More knitting

That's my project this week.  More of P's birthday shrug.  To be honest, I am itching to start knitting some baby items, so the sooner I finish this, the sooner I can get onto the squishy newborn stuff.

7) Pass something on

7) Pass something on
          - Something you won/bought/were gifted but that just isn't right for you


I thought I might as well start my 12 in 2012 with a bang and have a giveaway.  Some time ago I won a great giveaway from Rhiannon over at Remarquable junk.  It was packed with all sorts of lovely crafted things.  And included in it were these beautiful push pins.

 I opened the container and admired them lovingly, and then because I have small children, and no pinboard or corkboard to put them in, I put them on the mantlepiece out of reach of little fingers.

 And there they sat until this week.  It is clear that I am not going to use these, and they are far too beautiful to be sat around on my mantlepiece.  So I am giving them away.

To enter: Just leave a comment on this post.  If you are a follower - leave another comment telling me so.  Because these are small, I'm happy to post internationally.

The giveaway will end next Friday 3 February, and I'll aim to post the following week.

Linking up with Creative Friday this week.

Birthday present progress

P's birthday present list:

Jacket (bought on sale)

Fishing rod

Fabric letters

Knitted shrug

The shrug is the solstice hooded shrug.  It was created by Kelly Brooker, but isn't currently available for sale.  It should be available next month or so.  I couldn't resist knitting it in red.

My desire to not teach P to read or write too early is well documented.  But she has started to get really interested in the whole process, and can now write her name, and recognise some words.  And I am not one to stand in the way of her interests, so I think she will love these.

Maternity/selfish sewing

I'll let you in on a secret -  I don't like maternity wear.  It never fits me properly, I don't know how to wear it right, and it seems such a waste of money to buy something I'm only going to use for a few months.  So when I got out my maternity wardrobe earlier this month I was seriously less than inspired.  This pregnancy is a different season from my previous two, and I am working.  So I need some pants and skirts - rather than the two pairs of maternity bottoms I currently have, that don't actually fit me anyway.

So my project this week is to sew myself something that will actually fit me this pregnancy.

I thought I might adapt this skirt pattern for my baby belly.  We'll see how that goes.

12 in 2012 list

For my reasons for making this list click here.  I'd love it if you joined me in sharing a bit of your 'real' life in 2012 as well.

Please note this list contains many "failings".  This isn't meant to make anyone feel embarrassed or ashamed of what we haven't accomplished, its about showing a bit of insight into our lives.

1) Show us your house as it is, right now

2) Show yourself as you are right now
          - You can be as creative as you like about what parts of yourself you chose to 'expose'

3) Document a failure
          - Something that seemed like a good idea but just didn't work

4) Document something you gave up on
          - Something that you started, but just couldn't complete (or if you are very brave your UFO stash)

5) Document a success
          - Something that worked out exactly as it should have (or even better)

6) Share a personal quirk
          - Something you might be a little embarrassed about, or know is silly, but do anyway

7) Pass something on
          - Something you won/bought/were gifted but that just isn't right for you

8) Share the chore you dislike the most around the house

9) Share something that makes your craft or hobby possible
          - Eg: craft once the kids are in bed, ignore the housework, that sort of thing

10)Share something that makes your craft or hobby difficult
          - Eg: space restrictions, money, housework

11)Share a piece of music and/or art that best represents you

12)Have a giveaway of something you've made yourself.

I'll be working my way through these 12 points this year, but probably not in any particular order.  If you want to join in, you're welcome to do as many or as few of these as you'd like.

12 in 2012

I follow some really lovely blogs, and its great to read about all the fun and interesting things that these talented women create.  I read posts about wonderful creations, fun activities, and inspiring living often accompanied by stunning gorgeous photography.

And sometimes when I read these posts, I feel inadequate.  I look at the craftsmanship and think "I could never make something that great", or I feel sad that my kids don't have the kind of lives that appear on other women's blogs.

It can be easy to forget, when reading in blogspace, that we aren't actually seeing someone's real life.  The posts on the blogs I follow are (rightly) about the wonderful things they create and the successes in various areas of their life.  When I take a picture for my blog I wipe down my table, and move all the piles of stuff so you can't see them in the shot.  You don't see what my house looks like outside the pictures.  Equally, when you see something I have created, its just after its been made; you don't know if the stitching on P and J's finger puppets has come apart after a couple of uses, or if their Montessori activities were ever used properly.

