Knitting a kyoto

So the baby is almost one and there has been a distinct lack of knitted loveliness in her life. A birthday approaching and a super sweet pattern found, I plan to rectify this. Here is the cute cardigan I am hoping she will be wearing on her first birthday.  I hope writing this will give me the motivation to blow the dust of my needles.

These sweet booties were  the last thing I knitted for her; escaping from the builders last year I made these before she was here. 

Whilst grocery shopping late last night I found some rather lovely craft books and wool amidst the lemonade and work boots, Aldi is a little random at times.  This purple wool with a hint of sparkle will be a huge hit with her older sister if not appreciated by the smallest one. Three balls of wool for a fiver makes me a happy knitter and feel slightly less guilty about buying another craft book. I think the Kyoto pattern will look super sweet in the turquoise wool.

The pressure is on to finish her cardigan in a fortnight, maybe I will just sew her a super fast birthday spring skirt instead!


Are you a deadline crafter or does that take away the relaxation side of making for you?

Eleven Month Mabel

Time has just flown by and all my intentions of keeping a monthly baby record of my last baby seem to have been absorbed in the busy reality of life.  Hundreds of images safely stored on my  hard drive until such a day when I will finally  have  time to sort through precious reminders  of her first  year.

This blog has also fallen to the back seat of busy life: I was considering closing it when I looked back at my early posts and realised my series of 'Ruby months' began at the age her small sister is now. It seemed like a great opportunity to compare them as they grow.

Capturing eleven month Mabel was not easy, she is at that put everything into your mouth stage, in the end I decided to remember that.  Her sweet little chubby hands will grow so fast.

Still using this old pram, a perfectly safe place for her to safely survey the family mayhem.

A month of new adventures for this little lady; leaving Mummy as she returned to work, the cries as I leave her are finally subsiding which makes for a much happier me. Adventures on the back of a bicycle and swimming for the first time have all contributed to a busy month.

This sweet and happy soul seems to take it all in her stride.

She reminds me so much of her older sister at the same age in this picture.

How do you store precious images? 

Do yours get lost on a hard drive too?

So that was January

Actually meeting May Martin, of Great  British Sewing Bee fame, a new series is starting soon and I am already looking forward to it.

Finding bargain craft books on this website and enjoying spending christmas pennies.

Saving water because we have just been put on a meter, not looking forward to that bill!

Making sweet baby shoes just as my small girl starts standing.

Covering chairs in fabulous fabric.

Hosting a super fun party for a beautiful fifteen year old.

Walking the dog amidst this dismal wet weather.

Covering a broken mirror frame in sticky blackboard paper and having fun doodling special messages on it.

Taking a few moments away from the mayhem of life to enjoy a candlelit catch up with the man.

Starting work again.

Valuing precious time with my gorgeous little lady who at just ten months is causing delightful disruption.

Totally late but happy new year, 

may it be full of beautiful memories!

What has been special about your wettest January on record?

Thirteen Weeks

Thirteen weeks: ninety one days since this little girl joined our lives.

 It was only thirteen weeks before that we first found out about her and  saw a little   face on the monitor in the dark scan room.

As I was looking through the sports day photos earlier, I was struck with the similarity of this picture with the image on the screen that memorable Saturday.

This is the moment when I should show you the scan picture but in the midst of the chaos of the building work and general upheaval of decorating since, they seem to have disappeared.  

Safe in the lower part of the double pushchair this little babe quietly slept through most of the noise of sports day.  Hiding away just like she had for six months of pregnancy.

Seeing her little face with her hand to the side and her sweet little rounded nose just like all her siblings brought back vivid memories of the almost identical image  on the ultrasound screen.

Thirteen weeks seemed a very short time to prepare for a new baby.


Today I realised how much has changed and even though it has only been three months, I cannot imagine our family without her.

Five days old

A perfect little gift.



I know this will be a precious photo as it made me realise just how special she is and reminded me of this verse:

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139


Do you have a special verse or poem?

Mary Jane Booties

Knocking walls down and having the kitchen rearranged in the final weeks of pregnancy left no choice but to hide away upstairs with some wool for company. Fifi on DVD kept small girl happy while I clicked away using my best bamboo needles.

Using this pattern found on ravelry, and some left over wool I made these super fast booties   easily in an afternoon.  I used Sirdar snuggly baby dk wool  which was lovely to work with, feels very soft and is great value;  I made two pairs of booties, two hats and still had wool to spare despite having started with a left over ball.  Best of all the pattern was quick to finish and looks deliciously  cute. Those purple flower buttons I had been saving for something special finished the booties perfectly.

I have enjoyed looking at them  sitting on the kitchen dresser but even more I have loved looking at them being worn by the small person I was thinking about when I was making them.  Even if she does keep kicking them off!

Lying all cosy in her pram is the best place to be at the moment, looking at all  the rain and wind through the conservatory window  has kept her happy for most of the morning.

She is growing so fast that I need to make some larger shoes for her, I found this pattern which I think I will start while small baby is still happy looking at this miserable weather.

These booties would make a perfect little baby gift.   They make you feel happy just looking at their small cuteness.

