WiP number 4

WiP number 4 is a cot blanket for Mini Cuckoo.  I'm using stylecraft yarn which is living up to it's promise of being rather lovely to work with.  I'm hoping it'll wear well as I have a feeling this blanket will be abused as much as my Granny blanket. Does anyone know if stylecraft washes well?  I'd love to know as I'm only a few squares in and it's not too late to turn it into a cushion cover. If it doesn't wash well then I have the bestest ever excuse to go and indulge in some very nice yarn, cashmerino maybe??

No no NO! I must not start hoping for poor feedback about stylecraft, I have a whole stash of it.  I repeat "I MUST NOT WISH FOR STYLECRAFT TO HAVE BAD FEEDBACK!", I mean, how frivolous to abandon a load of wool for the sheer kick of getting some posh stuff. Silly. 

I'm not sure if this square will join together very well as I have kind of made this one up myself.  It's a cross between two squares I like.  It may end up a cushion cover anyway if they don't hook together very well.  I have high hopes though.  I feel a bit excitable over the fact that I don't know how this is going to turn out.  I'm right out of my comfort zone, usually I copy something I have seen elsewhere.  What's the betting that I'll find an identical square in a pattern book or on someones blog now. That often happens.  I come up with an idea and realise it's either snuck in from something I've seen and must have forgotten, or  quite simply it's been done before a hundred times and I'm a bit slow on the uptake. Hey ho.

stylecraft stash

My stinky, manky, crappy cold is now being kept away by paracetamol and decongestants and I'm running at 85% capacity which is pretty good going.  On Tuesday I really thought I was going to be rough, properly poorly, for days.  I had a roaring temperature, I'd been feeling dreadful all night and hadn't slept well.  Thank heavens for Mr Cuckoo taking Big Cuckoo to his hospital appointment.  Disabled horse riding was cancelled due to the rain so I didn't need to worry about that and Mr Cuckoo went to parents evening on his own. Phew! I must have looked really foul for Mr Cuckoo to take time off, usually I have to fight on through it.  Like most Mum's I can't take the day off, go home early and slump into bed.  I'm so grateful that I did get to stay in bed this time as I feel almost well again. My cough is doing me some good, good in that I'm finding my tummy muscles again.  I tell you a cough is better than sit ups.  And it's reminding me to work on my pelvic floor!!  Too much information?

Yesterday I registered Mini Cuckoo's birth, left it a bit late actually, they sent me a reminder saying I only had a few days left to do it.  I hadn't realised it's an offence to not have a baby registered within 6 weeks.  Can you imagine?! I might have ended up in the clink.  What a scandal!  While I was there I had a moment of hysteria.  I think the registrar must have thought me completely mental.  I'd ran out of tissues and rather than carry on loudly sniffing I asked if she had one I could use, "No, I'm sorry I don't" she said "I've ran out as the last person I had in was a weirdo", "Well I never!" I said bursting out laughing "Did you have to disinfect after they'd left then?"  She looked at me very oddly which made me laugh all the more in a 'naughty school girl trying not to laugh' sort of way.  Only I now realise she didn't say "weirdo" she said "Widow" and I'm mortified. I'm such a nelly sometimes.

After registering the birth I took Mini to the Doc's as he still has thrush in his mouth, this is the third week and third lot of Nystatin.  I felt it was getting worse not better so I took him to the open access clinic and had them take a look.  They've given him some kind of miracle gel as it's almost gone in little over 24 hours.  They also gave him some drops for his eyes as the left one was quite gungy. I'd been asking the health visitor about it but she felt it was normal newborn gunge, I'm glad the doc disagreed as that's clearing up a treat too now.

He was 5 weeks old on Wednesday and is HOOOGE! I'm getting him weighed tomorrow, I reckon he must be 11lbs now.  Porker!

(Sandi, spot the booties.  GW spot the fleecy cover)

WiP number 3

✩★✩☆✩★✩★✩☆✩★✩★✩☆✩★✩★✩☆✩★✩★✩☆✩★✩★✩☆✩★✩★✩☆✩★✩★✩

It's all about stars today.  These are going to be threaded together to make bunting to go in Mini's room.

GORGEOUS!

