How much?

Look! Over there! To your right.............

I hadn't updated my Knit Meter account since February, so I had quite a few projects to add - and I'm now gobsmacked to say the least! How much?

twelve thousand, two hundred and eighty-eight meters

and there's still quite a bit of 2010 to go..............

Wonder if I can get it up to 20,000 - shouldn't be too hard with all the charity squares I've got planned, should it?

Add to that some new, very exciting projects that have just been added to my list: baby things! Yes folks, I'm going to be an auntie in 2011! Squeeeeeeeee!

Silly Saturdays

Up until a few weeks ago, the arrival of the weekend was still a welcome relief from all the hustle and madness of the working week. Yes, Miss A would still wake me up a stupid hour, but I could at least sit back with a large cup of coffee and slowly wake up and 'welcome' the day.

No more......

Take this morning for instance. Miss A woke me up at exactly 6.10am - that's earlier than my alarm normally goes off.....she did climb in to bed with me while I tried to prolong the 'snooze moment', but I soon gave up, as it's impossible to even doze when you have a mouthful of hair and a small person wriggling in your arms. So, downstairs we go, with me hoping she'll be satisfied with a little kiddy tv for just long enough for me to have a very large cup of coffee (and where has the lid to my themo mug gone, I would like to know?).

Needless to say, that illusion was quickly burst - first she wanted food (how unreasonable of her! - and yes, I am only joking), then she wanted to do 'sticking' with the new collection of stickers I brought home for her yesterday. I have only myself to blame - I discovered the coolest website recently which has a huge range of crafty / arty products for kids at really good prices. I bought her three packs of foam stickers (jungle animals, flowers and shapes) plus a pack of A3 sugar paper a month ago, and she's already 'burned' through all the stickers...........don't get me wrong, it's fantastic to watch her make shapes and arrange the animals by type and colour - just not at 7am....even if she does make me laugh with her antics

It's now almost 8am, and I have to get motoring - need to get showered, dressed and out of the door by 9am. We need to stop by the post office before heading for ballet class (I'm hoping she will actually do some of the class today instead of bursting into tears and spending the lesson at my side....). We are then off to see my sister and BIL, followed by a stop at the supermarket. I reckon I'll be ready to collapse by the time we get back home........I think Miss A has a play date this afternoon (weather permitting), so I might just get a bit of 'hooky time' (get your minds out of the gutter - I'm talking crochet!). A few rounds on the market bag, or maybe a few of my sock granny squares:

I'm really loving these - can make two during my lunch break and mixing up the colours is really too much fun. I've got almost 90 large (4") squares made up now - will have to think about starting to sew them up soon, as I don't think I'll be able to face sewing all of the 400 projected squares in one go....

And what is Mr A doing while all this is going on? Well, he did have an impacted wisdom tooth removed yesterday (it required stitches in the end - eeek!), so I reckon he'll spend most of the day in bed........note to self: pick up some baby food for him, as I don't think he'll be wanting solids for at least 24 hours!

A little inspiration......

One of my favourite blogs for sheer inspiration and bold, fun splashes of colour is Attic 24. Lucy, the lady who writes it, has the most amazing eye for colour and a charming way of describing the ups and downs of being busy with little ones. She also takes the most amazing photos - wish I could make mine look half as good.....

She is also an avid crocheter and has come up with a number of simple patterns that make use of bold colours and are quick and easy to whip up into something rather fabulous. One of these is a 'bucket bag' - I've been wanting to make one of these for my Mum for what seems like forever.....in fact, I think I bought the cotton late last summer! Anyway, with an impending trip to the Grandparents approaching fast (two weeks to go - Miss A is sooo excited to be going on a plane, I can't tell you!), I thought it was time to get started. Pretty colours (I actually added a ball of white and a ball of dark pink to these after the photo was taken):

I've almost finished the base of the bag, but can't show you any pictures as a) I just discovered this morning that the camera battery is flat (god, I'm so organised sometimes, it kills me!) and b) I wouldn't be able to take a decent picture, because it's chucking it down.......scuse me? It's August - you shouldn't have to put the heating on in August!

P.S. While I was mooching around the net looking for Lucy's blog this morning, I stumbled on this fab website - it's where I got my lovely new 'shabby' blog background - pretty, pretty!

July's socks

Some of you might remember that, a few months back, I decided to follow the Yarn Harlot and set up my own personal monthly 'project club' - I set up a bag containing various smaller bags with the yarn and pattern already paired together. The theory was that, each time I finished a project, I would pull another one from 'the bag' at random....I will be honest and admit that the contents have been 'tampered with' a little - I've switched some patterns around. This is partly because my focus has switched slightly from socks to shawls - must be thoughts of Christmas being not that far away now.....

One of the projects that got 'substituted' was this pair of socks:

I'm really, really chuffed with these - for several reasons:

a) they only took 2.5 weeks, which when you think that they were mainly knit on the bus to / from work, is really not bad going

b) point a is even more amazing when you consider that they are made from a Cookie A pattern (Angee to be precise) - while I love Cookie's patterns, they are definitely not 'easy' socks and often require a lot of concentration (and some swearing at various points!)

c) I don't think the photos are doing them complete justice, but the colour is just gawgeous - the yarn is Colinette Jitterbug and the colourway is Morello Mash - says it all really! I had popped into my local yarn store (Loop, in Islington) to check out their new premises - and had been completely powerless to resist this gorgeous bit of squishyness - I cast on only two days later, which is unheard of in my world lol!

This is definitely one of my favourite colours - in fact, when I went to put the finished pair into my sock drawer (yes, I now have drawer specifically for handknit socks!) I realised that I had already made two pairs in a similar colour - predictable, me?

P.S. Update on the Knit-a-Square crochet-thon - 25 squares shipped off to South Africa this morning! Wonder if I can do better in August?