Introducing...

Elsie Grace, born 11/03/2011.I would've posted sooner but I've been keeping up a busy schedule of breastfeeding, nappy changing and where possible, sleeping! Born 7lb 3oz she now weighs 12lb 4 oz.

Oh Yeah, I Have A Blog!

I can only apologise for what is surely a blogpost drought of epic proportions. However, in my defence I have a really good excuse.

I've been too busy. Too busy to blog and too busy to craft.

Why? You may be asking. Well, a few reasons. Firstly and most life-changingly the Other Half and I are expecting our first child at the end of February.

For those of you not aware of where my previous blog-posts were written from we lived in a static caravan (or mobile home) on the middle of the Yorkshire moors. Perfect for a hardy couple who can cope with fluctuating temperatures and water from a spring but no good at all with a teeny tiny baby.

We were planning a family so it shouldn't have come as a surprise but foolishly I'd taken the "6 months of trying before you get pregnant" as gospel. What then followed was a mad rush to find a suitable house and then an insane decorating rush. It's still not finished, the nursery is still a work in progress and there's baby stuff literally all over the house.

I've now finished work so expect a deluge of posts featuring stuff I've made for the baby followed, at the end of the month, by another distinct lack of posts except the odd one entitled "WHY WON'T IT STOP CRYING?!?!?"

We haven't found out the sex of the baby so there's all the pink or blue things for me to make once it's here. In the meantime here's a picture of one of the almost finished rooms in the new house. My bedroom, soon to have a moses basket in it too.

An Update

I’m busy with some works in progress at the minute they are:

Flower motif scarf
Big granny square blanket
Mohair shrug
Stripey hat

Unfortunately I’ve been too busy for taking pictures so here are some blogs of note with bright coloured pictures and interesting posts for you to have a read of instead, enjoy!

http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/
http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/
http://bevmatheson.blogspot.com/
http://greedyforcolour.blogspot.com/
http://gephart836.blogspot.com/

Knitted Baby Blanket

It's baby blanket time again and here's a project I finished a few weeks back but still need to weave the ends in (of course!!) This time it's knitted, I felt like experimenting a little. To be honest the squares were for another larger project which was just taking too long. Some of the squares became cushion covers and the leftover ones were sat staring at me. So I made them into a little baby blanket.

Can you see what's hidden in the centre square? No? How about a closer look...

Yep! A bear!

Somehow the tension isn't the same as the other squares so it looks a bit smaller. I'm hoping once blocked the shape will improve. It's the first time I've used knitting to make actual patterns and am rather pleased with the result. I found the bear pattern online somewhere - I can't remember where, I print so many off I lose track (if you recognise it let me know and I'll stick a link in) and it's also the first time I've successfully followed a knitting chart (I'm more of a pattern person!).

I then needed to come up with an edging. I wanted something fancy but easy. Unfortunately most of the edgings I found online were too complicated so I designed my own!

No doubt someone else will have done the same at some stage but I've never seen it. It's a ch3 ss into first ch, ss repeat and looks wavy and lovely!

General Election 2010

It's the General Election here in the UK where we choose our new Prime Minister. I will be voting later today and you should too. Go on, put down your crocheting and go vote!

Hatty Bank Holiday

I love Bank Holidays. If I were in charge of the country there's be a Bank Holiday Monday at least every other week. It's amazing how they cheer everyone up! This weekend was Bank Holiday Monday which means an extra day of weekend! AWESOME!

My weekend was spent knitting hats and delivering hats I had crocheted especially for my sister's boyfriend and his brother in law (confused? yep. me too!). They both have rather big heads and struggle to find hats that fit. They're also both scaffolders so need something cuddly and warm to protect their chilly little [big] heads and that's where I come in! Armed with a 4.5mm crochet hook and a selection of fairly chunky yarn I set about creating these earflap hats.

Now I'm from Yorkshire, as is my sister (obviously) and like a traitor she fell in love with a Lancastrian. I say traitor, he's actually a very nice lad (other than the fact he talks a bit funny) the truth is there's just a half-joking, half drunkard moronic rage between Yorkshire and Lancashire folk which I believe has something to do with the War of the Roses. We liked white ones, they wanted red ones, no-one was prepared to compromise and get yellow ones as they didn't match the frocks, I'm not sure.

Either way I'm proud to report two Lancashire men have on their heads today Yorkshire hats crocheted by a Yorkshire lass made from Bradford wool . That's my bit for inter-county diplomacy. Maybe my next hat should have pink roses on it?...

Adventures With Pastry

I've found out how to make pastry. As a result I've been experimenting with tarts. Tasty jam tarts!They're so easy I don't know why I haven't made them before. Luckily I always have cold hands which is apparently the key to making good pastry.

Here have a close up so you can see how tasty they are!