Night off! Plus plans for the weekend

A rare evening off last night from knitting.  Cant do it too often but sometimes when I am very tired and I feel that Andy may need slightly more attention then I will just sit and watch tv with idle hands!  Andy can get quite funny and almost jealous when I am knitting – its almost like he feels that I am not giving him enough attention even though we are sat together on the sofa.  I must be a little bit right though as when we went to bed he said that I need to have more of a balance between knitting and spending time with him – oops!

If that is how he feels then I do need to be more mindful of that and perhaps have 1/2 evenings off a week to spend time with him but it certainly wont help my to do list!  Eek!

This weekend is going to be busy, it’s Ellies first time of coming to the house for the weekend so I want to make sure she has a good time.  We are going to crop on Saturday with my mum (it will be Ellies first time and I am really hoping that she behaves herself!) and then we probably wont do much in the evening – maybe make flapjacks and watch a film.  Then on Sunday we have a kid/parent class at b & q where we will be making a bird house.  After that I have to drop her home and then get on with my to do list:

• 10 mile run
• Finish George’s scarf
• Sort out craft room
• Organise projects for Sat for me and Ellie
• Knit 2 chickens
• Cut and sew 2 squares (have done 4 blocks and the cutting for another 6 already)
• Knit me a hat!  Something thick and cosy to keep me warm now the weather has dropped!  Ooh shall have to have a rummage in the craft room and see what lovely wool I can find.

So nothing has been crossed off my to do list so far this week and so everything will need to be done this weekend - yay!

Cant decide if at the crop I should get on with valentines day tag and card for Andy as well as finishing my hat and knitting the chickens, which are on the to do list or whether I should just make my purse which is what I really want to do?!  Hmm decisions decisions!  Maybe I will take everything and see how much I can get done??

Easter bunny

I got on with my bunny again last night (as Andy hadn’t wound my wool but nevermind – I have left it out again today so hopefully he will get the hint and make it into a lovely ball for me so I can finish my hat).  Its definitely getting bigger which is good and it is super super soft which I think the girls will appreciate.  Still not sure if it will be big enough for my original idea but hopefully I can still add a pocket for them to keep other stuff in it.

This is how far along I am - most of it will be the base but am now adding height.  Its very simple knit row, purl row so its an ideal evening project to do in front of the tv.

It is also not guzzling at my ball of wool which is nice!  I have decided to make 6 Easter bunnies now instead of the original 3.  However, I have a feeling that they are all very girly.  I think there is this white and purple wool, pink with pink and purple spots and maybe a white with pink spots?!  I cant quite remember but I don't think the 2 boys will be too impressed with them!  I shall just have to pop to Tiptree and get some boyish colour wool but I will wait and see how many balls I need to buy.  I have bought 3 balls of each of the girly colours which I think will be too much.  I am hoping that I can get 2 bunnies out of each set of colour but we shall have to wait and see!

Hmm not sure when I am going to get an opportunity to knit 2 chickens!  I had thought that I could take my purse to make on Sat when I do a craft day with my mum and Ellie but maybe I could take a long my wool as well just in case I get time to get started!

The to do list is doing very well at the moment:

• Finish George’s scarf - No progress yet but hopefully on Sunday
• Sort out craft room - hmm maybe Sunday??  Although am off next Friday and following Monday so maybe these would be better days to sort out the room - yes that sounds like a good idea!
• Organise projects for Sat for me and Ellie - Yes in my head all sorted but now need to find them and pack all the bits and pieces that we need.  I am hoping that Ellie will be happy to make cards for various birthdays and Easter whilst I make my purse.
• Knit 2 chickens - hmm Sunday??
• Cut and sew 2 squares (have done 4 blocks and the cutting for another 6 already) - Sunday??
• Knit me a hat!  Something thick and cosy to keep me warm now the weather has dropped!  Ooh shall have to have a rummage in the craft room and see what lovely wool I can find. - almost finished and hopefully will be done Thurs/Fri

Valentines day

I can't decide if Andy would appreciate my tea towel idea!  Hmm I am in 2 minds about doing this now for him.  I think I will do it and stop worrying.  Not that we need any more tea towels but we can sort through the old ones and just keep the nice ones.  I love my sweet idea and think he will love it.

Easter

I have found some proper cute Easter cross stitch motives and think I can add these to my jars - I am hoping my chocolate bunnies will fit in the jars that I already have Ikea and that I can add a little cross stitch design.  I'm thinking that Mum, Nan and Sue will like them.   

