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September! 1 Sep 2014 6:39 AM (10 years ago)

Wow. Every now and then I have gone missing but the last time I posted was March. Crazy!  This year has been a bit mad. Not all good but not all bad and now we have 4 months left, I think it's about time I dragged myself back on here.

I've still been posting bits and bobs on Instagram but words seem to have been escaping me; when I don't really want to be talking about what is going on, photos are easier. Am I the only one who finds this?  Sometimes this is all you need....

However, onwards and upward, eh?  We've had a fun summer. J starts secondary school tomorrow. We're both a little nervous but it *will* all be ok.

I've been trying to get my stock sorted because it's also not long until Yarndale!  I cannot wait to go. Skipton is a lovely part of the world and it is a great show with a variety of things for every knitter, crocheter, spinner and lover of lovely things. 


I'm sharing a stand with The Knitting Goddess and CoopKnits.  Coopknits has booked our hotel.  After Wonderwool,  she's not saying it's because she doesn't trust me to book somewhere that uses a tv stand as a 'wardrobe' but, to be honest, I don't blame her!

I may have been quiet, but I have still been making.  Look what I made last week...


I've had my eye on these frame purses for a while now so I decided it was time to have a play. I bought the frame from Etsy and expected it to take longer than it did to come. As soon as it arrived, I grabbed the nearest yarn (this is why a girl needs a *ahem* small yarn stash!) and got hooking.  There are a fair few tutorials online but none that are very precise so I winged it. I think it looks quite good and will definitely be making more.  The sewing-up was the hardest bit and that was due to the holes in the frame being smaller on the corners and the fact that I could have done with another hand.

Fabric, fabric and more fabric..... 1 Mar 2014 1:20 PM (11 years ago)

I'm sure you can imagine that I have a little *thing* for fabric, pretty fabrics, geeky fabrics, kooky fabrics and just fabrics that shout 'Buy me now!!'.  I really need little encouragement to go out and buy more....It *is* for work...I buy for YOU!!

Until very recently though, fabric shopping in my local area was a little sparse; we had the usual Dunelm Mill with the same old fabrics that you get everywhere, Boyes, a cheapy fabric shop, I am led to believe are only located up north and one fabric shop that sometimes has fab little gems in it but generally is a bit of a mish-mash, piles of fabric everywhere, not particularly pleasant shopping experience.

A few weeks ago though, I noticed a new fabric shop opening in Cleethorpes, a mere few miles away from home so I obviously had to go and investigate.  The photos on their Facebook page looked good; lovely light and bright shop, fabrics I *needed* to buy.  Due to other work then friends coming to stay, I resisted visiting until a few days after it had opened and I wasn't disappointed.  They had fabric I had been led to believe had been discontinued and lots of other fabrics I loved.  I left with a big bag of new prints.


A week or so later I had a chat with the lovely Lisa who owns the shop and she asked me to make some bags to show some of the fabrics she sell...who am I to refuse?  So, I went, we picked some fabrics and this is what I made... 


This little bag is my surprise favourite.  I wasn't planning on making any Ruby bags but I had a bit of fabric left over and couldn't resist adding the red band to the top. It would make a fab book bag for a little (or not so little!) person.

Finally...a winner and 2014! 18 Jan 2014 11:06 AM (11 years ago)

Sorry everyone. Everything got crazy busy in the run-up to Christmas and when I thought I would have lots of time to catch up on things before New Year, we all had a bit of much-needed time away from computers so I failed at blogging and *finally* drawing a winner for the competition.

Thanks to everyone who commented on the blog. I loved seeing all of the posts and am glad I'm not the only one to have multiple projects, bags and random things in their knitting bags!  I asked Lou to pick a number for me and she chose number 1 so well done to Evelyn of  'The Soaring Sheep'  .

Christmas seems ages ago now. I did manage to do some Christmas knitting. I made this little cardi for my baby nephew because everyone needs a Christmas jumper, right?

Here it is, all pinned out on the settee on Christmas Eve...nothing like a bit of last minute finishing off...

And with buttons! It is knitted with Sirdar Snuggly from a pattern in Let's Knit magazine.  I like the finished result but I can't say I enjoyed knitting it as much as some other patterns. I was impressed with the yarn though as I was worried it might be a bit squeaky but it was actually quite soft and I'd use it again for a easy-care baby yarn.

I am struggling a bit to blog at the moment but I am still posting on Instagram so if you want to come and find me, I'm here. I'm doing the #100 happy days challenge and not doing too badly. When the weather is wet and cold and you seem to spend most of the few daylight hours at work, it's good to focus on the happy things.  Today, this was my post; 


Catching up on some sewing to stock the shop up makes me happy! I knew I had to have this fabric when I saw it because we all love to have a cup of tea while we're knitting, don't we? If you love this, you can find it in the shop just here.

