My Creative Space (or, the mess I'm in!)

We were talking at the craft group, last week, about the mess our craft rooms are in and as each one spoke, it seemed the 'mess' was getting worse and worse!  So, we agreed to email pictures to each other of just what a state our rooms are.  One commented, ages ago, that it doesn't matter that you have a designated room for your crafting work, the mess will spill out to the other rooms in the house.  And, Margaret, you are so unbelievably right!

Well, this is walking through the door.  As this is next to our bedroom, I usually keep this door closed-ish, so Mr T doesn't see, and then moan at me.  This is just the start of it, I'm afraid.

I have recently had a bit of a tidy-up and moved from using this flap-table (behind the ironing board) and facing where the chair now is, but the light is awful here.  The view from the window is on to another building and so the best light now comes in, over my right shoulder.  I can also use the sewing machine or flap-tables for cutting out.  Though, if it's for a large item, then either the living-room floor or the dining room table work.  The fabrics on the ironing board are my latest charity shop finds - a lovely embroidered dress, of which I will be turning into cushion fabric for my bedroom overhaul, and a lovely length of curtain fabric, which I don't know what I'm going to be doing with - just yet, but,there are ideas afoot!

It now gets worse, I'm afraid, as we move towards the yarn cupboard as here you might notice most or any of yarn recently 'shopped' for within my stash, but said stash not returned to the boxes from whence they came.  And, rather a lot of WIP's which I will get to at some point.  In here, I also hit upon the idea of hanging some of my fabric up onto coathangers, which works so long as you do it!

And, now, dear reader, the worst of my messy crime is visible here.  Every nook and cranny is crammed full of the evidence of a hoarder of addiction level!  In front of the radiator is the tall pile of the fabrics I want to use next in my projects, including the tweeds you cannot see at the bottom of a very deep box.  The dressmaker's dummy was my last year's birthday present, which I hav yet to adjust to my own measurements.  However, the bodice in progress you'll see there is not to fit me, but a dress being re-vamped from a pair of curtains.  This is for a charity shop in which my brother works, and the manager there asked me if I could possibly do this for them.  Last year.  Ahem,  I am just as the stage of gathering the very, very full skirt and then I can get it finished.  Pics on here, obv., when finished.

The spinning wheel was purchased about three years ago, after doing a day's spinning lessons, but never again picked up.  But, it will be.  One day, soon, I'm sure!

Now you have it - my guilty secret, about the place where I work and dream.

smoke and mirrors

We had a fright yesterday.  A 'friend' told my daughter something about the current child minder that deeply upset us, and I quickly went to fetch nanny's lolly-dolly-pop away from her.  We did enjoy her company for the afternoon, and, as I had to be away to work, grandad continued to look after her - taking her for ice-cream, yum.


We were then making plans for what should happen to nanny's l-d-pop when mummy and daddy are at their work.  All this while abstaining from confronting the child minder in any way, so as not to scupper (upset, put a stop to) anything.

Then, this morning, we hear that the 'friend' who had given us the 'information' that so upset us all, had been exaggerating!  What she had said she had seen was taken out of context, and out of proportion.  For goodness sake!  However, on thinking about it, she had previously told us untruths, and increased the drama of situations in which she had been.

The carer, who up until now has been entrusted with minding our little girl, and our little girl has been so happy with her, was nearly reported to the council.  This reporting would have been on her work record - forever.



Rightly, if it had proved the information was indeed correct, then swift action would have been necessary to protect, not only our nanny's d-l-pop, but other children, too.  And, we would have no qualms about doing so, at all.  Thank goodness we decided to investigate further.

It just goes to show - you can never really trust what someone says about someone else. Isn't it?  And this woman was just a drama queen, not even doing it in a spiteful, malicious way that some people delight in doing.



NB Pictures via Fotosearch, Royalty free 

When I 'come out'

Ooh, now it has happened.  I need to 'come out' locally, that is, to friends who I have been helping to learn how to start they're own blog. 

I have really been enjoying taking these workshops - and another friend has found others who want me to show them how to do this, as well! 

However, since I have the privilage of knowing others' blog details (though they can delete these and start new ones elsewhere, for privacy) it seems a bit silly to hold out the information about my own.  I have warned people, though, that they might see stuff on my own blog they may not like - such as swear words and/or views they may not agree with.  And, I suppose this goes for you as well, dear reader.  If you don't like it, you can use one of those little pinkies and click away from the page, ma'am!

More knitting, sewing and some bloggers

I knitted my mum a pair of socks - which I think she has secretly been wanting for a while now, but as you might remember, she has recently been in hospital again.  This time not with her heart, though they did revise her medication and we found out that her GP should have been monitoring her, and hasn't harrumph.  Anyhow, she is now coming to realise that rest, sometimes, she must.  And, to assist her with this unwelcome pastime I have produced a pair of lilac socks, which I think she'll love.

As you can see there is also a cream sock on the blockers, and that is mine.  It is such an easy pattern of six rows that I can mindlessly watch the telly while knitting.

Both these patterns are from the Interweave Press 'Favorite Socks - 25 timeless designs' book, (you'll have seen the others, here)  and are the third and fourth ones I've done from this one. There are many more that I want to do, too.  The yarn is Patons Fairytale 'Dreamtime' and is lovely and squishy, soft, though a bit 'splitty' to knit with.

I got the sock blockers from eebaay, and they came from USA, though I'm sure I have seen wooden sock blockers available in this country, somewhere on the world wide net, but, sorry, can't remember where.

And, folks, I have also been sewing.  We had a local competition with our rural last week, with a 'Toyland' theme.  In teams of four we had to come up with a knitted, sewn, embroidered and 'own choice' of items.  My idea for the sewing was to make a nursery book.  I chose the pattern from Simplicity for 'Baby's First Book' number S3709 and, though there were eight pages to do, I only managed four - you guessed it, I ran out of time, because I started late, doh!

page 1

page 2

                             page 3

                                                                                    page 4

I really enjoyed making this book, and did loads of things never before attempted, such as appliqué, satin stitch, covering my own buttons (the flowers - how easy was that?!) and the button-holing around the MY BOOK words. But, the amount of times I was changing my thread and bobbins, it got a bit confusing at times!

Speaking of confusing - I took a workshop today, on 'Building your own Blog' and have now introduced three more bloggers to the interweb, folks!  I won't link them here at the mo' as they might not want me to, but will if/when they give me their permissions.  It wasn't until I was making the lesson plan that I realised just how much I have learned over the past couple of years in blogland, and to be able to introduce people, some of whom were scared (I have another five people attending for the evening workshop, next week.)  And, then to see the lightbulb 'ping' on was gratifying.  I didn't even need to tell them to play around on it, they just wizzed ahead and, exactly as I had predicted, one said 'That was so easy!'  Yessssss.

Snow!

Yes, we had blimmin' snow this afternoon!  No, I don't believe it, either, but it was there - and, thankfully, gone again on this cold, but sunny day - bizarre.

I have been absent these couple of weeks as I've just been, well, busy I guess.  Just with work and stuff.  I didn't go to weight watchers this week, but lost a whole 2 lbs last week, yay!  So, that makes me 16 st 12 lbs, just 1 lb to go to get to my first stone, phew!  It just goes to show what can be done with counting points and sticking to the diet.

Anyway, must fly and will deffo be back this week, and with piccies - promise x