Running

• Run 2.5 miles (easy) - Mon am
• Swim - Tues am
• Do an aerobics class - Tues lunch Am so sore already (1 hour after class!)  Not sure I am going to be able to move tomorrow!
• Run 4 miles (faster) - Wed am Did 3 miles which was hard enough work - still slightly faster pace than normal as running with Nina
• Run 3 miles (intervals) - Thurs am My poor aching body couldnt face a run (not even the x-trainer) so I did a 30min swim instead.  May see if I can fit in a short run on Sunday or if not then a lovely walk with Andy in my new walking boots.
• Do a Pilates/Yoga class - Fri lunch
• Run 10 miles (long) - Sat

I got up early to go for a run but the whole way in I thought instead of running today wouldnt it be lovely to swim instead.  My whole body aches and from today onwards I wont be able to swim for a week so it was my last swim for a bit.  Luckily my gym sells swimming costumes so I bought one this morning on my way in and I had a lovely 30 min swim.  After a few mins my arms and legs stopped aching and it was lovely (the aches are back now but it was nice to have a small respite from them!)  I will probably do yoga tomorrow to help stretch out the last of the aches and get myself ready for Sat!

Up and coming holidays!

Valentines Day

I don’t know how this holiday always sneaks up on me!  Neither Andy nor I are very romantic but I thought this year I would make more of an effort.  He has a very sweet tooth (and he has just finished all the Christmas chocolates and sweets) so I have been to M&S and bought some heart sweets, which I am going to put in a simple jar with a nice ribbon and a tag saying I love you.

Then I wanted to make him something and I suddenly remembered that I had bought some white cotton tea towels to eventually embroider so then using Pinterest (love this website) I found a gorgeous pattern for ‘With all the fishes in the sea you are the one for me’ – how perfect is that?  Andy is majorly into fish and fishing so anything fish related has to be good!  Am sure this will mean that I need to buy some more embroidery thread – at the moment I only have some super thick wool (that I had high hopes of making an embroidery jewellery roll as well as a tissue box cover – not yet happened!) and some thin thread which I use on the sewing machine.  Oh no – I don’t think I will be able to get to the Tiptree shop at the weekend – I will have to have a look online and see what I can order!

Not sure I can get this finished on top of everything else (do you see what I mean about starting too many projects and being unrealistic in how much I can get done?!)  However, I did see a super cute and super quick and easy heart pattern which is only 2 stitches – hmm!  That might be more realistic in 2 weeks to achieve.

I’m not sure he will appreciate the heart I knitted (years ago and have done nothing to it)! But I will eventually decorate it and maybe give it as a birthday/Christmas gift….maybe!

So many great projects and so little time!

Easter

I have also found a really cute idea for the girls at Easter.  I have a bunny theme this year – they have shop bought bunny slippers and I have got bunny chocolates that I am going to put in a glass jar with some easter eggs (I will put up photos as hopefully it will look a lot cuter then it currently sounds!  They also have their bunny teddies/pj holders.  Plus now they might have bunny bags – so cute and easy to make!  Am super excited!  But I think this will be enough (especially as the plan is that they will have their bean bags as well for Easter – despite not fitting in with the bunny theme!)

How cute are these??

Almost finished (plus another project started!)

In the hopes of not making this hat the size of a giant tea cozy I think I am now ready to decrease and I should have the hat finished tonight - yay!  (unless I go out with my friend as planned and then it will be ready tomorrow).  Am very happy with it so far but it is super plain and quick to do.  Am tempted to get it finished so I can wear it in the cold weather but then undo it and redo it with a cable or ribbing pattern - hmm!

This is my hat so far - its very simple but am looking forward to finishing it as I think it will be super warm and cosy.

I finished my first ball of wool and Andy wasnt in the mood to ball the second lot of wool so I decided to get started on my Easter bunnies.  The initial shape is exactly the same as Fatty which is nice and simple and then just need to add floppy ears.  So far the bunny isnt as big as I had hoped (I wanted them to be pj cases - either lined and hollow or with a pocket on the front) at the moment it looks more like a tiny teddy.  I know children like teddies but I wanted to make something that had a purpose as well.  I am still at the increasing stage so I might add a few more increases in to make the base wider and hopefully that will help.  I only started off with 8 stitches and I'm thinking for the next one that I need to cast on more stitches but we shall see how I get on with this one.  If it goes horribly wrong then I can give it to Daisy as she wont see the others to know that hers is different!

Promise will take photos tonight/tomorrow morning!

Running

• Run 2.5 miles (easy) - Mon am
• Swim - Tues am
• Do an aerobics class - Tues lunch Body pump class! Am so sore already (1 hour after class!)  Not sure I am going to be able to move tomorrow!
• Run 4 miles (faster) - Wed am Only managed 3 miles and that was with walking breaks however, the weather was shocking - freezing cold and raining with a nice cold wind as well!  Plus legs werent as sore as I feared but they werent the freshest either.
• Run 3 miles (intervals) - Thurs am
• Do a Pilates class - Thurs lunch
• Run 10 miles (long) - Sat

I used my foam roller again last night - my thighs were already quite stiff after the class at lunch so it was nice to use the roller - not sure how much it helped my legs for today but they did feel quite good.  Bit tired when running and started to get a niggle in my right hip which came and went but hopefully isnt making a return.  