Not quite Whitby..... 27 Oct 2013 12:58 PM (11 years ago)

On Friday night I had great aspirations for this weekend; it was the last weekend of a wet and fairly uneventful half term, the forecast was good, it could be the last good weekend for ages.  We live an hour or so away from Whitby and I always think we ought to go, reading all the lovely things and seeing everyone's photos so I decided this was the weekend to go.

As is often the way though, after a chat with Mr on Friday night, we decided that really, saving a bit of money and sorting the garden out so that the chickens could go back in the greenhouse for the winter (and the impending storm!) and we could get Sylvia down the side of the house would be more useful so yesterday saw us moving rabbit hutches, hiding fence panels from Billy Wind, moving the chickens out of their summer house and parking Sylvia right outside the back door ( perfect for me to escape to have a cup of tea in the coming winter months!).

With everything done and the sun shining when we got up this morning, I decided we had earnt our day out but instead of going to Whitby, we packed Sylvia with bacon, bread, tea and kites and went ten minutes down the road.

Don't believe this child...it was cold and windy. She is just crazy.....


See, we needed scarves and winter coats!


.....and to escape back to Sylvia for bacon sarnies and cups of tea......


Perfect for blowing the cobwebs away before school tomorow....

*How much* do you have in your project bag?! competition! 25 Oct 2013 3:25 AM (11 years ago)

It's the last day of half term today, you can tell by the amount of grump and sulking there is going around the house. I decided I'd make the most of my last lie-in for ages by getting up at 6am, making a cup of tea and taking it back to bed. Whilst I was sat in bed, I got thinking about how it was about time to have a competition to cheer everyone up in all the doom and glum of back to school and grey, rainy, windy weather.

It always entertains me when some people look at my bags at shows or while I am at knitting groups and say 'Well, it's not very big, I could never fit everything I wanted in there.'   It doesn't matter how much I show them how I manage just fine, they need bigger bags, more pockets, more zips and I get that, we are all different, we all want different things out of our (knitting) bags but  I thought we could maybe play a game. Remember the 'What is in your hand bag' game that was going around the blogs a few years ago? Well I bring you the '*How much* is in your project bag' game.

Take a project bag, any project bag you have because we all know that you have more than *ahem* a couple, take a photo of it then empty everything out of it, take a photo of everything that comes out of it and blog about it.  It doesn't matter if it only contains your current project or a ball of yarn or the kitchen sink, just link back to here, comment on this post and we'll have a prize draw on Sunday 10th November.  The prize will be a bag and notions purse of your choice from my shop and I'm fairly sure I will find some yarn and bits along the way to add to it too.

So, it would only be fair of me to start it all off.....This is my every-day project bag and it normally includes my house keys, wallet and phone; I take it with me to knitting groups and if we are going out for any amount of time and I think I might be able to sneak some knitting or crocheting in....

It looks quite innocent, sitting there on the settee but turning it over reveals this...



Waa! An explosion of yarn, hooks, needles, patterns and maybe another project bag inside it.........


I have -

• Four crocheted stockings from a pattern at Annaboo's House. I have plans for a string of bunting using them or maybe decorations for the tree or, or.......
• Two sachets of sugar and a spoon from Yarndale. Remmeber the tea and coffee queues? I did the tea-run, there was no way I was going back into that again so I picked up supplies ;) 
• A stitch holder, a crochet hook, two sets of needle, scraps of yarn.
• A packet of boring stitch markers that I use for crochet....I've temporarily lost my usual notions purse with my funky stitch markers that usually lives in here.
• A funky button tin containing honeysuckle lip balm. Sounds odd but tastes delicious.
• An empty knit pro cable packet because like shoes, bags, cake and cups of tea, I never have enough cables and always end up needing a new one when I start a new project.
• A random assortment of Rico Creative Cotton for those moments when you just *need* to have a go at hooking something like a poppy...also in the bag-that red thing is half a poppy. 
• Left-over Knitting Goddess yarn from my last pair of socks. I'm trying to decide if I have enough left over for some socks for Little Miss Lou.  
• A pile of patterns, ball bands and a heart with 'I love you' written on it by Lou. 
• A drawstring project bag containing.......

Oooh more spare needles. Ten to be exact and a circular and yet more yarn....this time a few little balls of Knitting Goddess yarn I acquired last weekend to make the worlds brightest scrappy socks..that'll be the blue and orange sock on the straight needles then some Natural Dye Studio mini skeins.  In a fit of craziness on Wednesday night, I decided to pull the first Saltburn sock down, all the way from the toe and start making Mixalot instead...much better choice for the yarn and knitting up really well already.

So, you can't fit much into a Karrie bag.........

Get snapping your project bags and blogging, people!!

All change.... 23 Oct 2013 11:22 AM (11 years ago)

I haven't run away over the last few months, just been busy behind the scenes, working away one way or another.  Things have changed here again...Mr Nicsknots started a new job (which he likes heaps better than the old one) at the start of the summer and because of that and because a job I *had* to apply for or I'd be kicking myself further down the line came up (and I got it!), I've ended up working a fair few more hours out of the house and things have all changed here so it's taking a while to get a new kind of normality and things like blogging have taken a back seat.

