Bean bags and other gubbins

In a sudden flurry activity I got these beanbags finished. I started them ages ago and floundered at the stage where I decided to do a little running stitch round all the numbers. The tutorial is at Chez Beeper Bebe.

I have also finally made the dining room curtains to match the living room ones. (It's all one room but it makes it sound bigger to give them separate names...) So I have made it just in time to beat the first anniversary of moving in. And there was only one major cock-up, where I managed to cut one curtain about 20cm too short. This is the sort of thing that always happens when I get my sewing machine out. Anyway, better get on to my bedroom curtains soon, and something to replace the hideousness of the grubby nets in the meter cupboard.

I also have a cabled tank top half knitted and a cross-stitch alphabet sampler about two-thirds done. On my crafty would-like-to-do-list are: a cabled jumper for the boy, hat and gloves for the boy, tea cosy, pretty fabric bunting, wrist warmers for me, possibly a scarf and hat for me, a crocheted granny square blanket (this will probably take me until I am granny age), a mini quilt for the Ikea dolls'/teddy bed I've bought little man for Christmas (sorry to mention the C-word but everything I buy for him now is getting put away until then. By 'put away' I mean left in the boot of my car, which might be a problem when we go away next week), a wall hangy thing I started about two years ago which is a hotch potch of sewing and knitted bits and buttons and beads and stuff, some freezer paper stencilling (although by next summer little man will have grown out of the t-shirts I was going to try this out on), a mini ring sling for the boy to carry things in (probably cars) and a cross-stitch picture of Noah's ark for the boy (I'm hoping it will not yet lead to any deep theological questions; he likes boats and animals).

This list may be slightly over-ambitious. I'm off to do some knitting even though it's the sort of day where you have to put lights on to knit at 2pm. If only I had a cosy wood-burner to sit in front of. Unfortunately, any money I save at the moment is going into the replacement car fund.

Questions to which I may not wish to know the answer

Why are there onion slices and carrot sticks coming out of the legs of your dungarees?
What have you just put in your mouth?
How many pieces of cheese can one small boy stack into a tower before it falls off the edge of the table?
Why do my car windows freeze on the inside?
Just how many blackberries have you just eaten on top of salmon, noodles, yoghurt, blueberries, oatcakes and cheese?
Why do you keep putting that tiny stone in the front door lock so mummy has to fish it out with her car key?
How many times are you going to try to press the switches on the electrical sockets before you listen to me asking you not to?
What are you saying to that squirrel?
Is there a poo in your nappy?
Are you ready for your bath now?
Why didn't I check the gauge before I started knitting little man's boy doll and discover that it's ending up a little wide?
How many calories are there in a heaped teaspoon of Nutella?

Waiting...

... until it's a reasonable time to go and pick up my boy. I think 7am is a bit early, although he's probably up. Then again, his daddy claims he has slept through and had lies-in (lie-ins?) while he has been there. I'm going to assume that means he wakes up with me because I'm so special he can't pass up the opportunity for extra cuddles. Maybe. Anyway, I'm missing him from his crazy curls to his ticklish toes.

While I have been child-free I have collected him some new shells: pink stripy snail shells from the Great Orme in Llandudno. It was a particularly, shall we say, exhilarating day with gale-force winds blowing the unmistakeable scent of goat across the hillside. And I have attempted to start knitting him another hat but I keep gaining or dropping stitches on the cabling and am now about to start my sixth attempt.

Our holiday: the overview

Our holiday at a massive farmhouse near Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway. In brief: beaches, woods, farms, tractors, diggers, nee-nor nee-nor or nor-nee nor-nee depending on which little one you listened to, sun, rain, gales, sand in everything, tea and cake, wine, Aga cooking, knitting, crafty places, castles, boats, whinging, scuffles over toys, scuffles over mummies, falling out of bed for the first time and very broken nights every single night due to the imminent arrival of canines.

More to come when I have caught up on some sleep...

Obsession

My latest knitting project. Never mind that I should be knitting a gift for allgrownup's new baba, or that there are still three months to go before I'll be putting my tree up. These lovely mini stockings will be adorning my tree, hopefully in my new home. I used what yarn I had, which is why the green is minty rather than forest. Acknowledgements go to http://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/free_knitting_patterns/ for the pattern. I'm planning some little gold bells on the back of them. Right now I'm considering knitting a couple more, I think twelve would be a good number, even though I'm supposed to be sorting out my paperwork and packing boxes.

Bag of tricks

Finished this the other day, pattern courtesy of http://bluemountainhandcrafts.com/bethsfreepatterns.aspx found via www.knittingpatterncentral.com. Modified slightly by me, as if I knew what I was doing! My first double-pointed needles creation and my first I-cords. In case you can't tell, it's a little pouchy-sort of bag. Now I need to decide what to use it for! And yes I do have a bigger knitting project on the go that I should have been getting on with, a cardi for little man that may or may not fit as I have once again been rather blase about using the correct weight of yarn and checking my tension.

In other news, little man trotted off on a little blackberry hunt at Beacon Country Park this afternoon, promptly tripped over a bramble and now has a thorn stuck in his palm. Any ideas for removing it? Tweezers at bathtime unsuccessful.

Today's discoveries

• that the path past the dilapidated cottage and smashed-up car at the edge of Yarrow Valley Country Park actually follows the river for another couple of miles and is lovely.


• that my new walking shoes are very comfy.


• that I am still not built for running however exuberant I feel about skipping along a riverbank without a twenty-something pound toddler on my back.


• that Cono Sur Pinot Noir is currently half-price in Somerfield.


