Birthday time!

This week, I decided it was time to get back to card-making - my sister had asked me to make some cards for a couple of weddings she is going to this summer, and Mr A's birthday was fast approaching (it's today, which is why I haven't posted these pictures until today).

Here are the results of a rather profitable morning's work:

Finished!

Still brimming over with crafty ideas - my head is just full of them! I've been scribbling them down as fast as they come - really need some new notebooks.....what a pity Woolworths isn't around any more, they were perfect for that sort of thing.

Anyway, here are the results from last week's creativity:

First up, the little memory box I mentioned in the last post was delivered last Thursday - a day before the baby in question actually arrived! Couldn't have timed it better if I tried......the brief wasn't the most obvious: the baby's sex was unknown, and I wasn't allowed to use any faces or eyes (due to the baby being of the Muslim faith), so that meant no pink or blue, and no teddies.....in the end I went with a cream and gold colour scheme and lots of swirls and hearts.

Here's the top of the box

the front side

the left and right sides were done the same

Then I was asked to make one of my drawstring knitting bags in a cupcake and polka dot fabric - came out quite well, although the pictures don't really show how pretty it was due to the poor light........

(whisper) - both of these were 'paid commissions' which means the 'wool kitty' has been replenished! :-) Oh, and the lady who bought the memory has also given me some 4ply wool - yippee!

I also finished my contribution to the 'Knitting for Joy' campaign - even though it is made for an adult-sized head, I think this particular model looks rather fetching in it!

Next up, I have joined three Knit-A-Long (KAL) groups on Ravelry - the first is called Sock Knitters Anonymous (SKA) - appropriate no? They have a Mystery sock pattern as their May 'challenge' - it's called Kiila (Finnish for gusset apparently) and you get a new clue every Friday for four weeks (but we have till the end of June to finish them). It's great fun, although involves cabling without a cable needle, which I am not finding very obvious.... I am doing mine in some lovely merino/tencel mix from the Knitting Goddess in a scrummy semi-solid shade of Peppermint - see the pretty little cables that go up each side of the sock? I have actually done this much on both socks, but I just can't seem to be able to take a piccy of both socks together......

The other two KALs are focused on knitting the patterns from two new books:

Sock Innovation by the amazing Cookie A (see my Monkeys from the last post)

and Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson

Now, I don't have my copy of Sock Innovation just yet (Amazon is having major stock problems with this book - it's obviously proven much more popular than they expected!), but you are allowed to substitute a Cookie A pattern that is not in the book - so I have started a pair of Pomatomus in Socks That Rock lightweight

- the colour is Incredible Shrinking Violet which I obtained through a Ravelry trade. I just love how the various shades of lilac and purple are working with the curved stiches..... I'm really having to concentrate on the pattern, so going to have to get my skates on if I'm to finish them for the end of May...Thankfully, the Wendy Johnson KAL doesn't actually start until June...

Oh, and last but not least, in order to help me keep track of all my sock projects (the wool I used, the needle size, who they were for, whether or not I liked the pattern), I quickly whipped up this little 'Sock Log Book':

Phew! It's been a busy week......