It's been longer than planned since I last wrote a post here, but life sometimes gets in the way and half term was busy. Amy had a wonderful time in New York (despite being there for the coldest Valentine's day in 100 years with temperatures at -17 and colder with the windchill). She saw lots, shopped lots, loved Les Mis on Broadway and was completely wowed by the city and all of it's sights and sounds. She also loved flying which was a relief for us both and can't wait to do it again sometime. Thanks so much for all the good wishes for her trip.

Since the children went back to school last week I've been trying to get myself organised. I've had a week of flitting from one thing to another and as a consequence nothing was getting finished but after sitting down and making lots of lists I've started to feel like I'm getting somewhere. Hopefully by the end of this week we'll have signed off on the latest ream of paperwork for Toby which will be a big relief to have out of my head. I've also just put the finishing touches to a small batch of animals which I'm hoping will have new homes in time for Easter.

 

 

 

 

 

I've been working on these since the start of the year so it's nice to have them finished. Four of them have been listed on Etsy (already sold) and the other 4 are over on my shop blog, full details on how they're being offered for sale are here.

Now my head is a little clearer I'm going to be focusing on the next animal pattern. Most of the notes are scribbled down so now I need to write them up properly, make test samples, photograph the steps and test out the final pattern. It will be a month or so before that's all done but I'll keep you up to date with any news.

Thanks as always for stopping by, I'll be around a little more often now that I'm feeling a bit more organised so I hope to see you soon x

 

How are you doing so far this year? Are you on track with any New Years resolutions or have you, like me, already slipped from your aims before the end of the first month? Actually, I didn't really have any hard and fast resolutions for the new year, just a general aim to be a bit more organised on all fronts and more tidy around the house. I started out quite well, targeting the kitchen and clearing out cupboards of anything that is no longer in regular use. A day of sorting, cleaning and trip to the charity shop made things feel brighter and tidier in the kitchen.

 

 

But now I seem to have stalled. What really needs tackling is my yarn stash which has got out of hand and spilled out from it's allotted areas to take over most of the living room. The problem is it's hard to tear myself away from knitting but even that lacks order at the moment. Where I really should be buckling down and getting on with the next pattern, instead I am flitting about knitting a new tea cosy or fiddling about with blankety ideas (I keep trying to shake the urge to start a new crochet blanket but it won't quite leave me alone). I am pleased with my new tea cosy though. Knitted in charcoal grey Alafoss Lopi from Meadow Yarn from a Churchmouse yarns pattern, details on ravelry.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, there is productive knitting going on and that is good at least for reducing my stash – the more I knit the smaller it will get so perhaps I should feel completely justified in knitting instead of getting on with cleaning out the cupboard under the stairs. I would much rather be playing around with yarn, especially bunny knitting in ash grey and lingerie pink which is a colour combination that just sings to me at the moment. I finished off some Quince and Co sparrow linen dresses (one of the patterns in my seasonal dresses collection)…

 

 

And I started a couple of bunnies…

 

 

Do you love the little hangers and the cups and cake in the top right hand corner? I fell in love with them as they're perfect sized bunny accessories (made by Maileg and I got mine from Bijou).

The third dress I've made in this yarn (Rowan Cotton 4ply which is my favourite ever yarn for knitting bunny clothes from but is sadly discontinued)  just needs an animal to wear it – I'm leaning towards a grey cat at the moment but there's a mouse and an elephant in the running too. I'll have to decide before I can knit up the body…

 

 

At least the lovely new basket I bought with money I was given for Christmas is helping keep my work-in-progress neat and tidy and it's big enough to fit in all of my knitting essentials (basket from Injabulo). Well, I'm off to my cosy corner to knit a bit more – it's important work this stash reducing 😉

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PS: Any products that I mention here on the blog are things I've bought for myself or our family with my own money – I don't write sponsored or solicited posts.