For the first time ever, J and L have had to get used to going to kids club after school. While J has loved it (more computer time!...or rather no mummy telling him not to play on the computer time), Lou hasn't. We've had lots of tears and grumpiness and general 'I really wish you could pick us up from school like you used to' comments.  After-school club is too loud and she generally wants to go home and do whatever, not spend another hour with lots of boisterous boys running riot but we seem to have turned a corner and everyone seems happier and now it's half term so we all have time to take a breath.

We went away for the night at the weekend. The plan had been to go away for most of half term but then the weather forecast mentioned rainfall of biblical proportions so we decided a night away and a few days at home were probably a better idea.

We went for a walk in the woods. J and L collected pockets full of acorns. Lou tells me that she is collecting them to feed to the squirrels but J is apparently storing them somewhere safe in his bedroom...I can't wait to find them in a few months time!



I've also been rummaging through my fabric bags and found some fabrics I thought I had run out of a long time ago, such as the gnomes, here. These are in the shop now but I only have what is there then I *really* have run out....well unless I find another secret stash but I don't think that will happen so grab them now if you want them!


With it being Wednesday, I should really be blogging a WIP but I don't really have one....well clearly I have loads that have been kicking around for ever but nothing that I am working on as such. I am thinking that taking a few down and starting again might be a better idea .........

Finally finished and a little distracted.... 23 Aug 2013 1:02 PM (11 years ago)

Back in May last year, I started crocheting a granny square blanket. At the time I thought I was being a bit optimistic but I thought it would be a good way of practicing my new-found crocheting skill and didn't really mind when it was finished. Tonight, I finished the last stitch.

People on my Instagram might have been getting a bit bored with all of my photos of the blanket this last few weeks as I have been sewing it up and it's got bigger....and bigger....


My plan was to do it 15 squares by 10 but then I realised just how huge it would be so I made it a bit smaller; 15 x 8.  Here it is on the sofa with half of it over the back so plenty warm enough for cold autumn nights. 10 x 8 would have been big enough but at least we will all be able to sit on the sofa in the autumn and not have to fight for a bit of blanket!


I used the Summer Garden Granny Square pattern from Attic24 for the main blanket. My plan had been to do a shell edging but once I had done a few rows of trebles, the shell looked a bit odd so I decided a few more rows of trebles was the way ahead and I think it looks good. I joined all of the squares using double crochets to make the edges stand up a bit, I love the look of the ridges.  If you want to know any more about it, pop over to my project page on Ravelry.

I'm a little bit distracted here at the moment so excuse the lack of updates but we are busy enjoying the summer holidays. All too soon, everyone will be back at school and work and the nights will be pulling in and we'll be complaining about the cold. I love the holidays and spending time with my (not so) little people so we have been baking...and of course, licking the bowl out.....


..riding donkeys on the beach....


..playing in the park......


....and finding brambles on our walk back from the Post Office and making makeshift containers to take them home and make crumble for tea .....


All too soon everything will be back to normal. I hope you all enjoy the long bank holiday weekend. 
For more Finished Objects, have a look at Tami-Amis blog.

My Fastest Finished Object Friday! 9 Aug 2013 12:42 PM (11 years ago)

You'll notice that there haven't been many finished objects around here recently. I seem to have been very good at starting things; socks, odd bits of crochet, a few more socks, some more crochet things but nothing has been finished, however, last Saturday...less than a week ago, I went to my lovely local yarn shop and bought some yarn for a new project; a little tank top for my newest nephew, born the Sunday before.

I'd said that I would wait until the baby was born before I made anything because when someone announces that they are having a baby in a family of knitters, I find that they suddenly become rather inundated with white cardis and I'm not too keen on knitting in white and I like to know who I am knitting for so I managed to resist the urge to make anything until the (not so) little man was born.

I decided to be brave and make a little tank top out of The Ultimate Book of Baby Knits by Debbie Bliss. As much as I like quite a lot of the patterns in the book, I don't like seams. At all.  Seams on baby clothes seem even more annoying because the garments are so small and quick to knit then you have to faff and pick up stitches and sew up and blah blah blah....anyway, I decided to put my big girl pants on and get on with it and here is the finished object. I think it loosk quite cute.

 
After much deliberation, where I maybe annoyed people while standing in the shop trying to decide which colours out of a handful of options were the ones to go with for slightly longer than was necessary, I went for green and cream.

Even though there was a bit of sewing up and picking up stitches, I managed to do it with only minimal tutting so I might have to make another one for another little man...and Lou thinks a girly one would look fab too.....

For more FO Fridays, have a look at Tami Ami's blog here.

Catching up...again! 4 Aug 2013 11:25 PM (11 years ago)

I can't believe I haven't been here since June. It has been a little busy around Nicsknots. We had a fab time in Italy with my little sister and her family....we met a Roman solider at Pompeii.....

 Jack and Lou both passed the most drawn-out swim test ever so that they could dive and go on the slides in the US park...


