Yoo hoo! I’m back...

...and writing despite a jet-lagged, foggy brain. I just couldn’t wait another day to return to Blogland!

I’ll be simultaneously unpacking, sorting toys, doing laundry and catching up with everyone’s blogs. I do hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. It seems we fared very lucky indeed escaping severe weather on both sides of the pond – we left England before the horrid storms flooded areas, toppled trees and left our village without power until late Christmas Eve, and we flew out of the States just as the latest snowstorms closed most of the airports in the northeast and record-breaking freezing temperatures roll in! Phew!

So my Christmas...filled with so many lovely, festive, cherished moments with family and friends...

A white Christmas at Grandma’s house!

Santa Claus visits every home in the town before Christmas, and boy oh boy my girls were sooo surprised and happy when the doorbell rang and he stepped in! Little Flower had been worried that Santa might not get our message that we wouldn’t be at our house Christmas Eve, but a personal visit to Grandma’s certainly alleviated those fears!  

But hey, let’s cut to the chase: What crafty goodies did I manage to squish into my suitcase!?! Well, I was very limited with my purchases because I was sharing luggage space with two little girls who spent Christmas with their grandmother, so you can imagine the amount of doting and spoiling that went on! Luckily I found a few great bargains...

These mugs speak volumes, and match my kitchen colours!

I visited a craft store that was about the size of my village. The ribbon section alone was bigger than my living room – and the ribbons were massively discounted. I forced myself to stop at 10:

And that price tag reads 75 cents/46 pence! That is linen ribbon! They were all the same price...

I discovered yet another craft book, I really must stop buying craft books, but I just love all the inspiration!

The three-inch hoops cost about the same as the ribbon. Again, I lament having to tuck these beside Journey Girls, Build-a-Bears and other space-hogging toys! I console myself with the knowledge that the girls will be teenagers one day and will want only clothes, jewellery and small electronic devices, so I’ll have oodles of room for supplies...

I can’t ever leave the States without a few balls of Lily Sugar n’ Cream:

This is the *best* dishcloth yarn ever! You can see I’ve already started one; my old cloths are desperate to be retired. (As per tradition, I share with the four dear friends in my craft group – choose your colours, gals!)

I picked up this Lily dishcloth booklet because it features both crochet and knitting – it might be an easy way to get into knitting again. And it looks so retro...

My biggest bargain of all was a new winter coat, found after Christmas during a crazy sale at the local mall. It is a gorgeous deep plum, quilted, hooded, toggled – all I need for a typical English winter. And best of all, it was marked down down down to $20/£12!

But it gets better: yesterday I discovered that the King Cole Riot Chunky I purchased on a whim because I fancied the colours matches the coat! So I’m working on a more feminine version of the Manly Scarf I made for Darling Husband (I’ll take a FO photo of that soon, he left the house wearing it this morning).

Oh dear, wave of jet lag swooping over me, I must go make a strong cuppa!

Happy New Year to all of you lovelies!

Chrissie x

I get by with a little help...

Where would we be without friends?

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have made these placemats. I thought these were so cute, and I wanted to make them for my family as one of my very first sewing projects.

But can you spot the difference between the photo and my mats?

My centre panel of linen didn’t match the photo, and my mat fronts weren’t the same size as the backs. I followed the instructions so carefully, I measured, measured again, cut, sewed, measured again...then I rang my sewing guru Jooles in a panic, about to throw out the lot and call it quits.

Well, my friend came to my rescue and helped me realize that the pattern was to blame, not my new sewing skills. There was an error in the measurements of the centre panel (it’s supposed to be 12-½” square, not a 12-½” x 10” rectangle, for any of you with this book!), and she encouraged me to find a solution to this problem, rather than giving up! So we played with fabric scraps, and I decided a side panel would do nicely, picking up a featured fabric in the patches.

(I actually like mine better...!)

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have tried my hand at quince jelly this year.

She kindly handed over another batch of the beautifully floral-scented little fruits last week...

So now I have more delectable jelly to give away as Christmas gifts. About a year ago this friend also gifted me a pretty pink orchid, for helping out during a hectic week. It has since flowered twice more, with greater numbers of blossom each time.

I just had to share this beauty with you – I’ve lost count with the blossoms, both sides of the stem are laden with incredible orchid flowers! A true gift that keeps on giving...

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have finished this pretty cross-stitch posy:

And thus a new craft interest is born! This cherished friend also has taught me to knit (and promises to re-teach me once Little Flower is at primary school!).

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have ever contemplated making a quilt.

But you all know how that one turned out!

And without my blog friends, I wouldn’t be anywhere near as creative, inspired or productive as I am today! Your comments, emails and your own blog posts have offered me such pleasure and have enriched my life – even if it’s simply sharing our craft ideas for making a house a home. These little things have big meaning, offering a constant source of comfort and symbols of love for our families.

This week I passed the 100 posts mark, since starting in April this year. I wanted to share my appreciation for my friends, with my friends. You all know who you are, the ones in my daily life and the ones in my “blog life”. I appreciate you very, very much!