They are gorgeous are they not? I love them. The pattern is super easy and super quick and I will tell you where I found it, but not right now as I can't remember.  It's scribbled in my notebook which is downstairs and I can't be jiggered to go and find it. I will edit this later though as credit must go to the talented lady who wrote the pattern (edit: here's the pattern). I can't be jiggered because I'm a bit peeky at present. Just a cold but I appear to be going down hill fairly swiftly. Urgggh. As with all bugs the timing isn't great as I have to get all three boys into Bristol before 9am tomorrow as we have a hospital appointment for Big Cuckoo at the children's hospital. To get there at that time of day we need to set off before 8am I wouldn't relish that even when feeling fighting fit but I'm fretting over it because I feel rough as rats.  Then I have to take Big Cuckoo to disabled horse riding in the afternoon.  Poor Little Cuckoo has to come along too and he doesn't get to go on a horse and he'd love to.  Finally at 6.45pm it's parents evening for Big Cuckoo, all five of us will have to go along, so it's going to be a bit of a test tomorrow especially as I have to try to fit in the baby's feeds around it all...I'm sure it'll work out fine but I wish I didn't have to do most of it all by myself.  Trying to get the boys to be sensible on the walk from the car park to the hospital is the bit that is plaguing me as they are prone to bolting and the road is so busy.  

 ✮

Little Cuckoo is my shadow when his big brother is at school therefore he decided to get in on the photoshoot.

"Young man, they are not for you to play with!"
"Oh yes they are!"

(little rat bag sent them flying)

I think they will look so sweet in Mini Cuckoo's room, they'll go very nicely with the Cath Kidston wall stickers. I've been taking the embroidery threads and a tiny hook everywhere, so when it's not possible to do the WiP no.1 blanket I have done these instead.  Very transportable.  Very quick, I reckon less than five minutes per star.

Oh look, some hearts! These are fruity hearts that the boys have as a packed lunch treat.  I'm rather partial to them myself!

Time for me to try to sleep this cold off. Wretched thing. At least I feel rotten now and not over the Easter holidays. I need my energy to entertain the boys otherwise they'll be little horrors and they'll demolish the house, the garden and each other. 

xxx

WiP number 2

Isn't perception a funny thing? I've been pondering about it.  You see I was woken this morning at 9am after a pretty shabby night with Mini Cuckoo. On looking at the time I quickly calculated that I'd had, when you added it all together, quite enough sleep to function merrily for the day.  About three quarters of an hour later I looked at my wrist watch and it said it was 8.45am.  How!? Oh yes the clocks had gone forward.  "I should be knackered" I thought "I've had an hour less sleep, I ought to be moody and sluggish!"  Perception.  I felt fine because I thought I should feel fine. Just goes to show it's all about ones attitude.


Ok, so WiP number two is this tea cozy. I saw the magnificent ones Alice has made over at Crochet with Raymond and I really, really, really, REALLY wanted one for my lush cream enamel teapot.

So nearly finished, just the small matter of getting the flowers on in a pleasing arrangement.

Trouble is my flowers just look messy to me, even if you disregard the loose ends.

They don't look so untidy close up or in the flesh fortunately.

Oh I do love this helebore flower, I rather wish I'd done the whole lot in different colour helebores.

I quite like the butterfly too.

I know someone who likes this far more than I do, I think I'll give it to her and do a different one for me... once I finish all my other WiP's.  I have yet another to reveal soon, and probably several more after that.

Must thank GW, Heather and Coco Rose before I forget, as I now know how to make hearts (and more) on nearly every (what's the word I'm after?) .....every.....?  I could now do it in Windows if I wanted, and on facebook, and on blog comment forms and here on my own bloggity blog.  Look at this lot:

♥♡★✩❄✹❣❤

I'm so chuffed!  If my blog becomes over graffitified then you must tell me to stop, I can see myself becoming way too trigger happy with these "special characters".

☀

I promised photo's yesterday, these were taken when Mini Cuckoo was two days old.

I adore this photo.

three weeks old, perfect little ears

tigers!

Sunday afternoon snoozles

xxx

WiP number 1

Vintage Stripe Blanket

This blanket feels like my nemesis. Ok, so that is a teeny weeny exaggeration but I'm not loving it, it's slow going.  The thought process, inspiration and pattern can be found here .

I take all the gubbins to make this blanket almost everywhere I go. I hook a little here and there and it is slowly growing.  It does look lovely, that's the only reason I keep going with it.  Well, that and it drapes nicely...and I don't have to concentrate on a pattern.  

