Well, today sucks

I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend. Mine partly sucked.

Saturday was fine. Lots of fun, work, lots of laughing, an episode of "Defience". Not a bad day. Sunday started off great fun too. We went out for breakfast to celebrate my mum's birthday last week. As a family we take up a LOT of room in a restaurant, as there was 17 of us there yesterday. We drove in for me to start my Sunday at Morris & Sons and that's where the day started sucking.

The phone call about my nan happened, and I rushed back to see her before she was gone. My nan was turning 97 in August, so she had a pretty great run. Her knowledge of the Golden Age of Hollywood and Agatha Christie were encyclopaedic, and I'll miss our chats about both. Nan was a knitter and a crocheter, and I have two amazing ponchos she hooked up in the 70's that I still get stopped in the street for questions about.

I had some knitting with me yesterday in the hospital and just sat talking to my cousins and knitting while we all waited. I ran out of yarn late in the afternoon, but found a small amount when I got home later. I was going to pick some up at work yesterday but I just bolted out of the place. Maybe during the week I can grab some. After the funeral, perhaps. I think Nan might be a bit ticked if I was knitting during the service.

I've written before about how knitting helps and yesterday was no exception. I'll be able to look at Marcus in his little orange jumper and remember it was there at my Nan's last day.

We won't be mourning her, we'll definitely be celebrating her life. She was a knitter, after all.

*Please* hold still!

On Wednesday night I sewed up Dorothy's little sea shell jumper. It took 30 minutes to set two sleeves and sew up all the seams. I really am quite lazy, aren't I?

The pattern is called Sea Shells and is from the book "Heirloom Baby Knits" by Deborah Newton. I found it at Morris and Sons one browsy afternoon and realised that it was perfect for using up the bamboo/cotton I'd frogged from Dot's little hexagon cardigan that she outgrew in a week. It's very VERY boxy, but then, so is Dot.

It was a lovely fast knit in 10ply with an easy to remember pattern. I made the 18-24 month size and there's still room to grow in it, although the sleeves look very short when Dot holds her hands up. I checked when she's just moving around and it's down to her wrists so I'll have to suck it up.

Getting her to hold still for a photo was a bit of a trial. First we had the kitchen...

...then the couch attack...

...by the time she was back standing I'd given up.

So of course Dot sat down and looked cute.

My children drive me nuts.

So wonderfully wonderfully wonderfully wonderfully pretty...

As previously shown, I'd almost finished my kitschy draught stopper.

I said it would only take another two hours and so it did. You're looking at about 250 hours of cross stitching here. I knew I needed something so we didn't all catch pneumonia this year, but this was just spot on. I still need to sew it all up, but at least all the hard work is done.

Look at that face! It's just so kitsch, but who says kitsch can't be cute?

My children respect neither my craft nor my photography. I am an artiste, dammit!

A very low-fat Easter

I know that I'm biased, working for Weight Watchers as I do, but this really is a great alternative to a chocolate egg at Easter time.

Marcus and Dorothy may not have had these at Easter but I don't care. Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran makes the perfect chocolate colours, milk and dark.

The pattern is the Chocolate Easter Bunny by Doni Spiegle and it was a really quick make. The actual bunny bodies only took 5 hours for the pair of them, but I just couldn't seem to get it together in time to finish them up!

Marcus thought it really was chocolate, so he was disappointed when it wasn't, while Dot cuddled hers and then tried to eat it.  They don't look that real, kiddos.

It's the tail that kills me. I want to carry the bunny around calling "Poofy tail! Heeheeheehee! Poofy tail!" like Homer Simpson and the poodle.

Almost two hours

It was closer to three hours to finish off Marcus' beanie, and he's not very impressed with it.

The pattern is Debbie Bliss' Contrasting Edge hat, minus the edge. I shortened it by 1.5inches (yes, I still sometimes work in inches, much easier for knitting) and it fits like a dream. Well, probably only for this year.

The edge is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and the blues are Misti Alpaca Tonos Worsted I had left over from another project, so using some up was a way to tidy up the stash.

Unfortunately, the photography cut into Marcus' pwning time, so the session ended rather swiftly.

Stick around this week to see how much of my Wednesday list I've almost finished!

Unrealistic expectations

Knitters have no idea of time.  We really don't.  We think that we can knit a beanie overnight,  or a jumper in a week. We start to calculate stitches per minute and work out how many inches we can "whip up" in an hour. Sometimes we're asked to knit something for someone else and we think "Pffft! Two hours, if that!".

Knitters are the most delusional of crafters.

I thought I could knit Marcus a new beanie overnight. I started Wednesday afternoon, but by the end of the night I had only four of the eight inches I needed before the decrease (feel free to create your own joke here). Yesterday was Anzac Day here, so a whole day off to knit? Bliss! However, I've been pretty sick the last few weeks, and I was wiped out yesterday by a headache so I spent most of the morning sleeping. I took the knitting to my nephew's birthday party in the afternoon but spent most of the time there trying to stop Dorothy eating an entire orange, including the peel  (failed miserably, by the way). When we got home I went straight back to bed to nap, so the evening was a write off. When in doubt, revise the pattern.

I've decided the beanie doesn't need a turn up, so now I only need to knit another inch before the decreasing starts. So there's an excellent chance I'll have it all done by tonight. Absolutely.

Two hours, if that.

I almost got something done

I am about two hours away from finishing something.

It's a cross stitch kit to make a draught stopper that we desperately need in our little crooked house. I felt that a cat with yarn fitted here perfectly. Two hours to go, seems possible right?

But wait! There's still more!

A latch hook cushion for my little Dot.

Doctor Who mittens for Felix (winter is coming).

A new cardigan for Dot.

What needs finishing, though?

 Mum's doily. Once I find it again...

 Marcus and Dorothy's Easter bunnies.

Sewing in the ends of my cotton top.

Sewing up Dorothy's cotton jumper.

Frogging my Skew socks to make a beanie for Dorothy.

Buckets to keep me occupied right? Lots to do? Which do I attack first?

None of them.

Marcus got to the scissors while I was changing Dorothy and now needs a beanie to cover up his new hideous hair style. I swear I could just scream sometimes!