Excellent Women

If you were the kind of person that might judge a book by its cover (which let's face it, I know do - all the time) you would certainly find that these two books are very fine books indeed. They are both beautifully designed and produced and are just the kind of book that I would want to read, just from looking at them. I picked The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim as a holiday read for our recent week in Cornwall and D bought Pax by Sara Pennypacker as a present for me from the most excellent St Ives Bookseller. Sadly I didn't have enough time to finish either of them while we were actually away. (I did finish The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, but more of that another time.) But now we're back and I have my reading time on the train, I've raced through them both and enjoyed them very much indeed.

In Pax, Sara Pennypacker has seamlessly woven three stories: that of the title character Pax, his boy Peter, and the broken (but not bowed) Vola. All three characters are rich and believable. I don't usually go in for talking animals, but the very 'foxness' of Pax is utterly enchanting and convincing to boot. 

The background to these stories is a war-torn country, the precise area in which Peter and Pax live has been evacuated. Peter's father has enlisted and Peter is sent to his grandfather's house, meaning that he must leave Pax behind. Needless to say, this doesn't go well for either of them and the first section of the book is dedicated to their anxious search for each other.

The second section of the book is where, for me, things got really interesting and new characters were introduced. Two cranky women. (Perhaps this is why I liked it so much!) Vola is a woman damaged by war and Bristle is a vixen fighting to survive against the humans while looking after her brother Runt.  On first encounter, neither of these women want anything to do with Peter or Pax but as the lives of the two humans and the two foxes become entwined they soon become as important to each other as the fox and his boy. The third section of the story sees the two main characters reunited but the shift in the dynamics of their relationships has altered everything and life will never be the same again for either of them. The finale was heart-wrenching, but the openness of the ending left hope for me that all would ultimately be well.

This was a wonderful book that I would whole-heartedly recommend. Viola is one of the most excellent women characters in children's literature that I've met in a while. The only thing that would have made it better for me would've been far more of Jon Klassen's delicious illustrations, but you can't have everything.

Speaking of excellent women brings me onto the second book that I finished this week. I am a huge fan of the Virago Modern Classics range and have been ever since I discovered Excellent Women by Barbara Pym with a cover by Orla Kiely.

This beautiful book with a cover by Angie Lewin has been sitting by my bedside for quite some time waiting for a suitable occasion, and a holiday in Cornwall in April just felt like the perfect time to be reading The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. The interiors are every bit as delightful as the cover and the four women who find themselves thrown together for a month in an Italian castle are about as colourful and charming as you could hope for. Set in the 1920s, two young women, Rose and Lotty, both dissatisfied with the marriages are brought together by an advertisement in the Times for a small Italian castle available to rent for the month of April. Finding it a stretch financially, they enlist two very different women, the bored but beautiful, Lady Caroline and the haughty and lonely Mrs Fisher. At first meeting they get on terribly, but as the weeks pass by and their relationships deepen the magic of San Salvatore weaves its way in and out of their lives. It's not massive on story, but the characters are all and it is simply wonderful. I dare you not to love it!

A Room of Her Own

What a great couple of months we've had since I last posted here. We've had our first family holiday to Cornwall (including Catriona's first steps in the sea!), done lots of work around the house (all of the things that we've been putting off for the last eighteen months), and watched our little baby change and grow, turn into a little girl and begin being her own wonderful, wonderful person. 

It's amazing to see the changes in her from day to day. Just last week over the course of two days, she learned six new words; teeth, cheese, Janey, Phoebe, bed and Volvo. (D is particularly proud of that last one!) She understands things in a way that we've never really appreciated. She has a sense of time passing, she knows who she is in the context of her own world and she is happy in it. 

When we came back from our holiday, she finally moved into her own room. A little later – well, a whole year later – than we'd planned, but wow! what a difference it has made to us all. It's a lovely room and a space that I would've loved to have had as a child. It is very much her own room though, with her bed and her clothes, books, toys, a mobile, lights and pictures (although the latter aren't actually up on the wall yet.) We bravely took the decision to take the sides off her cot to give her a big girl's bed and true to her own unflappable nature, she slept in it completely unfazed from day one. And boy, does she sleep. When her cot was at the bottom of our bed, she would wake up four, five, six times a night. I'm a restless sleeper and, to be honest, we wound each other up. But now – and I truly hope that this will last – she goes to bed and stays in bed, asleep until we go upstairs to wake her up the following morning.  