We went to the beach and discovered that it is good to swim in the sea, you just have to choose the right sea...


Then we were back home for a week of school and sewing before I went off to Fibre East.  As usual, I took no photos other than this where it looks like CoopKnits and The Knitting Goddess were plotting, but it was a fab show. I have never been before and now I understand all of the hyper about this event. It was lovely, friendly, fab.


Everyone loved the Karrie bags. There are a few left on the shop though so if you want one, hop over there now.

Yesterday I took my Phoenix cards to a local event, 20 lovely stalls, run by local (almost all) women, in aid of St Andrew's Hospice, our local hospice. It was a lovely day, even if it was a bit too windy for selling cards and stationery so I had to keep putting things away and blu-tacking other things down to the table!   If you do want to stock up on cards or colouring-in bits to keep the kids (or adults!) entertained, I am going to donate 10% of my sales until Sunday 11th August to St Andrew's.  If you want to get organised, Christmas has just been launched on the website. With my littlest sister getting married a fortnight before Christmas this year, I am going to attempt to be...will I do it though?


I feel like I'm almost up to date now.  I'm going to have a busy week making stock for all of the out-of-stock things on the website, if I can get anywhere near my sewing machine because Lou has claimed it to make phone covers.

FO Friday... 21 Jun 2013 9:00 AM (11 years ago)

Today didn't start too well...I bought Lou some new pants yesterday and when I bought them, I knew it would be a bad idea. As fun as it is to have socks and pants with the days of the week on them, she *has* to wear them on the right day of the week so when she put her Friday pants on then managed to get them wet in the space of five minutes then insisted she *needed* to wash and wear them and no thanks, wearing my Monday ones won't be funny, Mummy, the house was fast descending into chaos.

Ten minutes before we had to leave the house, she was drying them with the hair dryer. Fab!  The day could only get better, right?

Well it turns out, it has been quite a good day. School sports day was cancelled so I ended up with some extra time to re-take the photos I took of my new Karrie bags at the start of the week and get them on the website.


I'm not that fab at taking photos and I have been known to stop making bags for the website if they are a nightmare to photograph and these bags were fast becoming the next victim, only to be seen at shows and shops but I think I have solved the problem and this photo isn't that bad, to say that I am not a photographer.  The coordinating yarn helps a little bit too :) I love these bags, you can get so much in them. I used one for my jumper so they are definitely not just for socks.

I've finally got around to blocking my Miss Kitty top this week so I have some photos of it for FO Friday. I really enjoyed knitting it and it was a fairly quick knit too. No seam knitting is the way ahead; as soon as the knitting is finished, it's all ready, no sewing up seams.


I stuck to this pattern except for adding another set of repeats because even though the pattern claimed the model was 5'9 and the top fell on her hips, she was clearly either not that tall or straight up and down because the sample I had tried in the shop was rather too sort. I'm glad I added those extra rows because it would have been too short otherwise.

If you want to find out more about this knit, have a look on my Ravelry projects page, here.

For more FO Fridays, have a look here.

Another week bites the dust! 14 Jun 2013 6:04 AM (11 years ago)

My pleas for the world to slow down for a few weeks haven't been answered so another week has gone by in a flash and with no blog post. 

This was the week that J got glasses.  He is only very slightly short-sighted but as soon as he put the glasses on, it was like the blind had suddenly been given the miracle of sight. He is so proud of his new glasses, he has even let me take a photo to show you!

I took a photo for WIP Wednesday and was going to blog but then we carried on drinking and knitting and by the time I got home, it was too late to blog.  The sock is Saltburn from the Coop Knits book and I am loving it. It may become the amazing technicolour sock as I am doing it in a group of mini skeins of Natural Dye Studio yarn that I won at Knit Nation but I think it will look fab when it is finished.

Both of these and a few more new prints will be popping up in the shop over the next day or so. I have great plans for a tidy-up of the shop over the weekend, given the rubbish weather we (still) have. I want to get super-organised before the end of school.


And now it is time I was on my way to school. As has been the case this last week, five minutes ago, the heavens opened and it is going to be another wet run to school. Just keep thinking of the cup of tea on the sofa when we get home with my little people :)

We have a winner! 3 Jun 2013 1:16 AM (11 years ago)

It has been half term in our neck of the woods so the old blog has been a bit neglected again. I have been working and getting orders out but anything other than that has gone by the way-side, replaced with days at the beach and fun with the little people while they are still littleish...

Because of that, I forgot that the giveaway was supposed to end on Friday so a few sneaky people managed to squeeze in some late entries but I have now chosen a winner with the help of the trusty random.org number generator.  Mr Random did his stuff and chose.....


who was Pip.  Pip said the first sock she would knit would be Willowherb. This is on my list too and I love the colour they have been knitted in for the book. Amazing.


I'll get the book, needle roll and bag in the post to you this afternoon, Pip.

Everyone is back at school today so it is all systems go; lists have been written and items already crossed off....long may the productivity of the last four hours continue....

