The Husbando had a birthday

The chap turned 40 way back in July and I still haven't shared what I made him. Yeah I know, it was ages ago.



I made him socks and hankies and an eye mask. For his 40th. Hmmmmm. Yes, rubbish wife. What does one buy or make a man who literally has everything he has ever wanted? Aside from the helicopter, yacht etc... which I couldn't ever stretch to, not on this weeks pocket money.

I don't earn my own salary. Every penny I have available to spend comes out of his pocket so it didn't seem right to buy him a heap of gifts and anything more elaborate, like a weekend away would have to be pre-authorised by financial control and subject to work commitments.

I felt, and I know for certain you'll all be with me on this, that me spending my limited free time on making something for him would be better. The fact that I love crafting didn't enter my head. Noooooooo, it was ALL for him. If he was into shaven headed ladies with abs like a washboard and DIY tats then I'd have done what was necessary to morph into that and gift wrap myself up. Sounding a bit pervy now. Where has my odd head taken me now? But luckily for me he likes me as I am (No comments about sit ups not going amiss, Mr C) so I knitted and stitched him gifts. I poured hours of time into his gifts. I poured love into each and every stitch. Because I really do love that Husbando of mine, even though he leaves his coffee cup in The Most Annoying Place (right next to the dish dosh) every morning. Yes I do love that chap very much. I shall say no more here, for he will get a big head.

First up, socks. He loves crazy socks. so I bought some self striping sock yarn from Twisted Limone (I've been trying to find her on Etsy but drawing a blank...grrrrr) thinking I could make a more professional looking pair if I didn't need to carry the yarn up like I did with my heart socks. What I hadn't thought about, and only realised when I got to it, was that I'd need to chop out big chunks of colour and rejoin the yarn in order to have the heels and toes in a block colour. Man! I had no end of ends to weave in. What a daft sentence, "no end of ends".

They aren't as garish as they appear here.

Since having the Childerbeasts neither Mr C or I sleep very well very easily (another daft sentence). I am like Princess and the Pea and have to sleep on a pillow of puffiness, I need to wear ear plugs because the slightest sound wakes me and Mr C snorts all night long. Mr C isn't as precious and pathetic as me but he needs a dark room. He took to wearing a lovely big pink velvet and satin eye mask of mine. He wore it to death. It fell to pieces. Shame, he did look so masculine in it. So I set about making him a new one. One that was big and soft and just right. Also I wanted to keep it less butch than, say, a camouflage print, therefore Liberty Lawn in a gorgeous deep purple was the best option.

When I first met Mr C I was astonished when he pulled a clean hanky out of his pocket. I forget why. Maybe beer had got on his fag packet (these were our wild days of smoking, drinking, dancing on board room tables whilst consuming a kebab), whatever the reason I loved that he carried a hanky, for a gentleman is not properly dressed unless they have a handkerchief about them.  I'd never met a gentleman before. I found this little hanky beguiling. There was this super cool bachelor with his fancy mansion house flat and sports car standing at the bar in The Place To Be Seen In wielding an old fashioned bit of cloth and not giving a hoot who saw. It was the hanky that made him stand out for me straight away.

These hankies are also made from Liberty Lawn and are embroidered with his initials. I had to fathom how to work the embroidery bit of my sewing machine, I've had it a few years now and I still haven't played around with it properly. I had to figure out how to get the embroidery gizmo attached and then work out how to use the special sticky sheeting stuff so I could set the machine to embroider near an edge. I don't know why I was so reticent to give it a go. It was logical and user friendly. I was delighted anew with Brother Brian, my name for my machine.

I hand rolled the hems because I wanted a very fine finish. I do have a rolled hem foot for my machine but I could not get it to do a neat finish. I think a bit of practise is needed. I found the hand hemming very therapeutic, no need to have a furrowed brow or tense shoulders. I sat and peacefully sewed while letting my mind wander and ponder over our marriage. I wish that my memories could transfer into the fabric and then, upon using the hankies be transferred into my husbands head. How wondrous that would be.


xxx