And waking her up is now my new favourite time of the day. She always wakes up with the most spectacular bedhead and a breathtaking need to chat. She can go from sound asleep to full on blabbermouth in less than five seconds. It's astonishing. And lovely. And the only way to distract her from her early morning monologue is to ask, "Catriona, would you like some breakfast?", to which the answer is unswervingly and resoundingly, "YES!"

And then we start our day and the rest of our lives together. Love that girl!

Hello Again

Well, hello there! I'm sorry I've been away for so long (has it really been five months?) but I've had my hands a bit full with the charming creature that is becoming more and more of a little girl every day. 

Today she is eight months old and eight months wonderful. The last couple of months in particular have been such great fun, as Catriona grows, develops and her individuality shines through. Her favourite things just now are the cat and food. Her adorable little face lights up and she squeals in delight whenever he ventures near. They've had a couple of close encounters and Coleman's patience has been sorely tested, but he turns out to have the patience of a saint and so far they're the best of friends. I really hope that it'll stay that way...

Food is her other great love and I have say that she's a natural born eater! She hasn't turned her nose up at a single thing we've put in front of her. (Though she does pull a brilliant face if presented with anything really cold!) We waited until she was a full six months before embarking on this particular adventure, as we wanted to try baby-led weaning, and she was very, very ready. We hit the ground running with three full meals - and a lot of milk besides - eating together and sharing exactly the same foods. Mealtimes are my favourite times of the day, even if the clearing up afterwards is quite challenging!

When she's not eating or beaming at Coleman, the little lady has a fabulous social life. (Oh, so much better than ours!) Catriona goes to classes twice a week with her little baby buddies and loves to swim at the leisure centre. We like to keep busy so we have our own little adventures, which this week have included a morning out at Mottisfont and a day out in glorious Bath Spa tomorrow with Lois and Janey. 

As you can imagine, this doesn't exactly leave much time for me to create, craft or read, but I do keep trying. I'm currently reading The Apothecary by Maile Meloy and The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson and I'm knitting a fox-face hat and a cloudy sky blanket for Catriona, of which more in my next post. (Which hopefully won't be such a long time coming!) See you here again soon. Nx

All Smiles!

Three months old today and I can't quite get my head round where the time has gone. I don't know quite how it's happened, but a quarter of a year has passed in the blink of an eye. And as fast as it's been, it has been wonderful. Catriona is simply the best thing in our lives and as tough as it sometimes gets, I just can't imagine how our lives would be if she wasn't here.

I had thought that I would manage to post at least once a month, but I guess that was a bit optimistic. We haven't been shirking and every day we get up to something or other. Since I last wrote, Catriona has taken on the following:

• a bedtime routine (complete with two hours each evening for the grown-ups to eat a hot meal together at the same time - gasp!)
• smiles (this makes all of tough times instantly forgettable)
• immunisations (she screamed so hard that we had to remind her to breathe) 
• swimming lessons, baby sensory and sing and sign classes (swimming can be very tiring, but they're all really good fun, especially the ball-pit at baby sensory)
• a trip into London Town to introduce the little one and to visit Daddy in his office
• two trips to the beach to enjoy the spring sunshine
• lots of walking and playtime, but hardly any naps

Since I last wrote, I have managed the following:

• finished her cardigan - just in time for her to grow out of it!
• made (and eaten) countless batches of malteser tiffin
• read nearly half a book
• knitted one pair of socks
• been out for a 5k run
• made a picture out of Catriona's welcome home banner
• had one night out (though I did spend most of the time thinking about the little lady)

It doesn't sound like much and I've had lots of ideas of things I'd like to do but you know, there's no rush. Everything doesn't have to be done right now. Those ideas can stay ideas for a bit longer and the world will not stop spinning on its axis. I don't have to beat myself up about not getting anything done. What's important right now is the smiles - oh, those wonderful smiles - and getting to know the little girl that our baby is turning into. 

