A right old fankle

I do love the word fankle.  And my new yarn. I certainly got into a real fankle when I tried to wind my skeins into balls.  I remember seeing a yarn swift somewhere online a few years ago and wondering why on earth it was worth having one.....surely it couldn't be that hard to wind a skein by hand?  Well,as I now know, it can be pretty tricky but it isn't impossible.

I am so much enjoying my Quince and Co Finch (colourways Pomegranate, Split Pea, Kittywake and Bird's Egg - bought here).  I asked for the wool for Christmas after seeing this scarf.  I love the colour combination and had a shawl in mind.  I was a little thrown when I found that the shawl pattern was charted and far harder than I had anticipated but in many ways that became a little bonus.  I spent a few very happy hours, over the Christmas holidays, searching Ravelry for a new perfect pattern. I eventually settled on the Serena Shadow Shawl (but I won't be short of shawl patterns to try once this one is finished, there's some lovely designs out there).  

I'm enjoying the pattern, which is very simple and really suits my life at the moment.....which at times has felt like it could be getting into a bit of a fankle too.  But it isn't and it will all work out, it is just rather hard to see quite how we'll get to that point.  We're on the move - up north* - which will be wonderful, but John** starts up there pretty soon and we still have a house under scaffolding and a fair bit more work to be finished outside before we can sell.  And really, we need to do some work inside too to show our, very unusual, house at it's best.  But we will be selling it in great condition which is more than can be said for the condition in which we bought it.  I'm not sure we'll be taking on a mid 1700s house again for a wee while!

So, I suspect I may be a bit quiet for the next wee while.  I won't be disappearing altogether and I'll try to pop in when I can.  I will also be reading all your lovely blogs, but maybe not commenting quite so much.

Sorry for the murky photos, the light here is terrible and the wool colours aren't very true.  I'm longing for some blue skies and crispy weather.  

* I'll spill the beans about where we're going soon but there's a couple more people I haven't contacted yet and I want to make sure they hear properly and directly from me first
** John has a wonderful new job, I can't tell you how proud I am of him
*** Books - presents from John for my birthday and Christmas.  Flora Celtica documents the relationship between Scotland's people and plants. I have longed for a copy for years and the new paperback version is perfect. The Ancient Pinewoods of Scotland is a guide to each of the Caledonian Pinewood remnants - a subject close to my heart.  My university dissertation was based on one of the larger remnants, The Black Wood of Rannoch. 

Wise Old Owl - Katie's handmade birthday

Wise Old Owl is Angus' birthday present for Katie.  Angus had actually started making the owl for himself but when Islay and I made her the teddy carrier he decided that he'd like to give the owl to Katie.

Angus made pretty much all of owl himself - except for hand sewing the gap once owl was stuffed.

 I asked Katie to show me how much she loves owl.  I think she loves him quite a lot!

Details:
Pattern - Wise Old Owl from Sewing For Children by Emma Hardy
Fabric - bought in Tanzania by my sister-in-law
Felt - wool felt scraps leftover from other projects, bought from The Village Haberdashery and Myriad 
Comments - a great wee pattern although the template has to be enlarged which always frustrates me (that was too much faff for Angus and me so we just sketched it out to a similar shape and guessed the size). Angus machine sewed most of it although it can be hand-sewn

Katie loves her Wise Old Owl and Angus is very proud that he was able to make something for her. 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend, especially those of you who have been celebrating Thanksgiving.

knit with me - a giveaway win

Thanks to a tip-off from Annie I discovered a lovely new-to-me blog and a giveaway at the end of last year.  Nicole of cocoknits was giving away a copy of 'knit with me' which is a collection of knitting patterns by Gudrun Johnston - and I was the lucky winner.  I couldn't have been more excited as I fell in love with the book when I first came across but didn't really think I could justify buying it.  

The patterns are designed to suit both mothers and their daughters.  They really are beautiful and the styling of the book is wonderful - I could quite happily lose myself in the little world they have created. All are knit with gorgeous Quince and Co yarn - something else that has taken my fancy.

At the moment many of the patterns are beyond my skill level but I have high hopes that I may be able to knit them by the time Islay and Katie are big enough, and maybe they'll join in and knit too.

My current favourites::

Braeburn

Soay

I think I might be able to knit this one now::

McIntosh - 

The techniques section is perfect for me::

Each pattern ends with a little shematic diagram showing the finished dimensions, I love this::

And with some birthday money I treated myself to some Quince and Co Puffin yarn to knit this chunky jumper (and then perhaps I'll try the McIntosh).  Isn't it beautiful wool?  It should make a perfect cosy, slouchy, comfy jumper.

Thanks so much to Nicole for the book.  I love it.  And to Annie as I wouldn't have entered otherwise!

This week

This week::

:: piles (Beth would approve, I think) of lavender bags and bibs ready for Peter Potter Gallery

 :: cause and effect

 :: birthday party

 :: tiny t shirt for Katie (from this book)........spot the error?  I have sewn the back under the front instead of the opposite, didn't notice until I'd completely finished.  Oh well.

