These are some of the fabric party bags that I made for Amy’s birthday, I think they’ll become a permanent feature of future birthday parties!
Have a great weekend everyone.
Category: crafts & knitting
knitting in funny places!
One of the things about having an autistic child is that you end up doing things at the oddest times. Part of the reason that I started making small items rather than people-sized jumpers is that when Toby is around I can usually only get a few rows done at any one time. He is very demanding and constantly pulls both Huw and myself around the house. I carry my knitting bag with me (usually with an odd assortment of things inside – I always look in there when I can’t find the T.V. remote control) and end up being a knitting nomad. I knit in the bathroom (when he’s having his bath I usually manage to knit the bottom of a cake or a sleeve for a rabbit jumper), I knit sitting on his bedroom floor, halfway up the stairs, on the wall in the garden, in the playhouse halfway up the climbing frame, in fact the only place I draw the line at is the loo – I do have some limits!
I love Baby Einstein videos because Toby adores them and so for the 28 minutes of running time I’m usually free to sit and can knit up a rabbit head. Autistic children often have difficulty making the distinction between day and night and Toby is no exception. Most nights he’s awake for at least an hour – sometimes as long as 4! This is all good knitting time as he’s tired and content to stack his pyramid or watch videos until the need for sleep overcomes him. I often get my biggest chunk of uninterrupted knitting time in the wee small hours – this is why knitting keeps me sane – it distracts me from focusing too deeply on the fact I’d much rather be in my bed!
Have taken some pics of jumpers that I made for the kids when Toby was still little – just to prove I can knit big!
If only I was an octopus…
Sometimes I wish I was an octopus – it would be so much easier to get everything done! It’s amazing how quickly 6 hours of child-free time whizzes past. It always made me laugh when people heard my youngest was starting full-time school as they’d usually say “You won’t know what to do with yourself”. I had to resist bending their ear by going into nauseating detail about all the projects I had planned. Anyway, I’m certainly keeping busy although not much hoovering is getting done in our house (I like to think I have an eclectic approach to housework!) I’ve been thrilled at all the lovely comments that people have left on my site.
So on to my works in progress:
Little E has departed for a new life in cornwall,
the two sisters are currently winging their way to Rebecca in Ireland (who sent me these lovely goodies, that chocolate didn’t last long!),
I’ve designed some stocking tops (will get H to take a better picture shortly),
I’ve unearthed a christmas cake design from last year and started making a few
I’m also making fabric party-bags and trying to clean the house ready for Amy’s birthday party on Sunday. Ten little girls will be descending on us for 3 hours of making crafts, playing party games, dancing and a sugar-coated party tea. Amy is beside herself with excitement and I’m beginning to wander if having it at home was such a good idea. Oh well, I’ll just visualise that chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio waiting for me on Sunday evening – I think I’m going to need it! Wish me luck!
little cotton rabbits 