2.

I enjoy watching the balls of wool become limp shapes

that can then be crafted into....

these!

The usual stumpy style doll just wasn't right for my slender, elegant friend Mrs P 

so I had a go at just making it up as I went along. Success me thinks!

She was also given a book entitled 'wine makes Mummy clever'

They went rather well together.

1.

I get flummoxed by trying to think up titles for blog posts. This year I'm opting for numbers, I'm hoping it may even encourage me to blog more now the whole 'what do I call my post?' dilemma is dealt with.

I'm starting this year with some things I should have blogged about last year. A couple of exciting knitting projects that made it onto the tv. First came this little fellow who got used in some links on cbeebies.

 Then I got offered the chance to make a jumper with Hacker on the front for CBBC. Knitting a man sized jumper in the 3 weeks before Christmas was a slightly fraught experience but I'm really pleased I did it, and am very pleased with how it turned out. 

Just for my niece, proof to the world that she's worn the same jumper as Iain from CBBC! 

Here's hoping that 2012 brings some more fun commissions! 

Mini Me's

I vowed not to leave it a year before I blog again and I've done it.

Hurrah!

Life has been a bit hectic but between it all I have managed to

make mini me's.

First came a Daddy doll

(the resemblance to Daddy is uncanny)

Then a string of 40th birthdays prompted birthday mini me's

I'm particularly pleased with my sister-in-law below.

She has clothes just like that!

Most people seem to like being immortalised in wool.

Apart from my dear father who said

'don't bother knitting me something like that'

September so far

Baking :: Watching The Great British Bake Off ::

Ironing uniform :: School runs :: Coffee mornings ::

Applying for jobs (eek!) :: Steam cleaning bathroom

tiles (yaaaawn) :: Wiping runny noses :: Applying

Vicks liberally :: Watching Peppa Pig :: Buying more

Peppa Pig DVD's to save my sanity :: Making soup ::

Enjoying darker evenings and crisper air.

I love Autumn.

Oh poor me!

I often find myself wallowing in the dreariness that comes with being a woman at home. Feeling like I am the only person who has ever experienced the frustrations and exhaustion of mothering and general housework monotony. This is ridiculous I know, I just need to chat with my Mum, Sister, friends, heck, half the population to find echoes of these feelings and yet there are still times when I feel like it is only me struggling. It is always relieving to come across women I admire and find inspiring who admit to feeling the same sometimes!

I don't always feel like this, I hasten to add! I appreciate the small joys (and large) of being able to watch my children grow, but I do find the mental and physical demands (especially of a one year old) particularly draining.

On days like these I really have to remind myself to just focus on the small things like this beautiful flower peeking out from the weeds in the garden. Yes, the house may be a mess but there are lots of little bits of loveliness if I just realign my focus and keep telling myself

' This too shall pass'

Phew.

Well that's all the baking done

Now I just have to get through the rest of the summer!

Family visiting part 2 starts on Wednesday.

Off to recuperate from part 1.

See you later.

What fun!

The summer is flying by.

We have been visiting my Granny in beautiful Cellardyke.

Sometimes I wish Cornwall and Scotland weren't so bloomin far apart!

I have been baking more than knitting.

I have to produce a pirate cake and a mermaid cake

in the next month. I'm getting a little nervous!

Still, I'm rather pleased with the bookworm!