Cakes but you can't eat them

A couple of weeks ago I sent very patient swap partner, yes that's you Beki, her parcel

I didn't take pictures of everything I sent - because I am useless in more fields than just posting things.

But I did manage to take photos of the cake bits....


A mixed media painting of something I know Beki enjoys

Beki tells me the sprinkles survived the journey south. :)


And a knitted dishcloth....



Just something to help brighten up those tedious daily chores.


Like I said there were other things but no photos I'm afraid.

Queen of Procrastination

Do you remember me posting about working in my pals shop in May? And I knitted something up that a certain someone thought was a cover for their gin bottle? :)

Well I finally sewed it together today. Yes that's right 6 months later.


Big one is very pleased as now she can stop wrapping the hotty botty up in a towel. Bad Mother Award to me.
But I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, I'm thinking of adding some embellishments. Maybe even knocking up a few more and seeing if I can sell them.....maybe.

So what else did I do today. Well I wrapped up warm and took myself off to the charity shop. I don't know if you've seen the news but my part of the world is a bit white at the moment.

This was the garden just before the huge flakes started coming down again. The smalls were very disappointed this morning when I phoned the school snow closure line (yes we have things like that in Scotland) and only the kids who took the bus in from surrounding villages were off. They are hoping the snow keeps falling and their school gets closed tomorrow. LOL

Anyway I toddled off to the charity shop as I've not been down there for a while and look what i found.

The cutest snail. Yes I know I have odd tastes in my knick knacks, what with hands, heads, mushrooms and the like. But look at that face.

Right off to make a hot drink, it's blinking cold tonight isn't it?

20p Madness and feeling blue

Remember I told you about my local charity shop ladies and how fiercely they guard their button boxes? Well the upside of that is when there are things in the shop that haven't been priced they make the prices up there and then.
I popped into the shop on Monday to drop off some books that I'd finished with and as always managed to find a few bits and bobs to take home. As you can see it was a totally colour themed buy, which to be honest I didn't even notice until I got home and took the photo.



Now books are always 20p unless they are a hard back and then the price shoots up to 50p. Guess where most of my books come from? Crazy prices...and eldest small person wonders why I exclaim "How much!!!" when I'm in a proper book shop.

Anyway where was I, oh yes the wee old ladies who just grab prices out of thin air when there is no price sticker to be found. Now I'm not sure how much they usually charge for knitting needles but I'm pretty sure I paid more than this last time but I just had to have these beauties, the colour of them is so fab! So there was no price on them, the books were 20p, the wool was £1.20 so it was only logical that the wee lady serving me grasped 20p out of the air for my needles. :)

I've been a busy bee

I've not blogged for a few days as I've been helping out at my friend's shop. It's a brilliant wee shop called The Rainbow Hat. They run a stall at a lot of rallys, galas and fetes all over Scotland and they are a great couple. I just help out on the odd days when they have to go far afield and are doing it as family time.



Colourful isn't it?



They opened this shop about 18 months ago and people come from all over the place, even Englandshire, to shop



Anyway while I've been there this week I've had the time to do a bit of crafting. I know shocking isn't it? So far this year my crafting mojo seems to have been living under a rock.

Anyway I got a bit of knitting done.

Can you tell what it is?

I've also got some stencilling time in. These are for my newest wee neighbour born recently.



Sorry about the bad photos, I took them on my camera phone and the light wasn't so great.

Oh and just one quick question. Have you seen the advert on tv for John Lewis? Well I was just wondering why is it the lady in red get's taller the older she gets? By the time she gets to the old lady stage she's like a giant! Anyone else notice that? Or is it just me and my odd ways again? Hmm thought so.

Anyone wet?

This rain is getting ridiculous, I'm actually starting to think that I missed the build an ark memo somewhere.
There seems little point in wondering what you're going to wear each day as there is only the one outfit that is suitable.


Today I've done nothing, no seriously nothing. Well I am actually actively avoiding the ironing pile. I feel like it's that giant muffin in the Special K advert, it's creeping up behind me and I have a sense of impending doom knowing that I'm going to have to go do it. Well at least the small people's school uniforms and work clothes for me. Yes I know I was only just posting (moaning) that there is so much housework needs doing but I did spend time yesterday trying to find wee one's bedroom floor, the bathrooms are not toxic and the dishes were washed. So I'm taking today off, I've had my feet up and I'll go see if my local chemist has some flight socks in the morning. Thanks for everyone for your advice and support, not quite sure I'm ready for support tights yet though MrsB LOL

Well we're forcast for yet more rain so I guess I should invest in a new brolly as the one I used last night decided to acquire a very unusual tilt.


Right now...knitting or ironing, knitting or ironing?

Swollen ankles

and no I'm not pregnant. That would be a miracle beyound all reasonable doubt! LOL
I am however just plain exhausted. I work 7-8 hour shifts at the pub so am on my feet constantly for that amount of time, no I don't get breaks or a lunch hour and yes I know that is wrong. But it is what it is and my poor legs and feet are paying the price. Usually by the end of my shift my feet and ankles are throbbing but it's bearable, however this last week my ankles have rebelled and where my ankles were there is now just a straight line from my foot up to my calf :( Ouch, ouch and bloody ouch! So any advice, remedies will be gratefully received. I do try to sit down and put my feet up but invariably with the 2 small people, dog and the never ending housework that's not always something I can do within the first couple of hours of getting home.
And yes the housework


image source www.uglyhousephotos.com

Yep that's what I'll be doing this weekend....housework! No they are not actual images of my house but inside my head it feels like it could be.