My arms and shoulders hurt - a lot!  Not impressed but I don't do much with my arms so probably good for them to get a work out every now and then.  There is a body pump class on a Monday lunchtime and Monday is going to be my strength day so maybe this might be better.  Although next Monday I have a free session with a personal trainer so we shall see as she might help me to get a program together that will help strengthen my legs and core without going to class.

The hat!

So despite having a long list of things to get done in February and trying to stop myself from starting any more new projects whilst I have so many outstanding.  I couldn’t help myself and I have started to knit my woolly hat!  It took a while to get started as the beautiful wool I am using has to be wound into a ball otherwise I get into a horrendous mess (luckily Andy loves to undo knots and is always more than happy to help me unknot and ball my wool!)  No photo of the hat but there is one of Andy very proudly holding his wound ball of wool. 

I also cast on the wrong number of stitches and although it looked small when I first started – I know that it does grow but by the 4^th row I realised that it wasn’t going to grow enough.  The mistake?  I measured my head and its 21 inches, the wool said that 7.5 stitches was 10cm so I decided to cast on 20 stitches as I knit quite tightly and I was using 10mm needles not the 12mm needles the wool needed.  Hmmm!  It took me a few mins but then I realised that I had measured in inches but the stitch gauge was in cm!  Urg!!  I undid it all and then cast on 50 stitches – I have done the first 6 rows and have measured it and it should fit – hopefully!

This is my wool that I am using - people liken it to rope but I love using it as it knits up super quick!

I do like having an easy project to get on with in the evenings when I am super tired from a long day at work and travelling.  George's scarf probably wont get looked at again until Sat or more likely Sun but then I am hoping to sit down and get it all finished.

Running

• Run 2.5 miles (easy) - Mon am
• Swim - Tues am
• Do an aerobics class - Tues lunch Am so sore already (1 hour after class!)  Not sure I am going to be able to move tomorrow!
• Run 4 miles (faster) - Wed am
• Run 3 miles (intervals) - Thurs am
• Do a Pilates class - Thurs lunch
• Run 10 miles (long) - Sat

I have decided against doing my long run at the gym on Sat - I have been moaning about all the hills near to where I live now but I am going over to flat Canvey to pick up Ellie so I can run there!  Perfect!  Am going to work out a lovely 10 mile flat run.  

My work out week is going to plan so far (I thought I had forgotten my gym trainers this morning and was desperately trying to think what shoes/trainers I could work out in today!  But luckily the trainers were under my desk when I got here - yay!)

I used my foam roller yesterday as my 5mins on the treadmill managed to kill the IB band in my thighs - not quite sure how as I was wearing my normal trainers and started off at my normal speed but something was not right!  Finished off time on the X trainer.  Anyway, I only used the roller for a few mins but it def made a difference.  Am going to try and use it every day or at least on a more frequent basis.

I also wore compression socks yesterday after and evening as I have been having problems with my calf muscles - they are super tight and sore when walking and running.  I loved them!  I am going to try wearing them on Wed during my run and see how I get on with them.  I might look into compression tights to help my thighs which really struggle but they might be too expensive......

This week and weekend

Its shaping up to be a busy week despite having a very productive weekend!  I need to this week:

• Finish George’s scarf
• Sort out craft room
• Organise projects for Sat for me and Ellie
• Knit 2 chickens
• Cut and sew 2 squares (have done 4 blocks and the cutting for another 6 already)
• Knit me a hat!  Something thick and cosy to keep me warm now the weather has dropped!  Ooh shall have to have a rummage in the craft room and see what lovely wool I can find.

Hmm do I have time this month to make a super sized basket for my wool/shelving unit?  I love baskets and I desperately need some more containers for wool.  Ooh and maybe some more smaller tubs for putting fabric scraps in/small bits and pieces??  Hmmmmm!  Think this is typical Karen trying to take on far more than I can actually cope with.  I will add it to the bottom of the list and only if everything else gets finished will I start this project (yeah right!)

1. 8 squares completed for charity blanket for the African hospital (got fabric and pattern)
2. Start crochet blanket for Fiona's baby (got all the wool and pattern)
3. 10 Chickens (28 Feb) (got fluffy yellow wool and pattern)
4. 2 (of 6) Easter bunnies (April) (got wool for 3 girl bunnies)
5. Bag for Sam's birthday (13 Feb) (got black and white wool, handles and pattern)
6. 3 crochet hanging hearts for mothers day (30th March) (got wool and pattern)
7. Warm winter hat for me!
8. Finish girl's summer bags (birthdays - April/July)
9. 2 more Fattys for Mum and Nan (30 March) (got wool for Mum's.  See if have any wool for Nan's - maybe she could have a mini one?)
10. Finish red heart for Valentines day for Andy/me (14 Feb)
11. Crochet baskets for me
12. Manly Alzheimer blanket (got fabric and activity bits) - save for April (need to prioritise hospital blanket as there is an actual deadline for this to be ready by)

I am going to start logging my workout details as well so that I can keep track of what I am doing and when!

