10 things

There's so much fizzing about my head at the moment.

• Cam came back from yesterday's Closing Ceremony rehearsal covered in blue body paint.
• He has been rehearsing with some Very Famous People and is not remotely star-struck.  I am though.
• I have finished my first crochet project.  What started off as a blanket, morphed into a shawl, and then eventually ended up as a scarf - because I had become so bored with making Granny Squares.  I love the final article though.  Full details on Ravelry.

• Becoming a nurse means that I have to have a whole range of vaccinations.  Most of these vaccinations require blood tests first, to see what levels of antibodies I have for those particular diseases.
• This means that I have been stuck full of needles today, and have loads more to come over the next month.  I have a sore, bruised arm and am now very sympathetic towards patients who require endless blood tests and injections.
• I've made a rhubarb and orange cake today.  It smells very good indeed.
• I've downloaded the Isles of Wonder soundtrack, and it is much better than the grumpy review in The Guardian would have you believe.  It is quite wonderful in fact, and takes me back to the euphoria of the Opening Ceremony in an instant.
• I have been doing anatomy homework before I start University.  Did you know that the proper, anatomical name for your big toe is hallux?
• We're off to the Olympic Park again tomorrow - this time to see a whole morning of athletics.  Absolutely cannot wait.  We will be seeing Mo Farah in the 5,000 m heats.
• I never saw Downton Abbey when it was on the tele.  I have now got Series 1 from LoveFilm and can see what all the fuss was about.  The costumes and the hair are quite as wonderful as Maggie Smith.

In the middle of things

The longer days and brighter sunshine of spring don't translate themselves into an urge to spring clean - they just fill me with enormous energy for making things.  I don't normally like to have multiple projects on the go, because I can end up feeling overwhelmed, but at the moment that doesn't seeem to be a problem.

One legwarmer for O is finished, and the second one is coming along nicely.

These are a fast knit, and I like the colours she has chosen - they remind me of ice cream for some reason.  The combo with the red tights is an adventurous, but typical choice for O, who has no concept of colours clashing or matching - anything goes.  I rather admire that.

My colour preferences are more muted at the moment though.  Yesterday I finished the first of these armwarmers in some delicious Malabrigo yarn which I bought on a trip to Loop at the weekend.

The pattern is the wonderful Toast, found here on Ravelry, with a few small changes of my own.  The second armwarmer is also on the needles, and I am racing to get it finished before this week's walk, which is pencilled in for Friday.  I will end up with almost a whole skein of the yellow left over, and think I may make another calorimetry headband from it.

The third bit of knitting on the go right now (I know - three! very silly) is this facecloth in Debbie Bliss Eco Baby cotton.

I love the cotton (in yet another pastel spring shade), I love the pattern, which is from a library copy of Debbie Bliss's new book The Knitter's Year, and I love the idea of washing my face with a knitted washcloth rather than a tired old flannel.  However, knitting moss stitch is so incredibly slow.  It will be weeks before it is finished.  This trade off means that it will be a while before I replace all the worn-out flannels in my drawer with lovely cotton washcloths - I find moss stitch so beautiful but incredibly frustrating.

There's sewing happening as well as knitting!  Maybe I'm drinking too much coffee at the moment.

Last night I finished these pyjamas for C.

The top is a long sleeved t-shirt from Uniqlo.  Uniqlo don't seem to sell children's clothes here in the UK, but the men's XS size fits 11 year-old C very well.  The bottoms I made myself from a georgously soft checked flannel which I bought at Fabrics Galore last year for a bargain £4 a metre.  I used my favourite Simplicity 3669 pattern, which I've been sewing from for years - they are so simple I can make a pair in about an hour from start to finish.  Even better, the children love to wear them because they fit so nicely and are very comfy.

And then yesterday I received two new Lisette sewing patterns all the way from New York, which had escaped the sting of extra customs charges (very satisfying).  In the same delivery was the new Oliver + S book too.  So today I am cutting out fabric for a top for me, and planning some nephew and niece birthday presents for later in the year as well.  This is a photo of my ironing board, submerged under patterns and fabric, this morning.

The Oliver + S book is a thing of great beauty.  As I suspected, most of the projects are for children younger than mine (really for babies and pre-schoolers, with a few projects also good for children in the first year or two of school), but that's fine by me as I have plenty of small relatives to sew for.  I love the book for having so many good projects for little boys, who often get a raw deal when it comes to handmade love.

The Lisette patterns are lovely - and I think they are good value, even when ordered from America, because each packet has four patterns inside.  I bought these two patterns for the tunic tops, but now I have the patterns I also think I might make this skirt too.  I really like the skirt length and the button tabs at the front.

