Saturday 18 February 2012

This and that


My blogging seems to be all about Alice at the moment, she is a natural choice for my affections and a cheerful recipient of my makings {well...mostly!}.


I finished making her first pair of mama knitted socks about a week ago. I like the yarn she chose and how the pretty stripes formed.




I was a little irritated when I was knitting the toe section of the second sock when the sock yarn had been snapped off and re-joined {don't you just hate that when you buy expensive yarn} and I tried to make the toes match but somehow they didn't! Oh well, Alice is happy so that's all that matters.




Can you see that one is purple and turquoise and the other purple and orange!It's not like me to be so perfectionist about such things but it did irritate me somewhat right at the end and I couldn't be bothered to make further changes. They will be well loved and worn to keep little miss's twinkle toes warm for the rest of our Winter.


Other than that all is a little quiet on the crafting front. I've been working on sewing an Alice in Wonderland type outfit for Alice to wear on World Book Day where her school gets dressed up for the day and bring in their book of choice. In Alice's case it was a natural choice for her.




I'm busy reading this rather real and funny book






Casting on 20 stitches of Aran left overs for a multi-coloured striped extra long wrap around scarf, just because!




Initially I started with 30 stitches and thought I'd knit a patchwork type of scarf like this




But it didn't seem to be as nice as I had seen in a shop a while back so I frogged it and went back to good old garter stitch which I am happy with




Oh and I've be wearing my new top I found in a charity shop, originally from Primark, I'm liking the flamingo's a whole lot




The stag necklace was £3.25 from Forever 21 store bought in London on our last trip at the end of last year.


Alice has also done the sweetest Jemima Puddle duck water colour painting too. She kindly gave me permission to put it on my blog.



We put it in a pine frame to protect it until we frame it with a mount and thought it would look rather sweet in her new cousin's room who is due to pop out in April sometime.

Last, but not least I, with gritted teeth utmost patience am coping with no oven, hob or cupboards in our kitchen at the moment. This is week number 4 my dearest readers and this morning our Plumber friend who was due to fit the kitchen this week had all his tools stolen out of his van last night. Lovely. What a wonderful world! 

So, in the meantime we will continue to camp in a corner of the dining room(in amongst the flat packed kitchen which was delivered this week) and find food in the lounge, bedroom, under the stairs or wherever I have found a suitable abode for our dry goods.


In an ideal world I would have an empty kitchen with fitted enamel sink, Victorian dresser and a simple farmhouse kitchen table. Alas, I do not live in this ideal world and a fitted kitchen was the only option in our tiny terraced Victorian house. It was rather weird buying this in the January sales as I realised that we very rarely buy anything new and I found it rather laborious and left poor Andy to get on with the business of measuring etc. 

I don't want to sound ungrateful, please don't get me wrong it will be lovely to have a functional shiny, clean new kitchen but DIY doesn't really float my boat. Fortunately I have a lovely husband who is more than happy to oblige. For which I am grateful. He's busy banging away at replacing the ropes on the sash window in the kitchen as I type. I think a coffee and cake are needed now :0)

Thanks for reading my ramblings, have a lovely rest of your weekend and these flowers are from me to you with love xox





13 comments:

  1. I love your ramblings :D I'm not very good at posts like these and so wish I was ... all that homely stuff that happens here too but seems to mostly go unphotographed. Not the kitchen part though, we went through that 8 years ago and once was enough, the one we have now will have to do indefinitely!

    Alice is very talented, I wonder if she will make a career in the arts. And I'm loving your flamingos too :D

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  2. It is a pleasure to read your ramblings.....great socks, love the colours, Alice has good taste and a talented Mum.

    Love your necklace, what a bargain!

    Alice's watercolour is superb, how clever.

    Hope your life returns to normal soon, must be a total nightmare, you must have stacks of patience. What pretty geraniums.

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  3. Love all the creativity that has been going on around here! Missed visiting for a while and it is nice to be back. Your pillow cases are wonderful!

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  4. What a nightmare with no kitchen and such a cruel thing to do to steal a work mans tools. I love Alice's socks there smashing bet she feels lovely and snug in them. She is great a little artist her Duck is wonderful, dee x

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  5. the socks are lovely! I get a bit wierd about unmtching socks too, so one of my goals for this year is to knit some unmatching striped socks just to get over myself!
    Love the flamingo top, very cool! You've inspired me to go Op shopping today to hunt down some bargains.
    Have a wonderful rest of your weekend XXX

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  6. Looks like Alice is just as talented as her Mum! What a great picture!!
    I am sure the new human will love it in their room.
    Those socks are adorable, the scarf looks great- there is just so much to ove today.
    Oh, hope your kitchen gets sorted soon

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  7. I feel your kitchen pain. And share that dream of a simple farmhouse kitchen.

    Socks are really spiffy even with the mismatched toes. You should be so proud of them. My Mum used to knit jerseys for us kids and I loved them! I remember so many of the things she made.

    Oh and tell Alice her painting is cracking. Really. Wish I could do that -I can't even paint a simple flower.

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  8. I think the socks look lovely - all cosy and snug- no matter that they don't match. It's the love put into them and of course the joy of receiving.

    I also love he water colour - it's gorgeous.........and perfect.

    Happy Sunday to you

    Nina xxxx

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  9. Great post! Love the socks and the duck, can't wait to see Alice's costume. Hang in there regarding the kitchen. Construction never goes as planned. Just keep the cake coming!

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  10. Such a pretty picture of pink flowers on your window sill! Just think how eXsTaTiC you will be when your kitchen is finally ready. During the big freeze we had to do without our washing machine for two weeks which was hugely fun as you can imagine. I particularly loved traipsing to the laundrette on a Sunday morning; now I am in heaven just loading the machine again.

    Your socks are divine. Quite frankly the small change of colour on the toes does not spoil their beauty in the slightest.

    And Alice's painting? It is fabulous. Please tell her she is a very talented young lady indeed.

    Stephanie

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  11. Oh, so many things! Love the sock yarn, it's like a sunset, and Alice's painting is superb.I do feel for you over the kitchen, I'm sure you can't wait for it to be over, and you'll be cooking up a storm!
    At least you've got your knitting to calm your nerves!
    Penny xxx

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  12. It's very hard to cope with the hub of the home, the kitchen, and the place you provide your family with sustenance, being in complete disarray, be strong (! easy for me to say I know!), hopefully not too long to go before it's all finished. Alice's Jemima Puddleduck is lovely! And so are your socks for her, lucky Alice! Vanessa xxxx

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  13. I don't know where to start... hand on in there with the kitchen. Oh, I remember all too well the washing up in the bath, having to cook with only a camping stove and a kettle (and the gas ran out and the kettle broke just before the new kitchen was finished, so it was sandwiches only for a couple of days!!)! It'll be worth it once finished.
    The socks! The more I see handknitted socks the more convinced I am that I need some. But I am not a patient knitter so I need to convince someone to make some for me, somehow!
    Alice's watercolour is fantastic.
    And the Caitlin Moran book - I read that last summer and enjoyed it a lot. It made me think too, which is always good!
    Have a great week. xxx

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