What is making you feel cheerful today?

Seize the moment

Such a lovely morning yesterday catching up with old friends. It is so good having time to catch up with people and one of the many benefits of not working. I'm happy to trade less money for fun times laughing with special people especially when small girl was at forest school and babe was asleep and adorable.  Time to chat, listen and laugh about your wrinkles is pretty rare when you have small attachments.

As I was leaving one of the lovely ladies said let's take a picture of you and your babe. Handing her my phone she used her amazing artistic eye to capture that moment in time. The result is my favourite photo of myself in years.   Although we have thousands of photos hardly any are of me, I am much more comfortable behind the lens. Maybe I am trying to fool myself I still look like I did twenty years ago,  avoiding the the reality of the lens.  I have been waiting to look better before I  felt happy to capture myself.  Must be the fact I am nearly forty (huge gulp at getting so old) but I am finally realising if I wait until I am totally happy with what I think I look like it will never happen.

Having been sadly reminded of the preciousness of life by an untimely death of a beautiful friend in a tragic car accident recently, I have made an effort to overcome my reticence in front of the lens  and feature in a few family snaps. Knowing that if anything ever happened to me,  a photograph would be very precious to those left behind. 

Same image as above but cropped
and changed to b & w.

Not such a good angle

The angle of the phone was very kind and my haggered post natal body nicely hidden beneath my beautiful babe. I look so much better in the picture on the left simply because of the position of my head (nicely hiding my chin and ageing neck!)

As I looked  at the photos  and actually liked what I saw, I remembered an article I read in a magazine recently. It was the story of a photographer who felt her mission in life was to take a portrait of real women to show them how beautiful they were. I cannot remember the full story or which magazine it was from (it was in an pile at the doctors) but I was struck with the way a beautiful photo had raised the self esteem of all these women. They all reported at how good it made them feel to see a   nice photo of themselves.

What an amazing gift this photographer was giving when she showed these women what she saw when she looked at them: 

Self esteem is priceless.

Get someone to take a photo of you very soon, just give them your phone or camera and see what happens. Maybe not a toddler or small person unless you want a close up view of your stomach!  Remember it is all about the angle, if the person taking the picture is higher than you and the camera looking down, it is so much kinder. A simple edit can change the effect too, I did this on my phone but it is easy to do using something like pic monkey. Such a fun way to spend a few moments.

Seize a moment today, maybe shared with someone you love, and find someone to capture it. Who knows, it could be a very precious memory to them one day.

What is your favourite photo of yourself and why?

Beautiful Baby Makes

Thank you to everyone who has helped welcome our new sweet girl into this world.  As a family we have felt overwhelmed with the love and care shown to us. Every meal, cake, coffee,  card  and gift has been valued and appreciated.

This was a bonus little babe, and it has taken time for the surprise and shock to fade. She announced her presence just before Christmas and was born  on Palm Sunday.  Not a long time to accept and get ready to welcome  new disruption into our lives.  Our full stop baby has brought with her a lot of joy, added so much to our family already and has given  a fantastic reason to create beautiful baby  makes.

Ideas to Inspire : Baby Vest Beautifying

I am going to share some of these baby makes over time and hope they inspire you to create something special for a small person. Some things made by me and some by creative pals.  Of course I take no credit for these ideas from a whole range of amazing friends.

The first one was sent by a super talented lady who recently moved across the big pond and can spend her days sewing in the sunshine  state. We spent a lot of lovely time together last year chatting and drinking tea as we made items for the craft stall at the school fayre.




A plain white baby vest with a something lovely embroidered on the front.  My mind is buzzing with ideas inspired by these;  I have plans to sew her name with small purple flowers (violets)   or maybe a little sun or simple words such as cuddle me or feed me.

















Totally my sort of craft being quick, simple and not expensive, I know I will be making lots.









I have just realised the sleep suit  small babe is wearing  has  embroidered animals on, another idea....

Such a simple idea but very effective, an easy and quick baby gift.

Thank you  for the gift and the inspiration.


What would you put on the front of a baby vest?

Looking for the lovely

In the rush and hurry of life it is so easy to miss the special moments.  One of the reasons I started this blog was to capture the everyday: To remember the small things that  are always far more important than you realise at the time.  Those precious little drawings from a small child, beautiful blossom in the garden, simple things as well as family mishaps  which  all get a little bit lost in  the hustle and bustle  of family living.

A small baby with building work,  exam stress (for the teacher dad as well as the teens) and a poorly dog have left me very much needing to look for the lovely.

I didn't have to look far.  Not being able to use the kitchen because of the builders meant I was able to sort thorough some of the piles of clutter upstairs.  How happy was I to find a baby cardigan knitted by my long gone Grandma.  So precious to think she knitted this little garment with love for another grandchild  and it is still in use almost sixteen years later.  

A little bit of family love being passed down.

Even more special was a beautiful first smile from my five week old baby  yesterday.  

The sun is shining and even the messy garden looks lovely.

Tell me a lovely moment from your day...

Mabel Violet

There is a reason I have been absent for a while: A gloriously wonderful, time consuming and surprise gift. 

Four weeks old today.