 

Time Flies

Our baby girl is one month old today! I can't quite explain where the last month has gone other than to say that it's been a flurry of feeding, changing, cuddling and getting to know each other. Catriona Hazel arrived safe and well at home in a birth pool at 8.11 on the morning of Friday the 10th of January. She was helped into the world by our wonderful midwife Jacqui accompanied by the dulcet tones of Jose Gonzales and illuminated by fairy lights! At a mighty 4.415 kilos (9 lbs 12 oz), she was rather larger than we were expecting and she has turned our world upside down in the most wonderful way.

Nothing can prepare you for the depth of feeling that having a child will create in you and sometimes when I'm gazing at her beautiful little face I find myself almost overwhelmed by love. She is perfect and wonderful, unique and precious; and we are so glad that she has come into our lives. 

However, all this extra loving has rather put the kibosh on any non-baby related activities. I am still reading the same two books that I started before she arrived - the brilliantly clever and starkly witty Symposium by Muriel Spark and the haunting modern fable, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. It's strange not having time to read and I miss it a great deal, but as each day passes, I think we get a little bit better at this and I know that there will be more time in the future. Also, I find that I appreciate my reading time all the more for its scarcity. 

Craft has also been put on hold for the time being. I have managed to get to my knitting groups, but unless someone else is happy to cuddle the little miss, it is impossible to engage with sticks and string. I am so close to finishing a cardigan for her (to match the dress that I made just before she arrived too big to wear!) that it's silly. I only have to weave in the ends and we'll be good to go, but even the time for that tiny task seems too hard to come by. Her knitted name is also incredibly near completion - I just need to shape the wire and fix it to a supportive backing. 

I am typing this while she sleeps, curled up like a frog, on my chest. We've both had breakfast and if I can bear to wake her up, we should have a bath before starting the day in earnest. We are going for a walk every day and have visitors or meet up with friends most days and I can't tell you how touched we have been by everyone's friendship, support, kindness and love. (Sorry, will stop being so sentimental now - must be the hormones!)

Magic Moments

The last few months have simply flown by. What with one thing and another this post, which I started after our last holiday, has been resting in my drafts for over two months and it's only now as I find myself thinking about the year ahead that I remember to celebrate the year just gone. Since the end of October, I've had some wonderful nights out with friends in London (who I already miss enormously), made some fabulous new friends through our NCT ante-natal classes, been to a live screening of Eugene Onegin from the Met in New York with D, watched the fabulous Populaire with my good pal Piney and celebrated first birthday cuddles with my very special godson, Toby and much, much more besides. I felt a great need to pack a lot into my last few weeks before starting my maternity leave but now D and I are taking it easy and enjoying some well-earned quiet time at home before we start the next chapter of our story.

Looking back, the end of October was the start of some lovely times with my family. It was my sister's birthday and she rented the most amazing cottage in the Forest of Dean (where we spent many, many childhood holidays exploring the woods and walking along the river) for a week of good food, laughs and party preparation - and what a party it was. D and I followed this with a quiet week in Cornwall, brunching in bed, relaxing, reading, walking along the beautiful beaches and eating some lovely local food during the day and catching up on a box set of of Spiral in the evenings with home-cooked comfort food to keep us going. We saw my family again at Christmas  and I found myself thinking that Christmas and New Year are magical times of the year in any year, but this year, with the impending arrival they've been even more special than ever.

On the needles, I have had to rationalise the number of projects in progress so I'm down to the quilt for her cot, the aforementioned mobile and an i-cord length which will spell out her name when she gets here. Books-wise, I am treating myself to Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles, re-reading some old favourites (Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising and William Goldman's The Princess Bride) and reading some of the gems that I discovered unread on the shelves while being forced to condense our book collections into half the space so that there could actually be room for a nursery.