• Run 2.5 miles (easy) - Mon am
• Run 4 miles (faster) - Wed am
• Run 3 miles (intervals) - Thurs am
• Run 10 miles (long) - Sat
• Swim - Tues am
• Do an aerobics class - Mon lunch
• Do a Pilates class - Thurs lunch

9 more weeks until Brighton marathon!!!! 

Oh my god!  Am starting to freak out – my longest run so far has been 8 miles and it was awful!  Was supposed to do 10 miles at the weekend and instead I did nothing – not good!  Ok last week is behind me and I’m now starting a brand new week.  I am going to work on strength for the next few weeks to get my legs stronger (the problem with this is that it makes my legs extremely sore and tired which makes it harder to run but am hoping that after a few weeks it will get better!)  I have a half marathon on 23^rd Feb and I’m hoping that I will be able to do the 13.1 miles relatively ok but that will depend on how the training goes for the next couple of weeks. 

My race plan is to take it steady and to run 2 miles and then walk to 25 mins – this should mean that it will take me 2 hours 40mins to finish the half and 5 hours 20 mins to finish the full marathon.  So far in training the first few miles have been ok but then it has been harder to make it to the next 2 miles without walking again.  I think, however, my routes have not helped as they are either very hilly or off road and very muddy and slippery.  I am also hoping that a gentle warm will make all the difference and will mean that I don’t have to stop and stretch like I have been doing so far in my first couple of miles – I haven’t tried this yet but am going to this weekend and see if this helps at all.

African hospital blanket

A longer term project at the moment is the African hospital blanket which needs to be finished in April.  I figure that I need to do 12 squares in total so if I complete 2 a week I will have the squares finished by 8^th March which will give me 3 weeks to complete the backing (may not have enough to do a simple backing so may have to sew together the left overs as best as I can), bind the 3 layers together which may take 2 weeks and then attempt some sort of quilting in the final week.  If all goes to plan than this will mean that by early April my blanket will be fully finished and ready to send off – yay!

I have made a good start already as I have 4 squares finished and the cutting done for another 6 so I won’t need to do too much this weekend which is good as it is looking like a very busy weekend!

• STARTED - Week 1 ending Fri 7th Feb - 2 blocks
• Week 2 ending Fri 14th Feb - 2 blocks
• Week 3 ending Fri 21st Feb - 2 blocks
• Week 4 ending Fri 28th Feb - 2 blocks
• Week 5 ending Fri 7th March - 2 blocks
• Week 6 ending Fri 14th March - 2 blocks

ALL BLOCKS COMPLETED - 14 MARCH

• Week 7 ending Fri 21st March - all blocks sewn together, start backing panel
• Week 8 ending Fri 28th March - backing panel finished and 3 layers sewn together
• Week 9 ending Fri 4th April - quilting 

BLANKET FINISHED AND READY TO SEND OFF! - 4 APRIL

Photos of progress so far in week 1

The charity year ahead!

My aim is to complete a charity project each month in 2014.  In January I managed to support 3 different charities which was great but maybe one a month is more realistic!  I have mapped out some ideas below but have a couple of months spare so I will keep an eye out for different projects that may crop up during the year.  Getting involved with knitting for various charities is such a great way to give back whilst doing something that I love.  It doesn’t feel like it costs any money (even though I have to pay for supplies) nor does it feel that it takes up much time (although each project can be quite time consuming). 

January

• ·         The Children’s Society – crochet squares
• ·         Mungos Homeless – hats
• ·         NHS Blood Donation – blood drops

 February

• ·         Francis House Children’s Hospice – chickens

 March

• ·         African hospital – quilted blanket

 April

• ·         Police Department – trauma teddy bears

 May

• ·         The Tanzanian Project – baby hats

 June

• ·         Newlife Foundation – dogs, pencil cases, etc (items to sell)

 July

August

September

• ·         Age UK – hats and scarfs

 October

November

December

A productive weekend

I managed to cross a lot of things off my to do list over the weekend which felt really good.  Although I didn’t run – which was really really bad of me!  I will have to make up for it this week and have already done 2.5 miles this morning.  I will have to fit in a longer run on Wednesday (easy – just get up at 5.20! urg!) and I will have to fit in a 2 hour run at the weekend which is already proving tricky as I have Ellie this weekend.  Hmm!  I’m hoping that I can fit in a small run on Sat before I pick her up and then maybe a gym session once I have dropped her home but we shall see!

