nomoredisco

Sewing up

I started sewing up the squares! So much easier now they are blocked and uniform. For reasons best know to myself I did so kneeling on the floor until my back gave in. Initially it felt really quite comfortable but there are about 135 stitches to pick up every row and there are 4 X 4 rows! 

It's taken the best part of 3 hours to stitch it altogether and sew in the ends but I should have some good photos taken in daylight for tomorrow. 

Just have to plan the border (I hate working out how to do the corners, I don't understand why border patterns in stitch librarys don't show the corner. Am I missing a trick? Is there a rule that I don't know about?) and there's every possibility this buggy blanket will be finished for next week!

 

Blocking

I blocked my squares earlier in the week. Where did this week go?! Two nights of the week I'm out at the moment and I am continuing the perpetual rhythm of the housework alongside my pastimes and I just let the blog slip!

Anyway blocking (and how to block).

I washed the squares really gently by hand in warm water, there's no need to rub or lift them - just let them sit. I added a little fabric conditioner to this tub. Then, I left for 6 hours to really let the water soak into the fibres. After that I drained the water out of the tub and rinse the squares in a few changes of warm water again by putting the bowl under the tap and then pouring it out once full, taking care not to let the squares drop out.

After that I carefully lift each square out - I get as much excess water out by pressing the square between my palms but being careful not to pull. Then I place the square in a towel and roll the square in the towel to get rid of the rest of the excess. 

I used these great t-pins from Fred Aldous to pin the work to towels on the floor - this is not ideal - a blocking board would be better because I could have it leaning against a wall vertically and then it would take up less space. This time though there were way too many squares for my board (which I made by stapling wadding and gingham material to a piece of board) so towels it had to be.

The t-pins give enough resistance so you can stretch the corners out. I love them and read about them in the Linda Permann book Crochet Adorned which I thoroughly recommend.

After a few days sitting on the floor in the spare room and with a little help from the heating they are finally dry and all a uniform flat shape so it's time to sew 'em all up. Not long until I think about the border! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

X

Extra special baby blanket

It has been so difficult to get photos of these blocks in natural light! And so hard to find somewhere to lay them out. The living room's got wooden floorboards that don't lend themselves to be photographed, the kitchen floor's shiny white tiles are equally awful for crafty pictures, the light in my bedroom is too dark.... so these are in the back bedroom and although not especially great pictures at least the colours are true to life! Any tips for me?

Actually on reflection the above photo doesn't replicate the vibrancy of the colour at all. But at least it shows how I'm laying them out. Again, I came to this blanket thinking I'd just crochet any old colours together but it would have really paid off to prepare a bit more and get a pattern together beforehand. I wasted alot of time rearranging squares and wondering how I could pull it all together.

I'm really looking forward to stitching it altogether and then my favourite part, planning the border! Looks like there may be another completed project on the horizon. YES!

Hope everyone's having a good start to the week X

Beachy Head

:: 26th June 2011 ::

I think everyone's got spaces - spaces on earth that render them grounded, or connected or just plain awestruck - I've travelled around and found these places in different co-ordinates - I'm sure we all have. Places that set a pulse in our bodies or just issue an inexplicable yet ambrosial space in our minds. I think Beachy Head falls into the latter for me. On bad visits it's blustery, misty, freezing and pretty inhospitable yet all the same just so beautiful, and on clear and bright days just like today the sea stretches out and out and out and everything, everything feels in perspective. The sea seems perfectly still though you know it's teeming with life, England ends and the rest of the world is just out. there.

The photo above was taken on the 26th June - 3 weeks before dad died, we were on our way back from the hospice. The sun was still shining, I was sad, so unbelievably sad and bordering on desperate but something about Beachy head on a big, bright day, that evening... I could feel hope. That although everything else was heading down to unexplored and unhappy places there was still a big wide world of open possibility, of dreams, of you know - big. natural. beauty that no amount of sickness or loss is going to stifle.

I hadn't been back since that day

And today the place was as it always is: breathtaking.

The colours so bright - the vibrations of these places are something I can't quite put my finger on - restorative? Inspiring? It's like words are too poetic and they don't really cut it. They're completely inadequate.

 

Anyway I think what I'm trying to say is when you find those spaces, whether it's Yosemite, a palace, a spot where the sunset is always inexplicably amazing. It could be your home, your allotment, a garden or woodland. -If you know where it is. Go there. Often. Revel in it. Live off it and enjoy it particularly if it's only 30 minutes away. If you leave it any longer for no reason you are an idiot. 

