Time travel...

It feels like I have travelled through time because the last week has disappeared as though in the blink of an eye. As though with a click of my fingers, half term vanished. It has left me with a poorly boy in bed coughing for England. Possibly some nasty bug or more likely from too many late nights from the sleepover marathon that took place over the holiday. Last Sunday, it was my turn for 6 boys (don't ask...) to 'sleep' in the living room - PS3, popcorn and nachos to hand. I decided to camp in the spare room as my bedroom is above the living room - a very wise move!

Of course, the plus side (if you can call it that) is that No2 was dispatched off to various other houses for most of the remaining nights only to come home last night looking slightly worse for wear.

It meant that I had time to carry on with my creative pursuits. A trip to Dorking to buy batting and thread with my friend and her mum included a delicious lunch and cake and coffee.




Another trip into town to buy ribbon for the finishing touch to my mystery gift.

Yes - a pink bunny it is! The soya beans weigh it down so nicely. I put some in the bottom of the body and in the feet

I used scraps from Jasmine's quilt to jazz it up a bit on the ears, feet and hands. While I was making this toy I really wasn't sure I was going to like it as I have become so used to crocheting amigurumi style and this seemed old-fashioned, but now it's finished I do rather like it and so feel happy to give it as a gift.

Full of beans...

It's been another productive week but I have come to a bit of a standstill on the quilting front because the batting I ordered from here is out of stock. So I have not one but TWO quilt fronts and backs waiting to be hand-quilted now. They are sitting patiently in my workroom.

So, it has given me a chance to play hooky again and finish off making a little something for Jasmine to go with her quilt. It's not quite finished but I will tease you with a few snippets in the meantime:

They are the perfect weight and size, but I'm not eating them.

I tried a brad and embroidery but then settled for a button.

Then I made a fluffy pompom.

I've rummaged through the scraps from the quilt and have used some fusible interfacing for the finishing touches which just need to be sewn on...

I'm loving it...

Back in July I took Ali up on her offer of a free recipe book if I signed up with Abel & Cole for a weekly vegetable box delivery. It was something I'd been meaning to do for months as I regularly had a flier dropped through my letter box.


So every Friday I am in raptures about a mixed organic fruit and veg box being delivered by a big yellow van. It is the perfect size for us and I am loving the variety of vegetables I now eat on a weekly basis instead of being stuck in the carrot rut I found myself in before. I'm hoping it will slowly encourage No2 to become more adventurous with his diet!

The great thing about it for me is having to think of ways that I wouldn't usually cook or use the fruit or vegetables. For example, we are not big orange eaters so I have been juicing them and using them in smoothies instead.



As the produce is always seasonal we have had several varieties of squash and pumpkin. I had some friends over for lunch earlier in the week and made a squash soup from the recipe that came with last week's box. I always use my melon baller for getting all the flesh out of squashes and pumpkins - I don't think I've ever used it on a melon! It's so easy, just cut the pumpkin (or squash) in half, remove the seeds and scoop out all that lovely orange flesh.

To go with the soup I made some soda bread from my new favourite recipe book. It is the easiest recipe EVER!!! Ridiculously easy.

And look - it looks like soda bread!

Abel & Cole are doing another promotion and so if you'd like the recipe book do leave a comment and I'll tell you the secret! Oh, I get £10 to spend there too, so no pressure...!

Battenberg...

The quilt I've been busy making for Jasmine, my niece, is finished and it reminds me of Battenberg cake - it is a mixture of pinks and soft yellows, so I will call it The Battenberg Quilt.

It seems appropriate considering there is a bit of a cake theme going on!

The quilt is based on Amy Butler's Pink Bliss Quilt available as a free download here. I made it about 12 inches longer so that it will just about go on a single bed.

Jasmine helped me pick some fabrics to go with some from my ever-growing stash, from eQuilter who have a great little designboard thingy to play with when you order from there to see how your quilt is going to look.

I backed it with a Kaffe Fassett pink and white polka dot and hand-quilted it around the bigger panels and along the length of the narrow strips. I then used his Cabbages and Roses for the binding.

And so here it is laid out on the deck on a sunny October afternoon. All ready for wrapping... but I've got a couple of other little extras to finish to go with it...

My new workroom is proving to be a complete success and I am well on the way to completing the quilts for my three nieces in time for Christmas. Oh dear, I just said the 'c' word -sorry!

There are piles of pink and green fabrics...

...that are getting me ridiculously excited!

...as I cut and sew and press and layout and number...

And the winner is...

Thank you for all your comments and congratulations for my blogoversary!

The names were put into my lovely Sophie Conran glass bowl...

...and the winner is: Julia B!

Happy knitting Julia! Do email me your address so I can post your yarn out to you!

Talking of winners, last month I had an email from my Flickr site telling me that one of my photos had been short-listed for inclusion in the Schmap London Guide. I posted about it here, when I'd been to the zoo.

Then on the 31st August, I had another email saying that my photo had been selected! How exciting! You can see it here. To tell you the truth, I'm a more than a bit lazy with my Flickr site. I should put my photos over there for sharing more often, but you know how it is... It's on The List, but not quite near enough the top for me to do regularly.

Here come the girls...

Just a quick post to share some more crochet!

Having been monopolised by the onset of boys all through the summer, I had a nice excuse and a break from blue, with a birthday present for my friend's daughter. She's not really a girlie-girl, so what could be better than pink dinosaurs?

The triceratops is made with Rowan Big Wool using a whopping 7mm hook and the stegasaurus is using hand-dyed malabrigo worsted weight yarn that I bought in Loop a while back.

Patterns from here. Apparently, she loves them!

My blogoversary...

It started here. Tentatively! And here we are 182 posts and 2 years later. My first anniversary passed by without me really realising it - I was busy preparing to go to university.

It has been 2 years of changes of direction and of coming to terms with things. I still feel like I'm on a roundabout, not ready to get off yet into something permanent. Other than being mum to No2 of course. Perhaps I shouldn't worry too much about the other stuff yet...

Anyway, by way of celebration, I thought I would do a little giveaway. I've never done one before although I've entered many and won 2! I have just ordered some more gorgeous Jitterbug yarn for my next pair of socks (it is addictive) and so there is an extra skein of kingfisher for the lucky winner. Just leave a comment and I will draw the winner in a weeks time.

My feet feel warm and snuggly just looking at this yarn. It is wonderful to knit with, so if you've not attempted a pair of socks yet or are an old hand at it, I know you won't be disappointed with it.