Great Eccleston Agricultural Show

I've had an ambition to go to an agricultural show for years and this year is the first time I've made it to one. Despite weather which ranged from heavy showers to to hot sun to gusty wind, we had a lovely time, seeing animals great...



and small... (we think there should be a new class for showing 'Simultaneous Buggy and Dog Handling')


Checking out the big boys' toys...


And inspecting the wide, wonderful and yes, sometimes downright weird range of items competing for prizes. These included many, many cakes...


Some lovely quilts- the circles one is my favourite and already has me thinking about a 'big girl's bed' quilt for M (yes, she's only four weeks old, but it might take me a while!).


Beeswax and honeycombs- have to show this to my sister, who has been taken on as an apprentice beekeeper at the media company she works at (it's in London, they have a hive on the roof! And no, beekeeper is not her actual job)

And finally...my Fairisle pullover! All those months of fiddly colourwork, anguished frogging after I misread the pattern, re-knitting and then not being able to wear it because of the baby bump and finally it ends up winning first prize in 'Garment Knitted in a Fashion Yarn'!

A million woven in ends later...

Okay, I know it's not the best picture, but when I began this Fairisle tank my burgeoning bump was, well, not burgeoning at all. And now that I've finally finished it's going to take a bit of careful selection from my (limited) wardrobe to stop any pictures of me wearing it looking like the side of a lumpy, woolly house!
But I am very proud of this, my first big Fairisle project. I found juggling the different colours tricky, but not as bad as I thought. I managed the tension pretty well I think. I loved seeing the pattern emerge. I hated having a million ends to weave in at the end- when will I ever learn a proper technique for working them in as I go? I've taken quite a few breaks for some straight up and down, look at something else while you do it projects while this has been on the needles, but even so I don't think I'll be doing anything as complex or large scale for a while. I feel the need for quicker and/or less brain-taxing projects for a while.

The Why

This recent blog post from Remedial Eating made me laugh, but also made me think a little bit about why I do all this crafting. There are so many reasons. Among them: it fulfills some sort of need in me that I don't always realise I have until for some reason I can't create anything for a while; it gives a very fidgety person something to do with her hands; it gives a very fidgety mind something to think about in quiet moments; nothing compares to the wonderful calm that is reached when you're in the knitting zone; the satisfaction of having or giving something you know is unique. There are probably many more I could come up with, but with motherhood one 'why' has become even more important.
I knitted the little bear pictured before P was born, one of the few things my superstitious mind would allow me to make before his safe arrival. It's from a Debbie Bliss pattern and a better picture and details are on my Ravelry projects page. Until recently P has not been fussed about soft toys, this one included. He's certainly not been bothered about having them in bed with him. But since the New Year we've moved forward from a not-very-satisfactory sort of co-sleeping by accident situation to him sleeping in his own bed all night every night, meaning much better nights of sleep for everyone. At the same time, he has suddenly decided that Edmund Bear (named by C) is the perfect sleeping partner. It makes my heart sing when I put our little boy down for the night, or go and check on him, and that bear, made when motherhood was still a future mystery, is clutched firmly under his arm. When we go to get him up in the morning, the first thing he'll do is point to Edmund and earnestly tell us all sorts of things about him, before dropping him firmly back into the cot- Edmund is definitely a bedtime bear, not for elsewhere. That's a big Why.
P will probably be less appreciative of the latest project on my needles- I'm using all the leftover Felted Tweed from my Fairisle to make him a top down raglan sweater. This is partly because I'm waiting for some more of the dark blue so I can finally finish off- just the collar and armholes to do, but I ran out of yarn. It's also partly because he needs a new sweater- and I'll really try not to felt this one. P is a little bit too young to be that fussed about what he wears yet, but I'll still be happy knowing that it's my work that's keeping him cosy.
Having been thinking about this post for a couple of days, it just happened that a couple of my favourite blogs to read: Soulemama and Sew Liberated posted today in a similar vein. Both are inspiring as ever and well worth a read.

What's on your needles?

I've finally got a bit motivated about restocking my Folksy shop after my pre-Christmas success. A dinky little brown betty for one now has this 'beehive' style cosy made from Cornish Organic wool. To join it, the slightly larger brown betty is getting a humbug striped number made from more Cornish Organic and also some Sherington Flock Hebridean Wool, bought at last year's Woolfest to make a hat I never got around to (think I fell in love with the cute sheep more than the idea of the headgear!)
As the tea cosies can just about be managed with P running around during the day (only one ball of wool to keep out of his way) I'm keeping the evenings for the Fairisle. The latest update is, I've reached the armhole shaping, so I'm steeling myself for dealing with armhole shaping while working either side of the neckline separately, while maintaining the Fairisle pattern. Yikes!
What's on your needles?

All sewn up

I had a 'hang the housework' day today when I caught up on some napping and cracked on with the sewing. Even though I'm not going down to my Ma's for a few weeks to do the next stage, I just felt the need to get the quilt top finished and go back to working on my Fairisle in the evenings. No doubt C will be pleased as knitting is a lot quieter than the sewing machine. I think I can add 7 hours onto the previous time total to get to a result that I'm really pleased with. I can hardly wait to do the next stage- need to decide on batting and backing first. I'm thinking of a wool/cotton mixture batting and brushed cotton backing so that in winter it can be an extra layer and in summer a cover on its own.
Just one more bit of stitching I'm planning before the machine gets put away for a while- with more time at home with the boy coming up, I thought I would do something with these old shirts, a collection of toy animals and a certain well known song about a farmer. Had it not been for a phone call from a friend tonight I'd have got it done, but maybe I can fit it in around that still-waiting housework tomorrow morning. A more pressing job tomorrow is to go shopping for Seville oranges though- for until I heard someone mention it on the radio today I hadn't realised they were about and this year I'm going to make marmalade!

Baby it's cold outside

We've had a great festive season. This included some time spent at the farm, which thanks to an impromptu blogging session you can now read about here. The festive weather continues and although there hasn't been any snow it's still very chilly. The pics, then, are to try and engender a cosy feeling. We found this pattern book when tidying up today- I made the men's sweater for him indoors a few years back (minus the bobbles!) and in pure wool it's a warm up and a workout in one to wear! Meanwhile, I'm back on the Fairisle again, having forgiven myself for the misread pattern debacle.

Patience rewarded...

Just back from a lovely overnight at the farm. P was determined to help move the grass clippings! This morning we accompanied the bride-to-be to a flower wholesaler to look at all the fabulous blooms that will decorate the country church, candlesticks etc. Even without any sign of Eliza Doolittle, it was like sweetie shop only less fattening. Makes floristry tempting, until you remember how cold you'd get, lugging buckets of flowers around...
Sitting in front of the open fire and inexplicably hooked on watching Steve Martin in 'The Lonely Guy' last night I managed to finally get the mini fairisle vest finished, even weaving all the ends in. As a bit of sewing effort also finished the crowns at the weekend, it meant that I was able to give in to temptation and start on the new jumper for the boy. Pic doesn't do it justice, the tweed effect of the wool looks lovely and the blue/green colour changes in different lights.
Would love to hear what people think of the crowns- I have to admit to the acorns being my favourite...