However, back to crafting!

I have made a start on my blocks for the Africa blanket – I thought I would need to improve my sewing skills but my cutting skills are horrific!  I don’t appear to be able to cut in a straight line at all!  Not good.  My blocks that I have made so far are varying a bit in size but I am hoping that once I get 4 together in a square I can trim them down.  I can always add a boarder if my blanket turns out too small!  Hmm – I’m not sure what I am doing wrong.  I have borrowed my mum’s cutting matt and ruler and I still am having trouble.  Will keep practising and see what happens.  I have decided not to do all my cutting and then all my sewing – firstly because I sewed together my first block and I realised that I hadn’t provided any seam allowance so those pieces have been added to the scrap pile and secondly I find cutting really boring so I don’t want to use up all my interest and then not have enough interest to finish it!

I am also super happy that I am on the final stages of George’s scarf – yay!  I have done both top and bottom layers as well as the nose and started on the eyes.  Just have the mouth, tail, ears and another eye to finish off.  This is the time consuming part but I am preserving.  Will add some photos soon.

I have also done another 2 colours on my super-sized blanket.  Andy is very annoying and no longer feigns any interest when I show him how well I am doing.  To be fair there isn’t much difference as its 4 stripes of 11 colours.  However, for me, I have worked for 4 hours and done 2 lots of stripes which is a great achievement and then he is like I don’t care!  Which isn’t very nice!!  I am almost half way through my third set of stripes.  The end is starting to come into sight although it’s still a long way off.  It’s a great project to have in the background – if I’m really tired and cant be bothered to do anything else than I can always count on my blanket to help me.

So the January to do list is looking good after such a productive weekend:

1. Finish Fatty for Andy’s mum (18th Jan) 
2. Finish dog pencil case for Daisy (8th Feb)
3. Finish dragon scarf for George (8th Feb)
4. Finish Rebecca’s Fatty (8th Feb) 
5. Make 5 blood drops for NHS project (deadline 31st Jan) - 2 more needed
6. Make 12 crochet squares for the Children’s Society (deadline 25th Jan) - just sewing in needed
7. Finish Alzheimer blanket (18th Jan) 
8. Finish scarf for Patrick (8th Feb)
9. Knit a Christmas bauble REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY
10. Start Easter bunnies (Deadline April) REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY
11. Finish scarf for Nan (birthday 21st Jan) 
12. Make a spare scarf for Nan (birthday 21st Jan) 
13. Knit 3 charity chickens (Deadline Feb)  REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY

Only George's scarf is left and this will definitely be ready in time - its just a case of finishing it off.

I only completed 3 blood drops in the end which was disappointing but still better than nothing and it was quite a tight deadline which wasnt good.  The ends were sewn in and the package is now ready to be sent - yay!

The to do list for February has already began!  This is how it looks so far:

1. Manly Alzheimer blanket (got fabric and activity bits)
2. Charity blanket for the African hospital (got fabric and pattern)
3. Start crochet blanket for Fiona's baby (got all the wool and pattern)
4. 10 Chickens (28 Feb) (got fluffy yellow wool and pattern)
5. 2 (of 6) Easter bunnies (April) (got wool for 3 girl bunnies)
6. Bag for Sam's birthday (13 Feb) (got black and white wool, handles and pattern)
7. 3 crochet hanging hearts for mothers day (30th March) (got wool and pattern)
8. Finish girl's summer bags (birthdays - April/July)
9. 2 more Fattys for Mum and Nan (30 March) (got wool for Mum's.  See if have any wool for Nan's)
10. Finish red heart for Valentines day for Andy (14 Feb)

Yay - things are progressing!

I have finished the components for Daisy's pencil case - now just need to put it all together - which is time consuming.  Oh and do the patch and sew her name onto it!  

1. Finish Fatty for Andy’s mum (18th Jan) 
2. Finish dog pencil case for Daisy (8th Feb)
3. Finish Rebecca’s Fatty (8th Feb) 
4. Sew in the ends of Patrick's scarf (8th Feb)
5. Make 1/2 more blood drops for NHS project (deadline 31st Jan) 
6. Sew in the ends of the blood drops so they are ready to post on Monday
7. Buy the fabric for the charity hospital blanket
8. Look at fabric for my new purse project
9. Make the purse kit (hmm!)
10. Organise the wool for Sam's bag for her birthday
11. Sort out the craft room and put things away
12. Do a 10 mile run!
13. Do a 3 mile relaxing run!
14. Family meal on Sunday - wrap Nan's presents and remember to take them with me
15. Buy waterproof walking boots and jacket

Oh wow - been to the amazing craft shop and may have gotten carried away!  Had decided to only buy the fabric for the charity blanket and just to look at the bag fabric and bean bag fabric.  However......

