...an enormous catch-up

Yet another list-like stock-taking post, because Life, the Universe and Everything seems to take priority over blogging nowadays...but I'm determined to keep this little secret* space going, even though it has been five six nearly eight months since I last sat down to take stock of what I've been up to on the creative front. Mainly because it cheers me up no end to see that I am still capable of seeing things through!

*It's 'secret' because only my husband even knows of its existence, and as far as I'm aware, he doesn't ever read it. It's not that I wouldn't want him to, after it's posted, it's just that if he happens to pass by while I'm writing it, I close the window so he can't read over my shoulder. "Marzipan's private!" we both chorus - referencing Reeves and Mortimer from back in the day. 

• Ta-dah! I finished this crocheted bag for my daughter, and I really, really want one of my own one day, because I absolutely love it. I procrastinated for ages because of the handles (confusing instructions/high boredom factor) and then knuckled down and completed them within a couple of hours. T'is always the way.

I then figured out how to make a double sided lining bag (all raw edges enclosed) to fit the shape of the crocheted bag perfectly and stop it from stretching out of shape. I'm sure there are clever people out there who could have just done this standing on their heads, but it took me a couple of attempts to get it to work the way I wanted it to. I kept the pattern just in case I make another one for myself, but it will be just like starting over when it comes to it, because I haven't the faintest idea how I did it! (It's the zig-zags along the top and the curves at the bottom, and the working out which bit of the seam to leave open so that it can be turned right way out with no raw edges showing that makes my brain hurt). Anyway, I did it, and I hand-stitched it into place, and it was extremely satisfying, and my daughter loved it, so - "Hooray!"

• Next, in September, a new addition to the family - Gorgeous Grandson the Second. My D-i-L asked me to make him a little newborn hat to wear in the hospital, so I made him this little number from the Tin Can Knits Barley pattern while we were away for a few days in Perthshire.

• Obviously one should never play favourites with grand-babies, so GG2 also got a colourful all-purpose blankie for cosy pram rides and cuddles like the one I made for GG1...

...complete with another (matching) Barley hat.

• GG1 is now a very busy, active toddler, who loves being outdoors in all weathers, so he was next up in the Autumn knitting queue for a pair of colourful mittens. GG2 got a matching tiny-baby thumb-less pair...

...and a Beloved bonnet, which made him look like an adorable baby gnome.

• I made GG1 this Winter jumper, using up some dark blue DK yarn from my ridiculously over-sized stash and a random multicoloured ball I picked up at my local charity shop for 50p. I love lazy colour-work cheating like this! I also love this pattern - rather unimaginatively named "MK#36 Baby Sweater". It's seamless and easy to follow - great for knitting in front of the telly, and perfect for keeping a small boy nice and snug on walks through the woods.

• Winter wouldn't be Winter without some novelty hats. GG1 got a brightly coloured stocking hat, and GG2 got a teddy-bear bonnet, slightly adapted from a classic Debbie Bliss pattern (i-cord ties under the chin(s) rather than a button fastening). 

• Towards the end of the year the son of one of my very dear friends died after a long and difficult illness. She asked me if I would make a cushion cover from one of his favourite jumpers and a shirt he often wore. She also wanted some small decorative heart ornaments (the kind of thing that can hang from a door handle) to give to other family members. I've never been asked to make anything like this before, and it took me quite a while to pluck up the courage to actually cut into these precious garments. 

For the larger cushion I used the front of the shirt (with the button band) as one side of the cover, so that it could be easily removed for washing. I created a pocket on the other side using overlapping layers of the jumper front, and added an appliqued heart. I originally thought the pocket could be used for storing little mementos, but during the making process I remembered that her son was very fond of giraffes. So I made a simple stuffed giraffe with needle-felted ears, horns and tail to sit inside it.

Once I got started on the smaller ornaments I found it fairly easy to come up with individual designs, using different parts of the jumper for texture, and adding a button from the shirt to each one as a finishing touch. I felt very honoured to have been asked to take this project on, and each item was made with a lot of love.

• As always, earlier in the year, I had grandiose plans to make home-made Christmas presents for everyone, and as always I left things very late and completely ran out of time. So I ended up making little Christmas tree bird ornaments out of an old hand-embroidered linen tablecloth*, which could be stitched together on the sewing machine, then stuffed, and hand-stitched to finish, with embroidered eyes, beaks and  little tufted crests to bring them to life.

*It pained me greatly to cut into the tablecloth, because it felt like vandalism. I agonised over it for ages...but in the end I realised that this tablecloth (along with dozens of others) had just been shut away in a drawer in my friend's Mum's house for many years before she died (whereupon my friend had gifted a whole boxful to me). I, in turn, had kept it shut away in a drawer for several more years...so I reasoned that by turning the unknown embroiderer's handiwork into pretty little ornaments I was actually giving a new lease of life to something that would otherwise never see the light of day until after I'm gone - when my children will probably end up tossing it into a skip along with all the other "stuff" I've accumulated over the years. Reader, I repurposed it!

• GG1 just never stops growing, so by January it was time for another MK#36 (I'm sorry, this is a just a terrible name for a pattern - always makes me think of AK47, for some reason) jumper in a gorgeous self-striping blue/green yarn. This was the largest size, with extra inches added to sleeves and body measurements for longevity of wear. I'm probably going to have to experiment with making bigger sizes by adapting the pattern, because this is such a great design. (Plus I'm in denial that my grandbaby is too big to wear "baby" clothes any more).

• Meanwhile GG2 had entered his official tummy-time rolling and pre-crawling era, so I made him a brightly coloured patchwork play-mat using cotton, towelling, velvet, faux fur, knit and denim fabrics to keep him entertained and exploring. I sandwiched the patchwork together with some lightweight batting and a piece of fabric from an old duvet cover for backing, bound the edges with some cheerful spotty bias binding and then knotted the layers together with embroidery floss to give it more stability. It probably should have been several squares wider (he's a tall-for-his-age boy), but this size is lightweight and portable - he recently took it to his "first picnic at the park"!

• We had a weekend away in the Lake District at the end of January. This was the view over Lake Windermere from the hill behind our cottage. Blissful!

• GG2 was now big enough for his first AK47 MK#36 jumper, in (yep, you guessed it) another fabulous self-striping yarn. I really struggle to knit anything plain/one-coloured when there are so many beautiful variegated/self-striping yarns in the world. Fortunately my daughters-in-law are very tolerant of these multi-coloured gifts (my sons already know my magpie-like love of bright shiny things). Either that or tactful/smart enough to send me photos of the boys wearing their Grandma-made hand-knits on at least one occasion...even if never again!

• Which brings me, finally, to the beginning of April, where I'm on Day 44 of the 100 Day Project. This year I'm doing little daily paintings of all the bird-themed ornaments and objects around my house. The picture below shows the first 36. I don't know if there are actually 100 bird-related items (I haven't ever counted them all) but it seems like there are still plenty more to capture...remember when I mentioned that skip my children will need to hire one day?!

Hooray! Enormous Catch-up complete!