How is it all-of-a-suddenly December? The last time I looked, it was September. I had signed up to a handful of Christmas markets, and I was losing sleep because my four-month-old baby hadn't figured out sleeping through the night. Since then, we were invited to take part in many, many more Christmas markets and we took every opportunity. We traveled, we acquired a...
We sort of fell into this soapmaking thing. I knew I needed to make totally natural soap - something safe to use on Isla's skin which was covered in teeny tiny little eczema bumps - and started experimenting with melt-and-pour soaps. That was - maybe - two years ago? Quite so. Then, I went on a cold-process course earlier this year (and wrote...
It's not yet winter. It might be frosty and cold and icy, but it's not yet winter. I keep telling myself this, like we can keep the cold at bay a little longer. We've been busily pottering about in the house: still stripping wallpaper (there is almost enough wallpaper in this house to go around the world three times, I'm sure of it), smoothing...
The Carousel CAL is coming along quite nicely now. I've done the cream and red ("lipstick" - what a lovely colour name!) bands, joined them with mustard gold, and attached them to part one's central flower motif. Circus-y blanket with bonus roses. Lovely. We're on to part three now: multi-coloured pentagons that go round and round to form the big top's "skirt". I...
It's been a dark and stormy week, and I've tried my best to avoid all sensible things and responsibilities, opting instead for toddler crafts and crochet. We've been very productive around the house with grown-up DIY things but I do love these colourful moments filled with glitter and googly eyes. The Stylecraft Carousel CAL started last week and I had to put aside...
This is what I'm making, sitting in the garden, enjoying the summer sun. It's all very much in progress but I hope to have it done before the next Stylecraft Crochet-Along (CAL) starts in a week's time or so. No pressure. Piles and piles and piles of lovely crochet goodness, all coming together to make a small blanket throw. I fell in love with...
Yum, yum, yum. I used Ina Garten's recipe (here) for Lemon Yoghurt Cake. It is really delicious; I was so impressed with how moist the sponge was, and how the lemon syrup made this super sweet and lemony despite not actually using all that much sugar compared to other similar recipes. I didn't glaze the loaf, it really doesn't need it. My little helper...
Our second Bake Box arrived through the post a few weeks ago and I was absolutely delighted that it included loads of goodies that I actually wanted to use. It was themed "bear necessities" or I suppose more aptly, "a teddybear's picnic" with a teddybear silicon cake mould, toadstool and owl cookie cutters, cherry cutters and a lattice pastry roller. Do I need...
Sometimes, all you need is a giant bowl of muffins. That's a thing, right? When life gives you blueberries, bake them. I made these muffins using this recipe for basic muffins from BBC Good Food. I replaced the milk chocolate chips with white chocolate chips, the pulp and seeds of one passion fruit / granadilla, and a cup of fresh blueberries (first rolled...
Another pinterest-inspired project: crocheted jellyfish. #love I'm really happy with this one. There are swirls and twirls and loop-de-loops of yarn loveliness. The free crochet jellyfish pattern is from One Dog Woof, and is worked in amigurumi rounds quite quickly. The tentacles take longest of all but they're very portable and I was making them in the car, in the doctor's waiting room, while...
Thanks to 3am baby feeds, I get to spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking at amazing things I could be making if I had a few moments to myself. Like this bunny from Lanukas.com - a free pattern that keeps popping up on Pinterest. I really like the colours and his cheerful face, it's an ideal textural baby toy for little Finnlay. I'm determined...
I do most of my shopping online; if I can avoid the shops, I will. But there's something different about yarn. You don't get to feel the yarn and imagine what it might be to work with. You don't get to see the real colours up-close. You don't get the same kind of enthusiastic customer service from fellow yarn addicts. But. Getting to a...
It was my birthday this last week, and I was spoilt. Lucky, lucky girl. I especially appreciated this parcel that arrived all the way from New Zealand this week, packed full of happiness! It was a welcomed addition to the longest and most tiresome of days spent running after a moving-and-shaking toddler and a Very Serious Baby who insists on being held -...
We're still finding our rhythm here - new baby, new routines, new rooms, new garden, new oven. I've been getting to know the oven's quirks; it is a gas oven, which is new for me. It makes the most extraordinarily delicious roast potatoes. The top shelf bakes brilliantly, but the bottom shelf barely gets any heat. Not ideal for large cupcake baking marathons....
This beautiful boy has arrived! We've called him Finnlay Iain. He is wonderful. It all happened rather suddenly. I was convinced that I would have to be induced like I was the first time around, but it wasn't to be. We had family due to arrive on a Tuesday morning at Heathrow Airport at 6am. My waters broke at 5am. Finnlay arrived later...
A room with a view, visiting the hospital. Waiting, waiting. Baby is officially due this week, and every day he doesn't arrive is another day that surprises me. I was in hospital last week overnight thanks to an awful virus that left us both dehydrated and under the weather, but after a series of drips and tests and investigations and other prods and...
Long weekends are the best. Have you had an Easter weekend filled with chocolate messes and brightly-coloured bonnets? Oh I do hope so, there's something quite wonderful about sharing Easter with a little person. Each little foil-wrapped chocolate is magical, and bunnies with bells are the (anticipated) norm. Collectively, we've moved through the days armed with packets of wet wipes for sticky fingers...
Saturday afternoon collecting seashells in Southend-on-Sea. A row of beach hut soldiers are a cheerful sight. Things have slowed down - and sped up - quite a bit around here. It's like a topsy turvy rollercoaster of "must finish this before I go on maternity leave" and "oh how I wish I had an extra hour - or four - to stay in...
I've been worrying in anticipation of The Boy Baby arriving in about 10 weeks. 10 weeks. That's practically tomorrow. Minor panic. What will he wear? Gasp, I haven't made him a special toy/blanket/other hand-made item that I seem to think is of the highest importance. What kind of a maker mommy am I? (Yes, these concerns are filled with rational reasoning. Can you tell?) And...
Did you know that otters go to sleep holding hands so that they don't drift apart in the water? While I realise that the otterly fabulous hand-holding is an essential survival tactic to ensure survival of the species, this speaks to my inner twee romantic, resplendent in pun-loving ridiculousness. Thank goodness we embrace a healthy level of the ridiculousness in this house. Because,...