This is all the fabric that I bought - all £52 of it!  Oops!  I got the fabric for the hospital blanket, a gorgeous wool mix grey that I first intended to use on my Alzheimer blanket but then realised that it would be perfect for my bag!  Ooh - how nice will it look with a black leather trim??  I also picked up a gorgeous pink and white butterfly as well as purple fabric with white hearts - perfect for the bean bags - I kind of picked these up and then I thought that I had put them back as they were remnants and I didnt make a note of how much I needed!  Oops but I do love them.  I also got 2 random remnants which will be perfect for the Alzheimer blanket which I want to make more manly this time.

Manly fabric - maybe for another Alzheimer blanket?

Perfect colours for the girl's bean bags although I don't have enough of the purple for all of them - eek!

Originally bought as another manly fabric but then thought that it would make a gorgeous winter bag with black (maybe leather?) trim and accessories?

The fabric that I went shopping for!  Blue and greens for the charity blanket to go to Africa.

Gorgeous - am really happy!  Now I just need to get on with making things!

Wohoo!  Have gotten 4 things finished off today - took ages but it was really worth it and can now tick things off my list.

 I have stuffed the owl but we were thinking that it might make a good doorstop rather than a teddy but as we are flying with it in hand luggage - I will wait until we get to Ireland to add the rice which will make it much heavier.

 Wohoo the sewing together of the dog pencil case is finished - just need to get my mum to make the lining and add the zip (which will make her happy!  hmm!)  But am happy with it which is good!  This took the longest to finish off - probably as long, if not longer, than it took me to knit the actual case!  I just hope she likes it!  Although everytime I look at it - I think sheep!  In fact thats what both my mum and Andy thought it was when they first saw it.  It is supposed to be a dog!  But nevermind - I wont mention what its supposed to be and I will let Daisy decide!!

Sue's fatty finished for the second time.  The first time, Andy didnt like the eyes (they were awful) so I replaced them with giant buttons and I'm happy with the final result.  It has a whole cushion stuffing and 3.5 bags of rice!  Its super heavy but again we are hoping that it can be used as a doorstop.  Which reminds me that my mum asked for an original Fatty as a doorstop.  Maybe I will make a third for my Nan and they these can be Mother Day gifts??  Could be a good idea.

Must do this weekend!

1. Finish Fatty for Andy’s mum (18th Jan) 
2. Finish dog pencil case for Daisy (8th Feb)
3. Finish Rebecca’s Fatty (8th Feb) 
4. Sew in the ends of Patrick's scarf (8th Feb)
5. Make 1/2 more blood drops for NHS project (deadline 31st Jan) 
6. Sew in the ends of the blood drops so they are ready to post on Monday
7. Buy the fabric for the charity hospital blanket
8. Look at fabric for my new purse project
9. Make the purse kit (hmm!)
10. Organise the wool for Sam's bag for her birthday
11. Sort out the craft room and put things away
12. Do a 10 mile run!
13. Do a 3 mile relaxing run!
14. Family meal on Sunday - wrap Nan's presents and remember to take them with me
15. Buy waterproof walking boots and jacket

Relax and get ready for the new week, finally spend some time with Andy!  I don't feel that we get to spend that much time together even though we are living together now - each evening I am knitting and he is working on his laptop and then at the weekends we tend to do our own thing as well.  Although last week we went for a lovely walk and that was really nice and good preparation for the Ben Nevis trek he wants to do when we go to Scotland in the summer.

Taking it easy

Last night despite needing to get on with my blood drops, I really fancied working on something completely mindless and easy so I decided to get on with mine and Andy’s stupidly giant throw.  We bought the wool in Cyprus and I love the colours – they are a compromise as I would have loved to go brighter but I had to take Andy’s preference into account as well and hopefully we have a good mix of colours to please us both.

This is the blanket folded in half length ways - it doesnt look that big but I will take another photo to show you the scale - its stupidly long!  I have also folded it in half width ways so it is twice as wide and twice as long then it looks!  It still has a long way to go but its such a lovely project to get on with especially in the evenings when you want something easy and mindless to get on with.  Plus its very warm as I can wrap it around me whilst crocheting!

The blanket is as long as our sofa but unfortunately (and Andy gets annoyed when I moan because every time I work on the throw I have the exact same worry) I don’t think it will be wide enough.  Each ball of wool is doing 2 lots of stripes and we have 2 balls of each 11 colours.  I am more than half way now through the blanket and it will be super long but super narrow!  I’m thinking that I can buy some more wool (not the same brand which seems to be a Turkish brand) but hopefully similar enough to fit in so that I can make it wider but we shall see.

