I took my friend Beatrice for morning coffee at The Midland Hotel last Friday.  I also had an appointment with the events manager regarding the wedding preparations and the room we have booked is just beautiful.

My go to a-line skirt pattern couresy of Amy Butler, this was made in a morning and the fabric has such a lovely name, "Peace Garden" and is a very soft cotton with a hint of linen.

 A Japanese Knot Bag ~ I have so far made four of these.  The pattern is a very simple design, but the making of the bag is quite fiddly as it is fully reversible.  As you can see, the longer handle threads through the shorter loop and the bag is securely closed.  This size of bag quite easily holds a small purse, keys, pen, small notebook and even a foldable umbrella!  You can hold it in your hand or hang it over your wrist.  These bags are also great for holding small sewing and knitting projects.

 My first ever commisioned piece as modelled by Gertrude!  Whilst I was finalising the details for the pop up shop on Monday, one of the ladies attending the bistro, announced that she was mad about owls and would I make her "An About Town Bag" using the colourful owl combo as seen above!  Instead of choosing a vibrant colour for the lining, I worked with the muted pink tones on one of the owls and chose a soft pink with tiny cream stars for the bag lining ~ it worked well.

Seven Days ...

... and a bit more!  Saturday the 3rd was our chore day and film afternoon.  Whilst I tackled the inside the kids helped in the garden with weeding and mowing.  Part way through the task Benedict had a crashing hypo and so Pip stepped in to help out and she did a fab job:

On Sunday we had a visit from Debbie, Lewis and Jack and part way through their visit Kath arrived with Mary Grace.  Ours was a busy household that afternoon and I was glad when it was bedtime as I was completely shattered.  I did stay up slightly later than planned as I was desperate to finish Mary's summer jumper.  I left it out for her on the toy box and Kath said that she made a bee line for it when she came downstairs for breakfast!  After eating we made a trip to a supermarket I haven't used in years (Morrisons) and I was pleasantly surprised at the cost.  We had a coffee and juice treat in the cafe and that too was a bargain:

 Sharing Grandma's Cake.

 Big sis, little sis.

On Tuesday I tackled a new pattern and item for the shop, reversible headbands.  I have been wanting to have a go at these for sometime and not only have I sussed the making of them but I have made them in such a way that the material cover can be removed for washing {insert happy dance!}

 Multicoloured Floral/Green and White Polka Dot.

Sunbonnet Sue/Deep Pink Polka Dot for Pip, a little gift to cheer.

On Wednesday I finished making some more headbands and began work on another kids reversible tote.  I also have the possibility of displaying some of my work with other local people in a pop up shop which is very encouraging.  Dave is also working very hard behind the scenes on integrating a website/blog/e-commerce shop and it isn't straightforward by any means!

On Thursday I got sick again and spent the middle of the night hours dealing with abdominal pain, knitting proved to be a welcome distraction and I quietly enjoyed making some organic washcloths for the shop:

Despite having had very little sleep I did manage to honour some playdate arrangments for Benedict.  Sam came over in the morning and Lewis arrived after school and stopped for tea.  It was totally worth all the exhaustion to see Benedict's happy face all day.

I haven't been the only person busy making, Benedict has been working with Meccano this past week.  First he built a helicopter  that Tom's mum and dad had bought when we were at Threave and then he tackled a beautiful motorbike from Uncle Andrew and Aunty Catherine:

 The weekend rolled around once more and for a change we were actually away from the four walls!  Pip had a Rainbows trip on the Saturday and met with other Rainbow groups across the county:

Can you tell she is super excited?!!

Yesterday (Sunday) we travelled to Cumbria to see family.  It was my mum's birthday and my Dad very kindly cooked a lovely meal for us all.  After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon with Nanna and Grandad H.  I think all the working, house sorting and supervising a rough curriculum despite being unwell is catching up with me and I look permanently haggard!  I found this mug at Nanna H's and it cheered me during a very exhausting moment:

On the way home we were greeted with this sight:

The in car shot doesn't do it justice.  The rainbow hung in the air for a good fifteen minutes and the sheer brightness was breathtaking.  Dave told Pip that there must surely be a crock of gold at the end of that rainbow!

God is Good!  Be Blessed x 

Little Miss PJ

Pip has been struggling with wanting to go to school, I don't think it is anything dire but I know she is constantly tired and has been know to declare, "I'm sick of all those school rules!!"  I did remind her that we have rules at home and lets face it there would be general anarchy if folk decided to ignore societal rules and do there own thing!  Still I can empathise with her situation and things are made a little more tricky given the fact that the rest of us in the family are at home.  With this in mind I asked her what did she want to do after school yesterday and "baking" was the resounding reply and that is what we did:

 Maths and Measuring.

 Giving the mix a good old beating!

 Mini Choc Chip Muffins.

 Nothing like some baking therapy to chase away the blues!

Yarn Along ~ The Mary Grace Edition

Our grandaughter came to stay this weekend but this time she was accompanied by her mummy so big smiles alround!  I managed to finish a belated part two of her birthday gift and was most relieved to find that it did actually fit, phew!  I knit a size 6-12 months but she is a petite baby and I had a hunch that the next size up 1-2 years would have swamped her and judging by the fit on this one, I was right:

 The pattern was from this book.

 The border was knit first and then stitches picked up along the length to make the front and back.  I used a Debbie Bliss cotton twist aran in an orange/peach colourway.

The front has an interesting flower motif worked into the design.

 Here is the little lady herself sporting her new summery jumper.

"Hey, Grandma, you just cannot beat a cardboard box for playing in!"

As for reading the only books I am looking at are pattern books for ideas for the online shop!  I am reading website design blogs and passing on the info to Dave for translating into practise.  I have however begun a Read Aloud Revival and so books are dotted around the house for sharing with Pip once she is home from school and with Benedict during the day, it is going well and peace reigns during those quiet moments of sitting and listening.

As always joining in with Ginny and Co, Happy Knitting!