We've really enjoyed getting things ready for when the little one arrives. I can't tell you how much joy I have received from crafting tiny knitted jumpers, hats and boots; what a pleasure it has been making cushions and a mobile and even just choosing paint colours and toys for her nursery. We've only got a few days to go now and I think we're nearly there. I'm not sure you can ever be ready for welcoming a child into your life but we're looking forward to it more than I can possibly express. 

Flapjacks and Fruitfulness

 

Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year and as the weeks fly by, there is a hint of fog in the mornings and there is definitely a wee nip in the air. Yesterday morning, D and I donned our coats and went for a lovely long walk in the New Forest starting out from the fabulously named Nomansland. We're lucky to live near such a beautiful place and when the sun is shining and the leaves are starting to change colour, it's hard to find anywhere lovelier on the planet. We admired the entries in the Landford Scarecrow Festival, heard woodpeckers, saw horses, ponies and even a great big pig! And after our walk we visited the village shop to buy the wherewithal to rustle up a tray of flapjacks to replace all the energy that we'd spent tramping about in the woods! Here's a link to my favourite flapjack recipe.

As the nights draw in, it's a good time for lots of my favourite things, eating, knitting, reading and all-round snuggling in. It's a time for making enormous saucepans full of soup, baking toad-in-the-hole with gravy and mash, and delicious crumbles too. I've just been given an enormous bag of cooking apples and am very much looking forward to trying my friends Robin's oaty-packed crumble topping. Mmm. Yummy!

On the needles, I'm still really enjoying knitting things for the little one. I finished her hat and liked it so very much, that I had to make one for myself. I'm quite sure we will look ridiculous and I never imagined that I'd turn into a match-matchy kind of person, but what can I say? I just couldn't resist!

I've also started a pair of baby jeans for her and a really pretty little vest from Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard's Lullaby Knits. It's a beautiful book and there are some wonderful patterns in it. I'd actually intended to make an adorable cable sweater, but I managed to buy the wrong wool. (Cashmerino Aran rather when it should have been Baby Cahsmerino) But hey, I never mind buying more wool - especially from my local yarn store Born to Knit at Fisherton Mill and I can always pop back in a couple of weeks and get the right wool. The pompom mobile is still a work in progress, but I like the way it's progressing so far! Progress is also quite slow on the quilt - lucky that time is on my side, and I'm pretty confident that I'll get it done in time for her arrival.

Books-wise, I'd been stuck in a bit of a rut. I'd not really enjoyed my most recent bookgroup book and had started a couple books that I hadn't really loved. I even found myself on a train without a book to read, which is as dreadful as it it inexcusable. Luckily, the very lovely Jo (who really does have the best taste in books) was on hand to rescue me from my fiction disaster and saved the day with Alys, Always by Harriet Lane and The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon. Thanks, Lovely Jo, now I can snuggle up safely on the sofa with a blanket,  cuppa, a slice of flapjack and a really good book!

Being Thankful

Hello again! And welcome back. I've had a lovely couple of weeks, both on and off the needles and the projects that I had finished the last time I posted here are now blocked, dried and ready to wear. I'm even cracking on with a few more. I'm particularly pleased with my colour block cardigan (that's me wearing it on the left, there) and when it's a bit cooler, it'll be a welcome addition to my wardrobe of things that I can wear with my ever increasing bump.

Speaking of which, knitting for the little one has taken on a new dimension, in that I now know that I'm knitting for a girl!  We found out last Friday and we are both absolutely over the moon. I'd been more nervous than I'd expected before the scan, but the sonographer was so kind and the experience so positive that getting to find out our baby's gender on top of a clean bill of health was like having a holiday, birthday and Christmas all at once.

We'd already booked a weekend away in Oxford so we started our celebrations with a really rather wonderful dinner at the dining room at the Ashmolean museum which was really rather special and all the more of a treat for being a surprise find. If you ever find yourself in Oxford on a Friday or Saturday evening - give it a try, you won't be disappointed. On Saturday, we couldn't resist buying a few clothes for our baby girl and we hit the shops in style! She'll have a lovely little wardrobe and now I'm loving browsing for more feminine patterns. The two little jumpers that I'd made so far were gender neutral so now I can get stuck in to something, not  necessarily pink, but certainly more girly in style. One of the joys of knitting for little people is that it all knits up really quickly, so hopefully there'll be something new to show you the next time I post too.

