Feltabulous!

So I've been meaning to make these for a while, I found the pattern and instructions on the Martha Stewart site...too much crafty goodness there, I get into a panic when I search it because I can't possibly think when I'll have enough time to fit everything that I want to do in! One step at a time though, (pardon the pun!), so I have started with the felted booties as an addition to my gift for Tilly. I'm relatively pleased with how they turned out, they could be neater and slightly better shaped but I think that will take some practice and some tweaking of the making up process, in the meantime I think they will perhaps make MummyKitty cry tomorrow (not my intention, I only intend to impart happiness on others, but MK will still be full of hormonal type emotions and crying is probably inevitable!)


I added some stitched detailing courtesy of my lovely Pfaff Creative 7570, I am in love with this machine, it can do so much!


...and I found this lovely printed ribbon in my local craft shop, Dorrie Doodle, and couldn't resist it. It has found it's way into nearly every part of Miss Tilly's pressi so far! If you can't quite make it out it says "sweet baby girl" in an old typewrite font along the ribbon, too cute!


...and this was what happened to felted bootie mach1. I thought the size of pattern I had printed may be slightly on the small side, and despite reassurances from my mother and my friend, it was indeed teeny-tiny! So it has become an adornment on the gift bag! Waste not want not...

A gift for Tilly

So I noticed that I have been too busy with wedding-type-things to post any FO's, and as this professes to be a blog mainly about knitting-type-stuff I thought I better get some knitting news posted!

So here it is, my Debbie Bliss Eyelet Vest knit, not in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, but in Rowan Soft Lux instead. It's beautifully sparkly and I must say I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

I am very much hoping to meet the beautiful little lady who this will belong to at the weekend. Matilda is her name and she is just over one whole month old now, bless her baby cashmerino socks!

...and just to prove that Scotland does in fact see the sun every once in a while, here is a lovely pic of the vest with sunny flowery shadows cast upon it in an arty-type-styley

...a close-up of the lovely chocolate coloured ribbon that contrasts nicely with the 'ciel' yarn

...and a close-up of the lovely pearl detail button on the back of the vest.

I love this pattern, it's a quick knit, but enjoyable and satisfying, will def be making another one for girl baby no. 2 due to another friend in June

...and finally a pic of the pretty fuschia bush in the scottish sun just because!

once bitten, twice shy :(

A word to the wise...if you partake of the wee glass of vino whilst surfing the wonderful web on your lovely iBook, be very careful not to rest your glass on the arm of the sofa near said laptop which is perched on one's lap :(

As you may have guessed I did just this, and needless to say said glass of vino toppled, spilling wine onto beautiful iBook. It made a nasty noise, I turned it off in a panic, (in the hope that it would limit the damage), and set it out upside down, like a pitched tent, to dry.

This was two months ago, laptop didn't like the wine very much and the insurance company stated it was "beyond economical repair" which, in turn, meant I got a lovely new MacBook (bonus upgrade!). Though not without paying the policy excess and losing any no-claims bonus.

But still I was quite happy with my new computer.

Today, however, I shed a little tear to the random I was speaking to on the phone regarding the attempted retrieval of the data on my old hard drive (how embarrassing, but it really couldn't be helped as you will come to understand). I had payed the fee to get my hard drive info retrieved and saved to disk, this should have taken a week, that was three and a half weeks ago. I phoned to check the status of the retrieval...I suspected, due to the lack of contact, it was unsuccessful...I was right...they couldn't do it...then the tears...all the pics of my baba, lost and gone, no back up (because no matter how many people tell you to do it, I defy any new mum to find the time to back up all the pics on their computer whilst looking after baby and trying to find the time to sleep!).


I am hoping that if I send out a plea to friends and family I will manage to retrieve some percentage of the pics and will be able to build up a new collection.

My plan is to do any touch-up's required on Photoshop, save them to disk and then send them off to the lab to get some high quality prints done (something I should have done ages ago!) Then I will adorn the house with them!

I love photos, I live for pictures and I miss them, but I still have my wee fella, he's a beautiful picture in himself everyday and that's what's important.

Lesson's learnt:

* Back up stuff from your 'puter
* Print your pics out and put them somewhere you can see them everyday
* Use film (it's always better anyway - not denying digital doesn't have it's place but I'm a traditionalist at heart)

and

* Stop drinking wine ...near your computer!


My little Boo, day one, in the maternity hospital (photo courtesy of Sarah, thank you honey!)

lazy days and sundays

What a lazy day! Complete joy, stayed in my pyjamas until after 4pm! ...and in a before-the-baby-arrived-pyjama-day kind of way, not just because I didn't have a chance to actually get dressed!

Ahhhh! Lounging on the sofa with my chum, chatting, drinking coffee, googling everything that we didn't know the answer too, (including where on earth we knew the actor who plays Ryan's dad in the O.C. from, eventually finding out that of course he was Hercules! Who could forget that loin cloth, honestly?!)

Anyway, this lazy Sunday I decided it was time to take a step away from the easy and move onto a bigger (albeit only slightly bigger) project than simply baby socks, booties and hats! I have done so before, but being slightly impatient about finishing projects I tend to shy away from casting on the cardie I love the look of, or the cute, yet complex baby jumper for fear I shall never get them finished. Today I raided my stash and pulled out a couple of balls of Rowan Soft Lux in Ciel (which I think they have now discontinued) and decided to start this cute "Eyelet Vest" from my Debbie Bliss 'Special Knits' book...


...yes I know I should really be knitting it with some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino (seen as it is one of her patterns & because it's what the pattern calls for!), but I didn't have enough in my stash and the aforementioned lazy pyjama day meant I couldn't possibly go out and purchase any, also I rarely pay attention to the yarn I'm meant to use and just use the stuff I want to. I must say I'm quite pleased with the way it's knitting up, and the little silver sparkle in it will look v lovely on one of the baby bumps that a couple of my friends are cultivating just now!

Fingers & toes crossed that I manage to finish it sometime ever!