Almost finished WIP Wednesday... 22 May 2013 12:53 AM (11 years ago)

This year is running away. I'm at the stage where I just want to jump off for a couple of months, catch up with everything I want to get done, enjoy time doing not a lot with my little family and just breathe before getting back on and it still 'only' being the middle of May.   Next week is half term, the last holiday before the summer holidays and between the two, we go to see my sister in Italy and.....waa!!  My life is a series of lists and taking children here, there and everywhere. 

On the up side, I am getting better at switching off from work (earlier) in the evenings so by 8pm, I have time to relax.  Hence why my top is growing quickly. It is so close to being finished but I have run out of yarn. I did the crazy-old-lady lay-by thing with my LYS again, clearly not learning from my mistakes when I made my Owl jumper. I don't know why I do lay-by. Maybe because it is a crafty way of sneaking yarn into the house; there are only ever a couple of balls kicking around because all the rest are safely stored in the yarn shop.

I tried this on yesterday. It has looked so pretty while I have been knitting it so I wanted to make sure it still looked pretty. Hmm. The lacey holes are a bit holey. It needs to look better when it is finished or I will be giving away to someone!

For more WIP Wednesdays, have a look over at Tami-Amis blog.

Eurovision fun! 20 May 2013 2:28 AM (11 years ago)

Saturday was Euro-vision night.  I love it! I know the scoring is all but fixed and that we don't stand a chance of ever winning but I enjoy watching the crazy tunes and it's a good excuse to get a couple of hours of knitting in on a Saturday night ;)

Mr Nicsknots normally watches with me but this year it was a lonely affair because he has re-ignited his love affair with World of Empires or whatever the name of the computer game is that means he has to build little towns and armies then spends ages fighting with other armies using trebuchets and other medieval weapons.

I used to love watching Terry Wogan, presenting the show, slowly getting more and more drunk as the evening progressed but Graham Norton is growing on me and some of his commentary was spot-on this year, such as when he told people that if they were offended by two women kissing at the end of the performance by Finland, they needed to grow up.  Quite.

I actually thought Finland should have won, their song, 'Marry Me'  was written by the singer to spur her long term boyfriend to marry her.  It didn't work though...clearly snogging her best friend will help her to get over it. His loss!! The song was full of cheese and craziness and reminded me of Aqua.  I thought Malta was good too and the video explains the song a bit more.  Completely different from Finland but I really love it.

And look at all of the knitting I got done...

I've managed to get the sleeves on before Euro-vision, without crying, even though I was attempting to knit using magic loop while squeezed on the settee with two excited children and a husband, watching the Dr Who finale. I can't wait to get it finished now!

Yesterday, I finally got my bean arch made.  I saw the idea on Pintrest and decided it was just what I needed to tidy up the front of the playhouse. I've been waiting for a while for M to build me some containers out of all of the wood he has been collecting but apparently that was much to much hassle so girl-power strikes again and Lou and I made this.   I'm quite proud of it and can't wait for the beans to start growing up the arch..and for the sun to start shining so that we don't have to wear cardis and trousers in May!!

WIP Wednesday. 15 May 2013 5:17 AM (11 years ago)

It's Wednesday already! Thank you to everyone who has entered the giveaway already, it's fab to see some lurkers coming out of the woodwork with the lure of prizes!

Today it is Work In Progress (WIP)  Wednesday and I have been doing quite a bit of knitting recently.  At the end of April, I, stupidly, it would seem,  thought that we might get some warmer weather soon and decided to cast-on a cotton top.   Miss Kitty  is from the latest Louisa Harding book and knitted in Jesse, a cotton denim. It is a dream to knit; no splitting at all.

I am always a bit dubious when think about knitting something for me because I'm worried what it will look like when I'm finally wearing it but as luck would have it, there was a sample already knitted up in the knitting shop so I tried it on and it looked fab.  The only thing I have changed so far is to add an extra pattern repeat on the bottom as it was a little bit shorter than I want it when I tried the sample on.



I've almost up to the adding-on of sleeves and keep having to knit another row, it's fairly addictive.  I'm a little bit scared because it looks a bit confusing in the instructions but I'm sure it will make sense when I get to it.

For more WIP's have a look on Tami-Amis blog.

A Giveaway! 14 May 2013 2:47 AM (11 years ago)

This was the sky above my garden this morning. Beautiful blue.

A wonderful way to start the day but the forecast is for more crazy weather this afternoon with torrential rain and potentially hail and snow near London. Crazy May weather so I think we should cheer it all up and have a giveaway.

Earlier in the year, I made some very special projects bags for the lovely Rachel Coopey, for the launch of her new book. 'Socks', available to buy here, is the first printed collection of her original, beautiful sock patterns.  I bought the book as soon as it was released. In fact. I bought the book, raved about it, took it to show a friend then had to buy myself another copy after it mysteriously disappeared and reappeared at her house.

The book contains ten patterns and when I looked through the book for the first time, I found myself saying 'I *must* make these first, no these, no maybe these....'  I think I have finally settled on these.....