I love the basket that it is currently in but it is going to have to move somewhere bigger as its outgrowing this space (this basket is from Boots and originally had a toiletry set in it - I love it!  I always keep my eye out just in case they have some more great baskets/containers for knitting projects.)

I have taken some photos of my 3 finished blood drops – I’m thinking that I may only send 3 in which will be a shame (I had originally aimed to send 10 and then this was reduced to 5 and then 4 and now maybe 3!)  But I think It’s more important to focus on the Ireland presents which are needed before the 7^th February and time is running very short.  Everything takes me so much longer than I anticipate!

The giant blood drop is one whole ball of wool!  I was not impressed!  Luckily the DK red is going much further and the 2 smaller drops have barely made a dent in the ball which is good.  I have enough wool to probably make another 4 or 5 drops but no time to make them!  urg!

This weekend I am going to the Tiptree shop (yay!  It is such an amazing shop and is one of the greatest things about living in the middle of nowhere!) to get the material I need for my hospital blue and green blanket and also to look at the material I might want for my bag (although I’m sure I will end up purchasing the material if I see it – what if they were to run out before I got to go back?!)

Yay! Patrick’s scarf is finished.

Sorry the pictures are so bad but I was rushing this morning to take them before work as I remembered this morning that I needed to take photos (unfortunately didn’t occur to me last night!)

I love using thick wool – it knits up so quickly!  Thankfully this scarf is finished so this job can be crossed off the list, which I always love to do.  The scarf is very simple and is knit 2 rows, purl 1 row, repeat.  That gives the lovely ridges which I think gives a nice pattern to what otherwise would be quite a plain and boring scarf.  I’m not great at adding patterns and counting stitches, etc – I can do it but it requires more concentration and focus then I like to give my knitting.  I love to knit in front of the tv and as I tend to knit in the evenings I am also quite tired and my poor brain is slowly switching off.  It can handle simple knits but nothing too complicated.

Next to do is the 4^th blood drop and then finishing Fatties and Daisy’s pencil case.  George’s scarf will be the final project to be finished but hopefully it will be done on time.

1. Finish Fatty for Andy’s mum (18th Jan) 
2. Finish dog pencil case for Daisy (8th Feb)
3. Finish dragon scarf for George (8th Feb)
4. Finish Rebecca’s Fatty (8th Feb) 
5. Make 5 blood drops for NHS project (deadline 31st Jan) - 2 more needed
6. Make 12 crochet squares for the Children’s Society (deadline 25th Jan) - just sewing in needed
7. Finish Alzheimer blanket (18th Jan) 
8. Finish scarf for Patrick (8th Feb)
9. Knit a Christmas bauble REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY
10. Start Easter bunnies (Deadline April) REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY
11. Finish scarf for Nan (birthday 21st Jan) 
12. Make a spare scarf for Nan (birthday 21st Jan) 
13. Knit 3 charity chickens (Deadline Feb)  REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY

I am looking ahead to February already and am trying to think how I can fit in knitting my friend Sam a bag before her birthday on 13^th February – that doesn’t give me much time as the Ireland gifts are likely to run over until the 8^th February when we actually go and see them.  I am hoping that I can take it with me on the plane and it will be my project for when we are there.  We aren’t checking luggage so I have checked both our airport and the Irish airport to see what we can fly with – knitting needles are out but I have flown several times with my crochet hook without an issue.  The only problem I may have is that I will need to have a pair of scissors with me – hmm!  The Irish airport will allow scissors with a blade less than 3 cm – so I need to measure my snips and see how big they are.  I am hoping that they will be small enough to fly (although they are very sharp).  As a back up I may put a pair of nail scissors in my boyfriends hand luggage and see if they get through (ooh I could also see if a pair of nail clippers is strong enough to cut through my wool??)

I have my pattern which is a simple 10 granny square design – I am just struggling at the moment with what colour/colours to use.  The pattern used one colour which looks very effective.  I have some lovely grey cotton wool that has a sparkle through it but it may be too dressy and I want this to be an everyday bag; I have 10 balls of Stylecraft DK which I have bought for the baby blanket but wont need all of them which I could use; I also have a lilac 4ply wool which would be very pretty and some cream 4ply but not sure if this will give me the grown up everyday bag that I envisage; or I could buy some black and tan/gold DK which I think would look nice??????????? Decisions decisions!  I think I will check the grey wool that I have already and see if that would be suitable otherwise I think I like the black and gold/tan bag the best as a back up plan.

Yay – another item ticked off

I finished my crochet squares for The Children’s Society.  The deadline is this Saturday so hopefully they will arrive in time and will be useful.  They are different sizes and I tried to do a mix of girl and boy colours (harder than you think as I normally only knit for girls!)

