Craft actually

So far so good

First week back at work and so far no major disasters. In fact its going quite smoothly. I feel the need to knock wood at this stage as I've discovered that as soon as the smallest hint of parental smugness creeps in, then BAM the gorgeous babe will spend the day vomiting (mostly on me) or the whole night waking on the hour crying. Loudly.

So Miss S seems to be quite happy and in fact SQUEALED with happiness when she saw her nanny this morning. THANK GOD I got a squeal too when I arrived home tonight or some serious guilt/lack of confidence/envy would start creeping in I'm sure. Well some more that is. Another thing I've discovered about mothering is that those emotions are always lurking close by.

On the work side. Well its FINE. Weird but I think its always been like that anyway.

Now more importantly on the knitting side I am getting a bit of time on the commute for a few rows and a bit more time on the sofa in the evening. I've almost finished the yoke of the hooded jacket and it looks ENORMOUS! Maybe thats because I am knitting the 18-24 month size. No, I'm not sure why I'm doing that now but it did make sense at the time. So in the interests of having a garment that actually fits for the first birthday outfit I have now started the roll edge jacket in the 12-18 month size. Knitting cotton just isn't as nice. I hope it will be worth the effort.

PS I looked at a blog I used to read regularly awhile ago - Momo Freaks Out. Back then Momo was living in Tokyo and was very very cool. Uber cool even. Now she is called Samone, has a new blog - Life in a Circus and has one year old TWINS and is living in MILDURA (country Australia). I am in shock! I'm sure she is still very cool but I think the amount of bodily fluids involved in just one baby much less two probably takes one of the "verys" away. But she is still very very funny. 

Spring ...where are you?

photo by http://www.richardpeters.co.uk/

I'm seriously starting to struggle with the lack of sunshine around here. It really should be here by now. At least a little bit. And some warmth. I know I choose to live in London, but still. Hopefully there will be lots of sun when I go to Malaga in a couple of weeks for a hen weekend. The downside will be having to wear an afro wig and matching t-shirts while out in public. A price I am prepared to pay.

I've been on a bit of a blogroll spree lately, bouncing from blog to blog and discovering some lovely new knitting blogs. To be honest I hadn't really been all that into knitting blogs before ...I find all that yarn and all those socks a bit overwhelming.

But lately I've founds some that really stand out from the crowd with their photography and writing ....and something a bit interesting about their knitting projects.

Three Little Purls - beautiful photos, lovely projects and lots of yarn....and its for sale!

Yarn Ball Boogie - another gay male New Yorker knitter (brooklyntweed seems to be the most famous) who takes great photos and has attitude. Man.

iSeL knits - she makes a lot of things that I'd really like to wear! And she has a thing for green sock yarn. I like her already.

There are more but I don't really want to reveal just how much time I have spent stalking blogs lately.

Making my day

I've been taking a little inadvertent blog holiday. The sun has been shining and it *almost* seems like spring is in the air. Thats not to say I haven't been keeping up with blog reading!

As a little bit of gratidude for all the lovely people out there who share their days and ideas with us, here are just a few of the ones that I really get happy when I see the little number beside their name in bloglines.

Pauline aka Acechick for being my knitting guru and introducing me to the joys of group knitting (sounds dodgy but its not really).

Ting, Gail, Lucy and Tash aka Knitteroony, Flibbertygibbet, Ginger Lucy and Tao aka the Wednesday Knitting Crew for keeping me alternatively inspired and pissing myself laughing with exploits in yarn and other things.

Fiona at Hop Skip Jump for making the cutest toys in the world and sharing her fabulously creative designs with us.

Manda at Tree Fall for her colourful world of fabric (and the best fabric stash I've ever seen) and her heartfelt honesty about pregancy and life.

Alicia at Posie Gets Cosy for making everyday life look so beautiful and having the cutest puppy ever.

Florence at Windbag and Thunder for designing toys that set the imagination alight.

Grace of Design*Sponge and the Desire to Inspire girls, Kim and Jo for letting me drool over designer interiors every day.

So thats 11 and I have had to really restrain myself from adding more. I love blogs.

Nice things

Some random things I've been enjoying this week:

Craft rooms on Desire to Inspire.

Herman, Fiona's new toy on Hop Skip Jump. I love a little toy with a big personality.

Ginger Lucy's new pink hat - I want one to ward off this awful London weather.

I like the idea of this groovy Christmas market happening in little old Brissie from Windbag and Thunder. Go Christmas shopping for me there you Brisbanites! You know who you are ;)

"Yarn Thief" from my favourite photographer and hat designer Little Labyrinth.

And finally, presenting "Poke" (as in slow poke) made by my clever sis Kirsty. Pattern from Roxycraft ... patterns that don't suck.

Designy

I have long been a fan of Design*Sponge - eye candy you could live on. She has a sneak peak into Denise Schmidt's pad - check it out. Its as lovely and fresh as her fabrics.

Other more recent designy sites I've been haunting are:

Oh Joy! :: Oh lovely! - fashion, accessories and interiors

Swiss Miss :: Cool stuff with an industrial & tecchie edge. I love this installation amongst the many gorgeous things.

Desire to Inspire :: Bright, bold, sophisticated interiors

Go on! Go ahead and drool. Just try to avoid your keypad.

Score!

From my two lovely Flibbertygibbet swap partners...

The beautiful blue & pink fabrics are from lovely Jade (with a fab magazine) and the fab red combo is from lovely Justine (with matching ribbon). Thank you so much you two.

I just hope my little packages have found their way to their homes....

Friday roundup

We were about to race out the door to work this morning when the doorbell rang. Ding Dong. The postwoman with a parcel from Mum. Some shoes we had left in Australia last visit (boring) and some hand-dyed yarn from a local market in lovely bright candy colours, perfect for the spring vibe in the air (exciting!). What a nice way to start a Friday.

Speaking of spring look at Little birds Spring Chickens - so sweet! And Posie's blossoming spring bookbags.

Then there is the spring theme for Tie One On - ric rac - love it! I might give it a go seeing as there is two months to get my act together and contribute.

Discovery

I discovered a new blog via Whipup recently - Florence Forrest's Windbagandthunder. Love it. Has gone straight to the "daily read" category on bloglines. Mosty due to this post (oh my god) and this post (I can't tell you how much I love these). Something about her work goes straight to my heart. AND she's from Brissie. Yay.

I was excited this morning (at 6:30am to be precise) to get an sms from Dad to say the Christmas craft-off pressies had arrived and been opened. And from what i gather Dad's had been coveted by the other participants. Which is funny for me as it was the one I was a bit unsure about. But then sometimes the quirky thing is the most popular. Which is nice I think.  Will post photos of the contents soon.

Monday roundup

Today I am:

:: Feeling hugely satisfied and a bit relieved to have the Chrissie Craft-off pressies all wrapped up.

:: Feeling relaxed just looking at the beautiful pictures on Amanda's 'Making our Way' through February series. Also envious of the gorgeous light.

:: Feeling sad for Manda - I really want things to work out for her.

:: Amused by the knitted boobs (even though they are for a serious purpose) but also dismayed at the signs of desperation in the NHS.

:: Loving this sewing cafe concept and fantasising about future careers. The place where I learnt to quilt in Brisbane was similar (although wasn't marketed like this) and unfortunately it has recently closed down. Maybe Brisvegas just wasn't a big enought market.

Ups and Downs

I read two posts by Alicia today that will stay with me for a few days, probably longer. The first one about the missing birthday parcel made me feel so sad. Then the next one about her beautiful birthday was really uplifting.

I don't know why I get so emotional about people I don't know. But I do.