All you have to do to enter is comment on the post and let me know which one of the socks you would knit first. All of the details are on the book page on Ravelry. The giveaway will close on 31st May. 

Must do better... 13 May 2013 1:24 AM (11 years ago)

I'm just sneaking in here, seeing if you have all missed me... I've been more than a bit rubbish of late and neglected this old blog but this is the week it is all going to change. I promise.

I haven't been sitting around doing nothing. It's just I joined Instagram a few months ago and they say a picture tells a thousand words and....well, it's quicker to post a photo and run.  I'm here if you want to find me and admire my wonderful photography...and eclectic choice of  views of our crazy life.

I've picked a few photos out to post here. Firstly, Spring *finally* arrived in the UK. The cherry blossom came out and the many ferns in my garden started to unfurl....

Last weekend we made the most of the sunny weather, dusted the bikes off and went out in the sun. Mr Nicsknots showed off, Lou followed Daddy and ended up in a big heap. Do we think she has learnt the important 'Never follow Daddy' lesson? Er no!


We have started a positivity book. J still struggles with his writing and the older he gets, the more I panic. He has the ideas but, by his own admission, he hates writing and finds it boring. No matter how many times I tell him that it doesn't matter how boring he finds it, the quicker he gets on with things, the quicker it is over, he still sits at the table, frustrated and annoyed for much longer than it takes him to write the work.

I love reading a couple of blogs (Keep It Simple and I Can See The Trees.), where they post five positive things a day and I wondered if I could get J practicing his writing while helping him see that all of the good things that happen in his day don't revolve around an electrical device.  We've been doing it for a fortnight now and it is getting better. Last week I was feeling like I was doing everything wrong as a parent; we would have a fab family day, do lots of things I thought would make an appearance in the book and he would sit for ten minutes complaining that nothing positive had happened in his day then write 'I played Minecraft for ten minutes' but we carried on and I haven't ever complained about his choice of subject and now it is becoming routine and he is finding it easier to find positive things as well as improving his writing. Fingers crossed it works!!


This was the first day and this comment made it all worth doing because he had wanted to give up on his violin lessons but then he went to orchestra and they played music out of Harry Potter and he now loves it!!


 I have been doing some Spring inspired photo-shoots. I love this print. I bought it for a custom order a while back but I think I will be adding it to my current range. It makes me dream of summer days, ice cream and flowers in the garden.


My sister and her family have moved to Italy!  I'm so jealous of the warm weather and their adventures.  Her husband is in the Navy so they will be based there for two years before coming home.


I'm still trying to switch off from work at the weekends. It is so hard to switch off when working from home, especially when my 'office' is in the corner of our lounge but I am learning. I even sat and read for a couple of hours in the daytime yesterday while everyone else went to a model railway exhibition. I need to read a bit more if I am ever going to get my 52 books read this year though!

So. I think that is me up to date. This week *is* going to be a good one and I shall be back tomorrow with something really exciting.

Just before I go, this week is Cleft Lip and Palate Awareness Week.  My lovely friend gave birth to an amazing, fab little boy in March who has a bilateral cleft and palate. Before she found out, at her 20 week scan, I hadn't really heard much, even though it is the most common congenital anomaly in the UK, affecting approximately 1 in every seven hundred babies born in the UK. The work that CLAPA does to support family and friends and the information they provide is so valuable and I wanted to do my little bit to support them so I'll be baking some cakes for a coffee morning later in the week and I will be donating 15% of sales this week from my Phoenix Cards to the association. 


You can order directly from the the website, from anywhere in the UK or even further afield and the cards are sent straight to you within 3 days so if you keep meaning to get organised and get some beautiful cards, designed and printed in the UK, do it this week while supporting a really worthwhile and sometimes overlooked cause. If you just want to donate, click here to get through to the website.

I'll be back tomorrow with some fab news!! 

Wonderwool Wednesday 24 Apr 2013 12:01 PM (12 years ago)

It's that time of year again..the start of the run of woolly shows all over the country.  For me, Wonderwool always signifies the start of the season and is generally my favourite show but unfortunately,  I won't be there this weekend.   Luckily though, my bags and needle rolls will still be on sale so if you are lucky enough to be heading for Mid-Wales, have an amazing scotch egg from Neil then head over to Emma at Atomic Knitting who will have a range of my usual bits and bobs.

If you are looking for something a little more different from Nicsknots, hop over to see Deb at The Mulberry Dyer.  Over the last few months I have been lucky enough to work with Deb to make some bags using some very special fabric she has expertly dyed, using her historical dyes.

Deb has been working as an historical dyer since the early 90’s and started dyeing cloth at Warwick Castle during a demonstration of 17^th century Dyeing. Since then she has had commissions from Hampton Court Palace, The Weald and Downland Museum and various other Museums to supply cloth for historical costume.


The wool cloth used for the bags is a diamond twill suitable for mediaeval gowns and doublets dyed with Madder and Brazilwood.  The fabric is extremely hardwearing.  The lining is beautiful Ahimsa Silk (Peace silk) again dyed with Brazilwood with the addition of Logwood to darken it.