So, I thought I would start a series of posts this year exposing my 'real' life for my blog.  To give you a better picture of how things really are in my life.  My 12 post topics are here.

I'd love it if you wanted to join in and give your readers a glimpse into the totality of your lives.  If you want to join in, just leave a link in the comments (I am too lazy to work out a linky thingy).

How does my garden grow

Thanks to some fine weather, its growing in a much more orderly fashion.

 My roses are about the only non edible plants that I cultivate.  Although cultivate may be too generous a word for it.  I prune them twice a year and dead head them in summer.  DH takes pity on them and occasionally waters them as well.  Pretend you can't see the aphids on the rose stem.

  

 My lavender also looks great, I'll harvest these in a month or so (if DH doesn't get to them first with the hedge trimmer).

 Every year I fight a losing battle with my cherry tomatoes trying to keep the laterals under control.  This year I decided not to bother, so we will see if it has an effect on the crop.  No ripe tomatoes yet, but plenty of flowers.

 Our pumpkin patch (sadly affected by the wet weather - some of the pumpkins have rotted).

 Look how orderly my vege garden looks!

Herb garden.  From bottom: Basil, Lemon balm, Marjoram and Oregano right at the top.  Its a pity its so low to the ground or I'd use the hedge trimmer on that as well - the Oregano needs a really good prune.

One project a week revisited

I'm only a week into my projects for the year, and already I have rejigged them.  I've updated the post here.  But my project this week remains the same - presents for P's birthday.  She'll be 4 in April and so far I have a barely started shrug for her, and that's about it.  So its time for some brainstorming about what she might like, and some serious crafting.

What do 4 year old girls like?

My poor garden

Our garden has been seriously neglected over the past month or so.  Its one of the areas of my life that has really suffered, because I am working and more recently from early pregnancy.  So this week's project is to get stuck into the vege garden.  This would be a bit easier if we hadn't just had the wettest December on record, but I have been helped by DH's chemical weeding.

My raspberry canes are hiding in amongst this grass.

DH and I came home from our holiday to find the strong winds had torn the top off our Courgette plant.  I was gutted, there were a good couple of months of courgettes left, and now we have none.

One Project a week 2012

My projects for this year, one week at a time

9/01   - Gardening
16/01 - P's birthday presents
23/01 - Selfish/Maternity sewing
30/01 - Knitting
6/02   - Photos
13/02 - Baby sewing
20/02 - No project yet
27/02 - P's birthday presents
5/03   - Nappies
12/03 - No project yet
19/03 - P's birthday presents
26/03 - Nappies
2/04   - UFO's
9/04   - No project yet
16/04 - birthday prep
23/04 - Winter sewing/sorting
30/04 - Nappies

You will notice that they only go to the end of April.  That's when I'll be 30 weeks pregnant, and I know from past experience that things will get much harder at that point.  So after that I will be knitting, and stocking up the freezer, but not much else.  DH thinks I will be working until I'm 38 weeks, but we'll see about that.

So that's the plan.  Anyone keen to join me? I promise I'll do a button.

Decluttering

My project this week is to declutter my house.  The reasons for this are twofold.  One, I need to make room in our small house for the baby; and two, P and J are away with my parents until the weekend.  The opportunity to declutter their bedrooms was too big to pass up.

I thought I didn't have enough storage space but after some concerted decluttering, it turns out that actually I just had too much stuff.  The bags above are just the things to go to the Hospice Shop, there was probably an equal amount of rubbish that I got rid off, and there is still a bedroom and laundry to go.  Wish me luck, and if I don't post in the next week, its safe to assume that I've been buried under a pile unused and unnecessary junk.

Some big news

I had intentions of writing an eloquent post about Christmas and New Years, with a witty explanation as to my blogging absence of late.  But eloquence has definitely left the building around here.  And I'm blaming it all on the baby.

Yes, that's right, we are expecting another little one in July 2012.  Up until this point I've been feeling too nauseous and exhausted to devote much time to blogging (or in fact anything other than 'living'), but I'm hoping that I will get some more energy soon.  So look out for a modified one project a week this year, and a new feature '12 in 2012'.  Oh, and lots of baby craftiness of course.