Rabbit Rattle

Crochet Rabbit Rattle for my friend's new baby.

Gardening Apron

Gardening Apron for a friend's house warming present.

No Junk for Us!

Handmade "no junk mail please" sign in Finnish.

Meet Cyril!

Cyril is an amigurumi pig, made for my nephew.

Boxy Matryoshka Pouch

Boxy pouch made with very kawaii Japanese fabric.

Monday 26 May 2008

Phantom cat pee

So, I'm taking VV for his umpteenth nappy change this morning when I smell something nasty in the hallway outside the nursery. Smells a bit like sick, so I grab the barely-used muslins to wash and change VV's top. Then I pass through the hallway to the kitchen and the smell is still there. "Perhaps it's the rug," I think, since the Monkey (the Chihuahua) has taken to leaving midnight 'presents' there, and put that in the washing machine. Job done.

But no, job most definitely not done. Back to the hallway I go and notice an odd splattering of brown liquid, from which the smell is emanating. Thinking it's a bit strange that I didn't notice it before, I thoroughly wash the floor, bookshelf, part of the walls etc. Smell gone, I empty the bucket and then turn around to see that the brown spots are back! No cat to be seen (suspect #1).

Looking upwards I see a spray bottle with a brown substance in it and a visible leak - case closed. I think it's plant food for the Boston Ferns. Turns out that both pets are innocent and husband is to blame! But at least there's a clean rug and extremely clean hallway now. I'll add 'wash hall rug' and 'wash hall floor' to Chore Buster now. I'm adding chores as I manage to do them, so that eventually I'll have a schedule of chores that it's actually possible to complete in one day with a baby.

Sunday 25 May 2008

Arigurumi octopus

New project: mohair shawl


Otherwise known as The Tapeworm - check out the photo to see why (loose base chain has made it a bit curly, but I'll block it when I'm done). I'm making it from the Easiest Shawl Ever pattern from Crochet Me. However, I'm using a 6mm hook, so it's taking way, way longer than a day to make and using a hell of a lot more yarn. But neither matters, since I wanted a project to do while breastfeeding (which is pretty much all the time at the moment) and I have 8 balls of Schachenmayr nomotta idena Mohair Lux to play with.

I bought the mohair for another shawl pattern in the Spring issue of Interweave Crochet, but somehow my friend and I managed to totally lose our heads in the shop, ending up with fingerweight mohair when the pattern calls for a pretty heavyweight yarn. But hey, this is only my third crochet project. I'm still hoping to make the original shawl, but that'll have to wait until this one is done and I've found suitable yarn. I won't post a picture of that pattern yet - who knows how long it will be before I finish The Tapeworm...

Saturday 24 May 2008

The washing machine lives!

Phew...

Bought a new book

And very excited about it I am too! Having recently decided that I actually rather like sewing, I broke my loosely-enforced craft book embargo and treated myself to Sew and Stow by Betty Oppenheimer.

Based on a quick read through, it looks most excellent and appeals to both my crafty and anal sides. Now to choose a project...

Friday 23 May 2008

Conquered the mountain at last

The mountain of ironing that is. Unbelievably I have been trying to empty the ironing basket since Monday and I have now succeeded. I knew having a baby in the house would make things difficult, but I didn't realise quite how difficult! I think I'll try Chore Buster for a while and see if that helps keep the boring housework under control so I can get on with more important things (like crafting!).

Edit: And now I have cleaned the black mould out of the washing machine. Sadly this seems to have killed it completely. Praying that leaving it alone and turned off for a while will sort it out.

Now on to some sewing - finishing the pocket nappies I started so I can get on to something more exciting.

Thursday 22 May 2008

Now we are two...

Apologies for the long absence, but I've been busy having a baby and recovering from the trauma. And boy was it traumatic (two transfusions, two post-birth operations, enough said...). But now I'm on the mend and the latest addition to our family - VV - is coming along nicely. He's already 5.525kg at 5 weeks!

My addiction to Google Reader and the ever-growing number of blogs I subscribe to has prompted me to make a decision about this blog. Originally I planned just to post when I've made something, but that means sporadic posts, especially when I can't be bothered to take photos of my creations (I've got several things to post about, but the camera needs dusting off first).

So, I'm going to post about things I've made and a little something extra about what I get up to. Hopefully of interest to someone...

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