 
The linen for the Karrie Bags was an experiment in stenciling using modern extract dyes. Linen was always the fabric worn next to the skin as it was easier to wash that heavy wool.

Have a great time if you get to Wonderwool! 

Go Jim, go!! 21 Apr 2013 12:28 AM (12 years ago)

It's Sunday morning, the sun is shining for the first Sunday in months and I am sitting in front of the TV watching The London Marathon, getting all excited and wishing we had the Olympics all over again this year!

Over the last few months I have been watching Veuf Tricot prepare for his first London Marathon.  *Just* running the marathon and asking people to donate to Refuge, his chosen charity, was not enough for him so when he hasn't been running and working and everything else, he has also been designing knitwear with the proceeds of the sales of these pattens, going towards the charity.

I've never  going to run a marathon but I will be cheering Veuf Tricot on from the sofa. If you want to donate to the charity, click here.

Last-minute Finished Object Friday. 19 Apr 2013 5:58 AM (12 years ago)

Back in January, my sister announced that she was getting her daughter christened. I asked her if she wanted me to make her a cardigan for her special day and we spent a few weeks picking the right pattern. I bought the yarn, I mastered the provisional crochet cast-on, I knitted the back and marveled at how pretty it was going to look....

 ..I then left it for a few months..I had loads of time to get it finished and I had other things I *needed* to do before then.

Last weekend we went to Portsmouth for the christening. I had the back and one side knitted but with a bit of late night knitting, I got it finished just in time...1030 on the morning of the christening...no time for blocking, just a quick smooth out on the table in the fab retro Forces family accommodation we stayed in, in Gosport, before getting ready and taking it to the church for my sister to put on my beautiful little niece.


 All of the details for Petit Artichaut are here and for more FO's, look here. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Coop Knits Socks...*the* book.... 18 Apr 2013 12:20 PM (12 years ago)

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I wasn't being a lazy person, even if my blog was a bit quiet, but that I was working fairly hard behind the scenes on some secret projects. Well, now I can share one of them.

As a working from home small business person, I often feel like I lead a double life. I am fairly convinced that 95% of people in my day to day school-mum life (You know, the life that happens outside the house and away from the computer screen which contains all of my fellow WAH work mates) think I make up stories of working with amazingly clever and creative people and spending weekends with world renowned knitwear designers, yarn dyers and suppliers, while sitting at home all day, contemplating what I am going to make my little family for tea and twiddling my thumbs between tennis lessons and the next mummy drinks night however it is 100% true and sometimes I have to pinch myself that I do get the chance to work with some amazing people.

 One of these lovely, clever people is Rachel Coopey ,who designs, among other things, the most fabulous socks.   Back in August, we were in Shropshire, at AndyFest, and we started talking about what we were doing in the next year, she told me about a book she was planning.  The book is now finished and it has been sent to the printers.  It is available for pre-order here

This may scare Rachel to the core because I am such a rubbish knitter and after she and Mamalonglegs witnessed me attempting to start a fairly simple scarf in the summer, I think they both doubt my ability to follow any pattern, but I think I may have to buy a copy of this book even if I never get around to making a pair of socks out of it. It looks amazing and I want these socks on my feet....even if it kills me ;)

So where do I come in? Well, Rachel has made up some kits using my drawstring bags in a couple of prints I have made, exclusively for her. The kits also include yarn from Fyberspates and The Knitting Goddess and stitch markers from Fripperies and Bibelots.  Grab them while you can and keep looking on here for a giveaway in the near future.

Easter Week.. 5 Apr 2013 11:20 AM (12 years ago)

We have had a busy first week of the Easter holidays. As well as cramming in lots of work, we have had lots of fun too...

We started with a finished object for Finished Object Friday. A very special little man was born a fortnight ago to my wonderful friend and I fell in love with him instantly.  Since he was so small and so blooming cute, it would have been rude not to make him anything to wear.  At less than 6lb, I decided to make him a Paxton Preemie Jacket in some Rico baby Classic DK and Bergere De France Ideal I just happened to have lying around the place ...as you do ;)

I was worried that it would still drown him but little E wore it coming home from hospital and it fitted him just fine. 

We had friends to stay for Easter and they kindly found the sun on their way to our house and brought it with them so after the obligatory Grimsby Fish and Chips, we went for a very bracing, but at least not snowy or rainy, walk along the beach at Cleethorpes and found lots of washed up starfish.  Due to the high Spring tides and the storms we had had the week before, hundreds of them had been washed up onto the beach. 


 I indulged in a little Amigurumi and made an Easter chick...apparently. It looked more like a puffer fish..or an elephants head, according to Lou....

While I have been getting up in the mornings to get cracking on the sewing pile, everyone else has been making the most of lazy mornings, J has spent it reading everything he can find about Harry Potter while L has read book after book....I am very jealous!


