Thimbleina

Sewing is hip after all

 

Well I rushed into the supermarket this morning looking for this magazine and I couldn't see it on the shelf, I think I frightened the woman who was putting the new magazines out as I almost shouted oh 'SEW HIP'! I think she might have thought I was a lunatic, especially after I excitedly said it was a new magazine out today.

Well done Manda and team for such an excellent bright and funky magazine, it is just what the UK market needed instead of those old fashioned magazines cluttering up the shelves. It is full of things from blogland. There is a section where Manda handpicks some Etsy stores to showcase, a pillowcase tote bag, an article on Amy Butler, a pattern for blouse and bloomers by Manda, a review of a pattern by Oliver & S and allsorts of people from blogland it like Posie gets cozy and lots more. I would highly recommend you go out and get a copy it is well worth having a look at.

In order to steal 10 minutes peace to flick through and plan deeper reading later I took the kids to a forest nearby that has climbing frames to get rid of some energy. Lady A really suprised me with the confidence and lack of fear of heights that she has with a massive climbing frame which some older kids were struggling with. I wish I had her bravado some days. I know this is bragging but my kids constantly amaze me with the things they can do I am totally in awe of them and the things they learn when I am not looking

  

I think though taking the bikes and going further than Mister T could manage may have been a slight error of judgement on my part, it made me feel like this:

  

Hope you all have a great weekend and you might want to get the 'Sew Hip' magazine for those moments of quiet that you can manage to steal away.   

Christmas is coming...

 

I know you don't want to be reminded how fast Christmas is sneeking up on us, but in my effort to get my to-do list I had some Christmas decorations on there. These are really easy to make - just two pipe cleaners twisted together cut in half and then curled at the top and can then be hung on the Christmas tree just as they are - simple but I think they look quite good I might also put some real ones on the Christmas tree, but they won't last long!

 

While we had the pipe cleaners out the kids made some flowers with tissue paper. Off now to get down that to-do list

Tea for two

A little trip to the charity shops that try to look around each week turned up these little treasures. A teapot for Mr Thimbleina as I managed to break the Denby one that went with the set of pots that we have. So I have given up trying to match it and when I saw this 1930's shaped teapot I thought this is the one to replace my clumsy accident. I don't drink tea, well not the PG Tips type of tea I cannot bear the perfume of it - I seem to have a very strong sense of smell since I had children, I also cannot bear to have Jasmine of lilies in the house or moisturiser with strong smells. 

I also found this Kathe Krusse soft toy which is as good as new and with the little baby parcels I am sending out I thought ideal so snapped it up before anyone else noticed - it was hidden behind a load of other plastic toys just waiting to be discovered so I felt I had to rescue it. It is such a lovely soft cotton and I wish I could keep it for myself but I shall pass it a lucky baby to snuggle.

I thought we would get snow last night as most of the rest of the country had snow even London but we missed out. To think I could have been posting photos today of snowman building. Well off to put the thermal vest on. 

First frost

 

I needed this porridge this morning to warm my insides as we had our first frost. I don't know where autumn has gone I think we are fast going to winter.

Good job I managed to knit Mister T a new hat out of the wool I had left over from the jumper that I knitted him in Rowan Tweed

 

Another fuzzy photo of the ever moving Mister T. Although lets face it my photography skills lack somewhat, when I get some spare time I might try to learn to take good photos and perhaps if that happens at the same time as I come into money I might upgrade my camera (the two happening together or at all are very unlikely so don't hold your breath you might just have to put up with my fuzziness - hope you aren't reading for the artistic photography!)

Baby knitting

 

These little baby slippers have been stolen by lady A who fancied them for her dolly. They are meant to be part of a present for my sister who is expecting her second child near Christmas. So I think I may need to knit some more as I don't think these are going to reappear soon do you?

Twitching

 

We have been watching all the activity in our yew trees as they are burgeoning with bright red berries which is feeding lots of different birds. So we spent some time with the bird book, drawing materials and binoculars and identified and drew the birds that we saw. This is the book that we use to identify the birds and for drawing those birds that don't stand still very long, it has beautiful detailed pictures.

 

I have finished Mister T's tweed jumper, the photo is quite fuzzy, but this is the best of about 20 I took, he never stays still, honestly he is active from the moment he wakes up at 6am to the moment he goes to bed in the evening and he talks for most of that time - so is a little whirlwind

Waldkindergartens

 

I read about these Waldkindergartens in the newspaper at the weekend here is the article. We have one like this near us that was started by a German lady. The kids get dressed up in full waterproofs when the weather is a little inclement (shall we say to make it sound nicer). They spend most of there time in the forest collecting things, making dens, identifying wildlife and so on. Very much like in the article the children get to experience nature as alot of kids are driven to nurseries and are stuck inside in heated buildings and don't get to touch or see any of the natural world outside.

I think back to my childhood and think of the amount of time we used to be outside in all weathers and what we used to play with. We used to make mud pies and use stones to play shops and make rose petal perfume which we would store on the shelves in the coal shed. I so want my children to grow up noticing nature and how important it is to our lives. So although in our garden we have this bold patch under the tree it is very useful as it provides a place to make mud pies and take shade from the sun and the rain so let them play alot outside in all weathers 

Repurposing for Hallowe'en

 

I spent some time yesterday making Lady A's Hallowe'en costume. The hat was made from a velvet skirt of mine the wire to make the frame was from an old plastic cheap one that had ripped. The polo neck jumper is one of my old ones with the body slimmed down and sleeves and bottom of the body cut down. The skirt is an idea I have seen on a few blogs in the past, a piece of elastic around the waist and then strips of fabric tied to the elastic, the fabric was a mixture of fabric I had in my stash and a lining of an old dress. Lady A wore it all yesterday afternoon so I think it might be a hit with her, she just wants a broom she says, so I'll have to see if I can find some twigs to make one on one of our walks.

 

A game that we played at the weekend involved fish cut out of newspaper and a piece of cereal box to use to flap at the fish to get them to the finish line, although I think in this photo Lady A may just be cheating a little! But it was fun.

What a struggle

 

Oh this jumper for Lady A has been an uphill struggle, I'm so glad she likes it (this photo was taken after she had decided to get red paint down the bottom of it). I have knitted this jumper before I think that is why it didn't inspire/excite me very much and the fact there is no complicated bits to challenge me.

The pattern is the Debbie Bliss St Ives smock from the cotton denim aran pattern book. The wool is Debbie Bliss but I got it in the John Lewis sale so it is probably discontinued now.

At least now I can get on with Mister T's jumper which is a bit more interesting as it is in a lovely tweed which is knitting up so well.

Getting organised

 

I need to order a new diary from organised mum as mine will run out at the end of December. This is the first year that I have had this type of diary and it has worked really well for me. It runs from September to December of the following year and has sections for Shopping list, meal ideas and to do list and a to do list at the beginning of each month so that you can enter things that you need to do in January 2009 as and when you think of it.

This diary has helped keep my life in some sort of order, I try to make the effort to write things down as soon as I arrange them then if it is party invitations I write the date in the diary and details then stick the invitation on the cork board. 

This website has various types of diaries, weekly planners, family life books in different sizes and stickers for the diaries and reward charts. Take a look I really find mine very useful.