But just like the news I'll leave you with a happy note, I'm crafting, knitting actually. Oh yes I am. I saw something that a friend made, thought oooh that's nice...I wonder. She said go, do! So I am and big one has already claimed it even though it's not even half way done. :) Oh and wee one has put in her order for the next one.

Nerves and picture overload

The nerves are because I have my interview tomorrow and I am soooo tired because I'm not sleeping again. My brain is not reknowned for being at its best when I'm this tired so I'll probably come across as a bumbling idiot tomorrow. :/

Anyway I've been a bit lax with putting any pictures on my blog for a while so here goes.

A teapot cosy that I made for my OYP Halloween swap. My first teapot cosy :D


A wee pincushion for the same swap...it's he a cutey?


My new coat I know a certain lady will like this as it is her favourite colour ;)
Isn't it gorgeous? There's a new shop opened in the village and it totally stocks the kind of things that I like and that the Stepford Mums will run screaming from LMAO


I've been doing lots of painting and sanding lately and I thought I'd share with you one wee project that I did with a tin of blackboard paint and some pictures that no longer have a home.




So looks like I'm up for a busy weekend, tomorrow is interview, work and then out to see off a friend who is deploying off to Afghanistan. So I'll be asking for ideas for care packages soon so get your thinking caps on please.

Saturday is wee one's birthday party after which she's got 2 friends coming home with us for a sleep over. Did I mention that I'm not sleeping, well I guess I won't be getting much of it this weekend anyway :D

No thrifting fun today

:( Things conspired against me today and I didn't get to go to the local charity shop. I wonder what I missed out on. Ah well I'll just have to hope that whatever treasures there are will still be there on Monday.
So what can I share today instead....
Well here's a scarf that I knitted for a dear friend who I met off 43Things. She admired the scarves that I did as Christmas presents so how could I not make her one of her very own?

I sent her some beaded magnets of her name and a banana (don't ask) some Scottish sweeties and a Scotland babushka (sp) but totally forgot to take pictures of them - slapping self on forehead. Have to admit when she emailed me to thank me for the stuff I didn't know what a babushka was but worked out that she meant what we call a headsquare or headscarf. Culture differences again I suppose :D

Blobbing blobs

or as the case actually is bleeding stencil lines :(
Today I had a major lie in as I didn't even crawl into my bed until 6am. My own fault, was pulling an all nighter to get my Uni essay finished. Was so cold I didn't even realise I was cold until I got into bed next to a lovely toasty warm him indoors. You have to love a man who wakes up that early in the morning (probably by my radiating coldness - honest I didn't touch him!) and pulls you to him to try and warm you up enough so you can go to sleep.
Anyway once I'd had a few hours sleep the craft bug in me that has had to be horribly suppressed this week due to said essay sprang forth and I went on a bit of a craftfest. I love stencilling shirts and wee one and I had come up with the plan with doing a shirt for her friend who's birthday it was today. (Yes I know leave it till last minute) As you will see from my post title I've been having a few issues with stencil bleeding. I can't work out what's going on though as one shirt will be absolutely fine then the next one will bleed. Very frustrating. So this is the shirt we did today for wee one's friend


But wait the crafting did not stop there. I owe a lovely lady from craftster a shirt so that was painted today too, no pics as yet and again there was a bleed :( I could cry honestly I really could. Him indoors and the small people think I'm too much of a perfectionist - maybe I am but when you're giving it to someone else you like it to be the best you can do no?
This is the cutest wee bear that she sent me as a swap for the stencilled shirt. Here she is overseeing my stencil cutting skills


So after all that cutting and painting I finally sat down and devoted the time to sew together the polar bear that I knitted for wee one before Xmas - yes I know bad mummy :( And here he is...




He's my first attempt at a knitted soft toy and I think I should have popped a bit more stuffing into his belly as his legs look out of proportion now but she loves him and he's already been named Poley and has been taken off to bed with her tonight. :D

So tomorrow is thrifting day. Our local charity shop only opens two days a week, Monday and Thursdays and as I missed Monday due to writing THE essay I'm off to shop tomorrow so here's hoping I have some good finds to share tomorrow.

Examples of my craftwork

Work makes it sound like a chore when in fact I enjoy making things...hey there's a notion maybe some people enjoy their jobs!
Anyway this last Christmas (ok obviously before Christmas) I decided that the majority of my gifting was going to be home made items. Seemed like a good idea at the time and from subsequent comments it would appear that the majority of my work was not done in vain.
So here's a couple of piccys of the things I did.


A deluge of scarves - well I'd only just started knitting again and they are one of the easiest things to make.


A stencilled t shirt for my eldest nephew.


A stencilled shirt each for my big bruv and sil.



Yet another t shirt, this one for the youngest nephew

And some cute handwarmers.

There were other things but numpty that I am I didn't take pictures of it all.