I am now off to make myself another pot of coffee.  There is spring making to be done - so much more fun than spring cleaning!

I do like a nice plastic wallet

Since I finished the quilt last week I'm back on the knitting again, and remembering all the knitterly things that I love:

• slim dpns - they make me feel very clever and dextrous
• yarn - so tactile and squishy
• Ravelry - I can waste entire evenings rummaging around its pattern library
• portability - I tuck my knitting into my satchel and sneak in a couple of rows when I am on the tube, sitting in the playground or waiting at ballet.

This last point has been helped considerably by the purchase of one of these plastic zip-up wallets from Muji.

I have the A4 size, which is big enough to hold one or two small projects on dpns, some photocopied patterns, my tape measure and a little pair of scissors.  When it is zipped shut, I can tuck the wallet into my satchel and it is ready for whenever I have a spare 5 minutes.

I love the ghostliness of the wallet when it is shut

The wallet in my satchel - no more pulling out my umbrella and having a whole ball of precious Debbie Bliss cashmerino come too

I'm knitting things for the children.  When I asked O what she'd like she declared legwarmers would be just the thing.  I am knitting her a pair of these Easy Peasy Leg Warmers (pattern from The Witty Knitter blog).  The pattern is for a 10 to 12 year old girl, and uses thick worsted weight yarn.  So I am knitting it in much finer Debbie Bliss cashmerino to get a better fit on those skinny 8 year old legs my girl has.  It is a super easy pattern - and coming together gratifyingly quickly.  You can see more details on my Ravelry page for them here.

C wanted socks.  He is a (young) man after my own heart and likes nothing better than handknit socks.  I quite agree with him that they are one of the nicest things that can be knit.  For these I'm using the reliable, free, Kaffe Fassett sock knitting pattern that I picked up in John Lewis years ago. They yarn I am using is also by Regia - a deliciously bright primary coloured one called World Circus.  Again you can find more details on Ravelry.

I think I may be a little odd in being so motivated to knit because I have a nice plastic wallet to keep everything in...but perhaps not.  Muji must be onto something - everything in that shop just makes me feel like a small child again, wanting to spend ALL my pocket money on rubbers, glue, notebooks, pencils, folders, storage tins and felt-tips.  That small child is still in most of us I think judging by the crowds of middle aged people sighing over the plastic wallets and hex pens every time I go into the shop - just like me.

10 things

There is a great deal happening around here at the moment.

• I finally finished the remaining clothes for O's boy Clothkits doll (renamed Bob, by O.  Love it!).  He now has this wonderful hat, a man-bag and a very natty pair of bright red, owl-festooned pyjamas to go with his jeans, check shirt and waistcoat.
• Thank you all so much for the good wishes for Cam's and Graham's races last weekend.  They read all your kind comments and were delighted.  They're planning to do another parkrun this Saturday.
• I made a lightweight summer outfit for Livvy (hoping for some seriously hot weather in France and Switzerland this summer) using two favourite Simplicity patterns.

The top is made from Simplicity 2986, using a really luscious (and precious) metre of Amy Butler Belle fabric, and the cropped trousers are based on Simplicity 3669 (modified quite extensively), using linen from IKEA.  Both the top and trousers are hemmed with thick velvet ribbon that my Grandmother gave me.  I fully expect these to get worn and worn all summer long.

• I'm finally reading The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - she is one of my most favourite writers.  I love it, and am racing through it far too fast.  Up next will be this one, or maybe this one.
• I have really enjoyed considering all your suggestions for small, portable sewing projects.  Currently on the go are small bits of embroidery, sewing suffolk puffs, and little felty projects,  How could I have forgotten about felt?  And my favourite felt book?  Great fun.
• I've been baking biscuits, using a delicious recipe in Rachel Allen's Bake.  I have written about this book before, but it really is excellent, and I keep going back to it.  The recipe I used was the Basic Cookie recipe, with added orange zest.  A lemon version is on the cards for this weekend.
• I got Debbie Bliss's book Simply Baby out of the library last week, and I am knitting the two tone baby socks, which are just too sweet for words.

• I have such a large stash of Debbie Bliss's Baby Cashmerino yarn that I might have to buy this book and start up sock production for all the babies I know.
• This weekend I am planning on making my own bagels.  I've been meaning to do this for months and it is time to stop promising to do it and have a go.  Any tips?
• The other thing happening this weekend is a return trip to the quilt exhibition at the V&A with my sister.  Very exciting!