On top of all this knitting, I've also started a quilt for her nursery. It's going to be a very, very simple hand-pieced hexagon quilt and the fabric that it'll be made of all comes from old clothes of D's and mine. It's mostly pastel colours and has fabric from shirts, pyjamas and tops that we've worn and loved. Unlike the knitting, it's going to take a while to get together, but it'll mean all the more for being a labour of love. I'm also planning a pompom mobile made out of mustard and wool embroidery hoops. I'm not quite sure how it'll work out, but if it looks okay, I'll post a picture of that next time too.

After a couple of big projects at work, I've now had a bit more of my journey time back and have my head stuck in some really great books. I'm trying to clear some space in the house for the new arrival which means that I've been rediscovering some old favourites and unearthing some books that I've acquired, but never even read. A particular favourite was Patrick Gale's Rough Music which had been languishing on the shelves for maybe ten years. I've read his books before but I'd forgotten just how acutely he observes the best and worst in human nature. I also read The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence for work's bookclub (I was the only one that actually liked it!) and I this weekend I have simply devoured Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple. I've also started the charming and peculiar Kitchen by the deliciously-named Banana Yoshimoto and an advance reader's copy of Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo which friends and colleagues have all been raving about.

Thanks to the public holiday, this weekend has been a long weekend too and has been an absolute delight. A leisurely stroll along the beach in Boscombe with yummy ice cream and a picnic at Stourhead with a walk around the lake were real highlights as was lunch in Salisbury with a dear old friend who I hadn't seen for a while. Best of all was the arrival of my best friend, her husband and my godson who arrived with a car boot-load of the most wonderful hand-me-downs for us to pick out from. We have been throughly spoiled and her wardrobe has quadrupled, not to mention the baby-sling, bath bits and bobs, and a gorgeous hammock that we'll be able to put up for her wherever we go. People are so kind and generous I feel quite overwhelmed. Thank you.

Happy Crafting

In a recent, and very welcome, development I finally seem to have become keen to finish things. I've always had a thing about enjoying the process of creativity more than the finished thing and as a result my work in progress pile has always been just a little bit out of control!

In the last couple of weeks, I've managed to finish  not one, but three projects. Really. Three! The first (and way most important one) was a blanket for my gorgeous godson Toby's baptism. Admittedly, having such a definite deadline is a surefire motivator, but I think that making something challenging, learning a new skill (lace-knitting) using new materials (I'd never used bamboo before) and making something for someone so special all combined to make it a really enjoyable process and it really has helped rekindle and affirm my love of crafting.

The baptism itself was a wonderful occasion. Toby was a superstar and on his most charming and cheerful behaviour all day. Everyone had a lovely day and it was a really special time for all.

For my own little one, I have now knit a second  little jumper. It's a sweet little raglan-sleeved pattern by Debbie Bliss from The Baby Knits Book that I have knit for all of the babies that my friends have had. It's not blocked yet, but I'm planning on fixing that this weekend, so I'll post a photo when it's looking its very best!

I've also just cast off the pink and grey colour block cardigan from the Caramel pattern by Isabell Kraemer. I'm really pleased with it and think that it's one I will genuinely enjoy wearing. Again, I'll post a photo when it's all blocked and (hopefully) beautiful.

Looking Forward...

Well, hello there. I'm sorry that I've been away so long. The last few months have a bit of a challenge for me - I've been finding it hard to be creative and haven't really felt like knitting, making, or baking, let alone blogging. And, although it's been hard, it has all been for the best possible reason - D and I are going to be having a baby! It's all rather wonderful and incredibly exciting, but for the last few months, because of a combination of tiredness and having to keep the biggest secret ever, I just haven't felt very creative.

However, the cat is now well and truly out of the bag and the wool is firmly back on the needles. I'm four months along and about two-thirds of the way through a very pretty lace baby blanket for my godson Toby's baptism. I'm really enjoying the challenge of learning lace knitting. It's going pretty well so far and is my first successful attempt. I rather wish that I'd got a bit more time to get it finished, but I've set myself a daily row count and I'm steadily getting there.

