All Fingers and Thumbs

Today is not my favourite. I should be down in Cornwall making happy papier mess with my Ma. A sick cat and boyfriend has postponed our trip and so I find myself unexpectedly here, trying not to be too noisy or disruptive, trying to be a patient carer. So rather than moulder around, staring at the rain, feeling sorry for myself I cleaned the kitchen, went food shopping for tempting treats and made some awesome gingerbread granola . Homemade granola strangely fills me with pride. It always seemed to me to be something that only came from the shops in posh packaging or that might be tricky to make and in fact it's so easy and yet... Homemade granola. Take yourself 100 bonus domestic goddess points! Having polished up my pedestal of domestic glory I took beautiful pictures of said granola and yet the observant ones among you will notice that the photo looks quite a lot like a picture of two snoozing cats. That's because it is. It's a photo from a few days ago though switc...

My most beloved felt creation has been safely received so I can post some pictures here for posterity. Loved everything about this creation. I started out with a fairly clear idea of what I wanted and was able to realise it within the realms of my incipient skills! A magical tree house inspired by many a fairy story and some of the delightful illustrations of mouse houses from Brambly Hedge. I found it so hard to call this finished and release it! I kept playing with the bark, adding extra little touches to the  greenery around it and playing in the branches. Eventually though I had to let it go and it couldn't have gone to a better home .  Past felting endeavours aside, currently I seem to be on a moon kick. Number four crescent moon is on the felting block at the moment. It all started with the idea a of a moon necklace inspired by Gretel's wonderful whales . Now I keep thinking of a bowl full of moons. Mine is not to reason why.

the knitting even began on my latest cardigan. My heart finally plumped for Little Wave's saddle shoulders and elbow patches . Am still to be found just staring adoringly at the pattern pictures . Perhaps because I am avoiding doing the maths. Oh the maths. I swatched people, two swatches! When I read the pattern I thought I might have to do four and my resolve to do this PROPERLY and make this FIT wavered... then thank heavens for Rav groups permission from Gudrun to only do two . Resolve back on track I then found had to buy more 5mm tips as I realised mine are with a Honey Cowl knitting Mama. I then knit a swatch in the pattern stitch and a swatch in the round for the stocking stitch, washed and blocked them and felt that enough sacrifices must surely now have been made to the knitting goddess to make me bang on gauge. Nope. Not even close! It turns out merely behaving yourself as a knitter does not entitle you to pass straight to go. I liked the fabric and didn't wa...

"Oh I'm developing a beautiful character! It's droops a bit under cold and frost but it does grow fast when the sun shines." Daddy-Long-Legs Jean Webster   Am currently wrapped in wool and yearning for the sun of yesterday. It was like I'd cast a spell: sunny Sunday for the first wearing of my newly finished shawl - Sunstruck - ravelled here . I started this back last May and with a knitalong got a good part of it knit and on the needles so when I picked it back up over the Christmas holidays it was close enough to snuggling to keep me going even through long garter stitch borders. Actually the very plainness of the knitting has been deliciously soothing and part of why this has been such a happy knit. I love it so much now it is finished too,  it feels like it will be a really useful piece as it's a different weight and shape from anything else I have. It It spans out wide with long ends for versatile draping. The pattern by Laura Aylor i...

Well five of twelve shots are of our new furry dictators. Not an inspired photo day and hardly had enough but cuddling the new kids on the block is my biggest passion currently so there were more than twelve of them to choose from! 1. Early morning knitting in my PJs. 2. Our furry fiends. Nina is the traditional coloured Siamese being spooned by Chinski. They wouldn't oblige with a perfect yin yang while I had the camera out! 3. Trainers on, not relishing the thought of another rainy walk to work, and that probably explains the lack of photos en route. 4. All the best chefs cook in shorts. 5. Beautiful moody moon approaching full captured on my walk to craft circle (No photos of my very small circle as I couldn't face trying to explain why I wanted to take photos of them after a conversation the other week about what the difference between Twitter and Facebook was. Let's hope I got it right!) 6. Post craft circle I find Chinski and the Mr relaxing in splendour while 7. ...

I made a friend for my little woolly hedgehog . My third completed piece of needle felting. He's a little wonky and there's something somewhat bouffant beehive about his spikes but let's just say he has a lot of character. At least I managed to get him to the size I was aiming for which is more than I could manage at the start , it's a dark art working out how much wool you need! I haven't quite decided if I will use him as a pincushion, the cats have already started eyeing him up as a toy!

Potato, spelt  and rosemary focaccia for my lunch. Gorgeous, rich, satisfying. The smell of it baking was the ultimate olfactory expression of this lovely cosy day I've been having. It's a Great British Bake Off recipe that I've been meaning to make since last summer when the show with it in aired and I bought some spelt flour in its honour. I felt like it was GBB meets Why Don't You? in my kitchen this morning. Though GBB has more success in getting me to switch off my tv set and do something less boring than that fixture of my childhood viewing schedule ever did! Bread! Home baked bread has not been seen in this house since this loaf back in 2012. My one true beloved, perfect in all ways but this, plucked up his courage after that was made and told me he didn't like either loaf as they were too yeasty tasting for him. Pah! Still though, there isn't as much satisfaction in making something that isn't going to be happily devoured. I think this fan...

Something inspired me to tidy up my wardrobe yesterday, must be the sap rising! I found a knit lurking in there that has been half forgotten/half hanging over the frog pond. A knit that never was formally declared finished because of the fit. My first thought yesterday when I found it was that it was going to be sent on its merry way as it didn't bring back happy memories. I am so loathe to throw out or rip completed knits that it got another reprieve until there was time to ponder what its fate should be. Reader, I tried it on and I really like it! Still wearing it now. I can see what my issue was as it's looser than it was intended to be but suddenly to my surprise I think its cute. Don't you? It's an adapted version of an Interweave Knits pattern - the Double V cardigan and forensic analysis of blog/ Ravelry /memory combined help me remember that it had its ups and downs in creation, with doubts about this yarn from the start . Such a glorious colour though...