Hear that amy. You are talking to yourself in the third person and you're nutso.

:: 13th May 2012 ::

 

Today we...

Got on a train and went to Lewes...

Looked like a little old lady clutching our handbag...

Pretended to be a monkey and swung from trees at Southover Gardens...

Did that massively annoying thing where we say, 'yes' to a 'nana', get mummy to open it, nibble it and hand it back saying, 'finished!'

Enjoyed the flowers...

Had a bit of food...

Played at a fantastic coffee stop / shop...

Got back on the train....

Went to the park and hid in the trees and then followed this with your average meltdown...

And then coloured in our face.

A good day.

WIP Wednesday

It's that time of the week again. I'm really starting to make progress on this blanket despite the busy week last week. I've decided to make it 5 squares by 5 squares and then add the border which means I have 4 and a half to go! The pattern has eventually sunk in so I don't have to refer to the book at all now. I really can't wait to put it all together. I hope to have the last few squares crocheted and start blocking by next Wednesday. 

Then it'll be time to play serious catch up on the granny a day 2012 project I started at the beginning of the year. I'm really annoyed with myself I've fallen behind, but I have done plenty of squares already. I really need to take a look at the colours I've done so far and do a bit more planning to make them more evenly spaced out. I was very much of the opinion I'd be super relaxed about this but doing the above blanket with just 25 squares has made me realise if the border colours and centre colours aren't evenly spaced then the piece looks unbalanced. 

To see more knitting and crochet works in progress (or to add your own to the list!) click the link below: 

 See you next week!

Knights!

:: George the destroyer ::

We were invited to a lovely birthday party at the weekend. But on Saturday morning I got up a bit bleary eyed (I went out 3 evenings last week. 3! I can't take that level of sociability) and realised that I probably should have got the enormous knight costume at the early learning centre on Friday morning rather than imagine I would make something that evening. Of course that evening George didn't/wouldn't go to bed until 9.30 by which point I'd cracked out the wine and crochet and had completely forgotten about it.

But in the end I did manage to make something resembling a knight tabardy type thing Saturday morning and it didn't take too long. It is VERY rough around the edges and I let George press the foot of the sewing machine so it went wrong in quite a few places but it did the job to make me feel like we'd made an effort to get into the theme of knights & dragons. 

Ruby being the only girl decided she wasn't going to be a knight and resolutely refused to be a princess as well, instead opting for a fairyish costume with her new Laura Ashley T-shirt that her nana got her. I felt a bit triumphant that I'd talked her out of a black and brown stripy one and managed to get her to change. Got to find some small victories in life.

:: Being scary ::

Had a fairly busy Sunday as well with the kids, beach in the morning - how I hate keeping track of them when it is so busy - and Wakehurst Place in the afternoon, which of course I love. It helpfully rained after all the effort of getting there but we managed to squeeze in a quick lunch and a bit of a walk.

 

I was inordinately tired after another evening burning the midnight oil with friends on Saturday night and an uncomfortable nights sleep in George's bunk. He fell out of bed at some point in the night and after scooping him up and calming him down, I obviously felt 10 steps back to my own bed was too much hassle. For some unphatomable reason Gwyn got the lie in on Sunday before heading to work. So today is very much the day to rest (after the school run of course) and get back on top of life. I've reached critical mass with the laundry after doing none for a week. Ruby helpfully pointed out earlier that the basket doesn't shut anymore and that it's all falling out meaning it's one load after another. I can barely contain my excitement. 

Have a good week!

 

London Marathon

:: Marathon News ::

I can just see the people putting together the marathon news copy after the 2004 marathon: "What we need is a picture of a runner looking pretty beaten, something potential entrants can look at and think, 'if I was to do it, I'd end up looking much better and almost certainly a bit happier... honestly what a miserable cow!! yes! if she can do it then there's absolutely no reason why can't do it.' Ah! HERE IT IS."

So, in some way I like to think that this photo of me post race (which was taken unbeknownst to me whilst I sat in the rain feeling cold and in absolute bits) perhaps inspired others to fill in that entry form.

In any case I think it's pretty up there with my favourite photos. And the caption says it all, I burst out laughing when I spotted it all those years ago. It took me quite by suprise.

