Home Economics

Moving house is costly, in both time and money, so we've been trying to preserve both recently. Most of our belongings seemed to survive the move unscathed, thank goodness, but somehow a box containing the jam P and I made recently travelled here upside-down. As they only had wax discs and cellophane discs on them, I was worried that this upending could cause them to go mouldy. I'm no preserves expert but I decided to invest in some screw-on jam jar lids from Lakeland. Hopefully this means we'll be kept in jam for a few months yet.


Meanwhile, with work on my Manu cardigan halted due to running out of yarn, I was itching to get knitting again, but not eager to spend on yarn. Then, while sorting through clothes ready to pack for the move, I came across a couple of knits that have never quite worked on me. One, made in a gorgeous orange/red shade of Rowan Big Wool, was a lovely cabled cardigan. I loved it in theory, but in practise it never hung right, was too bulky to wear under a coat and didn't do me any favours. So, while we were taking refuge with my folks I frogged it. Big Wool tends to pill quite easily I've found, but in this case it seemed to have formed big, felty tufts which were easy enough to pluck off as I went, leaving me with pretty clean yarn. I confess, I didn't wash it and hang it in skeins as I should have done- slapped wrist!



Then I dithered over a pattern, but finally decided on 'Emma' from Rowan's Big Just Got Bigger. I doubt it will go under a coat but I'm planning for it to be an extra layer to wear indoors when it gets chilly. Now, whenever I have a 'quiet' moment, which aren't easy to come by at the moment, I'm working away.



On 10mm and 12mm needles, it grows pretty quickly, it has to be said. I've completed the back and I'm already halfway up the front. However, progress has been interrupted today with exciting new developments on the Manu front- more on that soon.

Homemaking

There are still many, many boxes to unpack, miles of embossed wallpaper heavily painted in hideous colours to scrape off and that's just to begin the redecorating process, a garden to explore and do...oh goodness, so much to, a washing machine to get working (oh dear!) and of course a baby and a toddler to keep in some form of routine. But, but! The kitchen, while not quite there aesthetically, is unpacked and fully functioning and as far as I'm concerned once I've got a pot of tomato sauce bubbling on the hob it's beginning to look a lot like home.

Weekending

We (me and the kids) have escaped the final stages and actual event of moving day by taking off to my parents house. P is revelling in having many rooms and a garden to run in and out of, M is being cuddled by doting relative afer doting relative and I'm enjoying the peace and inspiration of the garden, from flowers to the impressive veg patch, while dreaming of what ours might be like in the future. Even the floor sweepings make a pretty picture here!