Arrrgggh!

Ever have one of those days? I'm in the middle of one at the moment....

I'm madly trying to make things for a shopping evening that I have a stall at. I do these maybe three or four times a year and while I always get stressed in the week leading up to them, I really enjoy the nights themselves and come home buzzing. I always use the profits to buy myself something, a real treat, something that I would otherwise never have, rather than just frittering it away. This way, each time I look at my purchase, I can think ' I bought that' and feel a teensy bit proud of myself!

Two years ago, I made enough to buy this:

(Pretty in Pink - Doug Hyde)

I loved this picture the first time that I saw it. I had no idea who had painted it and it took me a while to find out. I was gutted to find that there were no prints of it, and a bit taken aback by the price. But still I loved it and would look at it now and again! When I finished my first evening two Christmases ago, it was the one thing that I wanted to buy, and so I did! I felt a little guilty spending all that money, but it has so been worth it. Every time I look at the picture it makes me smile. Well, last year's Christmas shopping evening was very successful and I knew just what I was going to get:

(Deeply - Doug Hyde)

Well, I've never done a shopping evening at this time of year and so am intrigued as to how it will be. Each time, very different things have sold and I always am convinced that 'I don't have enough' but usually do!

This is what my desk looks like right now...

so far, I have a bunch of corsages ready to be finished and carded:

a small pile of spotty bags..


some bags for 'grown ups' and knitting bags. These just need finishing touches and corsages adding

a basket of Hairclip holders and hearts to be finished..

badges that need to be carded...

bunting - finished!

Matryoshka dolls that need to be sewn and appliqued..

A pile of felted jumpers that need to be turned into cushions...


Wooden plaques - finished!


felt cakes - finished!


Lavender hangers - finished!


Nappy cakes that just need wrapping..

but my to do list is oh so long : bibs, baby shoes, cards, applique bags, zip pouches, storage cubes (nearly done), crayon rolls... help!

as if time wasn't stretched enough, it's The Engineer's 9th birthday on Friday, we have a wedding in Portsmouth on Saturday (a good 2 hour drive away) and we havefriends coming to visit on Monday. Oh, and the car refused to start today, which means a 1.5 hour school 'run' twice a day - walking with all four children. As I said earlier - AAAAARRRGHHH!

Holiday shopping

As mentioned in my previous post, I was very restrained on our recent trip to The Netherlands, and bought no yarn at all. I hardly bought any fabric either - but I couldn't resist these when I saw them...

I did however, buy ribbon from the market.
Lots of it. Lots and lots of it!


The stallholder knew he was onto a good thing, and kept producing more.

"oh, have you seen this one? I think you'll like it..."

He was right!
But look.. little birds and hearts!

Owls!

...little gnomes in spotty hats!

Spotty toadstools on spotty background!
(I think this one is my favourite)

Russian dolls..

spring flowers...

Windmills... (had to really, seeing as where we were!)

..more flowers

Little Red Riding hood (can you spot the wolf?)

..more spotty toadstools, more owls, more gnomes!

All are really lovely woven ribbons and none were more than 1.50 Euro a metre. Daddy Long Legs was very accommodating, and only flinched ever so slightly when the man kept producing more rolls.

I have a few ideas for the ribbons, but for now, I'll just sit happily looking at them for a bit longer!

Remember this?

Remember this?

Well, today it became this...

Little Miss Chatterbox spent today back in hospital, having the pin removed. Just one more visit to Physio, another course of antibiotics (her fourth!) , one last appointment with the consultant, and we can put the whole thing behind us.

Phew! Since February, we have averaged one visit a week to the hospital, and I don't even want to imagine how much money we've put into the parking machines. Well, lovely as the nurses were, I do hope it's a long time before we see them again!

Back in good ol' Blighty!

We spent Easter with my In-Laws in the Netherlands. I had hoped to post something before we left home, but in the frantic washing-ironing-packing madness, I just never found the time. I don't know whether it was the weather, or the fact that we deliberately hadn't made too many appointments to meet up with friends, but it was so very relaxed and felt just like a holiday.

I had decided to make everyone a rabbit cosy for Easter morning breakfast, but hadn't realised that DLL's brother and family would be there at the same time too, and so I was knitting frantically to get the rabbits for them finished on the ferry over! Fortunately, they all got finished in time, though it was a very close call

In the afternoon, we had an egg hunt

For the rest of our stay, it was a delicious time of having to do nothing apart from the odd visit to friends.

The children discovered old classics

and on Wednesday, it was warm enough to go to the beach.

I managed to do some other knitting, apart from the bunnies, and did a few more squares of my blanket.


I also started these socks, with Paper Moon (50% merino, 50% silk) from Posh Yarn. Mrs Stash Basket, you have a lot to answer for - I'm refusing to think about the money I have spent here, since you introduced me to it!

I also did a bit of shopping, though this time was very restrained and didn't buy any yarn. (It is sooo much cheaper than in the UK) Instead, I treated myself to some ribbon and fabric - will show pictures in the next post.


It's good to be back, though I'm trying to ignore the enormous pile of washing that is lurking behind the utility room door....!