• that it is impossible to drive slowly whilst listening to Hungarian Gypsy music.


• that knitted mushroom stems look quite rude.


• that someone has made a sculpture of Angelina Jolie breastfeeding her twins. No idea if she actually does.


• that sometimes I am quite lucky, like when I leave my camera on the garden bench all afternoon while I am in work and the weather stays dry, which also means that my sheets on the line are nice and dry.


• that Sunday night can be pasta night as well as pizza night.


• that scruffy-looking nerf herder is probably the best insult ever invented.
• that although I am perfectly capable of changing a lightbulb it is very tiresome having to do everything myself.
• that the layout of these blog thingies can be very frustrating at times. Give me Quark XPress any time.

Status updates

My status updates on a day without little man.

Janine:

- tried to have a lie-in but woke up at 6.30am with a funny throaty, hay fever, cold-type feeling.

- thinks the first cup of tea in the morning is one of life's simple wonders.

- had a bacon buttie. Because the bacon needed using up, of course.

- painted her toenails.

- discovered a new poet (Mary Oliver) thanks to slugsontherefrigerator.com.

- went to Slingmeet without a baby and tried the secure high back carry with a doll but ended up almost knocking the doll's head off.

- chatted to the Children's Centre lady who came to talk about choosing a nursery and came to the conclusion that nurseries are all part of the consumer capitalist conspiracy.

- saw a temperature reading on the side of a building in Preston that said 24C. And that was in the shade.

- proved to herself what she said a few posts back: the best way to avoid spending money is to avoid going into shops.

- bought herself some new sandals. (Yes I know I'm not consistent with this consumer capitalist hate thing.)

- filled up with petrol as she was on 346 miles since last fill-up and the petrol gauge doesn't work and she has been putting her foot down a bit.

- went to work and knitted some more rows of the first sleeve of the cardigan for little man and felt very hot knitting a chunky cardigan when the office air conditioning seemed close to breakdown due to the heatwave.

- also checked house prices in Runcorn and thinks she might be able to afford a two-bed terrace in need of modernisation if she could persuade anyone to give a mortgage to someone who doesn't have a proper job (and doesn't want one).

- texted STBE husband to see what little man has been up to and was pleased to hear he has been squirting himself with a hosepipe.

- would like to point out that she does actually do some work in between knitting and surfing the net but the nature of the work means you wait around quite a bit (for crap writers to write crap stuff that you then have to rewrite).

- saw a beautiful glowing sun sinking towards the Lancashire coast from the M6.

- got home at 9pm to discover she had left the freezer door slightly ajar at 10 o'clock this morning.

- took a picture of her new sandals before it got too dark and is perplexed at why her camera keeps taking video instead of photos when it's on the photos setting. But it is a several-years-old 4megapixel jobbie that was her STBE husband's before he decided he needed a nice new one.

- put the freezer on boost, warmed up some chilli, threw open the back door and poured herself a glass of wine.

- was disappointed on checking her dating site that noone has sent her a message.

- is listening to the blackbirds saying goodnight.

- should go to bed but doesn't really feel like it when she only got home from work at 9pm.

- really, really wants to go camping.

- is going to watch Robin Hood on iPlayer.

- thinks her long-life bulb's long life might be over.

- wonders if little man's new tooth will have come through yet.

Dappled shade

I was reminded today just how lovely it is to be strolling in the dappled shade of a deciduous woodland on a hot summer's day. A combination of smoke from charcoal making and suncream in my eyes made me quite dreamy. And I got round the slightly muddy paths with little man on my back much easier than my friends with pushchairs did. Ner, ner, ner, ner, ner.

We were at Cuerden Valley Park fair, eating hog roast rolls, chocolate fudge and Mrs Dawson's ice cream. Little man joined in with the Leyland Morris Men and nearly got trampled on. He then tried to steal their sticks when they weren't looking.

Little fella slept right through my knit and natter last night. (In fact he slept til 7.30am. Woohoo.) Not a lot of knitting got done but there was a lot of nattering and a moderate amount of wine supping. Now I'm finishing off all the semi-drunk bottles and munching the leftover nibbles. Yum.

I'm off to put up my tipi in the woods. Preferably some woods containing dangerous outlaws such as Jonas Armstrong. Unfortunately Sherwood Forest would be on the other side of the Pennines. That's the wrong side of the Pennines, by the way. If there's even anything left of Sherwood Forest. Maybe I'll find a small copse closer to home. For a picnic.

Extreme knitting

It's exciting stuff. I have been knitting for only a few months. It's very therapeutic when you're coming to terms with the end of your marriage and you're at a loose end in the evening after little one has gone to bed. (Ignoring the floors that need disinfecting, the loo that needs scrubbing, the fridge that needs cleaning...) And already I am throwing caution to the wind. I have a pattern for a tank top from a website http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/PATTboogie.html. I have some Aran-weight yarn. Which is not what the pattern specifies. I think it looks nice in 2x2 rib. Which is not what the pattern specifies. I am doing a line of cable. For the first time. Without a cable needle. I have no idea if the resulting garment will fit me. I even have a cunning plan to cut the arms and neck area off an old blouse that doesn't fit any more and sew it into the tank top so it will look like a trendy ensemble.

I am starting to think I may be better at the ideas than the execution. Or maybe it's the doing rather than the end result. I have a head bursting full of ideas and I love beginnings. Beginnings are full of potential. I am at a new beginning in my life as I work out how I'm going to live as a single mother. I can imagine all sorts of wonderful things that might happen. But probably not while I'm sitting at home knitting.