I'm also really enjoying being able to knit baby clothes for the new arrival and I have so many plans for little bits and bobs I'd like to make for the little one. The two projects that I'm working on at the moment are gender neutral, but we're looking forward to finding out what we're getting in the middle of August and I guess I can get knitting in earnest from then on.

Not feeling crafty, has meant that I've had a lot of time for reading and I've read some absolute crackers. Memorable favourites are Marina Lewycka's Various Pets Alive and Dead, The Red House by Mark Haddon, Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Caitlin Moran's How To Be a Woman, The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald and Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner. What a lot of wonderful books! I've also, along with some very lovely people at work, started a new book club, which is proving to be great fun.

Since I last posted we've been out and about quite a bit. A week in Amsterdam for my birthday was a wonderful treat - we stayed in two amazing hotels (The Amstel Intercontinental is quite probably the swankiest hotel I will ever stay in, in my life!) and walked absolutely everywhere. Amsterdam is a beautiful city, packed full of galleries and museums, stylish restaurants, boutiques and cafes and some really inspirational knitting shops. I didn't always feel like eating much which was a bit of a shame as the food was excellent.

The summer, now that it has arrived, is proving glorious and we've managed some lovely day-trips with picnics to the beach, Mottisfont, Oxford and to Henley for the regatta. It's lovely and hot and I'm looking forward to lots more picnics over the coming weeks. In fact, I'd say I'm looking forward to everything at the moment - having a baby must do that to you, I guess. The future is looking lovely!

Hello to Berlin

When I was planning this post, I was going to blog about my regular weekend. You know the routine - lovely long lie-in with breakfast in bed and a bit of book, followed by a nice relaxing bath, some pottering about in the garden, a bit of knitting and maybe a movie.

Everything was going to plan until I got out of the bath and D asked if I fancied going to Berlin. Of course I said yes. Who wouldn't want to go to Berlin? But then the penny dropped that he meant right then. Yes, that very minute! Well, that was a surprise. Twenty clicks later and in the time it takes to throw two toothbrushes, two books, two passports and a change of clothes into a bag, we were on the road to the airport.

It was all such a whirlwind that I can hardly believe it happened. And I have to say that I really enjoyed answering the usual, "How was your weekend?" question on Monday morning! Mr C, you are a lovely, lovely man and you have earned yourself some pretty serious boyfriend points.

This does mean that I haven't had much time for crafting and so my very nearly finished colour-block cardigan is still very nearly finished. I have hight hopes that it will be finished by the time of my next post. (But don't hold your breath - just in case.)

I've mostly been reading manuscripts for work lately so not much to talk about. I really enjoyed the latest from Sadie Jones, The Uninvited Guests, although I really didn't like the cover and I also enjoyed the first instalment of Leigh Bardugo's The Grisha Trilogy, The Gathering Dark. This was a recommendation from the lovely Hannah Love from work and was also a book that I wouldn't have picked up on the strength of its cover (yes, I can be judgemental). I'm delighted that the second book in the series has a much, much better cover and I'm looking forward to reading it soon. 

Starting Something New

Spring is one of my favourite times of the year - a time for new and exciting things, for growth and light and enthusiasm. It's great time for starting something new which is exactly what my friend Fiona, also known as the Pine Marten but more commonly just Piney, is doing. She had a bit of a bonkers idea whereby she would take up a gazillion new hobbies until she found something that she would enjoy (and be brilliant at) and she's started a hilarious new blog to chronicle her adventures. 

I had the privilege of being the first person to share their hobby and duly rocked up at her place on Saturday morning with a bag of knitting-related goodies (tea, biscuits, hand cream - you know, the usual stuff). I'll let her tell you all about it in her blog - click on the link to head on over to Piney Gets a Hobby. It felt especially auspicious as I was driving over to hear Woolly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs on the radio and what I will say is that  she took to knitting like a Pine Marten to woodland - a natural-born knitter. Well done, Piney!