 :: knit fabric (from here) to make tops (this pattern) for the boys - they chose the fabric!

 Wishing you a lovely weekend.  Keep well.

Last charm for my Silverpebble necklace

Do you remember my Silverpebble charm necklace?  The lovely Emma made it for me a little over two years ago (I am really bowled over by how long ago that sounds, it feels like the blink of an eye). I had a late miscarriage that Autumn and my necklace was a treat for myself (at John's very kind suggestion) and a way of remembering our little lost baby and a previous miscarriage too.  I can't tell you how much comfort the necklace brought me, especially in the first few weeks after it arrived.  The book represents Finn, the rocket is Angus and the poppy is for Islay.  And the birth stones represent them as well as our babies who didn't make it.

I still love wearing it although now, with the healing that time allows, it is less of a prop and a crutch and more a real genuine pleasure.  We were very lucky to have Katie remarkably quickly afterwards and I am sure that has helped an enormous amount too.  Of course since Katie arrived the necklace hasn't been fully complete.  So for my 40th last month John gave me the last* charm and birthstone (another uncut sapphire - for September, the same month as Finn's birthday).  

Emma was wonderful to work with again.  We had a little email exchange to decide on a charm for Katie.  I had wondered about a rose (her middle name) or a little cat (we often call her Katie Kitty Cat) but in the end a sunshine felt right.  She is the sunniest little girl, her personality has been full of the joys since she was first born............and she brings a huge ray of sun into our family.  The little sunshine Emma made is just perfect.

I wear my necklace with a smile on my face, never forgetting times past and the events which have made us feel even more lucky to have such a beautiful family.

 *  Yes, much as I think I will always want to have more children, Katie is our last - I'm quite sure I will always dream of more but really we are so lucky as we are, and they are rather time consuming, so four is our magic number.
**  The photo of me wearing the necklace is the best, and I know it isn't very good, of many many attempts.  I can't tell you how relieved I was to eventually achieve one that showed the whole necklace and was, almost, in focus as well.

Katie Rose - a year

Our precious wee girl turned one last Friday.  I don't remember ever feeling so much about a child's birthday.  Perhaps, probably, it is sentimentality and old age (me, that is).  I think a lot of it is related to how our wee family rotates around her.

Katie Rose arrived a year ago and was immediately embraced by everyone.  No one seemed to feel left out or anxious about their place in the family changing.  She just belonged with us from the start.

She has the sweetest nature.  She couldn't be happier and sunnier.  She takes almost everything in her stride - and at times that is a lot for someone so small.  Her bigger siblings, and their friends, love her........from Finn's noisy football-mad almost-10-year-old friends, to Angus's quieter, imaginative animal-loving friends and Islay's fun-filled 5 year old friends.  She becomes a little satellite in the playground as they all congregate around her at the end of the day.  And yet despite spending so much of her life with people playing with her and alongside her, showing her what to do and correcting her - despite all that - she is very happy with her own company, exploring things at her own pace.  Which at times is laid back and quite serious and at others is fast and furious as she charges around egging herself on with lots of noise.  Underneath all that she is quite a determined little person and will keep going, with rarely a fuss, to try and get things, and people, to do what she wants them to do.

We are so lucky to have her - she perfectly fits with the rest of us and makes us all so happy.  And I think that we make her happy too!

She is rather fond of crawling around while carrying something in her mouth.  And Ele is her very best friend.  He gets the most enormous cuddles, and, when she spots him, her wrists and ankles twirl around fast and furiously..........a sure sign of excitement and anticipation.

loulouthi llama

If you've been reading here for a while you'll know that John and I met in Peru.  He worked there for a few years, and several other fairly exciting countries, and although he abandoned it all to come and join me in rural Aberdeenshire he still has a deep love for all things Peru.  So when I saw Laurie Wisbrun's Llook Llama Pillow (aka cushion!) Panel I knew it would be perfect for John's birthday.

My little side-kick was a great help with this photo shoot!

Rather less perfectly I didn't manage to make it into a cushion in time and he had to use his imagination regarding the piece of fabric's end use.  Oops.  But, for someone who asks me how my knitting is getting on (and actually my knitting is going, temporarily, very well as I have just successfully finished a little top for Katie....very unusual for me!), when he means sewing, he was, as I'd hoped, delighted with the present and very able to imagine what it would be like at some point in the future.

Can you see the soggy corner on the linen cushion?  Why would it be soggy?!

Roll on an embarrassing number of weeks and he now has a soft squashy feather stuffed cushion which he loves.  Whenever I make a cushion normally I'm met with disbelief and disgust and 'what is that for?'.  John claimss that cushions are a waste of space.......but this one, apparently, isn't and he really does love it.  I am so chuffed!

I teamed it with Anna Maria Horner (yet again) Loulouthi flannel.  It is leftover from the quilt for our sitting room which I WILL one day finish.  I think I have cut out all that I need for it so therefore what is left should be spare....I only hope I am right otherwise I'm completely stuffed when it comes to the day I get my act together and start working on it again.  Fingers crossed.

So - loulouthi llama - complete success.  Yay!