That Time Already? Catch Up Show And Tell...

It's been over 2 months since I last updated my blog: I will blame my accountancy course but if I'm honest it's probably all the time I spend on Facebook that's the guilty party.

Here are a few things I've been doing since August:

2 knitted dogs: one for each of my daughters. Not my favourite things to make but if my kids are happy with them, I'm happy:)

I've decided to learn a few new knitting stitches: here's entrelac, which would probably be good for a cushion cover or a blanket, but since I'd rather crochet large home accessories than knit them, I don't think that's really for me (my curiosity about knitting entrelac has been satisfied, I can move on;)

Cheering for the Galway hurling and gaelic football teams with a maroon/white headband: I'm not into sports but if I'm going to support a team, might as well be a local one (I won't mention the French rugby team that miserably failed at beating the Irish team last Sunday, I should really forget I ever tried to take an interest:(

More knitting experiments, and I've discovered twisted stitches: now I can twist to the right, and I can also twist to the left! I'm not sure how I've lived (knitted) for so long without knowing about these, but I immediately started to see a few possibilities:

 A crochet blanket (or afghan if you want me to be posh about it;) in progress: 77 of these circles made so far, the blanket is supposed to have 132 but I'm not sure whether I'll make it full size; these little circles are going to be made into squares and joined using grey, this is my week-ends project (but I can be seen working on it from Friday to Thursday if I'm between other projects;)

My lovely shiny wool that I've decided to start using at last:

I had planned to make a lace wrap that can double up as an oversize scarf (I do like accessories that have more than one use) but since it's looking like I'll need at least 4 balls of each colour and possibly also 4 weeks each to complete - especially if I'm going to continue studying AND caring for my children at the same time. I only have 2 balls of each colour, I can't see it working with different colour stripes (did you call me stubborn?) and even if I could afford buying more wool I wouldn't be guaranteed to find the exact same shades, so I've decided to made some smaller accessories...to be continued in a few weeks (or follow me on Facebook) if you want to see what I've decided to make with it.

Oh and I nearly forgot to include the mini project I made at the week end: these are 2 microwavable heat packs made with fabric scraps (I'm trying to use cotton but I don't have labels of all my scraps so I'm closing my eyes hoping they won't melt or explode in my microwave oven while I heat them up). I filled these with rice and set the oven for 30 seconds on full power (I think mine goes up to 850W), but I think they need to be heated for longer - hopefully nothing bad will happen!

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July Crafting, Exams, A Birthday And Holidays.

I successfully sat both my accountancy tests last week and I'm due to go to France in 3 days so I'm taking a break from studying until I come back (or until the girls are back in school at the very end of August if I can get away with it:)

My latest make is this reversible tote bag that I made for my youngest daughter - she wanted to make it herself but it took me so long to get the supplies ready and I must admit I was being a bit of a control freak and was afraid of mistakes. I think maybe a smaller project like a small lavender bag may be easier for her to start with (and for me to let go a little of my control-freakedness)

I've also been working a little on my yarn stash and used the best of a giant 400g ball of aran yarn with this knitted infinity scarf for my eldest daughter (I made her a grey slouch hat last year so now she'll have the scarf to match), as well as 2 crochet hats that will be listed in my shop probably from September as I'm a bit poor on time at the moment - one slouchy and the other in a more classic shape.

I also finished my daughter's green cropped box top (or turquoise - we tend to fight about colours a lot as I don't seem to see colours the same way my daughters do - They see blue when I see green!)

My daughter's birthday is tomorrow and since both my girls are spending a few days with their Dad I had an early little birthday party with a not so little birthday cake:

I wanted to cross-stitch a birthday card and since she loves "My Little Pony" I decided to do Rainbow Dash: I just hadn't planned on it taking so goddamn long! It's a surprise so I started making it in my room during the day when she's in her room or outside playing - I did manage a few hours per day but now that she's at her Dad's until tomorrow I've been spending most of last night and today on it (while binge watching "The Killing" on Netflix). I do have to go to town tomorrow so really putting in the time today and I hope to have it finished by tomorrow evening when she comes home (but I can't promise anything).

The day after I get my girls back I have to pack for our annual holiday in France so I really, really need to finish thay Rainbow Dash quickly (especially since I'll be driving 4 hours to get to the Ferry and I'll need to rest my eyes from all the cross-stitching before going on a long drive). I'm overdoing it on my eye drops (because I suffer from dry eyes and I need eye drops even when I'm not cross-stitching) so hopefully I'll be able to see the road and not billions of tiny rainbow coloured crosses!


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