On the crafting side of things, I've started planning an embroidered cushion cover with some fabulous crafty transfers from Sublime Stitching. I'm not sure how it's going to pan out, but I promise I'll post again as it progresses. 

More excitingly, I've been using the very fabulous Meet Me at Mike's, and I've taught myself how to crochet granny squares. It's something I've really taken to; they're easily portable (so great for the train), quick to complete and surprisingly uncomplicated. I've always been a bit unsure of crochet, but it turns out that I really like it. I've also now had two attempts at handwriting embroidery, a Valentine's Day card for D and a first ever Mother's Day card for Shona, so that's another thing crossed off my New Year list. Hoorah!

There's some exciting new life in the garden too; I've planted a raspberry bush and put lots of summer-flowering bulbs in the ground as well as seedlings of tomatoes, peas, radishes and broad beans, which are currently dominating the kitchen table - and there are potatoes chitting nicely on my kitchen windowsill. As soon as it stops freezing and snowing, I'm going to get out and plant some of them - can't wait.

Last new thing for this post which I absolutely must mention, is the joy that is my new toaster! I am a MASSIVE toast fan - toast, crumpets, muffins, bagels, tattie scones, Soreen - if you can toast it and slather it in butter I'm probably going to be a fan and my new toaster does the job perfectly. Mmmmm!

Since I last posted, I seem to have gone through a spate of reading YA novels. Every Day by David Levithan which is going to be published in the UK in July by Egmont and is an absolute must-read, Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett which not technically a novel for teens but is a heartbreaking observation of adolescence; the ingenious Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan and the really rather compelling Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher. I've also started Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti which, from the first six chapters, promises to be absolutely brilliant.

Ae Fond Kiss

This week has been a real celebration of all things Scottish. We started the weekend with a delicious Burns' Night Supper at our lovely local, The Pheasant, where Alex laid on a veggie haggis especially. (What a superstar!) It was absolutely delicious and such a treat. I've never really developed a taste for whisky, which is a shame as there were two on offer for tasting, but D was very happy to help me out with mine, even if he did regret it a little the next morning!

Sunday morning saw us hit the road on an epic journey up to Glasgow to spend a week with D's family. It turns out that you can get an awful lot of knitting done in seven and a half hours and after a bit of a knitting marathon, my colour block cardigan is now considerably longer. I sort of wished that I'd had one smaller project on the go so that I could've had a finished object by the time we got up the road, but it was good to make some progress on a couple of bigger things, and I really got stuck into Olive on the way back down. 

The week started with a gig at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with celebration of the life and work of Michael Marra, one of Scotland's finest songwriters, with two of D's favourite singers putting in an appearance. I must confess that I wasn't familiar with the work of Michael Marra before the music started, but there were some brilliant songs and amazing musicians. Pat Kane and Eddie Reader were everything that D had hoped for and I had a thoroughly Scottish evening!

We continued our time off with more celtic delights, including such greats as tattie scones and the legendary macaroni pie. We took a road trip up to Oban along the beautiful lochside of Loch Lomond, visited friends in Dunshalt and took a glass or two with D's family. On a trip to the West End area of Glasgow, I visited a very lovely knitting shop called The Yarn Cake and invested in some delightful Drops yarn to make some suitably snuggly mittens (with thrums) and a pair of legwarmers too. We stopped off at a great restaurant called The Hillhead Bookclub on our way back into town for a really tasty lunch before a spot of culture at The Lighthouse and a mooch around the shops. It was hard to leave, but so nice to be back home, and we brought back a substantial amount of Scotland home with us in the shape of five kilos of Marshalls macaroni. (Well, macca is the national dish, you know!)

Currently reading a selection of non-fiction which I picked up on my travels north of the border and which I hope will inspire me to get my act together in opening a new Folksy shop. (I just have to decide what I'd like to make and how I want to sell it - minor points.) I'm also unable to put down Gold by Chris Cleave which, if his other books are anything to go by, is going to be a bit of a tear-jerker. Lastly, I leafed through a copy of the Polpo cookbook while staying with friends and there are definitely some recipes that I'm keen to try out. Think I might have to invest in my own copy next payday.