This morning Mr Nicsknots decided that it was the day to start cutting a hole in the ceiling on the landing to make a bigger loft hatch...I see no reason for this other than maybe he is contemplating moving up there and after his antics today, I'll help him up there..and nail the trap-door shut!  We now have two gaping holes in the ceiling, bits of polystyrene from one end of the house to the other because 'I may as well just take the tiles off while I am up here....'and more tools than B+Q own strewn from one bedroom to the landing, to another.


 I'm told I'm not patient. I beg to differ...I didn't utter a word while trying to work on a building site all afternoon and when that little ball of anger grew too big, I took myself off for a little walk to the Post Office before hiding in the greenhouse with a cup of tea for half an hour.....

Rain, rain, go away! 18 Mar 2013 6:23 AM (12 years ago)

I put the washing out on Friday morning. Five minutes later, it started raining and it hasn't really stopped since. It's all getting more than a bit boring now.  The chickens have even decided that they have had enough of getting muddy and are hiding under the slide and in their greenhouse while the rabbits huddle up together, looking distinctly unhappy about the whole situation.

Yesterday afternoon, I attempted the pretty the place up a bit by experimenting with crochet. This is what I made...

Quite a happy accident. I found the flower pattern here and decided, after making a couple, that instead of using four different colours, two looked better and finished it off with a button then I left it on my pile of hearts while I decided what to do with it. This morning, I spotted it on the table, covered with fabric and sewing paraphernalia and it all looked rather good together..of course I'm not sure what to do with it but it looks pretty and we need pretty and bright on grumpy grey Monday mornings.

To combat the grumpy grey, I have been sewing bright and funky things like this Ninja needle roll.


I love this fabric and I see lots of it in my future so everyone get buying lots then I can buy more..everyone's a winner ;) 

Another fab fabric is this 'Ripp-it Frog'..very apt if, like me, you spend more time frogging rather than actually knitting!


This is available in my shop. I'll also list them on Folksy and Etsy tonight but the best place to buy my things is direct from my Nicsknots shop as I always list things there first and they have the more complete range of things.

Crazy times! 15 Mar 2013 6:10 AM (12 years ago)

Over the past week, we have had not one but two dressing-up days at school...The words that fill many a parent with dread. Last week it was World Book Day. For the weeks leading up to the day, L told me that she was going to be Hermione while J was going to be Harry Potter. All fine as we had the costumes for both of them already so I was feeling fairly smug until two days before when L decided that she couldn't possibly be Hermione because her hair is straight and Hermione has curly hair so she would be Gangsta Granny from the book of the same name by David Walliams. I set to work, like the dutiful crafty mother, the night before the event. ....

After cutting and sewing for a couple of hours, I decided maybe I could dress up as a super-hero too...

...I woke up on the morning of the day with an L by the side of my bed telling me that she didn't want a cape, she needed a bin bag to put all the diamonds in. Of course. No 'Thank you for all the time you spent faffing around making my costume when you could have been in bed' Luckily, after breakfast she decided the cape was a good idea and got ready..


Today, of course, it is Red Nose Day and their school is doing an 80s day.  J decided he wanted to be Michael Jackson so has spent the week practising his moonwalk and ordered a costume while L told us that she was not a girl who wears net tutus and didn't want to be any of the people we suggested so she tells me that she is 'a random person from the 80s'


They both look happy so I'm not complaining...lets hope they've all had a good day at school....


I haven't spent all of my time making and buying costumes over the last week. I have been playing with my pattern for the Miya bags and making a bigger version. I've listed a few on my shop today.

These bags are deceptively huge. There is plenty of room in there for your bigger knitting projects and full-sized straight needles to be fully enclosed, as well as all the balls of yarn while you are making your crochet blanket.
If you want one of these new bags in a particular fabric, let me know. I am trying to build up a stock in my popular fabrics but I can make them to order if you would like one now.

March! 1 Mar 2013 12:12 PM (12 years ago)

I can't believe it is already March. I feel like it should still be January or at the very latest, the beginning of February but here we are on the 1st of March.

I've just updated my #52books in 52 weeks blog post, here, with the latest book I have finished, 'Is It Just Me?' by Miranda Hart.  You'll notice on my widget on the side-bar that I am already way behind with reading. That is mainly because the next book I started isn't going well and instead of stopping and reading another book, I am being me and insisting on carrying on...or just not reading. This week I have decided to give it up for a while and read something else.

I've been playing with Instagram a bit this month. I resisted using it before because my phone is a bit like my brain and that full of *stuff* that it sometimes can't cope with new things but, fingers crossed, it seems to be working ok so if you want to find me over there, I am Nicsknots


1st of March is the the day for the new product launch on my Phoenix website. If you are looking for cards and stationary, designed by independent UK designers, printed in the UK, delivered straight to your door, wherever you live, look no further.

These cards are great quality and amazing value at £1.50 each. I'm trying to decide which is my favourite at the moment. The rabbits are high on my list and this poster of the planets is amazing.

As if you need any more incentive to try them out, anyone placing an order in March will be entered into a prize draw to win £10 off their next order.