 Chrissie x

On the hook: Flowers, flowers and more flowers

The kids are back at school, the days are getting shorter, and the evenings are decidedly cooler. Autumn is arriving.

But there is no sign of flowers fading any time soon at my house...

Look what the postman brought me! I had pre-ordered this book a while back and forgot when it was due to be published, so it was a bit like an early birthday when this parcel arrived the other day.

This is Nicki Trench’s latest book, Cute & Easy Crochet with Flowers. I’m a big fan of her Cute & Easy Crochet book, and this new publication is just as chock-full of sweet crochet items. I won’t do a proper review of it yet, because I want to make one of the projects first – but last night I ordered some yarn to make these:

These are round placemats made with Zpagetti, the recycled T-shirt yarn. It’s high time I tried out this type of yarn, but I’ll never have enough old T-shirts to make my own skeins, so I bought some Zpagetti. It should arrive in a few days, so hopefully within the next week or two I’ll let you know how I’m getting on with the placemats.

I wanted to do a quick make from the book first, but this is what I really fancy making:

pretty, pretty, pretty!!!

But first I must finish my other crochet WIPs! The Blossoming Bag (a gal can never have too many crocheted bags) is *so close* to being complete.

Both sides are done, the handles are there, and I even found a lining fabric that coordinates perfectly – it’s difficult to see, but the teeny tiny dots on this fabric match the dark teal blossoms.

So what has got in the way of me finishing this bag? Grandma’s birthday, that’s what!

My grandma turns 89 this month. So what does an 89-year-old need? An iPad Mini, of course...

The family is all pitching in to get her an iPad Mini and whatever broadband thingy she needs at home to make it work. I’ll be able to Skype and “visit” with her all the time! I’m crocheting an iPad cover based on a pattern from Granny Squares, which I reviewed here.

I’ve adapted the pattern to fit an iPad Mini, meaning I just make fewer squares and edge it in two rows on each side rather than three. Easy! I’m also using just one colour of yarn, because that’s the kind of granny square my granny would prefer. She likes green, so I’m using some of the Sirdar Snuggly I have left over from the baby blanket I finished earlier this summer.

I have one side finished, which I whipped up in two evenings while watching telly. I’m joining the squares as I go AND weaving in the ends, which are two revelations for me! It was a bit slow in the beginning, but I stuck with it, and I am so glad I did. The project comes together so much more quickly – I am not faced with a zillion pesky ends to weave in afterwards, and I don’t have piles of squares to crochet together. It’s suddenly “ta-dah!” and one side is all done! This is the way forward...

I have to send this gift on Monday at the latest, so I’ll have a FO post very soon. Shhh! Don’t tell Grandma!

Chrissie x

Do you like green eggs and ham?

One of my favourite children’s books, when I was young and now for my children, is “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. I remember reading it for the first time as a little girl, intrigued by the story of someone intimidated by trying something new.

Isn’t it fun to try new things! I love discovering new flavours, and I suppose that extends to life in general – seeing new places, meeting new people. There is so much to experience in this great big world, and so many friendly people who want to share their stories and creativity. I think Dr. Seuss was encouraging children to be adventurous and not judgmental – not just with food but with life – when he wrote this book.

I was reading this story to Little Flower a few days back, and an idea sparked.

Reading in the dappled sunlight of the garden

 

I found a scrap of white linen, grabbed my fine-pointed Sharpie pen, and got down to business.

I have at least four embroidery projects in the works...wait, five, I just thought of another...but I opened the book and just wanted to stitch a little testament to keeping an open mind.

I’m not sure if my embroidery skills are up to this project, with all that fill stitching, but I’ll keep you posted with my progress, warts and all! This will be a good learning project, I suspect...

I’m lucky that my children aren’t picky eaters. I don’t have to find kid’s menus when we’re out, and they usually try new foods without fuss.

But ask any parent who has a child like this, and they are likely to say that it’s not just down to luck. An action plan for new foods has been in place since Bunny was a baby trying her first solids. I always encourage the girls to try new foods, and I have never treated certain foods as “yucky” – but I also have always given them the option of declining a new food if they don’t like it, after they have actually, properly tried it.

I don’t make a big deal about it. I just say, “Take a bite of this, if you like it there’s more, if you don’t, spit it out into this napkin. No big deal.” I mean really, what’s the worst that could happen? I’m not asking them to eat a poisonous sea urchin or anything, so it really isn’t a big deal. I know young palates tend to dislike bitter flavours, so I don’t serve them a bowl of boiled spinach! Nine out of ten times, the relaxed approach works wonders.

At age six, Bunny even tried escargot when we were in France, then said calmly, “It was chewy. I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t think I’ll have any more.” (I secretly think she just wanted to tell her friends she ate a snail while on holiday!) That was that, and she went on to eat a full meal of her own choosing.

My mother is visiting from America for the half-term holiday this week. Let the good times roll! Bunny and I are taking her shopping in London in a few days, and Bunny already is telling her grandmother about Yo! Sushi and her favourite dishes to grab off the conveyor belt...I think we’ll read “Green Eggs and Ham” to Grandma before we go!

Now I’m getting back to the red floss and that hat! Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Chrissie x