Thanks for the Memories

I was incredibly lucky to be given an amazing new Mac for Christmas, and I am very, very happy with it. Unfortunately as I transferred the contents of my old, very much on its last legs, Mac onto the new beautiful shiny one, I transferred a bit of a glitch that had been in my existing photo library. I'd known  that there had been a problem for a while, but didn't quite understand what it was - much less be able to fix it. so, not wanting there to be anything at all wrong with my lovely new toy, I duly took it along to the local Genius bar, where a very kind and patient genius put my photos (and me) on the road to recovery.

He basically created a brand new library then took every recoverable photo that I had ever stored on the old mac (and the one before that, and the one before that, and the one before that) and put them in a folder on the new one. I would then have to sort through over 6,000 photos and put them all in new folders so that I could find particular happenings whenever I want to. Now, I thought that this was going to be a tedious and time-consuming job and I decided that I was going to try and do a couple of months' worth of photos every night until I'd got it done. But no. It turned out to be a real joy! It was such a pleasure looking at my old pictures and reminiscing.

As I've been going along I've been reliving so many happy memories: wonderful holidays, happy family times, fun with friends, weddings, new babies, beauty that I've seen everywhere and lots and lots and lots of craft! What a treat!

On the needles this week, I've finished just about the sweetest project I've ever put together. Blu from Knitty Winter 2005 is an adorable pair of baby jeans made out of Rowan Denim. You can embroider them with fake fly, pocket stitching and even add on a patch for an extra degree of cuteness! 

I've made them for my new godson, Toby and I can't wait to give them to his mum and dad. I've been showing them off to just about everyone I know and they've all been completely charmed by them! Thanks, Cristina Bernardi Shiffman and Kay Gardiner for such a brilliant pattern.

To go with them, I'm going to make a stripy navy and cream jumper - he's going to look every bit the dapper young man! It is the perfect weather for staying in and knitting. As I write this, I am warming up from some hilarious sledging on my trusty Very Hungry Caterpillar tea-tray, while admiring the four inches of snow that are currently hiding the ever-so-slightly unloved state of my back garden! And I've just made some yummy, buttery flapjacks - think I'll put the kettle on and have a cup of tea.

Currently reading: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger and nearing the end of (the very long and complicated, but fabulous, and wintry) Doctor Zhivago. 

Happy New Year, Happy New Blog

Well, hey there. Welcome to my new blog. Let me tell you a little bit about myself: I'm a book-loving knitter who likes taking pretty pictures and having happy thoughts. I'm never more content than when I've got my nose in a good book or have busy fingers making something lovely, whether it be knitting, sewing, creating in the kitchen or out in the garden.

I'm going to be writing this blog to chronicle the things that I make over the course of the coming year and a few other things that I get up to for good measure. I hope that you'll like what you read - do get in touch and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you.

Here's a list of things that I'd like to make (or finish) in 2013:

1. Grey Olive Jumper
2. Jumper and Jeans for Toby
3. Heirloom Quilt
4. Words Embroidery
5. ABC Sampler
6. Baby shoes for Ines
7. Grey and Pink Cardigan 
8. Aran Cabled Scarf
9. Home Quilt
10. Stripy Socks
11. Scandinavian Mittens
12. Thing that I thought of but can't now remember!

It's not an exhaustive list and I'm quite sure that I'll get distracted along the way, but if I can cross off an average of one project every month this year, I'll be absolutely delighted. (If a little bit surprised!)

I've gotten off to a pretty good start and this week, I finished a very cute peach pair of baby shoes for Ines Sylvia, wrapped them up and sent them on their way. I've also picked up a few projects which have rather fallen by the wayside and I've knitted every day of the new year so far.  

I've also been reading a fair bit and am enjoying Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore on my journeys to work and a chapter or two of Doctor Zhivago before I go to sleep each night. Not much else to report, other than nine and a half miles run, and the first picnic of the year (yes, really, in January) with my mum, dad and sister in front of the London Eye. May it be the first of many in 2013!

Here's my currently reading list: