Why I haven't been blogging

'nuff said!

Mum, Barry, Jez, Millie, Maddie and Sullivan have given me Mum's Ashford Traditional for my birthday. I am in love! No time to blog as I HAVE to spin!

Very quickly - Amy Butler baby dress

The Back

And the front with knickers.

I've just finished this super cute baby dress and knickers for my friends little girl who is 1 tomorrow.

The pattern is from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones and was a complete joy to make. I did modify the pattern slightly - I couldn't work out what to do with the 'V' in the front of the bodice so I ignored it and I ignored the front band too. I was tired and it was late!

I hope she loves it as much as I do :o)

More tomorrow including photos of our Mother's Day walk around Baggy Point and Croyde.

Ali xxx

Ravelry 'a few of my favourite things' swap

Ravelry is a wonderful place. You can find all sorts of wonderful, unusual and downright cool patterns on there. I've also made some good virtual friends!

This is my latest swap package, the 'a few of my favourite things wunderknauel' swap. I don't know who my partner is but I think it may be Gladcat?

Yarn and material to make this great project bag from 'Through the loops'. This is next on my list of things to do.

This is my 'wunderknauel'. I've started knitting dashing from Knitty and so far I have found a packet of Maoams which the girls have enjoyed! The yarn is Araucania Aysen and is so soft and silky. I really love it :)

My partner made me this beautiful bowl but I can't keep anything in it. The moment I put something in it Sullivan tips it out and puts the bowl on his head!!!

This is all the parcels and goodies before I opened them. Wasn't I spoilt! Emilia has her eyes on 'Pub Knitting', I think she could manage something from the book as they aren't difficult patterns. Maybe an Ipod cosy as she has asked for an Ipod for her birthday.

Right, must go and do some housework. This sunshine is wonderful but it really shows up the muck on my windows!

Ali x

A truly wonderful weekend!

The weather this weekend was glorious, it was so wonderful not to wear a coat! On Saturday we did the normal dancing lessons and food shopping. I did some sewing during the day too, finishing a tricornu and a landry bag to keep Sullivan's cloth nappies in.

On Sunday we all went to Ilfracombe and Jez went out in the gig boat (they had a race last week and came third! My photo's of last weeks events are here) for a training session. Emilia, Madeleine, Sullivan and I wandered around the harbour watching the men rowing and then we went to Ilfracombe Aquarium. It's a great attraction, not expensive. Small but really interesting. The girls love it there, I think we might get a season ticket this year.

I apologise for the order of the photos...

This character is on a boat on the river Lyn. Can you guess who he is meant to be?

This cheeky robin came to greet us as we finished the walk from The Valley of The Rocks down to Lynmouth. He actually posed for photos! If I's had any food with me I'm sure he would have taken it from my hand. We always say 'Hello Grandad' when we see a robin, Mum knows why xxx

We all really enjoyed our walk, I think we walked about 2 miles up and down hill. I plan to get fit this year and yesterday was day one! The girls hardly moaned at all, I think we need to get them some walking boots and then we can do more.

The Valley of the Rocks is populated by wild goats. They are very cheeky and funny to watch. These two were on a ledge above us as we walked down the coast path. They regarded us as if we were intruding on their patch! (I suppose we were...)

This is at Ilfracombe Harbour, Emilia was racing down to meet Daddy as the gig boat came back in. Both the girls helped push the gig back up to the lock up.

Here they are, my beautiful girls. We were watching the men row out to sea as we sat at the very end of the harbour wall, these steps actually lead into the sea, needless to say I didn't let Sullivan out of the back pack!

Here's my recent FO, a knitted boob! I'm going to make 1 for each of us in our La Leche Peer counselling team, the pattern is here. Before I sewed it up it looked like a little hat - I can just see a newborn wearing a booby hat! Haha! The yarn is Rowan Calmer and Wool cotton, it hardly took any yarn at all. I knit the boob in the round so I didn't have to sew it up.

I received my Ravelry £10 swap parcel today, I'll upload photo's tomorrow but I'll leave you knowing that I am overwhelmed by the kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity of my swap partner.

I hope you are able to enjoy the glorious spring sunshine,

Ali xxx

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

A quicky...

I haven't heard about the job yet, I'm feeling so sick about it! I'll let you know as soon as I do!

Mum (Picperfic) has opened a shop on Misi called Fluff n Stuff, you can find delicious squishy batts of hand dyed (by her) exquisite fibre ready for spinning or hand felting in her store. Go and see, I especially love Fruit Salad and Silky Denim. If only I had a spinning wheel...!

We had a fantastic day today. The sun was shining, we didn't need coats and the girls weren't being too bickerish... :0)

Emilia and Madeleine had painted a pony at the local 'paint a pot' place last weekend and we needed to collect the fired ponies. So we piled into the van and went to Braunton to pick them up, had fish and chips and then fed the ducks. The carpark was so empty that the girls were safe to scoot around it.

Sullivan loved the freedom! We got his shoes on monday and today was the first time he was 'released'! He only fell over when the girls wanted to hold his hand. There's a video of him walking at the bottom of this post. The tank top he is wearing is from Louisa Harding's Miss Bea's Seaside. It's called Target and is made from a mixture of Rowan and Sirdar denim yarns. A lovely knit but next time I'd split the back neck and add a button as it is a little snug going over his head!

I've just cast on a hoody for Sullivan from Martin Storey's Mother and Baby in RYC Natural Silk Aran. I really should finish Emilia's Linnet but I want to get this jumper made before he grows out of the amount of yarn I bought!

Back to school monday :o( and :o)

Don't forget my yarn sale in the previous post. Great prices, luxury yarns!

Oh - the interviw went well. I was with them for over an hour, I'll find out tomorrow or Monday...keep your fingers crossed for me!