I do have to concentrate on the actual hooking though as the yarn splits like a gymnast and it looks untidy when that happens.  I wont be using Rico Creative Cotton again despite the low price, not in a hurry any ways.

Slow progress. Very, very slow. I can't say I've been dedicated to it. I do flit off and do a little hooky else where.  Yes I cheat on this blanket, I am a crochet blanket adulteress. I don't feel good about it.

I should have known this blanket would be a bit of a bugger as even getting my mitts on the yarn was troublesome.  I ordered it way back in November and didn't receive the wool till late January I think it was.  The company didn't keep me very well informed even though I paid at the point of ordering by pay pal.  I had to chase them on too many occasions to ask where it was.  In the end they said they were sending it and I had to ask them to stall dispatch as we were at the time totally snowed in.  I must admit they did delay sending it as requested, not by a few days, but for a month (!!!!!) and even then the order arrived incomplete. Grrrrrrrrrrr.  Bitchy splitty yarn from a pretty sh*tty company. Ooooooh 'ark at me having a rant. 

I have a feeling this will be the most used blanket as I'll not be too precious over it. It can go in the garden with the Cuckoos, it can come on many a beach day and lots of picnics.  It will be loved eventually I'm sure. I am liking it much more now I have seen it in these photographs. Maybe I'll have a power surge and get it done all in a flurry.  Otherwise I intend to take it to the Tuesday after school play date we go to and get it done over several weeks or months.  We meet a friend in a skanky soft play attached to one of those Hungry Horse pubs.  It's a yukky place but the boys have a fab time and I get to talk to my friend and put the world to rights over a very substandard cuppa.

What a moany old minny I am in this post!  I try to keep this blog on the sunnier side but just like everyone else I get moods too.  In fact I get the mean reds sometimes.  Once, nine months after Little Cuckoo was born I saw the dark side and it was terrifying.  But that deserves a post all of it's own.

Right, I'm going to trawl through flickr now and look for drool some summerhouses.  I'm hoping that one day I'll have a little shed type thing (or caravan type thing) in the garden that I can turn into a sewing/craft room.  A girly haven for me to escape the mud thugs.  Where I can decorate in such a feminine fashion and Mr Cuckoo can't have an opinion and therefore create the need to compromise.  I can day dream.

Just need to try out the heart icon suggestions from Heather and GW on my last post.  See which way works, hope one of the ways will work!  Cross you fingers....here goes.

♥ (this worked on the comment section last time so fingers crossed!)
<3
ctrl alt L doesn't do anything other than make the screen flicker.

Nope, no hearts in the edit window, maybe they'll appear when published.

Just going to copy and paste from another blog... ❤

I'm using a Mac I wonder if things are very different on a Mac.

WiP 2 tomorrow with a bit of luck plus some photo's of the baby.

xxx

ps, since Dottie Angel featured my bobble tutorial I have gained a heap of followers and I'm soooooo happy about that.  I am slowly but surely trying to reply to comments and read these fantastic blogs I've been introduced to.  I'll visit all followers and commenters eventually.  I'm even considering doing my first giveaway when the followers/comments reach a certain number.  It's so fabulous to have you all here, it's great not to be talking to myself anymore.

Be still my beating heart

I wish I knew how to make those little hearts appear in my text.

But I fear I'd over use them.

I heart hearts!

 Ummmm....yes.  It's another sickness.  An addiction.  In truth I don't feel I have nearly enough hearts in my home.  But I have to do it S.L.O.W.L.Y so Mr Cuckoo doesn't notice.  You know I'm the only girl in this house hold and I need to balance out all that testosterone.

Lucy has posted this pattern for little hearts, no doubt I'll be making a few of these as it's a much better pattern than the one I usually use, it's the addition of the picot point that makes it much better.

I said yesterday that I'd show you my WiP's over the coming week, well I've run out of time now, the bairn is stirring.  I'll leave you with this sneaky peak of the yarn I got at the weekend for yet another work in progress (yet to be started so maybe it's not a WiP yet?)  It was an accident, I didn't mean to buy it, I don't know how I ended up at the till with a manic grin and a wild glint in my eye.  My body was there but my mind was absent, lost in a world where I was swishing about in a cape made of flower granny squares like the one I saw on a lady at a friends kitchen party.  Not to be confused with the Japanese flower shawl that has gone viral in blogland, although I wouldn't mind one of those too.

Ah man! My WiP's are outta control!

HELP!