The focus for the rest of this week will be to finish off Patrick’s scarf which I am hoping is just one more evening and then to do one more blood drop.  I really want to send 5 off but think 4 may be more realistic which is still better than nothing and it has been quite difficult to fit them in along with the hats, squares, chickens all of which have/had Jan and Feb deadlines.  Not including the Ireland gifts!

The outstanding list for January!

1. Finish Fatty for Andy’s mum (18th Jan) 
2. Finish Alzheimer blanket (18th Jan) 
3. Finish scarf for Patrick (8th Feb)
4. Finish dog pencil case for Daisy (8th Feb)
5. Finish dragon scarf for George (8th Feb)
6. Finish Rebecca’s Fatty (8th Feb) 
7. Make 12 crochet squares for the Children’s Society (deadline 25th Jan) - just sewing in needed
8. Make 5 blood drops for NHS project (deadline 31st Jan) - 2 more needed
9. Knit a Christmas bauble REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY
10. Start Easter bunnies (Deadline April) REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY
11. Finish scarf for Nan (birthday 21st Jan) 
12. Make a spare scarf for Nan (birthday 21st Jan) 
13. Knit 3 charity chickens (Deadline Feb)  REMOVED UNTIL FEBRUARY

But the list is reducing which is good (although its always annoying to have to move things on to another month but guess its better to be realistic and get things done well rather than rushing to meet self imposed deadlines)

February is going to be more sewing heavy I think especially if I want to complete another Alzheimer blanket for Sue and also start the charity blanket for the Hospital in Africa.  I have started the February list which looks like this at the moment:

1. Alzheimer blanket
2. Charity blanket for the Hospital
3. Start crochet blanket for Fiona's baby
4. 10 Chickens (28 Feb)
5. 2 (of 5) Easter bunnies
6. Bag or scarf for Sam's birthday (13 Feb)
7. Finish crochet car for George
8. 3 crochet hanging hearts for mothers day (30th March)

A smaller list at the moment but these are slightly more time consuming projects so I can't see it being any easier than January!  So much for starting Christmas gifts first thing in the year - nevermind still plenty of time.

I have been working out how much fabric I am going to need and how the pattern will work to ensure the measurements are fairly easy to do but still fit within the quite strict size constraints of 60 by 80.  I am going to have 8 squares by 6 squares which are 10 inches square but this means that my logs don't work out very well so I am going to have 2 fat and 1 skinny log in each section so they measure 5 inches exactly.  Scarily I also worked out how many logs I will need = 576!  384 fat 2 inches by 5 inches logs and 192 skinny logs.  That seems like an awful lot of cutting and sewing.  This may be my last patchwork blanket!

done!

Have signed up!  Eek!  Now there is an expectation that I will complete the project and I will be letting someone down if I don't so I definitely will do my hardest to fulfill this project now.  Oooh am super excited!

I have made a list of the fabric requirements and I think I have the blanket design - its a very simple log cabin (I think that is what it is called).  Hopefully it will be a simple blanket for a beginner to be able to put together and I will get to practise my sewing machine skills - which definitely need improving.

Oh no!  Pretty much after I sent off the form to say that I would complete a blanket for the Hospital - my little sister asked me to make the nieces (there are 3 of them!) a bean bag each.  Not difficult - although I don't think I have chosen the easiest pattern to follow which has 6 segments and velcro but we shall see.

I am going to do the charity blanket first and then worry about the bean bags.  Helen said to do them for their birthdays (2 are in April but 1 isnt until July) or for Easter.  So I think it will be Easter which at least gives me a couple of months to get them done.

This is my plan for the blanket - quite simple but hopefully effective.  It has to be blue and green so I'm planing on using a plain blue and green plus 4 patterned fabrics.  Although I quite like the effect this one has using only 3 colours so we shall see!  The blanket has to be 80 by 60 so I am trying to figure out the sizing of my blocks to ensure that I end up at this size.  We shall see!

Oh no! A familiar heading!

Hmm am seriously tempted to sign up to make a charity blanket - Lala Salama 100 Quilts.  It sounds like an amazing project and something that I could do.  The deadline is April which isnt too far away but should give me enough time to put something together.  I would have to get all new fabric as they want the blankets to be blue and green (but that wouldn't be too much of a hardship!  I could pop to the craft shop in Tiptree which I love).  I have googled how much fabric I would need as the blankets have to be a specified size of 80in by 60in and I would need 4 metres of fabric (for the blanket I have seen it would need to be of 6 different fabrics) plus 3.5 metres for the backing and some wadding.

hmmmmmmmmm!

Think I am going to do it.

Plus my bag kits arrived this morning - I only ordered them yesterday lunchtime - am super impressed!  Not sure when I am going to fit them in though!!  Especially now I want to do this blanket.................