general stuff

a funny week!

It’s been a bit of a strange week here as our routine has been thrown out by Toby’s school play. It happens once a year and means that he goes to school between 4 – 9pm for the middle three days, having his tea there and then doing a performance. He’s coped (just) and although I’ve not managed to get anything done all week (other than keep him entertained) I’ve enjoyed having him around – just him and me, and I’ve been able to concentrate on him without feeling that I’m leaving Amy out. On wednesday evening Amy and I loved seeing him in the play. Toby was quite bewildered by the whole thing but not upset and some of the older children were really amazing and gave a joyful and spirited performance despite some severe disabilities – there wasn’t a dry eye in the hall!

Anyway, because of the change in routine I’m really behind with replying to emails (again) and not much knitting or housework has been done. I did manage to make some real cupcakes though (inspired by a picture I saw over at Dotty Cookie of some cupcakes Ali bought) and I was really pleased with how they turned out. I just made a regular victoria sponge cake mixture, plopped spoonfuls into individual cases then swirled half a teaspoon of strawberry jam through each one and baked as usual. I topped them with pale pink glace icing and a dried strawberry (I couldn’t get the freeze dried kind so settled for the chewy dried ones).

Strawberry_cupcakes2

They went down a treat at Amy’s school afternoon tea and looked quite appropriate as we were raising money for breast cancer charities.

Have a good weekend, it’s a bank holiday here and looks like rain so we’ll be bed bouncing!

crafts & knitting

tag from Shawn Mary

A couple of weeks ago Shawn Mary tagged me and as usual it has taken me ages to take it up (sorry Shawn Mary). Anyway, here’s what she asked me and Molly at Molly’s knitted teddybears –

1)  How does your creative process begin?

I knit every day when the children are at school and I often ponder what I’m going to work on when I’m walking back home from dropping Amy at school. It’s pretty erratic really and completely on a whim – some days I want
to just knit clothes, others it’s rabbits, or cakes etc. and it often changes from day to day. Sometimes ideas pop into my head at strange times like the middle of the night when I’m up with Toby or I might be doing my weekly shop and see someone’s clothes which inspire a certain combination of colours. I jot notes on various bits of paper and keep them in a file with scraps of boden catalogues and magazine clippings.

2)
Do you start and finish one toy at a time, or do you tend to
start multiple pieces for multiple ones and end up with lots of "parts"?

Wip

I’m a really messy worker and very rarely work on a toy from start to finish without at least starting several other things. I have lots of bags of bits stashed away! I’m particularly impulsive when I get a new yarn and will immediately drop what I’m working on to start knitting up something in a yarn that’s new to me. It’s embarassing to admit but I get quite excited by new yarns and I end up stalking my favourite on-line yarn sites in the early spring and autumn watching for the new season’s colourways to become available (OK, I know I should get out more!)

3)  When it comes to clothes, do you knit these before you know who will wear them or does the finished face dictate what you will knit?

Clothes

A bit of both. I often knit the clothes first and then make a toy to suit them but sometimes as the character of the toy emerges I get a picture of what kind of clothes I want to dress them in. Once the face is complete I usually know whether the toy is a girl or a boy and if I’m ever in doubt Amy always acts as my quality controller and makes the decision for me!

4)  Have you ever knitted one and after completion, just couldn’t bear (ha, ha) to part with it?

I do have my personal favourites but I’ve never decided to keep any of them although I do have ‘the one that came back‘ sitting right next to my computer as my lucky mascot!

Lucky

She’s special as she travelled to America, failed to get delivered and 6 weeks later ended up back here and she inspired a very special story wonderfully written by Jill.

general stuff

typepad loves the little cotton rabbits!

Badge_tp_featured_weblog_star_ltb_2

The little cotton rabbits and I are really excited because today we’re Typepad’s featured blog!  Welcome to anyone who is visiting us for the first time and if you’re a regular visitor – thanks for dropping in again!

Welcome

I’ve been blogging with Typepad since September 2006 and I love them to
bits! If you’ve ever been tempted to start your own blog then you
should take a look at what they offer.
Their templates are great with a really easy to use interface and their
support services give you everything you need to get started and keep
things running smoothly. Thanks Typepad!