I watched part of the race today and it made me want to experience it all over again. The crowds, the atmosphere, the anticipation, the inspiration. It's been 8 years since I did it - I can hardly believe that such a big chunk of life has passed since that event. Does that make sense? At the time this photo was taken I was giving up hope that I'd find my dad, my mobile had run out of battery after calling him and getting no answer (it was in his pocket, switched off) so after an hour or so I started to amble down a few streets and lo! There he was walking down some steps berating me as soon as he saw me for not answering my phone and then I pointed out that I had been calling but this was in the days when people switched off their mobiles in between calls to save battery (!) which obviously was no help at all so we had a bit of a heated discussion about what the hell could be the point in that. I can't really get my head around the fact that that is but a distant memory. I can remember his face on the underground - after finding it inordinately amusing I couldn't get down the stairs properly - he was beaming with pride at me. So this morning I sat watching the tv reliving that happy sequence of memories for the first time in a long time.

I think I'm ready to do it again. I'll try out for the ballot for 2013. 

Finished Friday

In between ALOT of crocheting granny squares I crocheted Ruby this little cowl in double crochet using some Rowan Cotton.

I love the colours - very bright and summery.

And more importantly I love that she actually wears it.

 

For more links to other finished projects this week visit the link below:

Edinburgh

We went to Edinburgh last weekend - on a plane and everything, a long time has past since this has happened. Budget smallness not withstanding we still got to witness that amazing blanket of cloud:

And it was the longest amount of time we've spent away together just us, since Ruby. With the two of our little ones safely ensconced in the care of the grandparents we were free to roam the city for my friends Clare and Adam's wedding. 

What a gorgeous city - such breathtaking architecture that requires your full admiration at every corner, lots of great historic places to visit and plenty of shopping. No wonder it is over run with loads of visitors.

We dropped off our luggage at the premier inn lauriston place - (I do love a premier inn, is that sad to admit? you know exactly what you're getting, it feels very reassuring if you're somewhere new and alas we were not there on a hugely romantic weekend *fill in the blanks* but to celebrate someone else's - it fitted the bill for us... but I feel I'm digressing a bit. Anyway there is alot to be said for no suprises, aka a safe bet)

We got a good days sightseeing in - the castle, the parliament, LOTS of walking around

I got this brilliant photo of Gwyn at the castle

To stand alongside almost the same photo of his dad nearly 15 years ago

Finding the same spot was a game in itself. They look so similar it's scary.

We got some lovely thai food on this close:

And in the evening we ate at the Dome in Edinburgh which, as a venue, is just SPECTACULAR. As a destination for dinner? hmm... I'm giving it a 7/10. Things like a dirty napkin and table cloth when you sit down because someone has clearly had a cup of coffee there earlier... is the type of thing after years in the service industry that makes me feel a bit disappointed really. It's not a cheap restaurant and details like that - they make a difference. Plus the food, albeit nice enough was nothing special. 

We followed dinner with a cocktail at the Bramble Bar after a recommendation from twitter (got to love twitter!) we had a lovely bramble there but only after ditching a stray I'd managed to pick up at the Dome. 'L' and her other half were in Edinburgh for the half marathon on Sunday and quite possibly I couldn't have started chatting to someone more drunk or someone who could have infuriated/insulted Gwyn more in the time between leaving the Dome and getting to Bramble (probably about 5 minutes) Gwyn is quite possibly the most laid back and easy going guy you could meet but 'L' and he? Let's just say she did everything possible to make me shine (like the light I am *ahem*) She cussed his red desert boots, his tweed jacket and slagged off the lovely Bramble bar - leading us to the easiest get out clause 'if you don't like it.... LEAVE' - which, thankfully when delivered politely worked a treat and we had an early night before the nuptials on Saturday.

The wedding?

The wedding was BRILLIANT but I have no photos because it was at the Edinburgh caves and thus very dark, gothic and atmospheric and the iphone simply doesn't have the capability to capture the event. I know - lame. Take a look at the venue photos and you'll get an idea of what I mean

Here's me and the beaut bride the morning after the night before anyway. It was a really great celebration - a very happy way to spend a weekend. I can't believe we have known each other 19 YEARS!

And I got a ring too during my stay! Yes! I've been engaged since February - somewhere between sicksville and fluville and I've mentioned ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about it. Anyway that suffices as an announcement I think - I'm getting married to the lovely man above! AND I LOVE RED DESERT BOOTS AND TWEED JACKETS.