Still no soap, but .....

Well, I still haven't made any soap recently, but I've got itchy fingers to start again so it's on the horizon.

In the meantime, just a couple of bits and bobs I've played around with when I'm not dashing around between work & family or just collapsing in a heap on the settee....

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was wearing a lovely, snuggly soft neckwarmer she'd made and being a slight yarn addict I couldn't get it out of my head. So, you just have to give in to the urge sometimes and I trotted off and bought a ball of Rowan Cocoon yarn in a shade called Kiwi. A departure for me as I'm not really a green kind of a girl, but it's a really subtle colour. I can't remember the last time I knitted anything so I had a play about and eventually worked out a cable pattern for myself. I'm quite pleased with the end result - fingers crossed it doesn't make me itch or I'll have to give it away.

Today being a wet, grey Sunday some choccie brownies have suddenly appeared in my kitchen as a counterbalance to the yukky weather. Made with dark choccie, cranberries & coconut, they're all squidgy in the middle and I may or may not have had a smallish nibble already. Bliss. Oh, and they're non-dairy so I can scoff the lot. (And I blame Lululiz entirely for putting the thought in my head as she was bragging about scoffing Tiffin she'd made yesterday).

Now that I've got a new beading lamp, I've been playing about with this pattern I got from the last issue of Bead & Button magazine. It's a bit fiddly and I've questioned whether or not to carry on, but I've been told to keep going so I'll perservere. All will be revealed when it's finished. I've got so many beady things I want to do, I feel a fairly major beady shopping accident coming on. Yipee.

Hope you're all having a happy, crafty Sunday.

Hatching a new brain cell....

I've been very bad at blogging the past few weeks as there've been all sorts of things going on here in my little corner of Lalaland. I've finally signed the warrant for my old car to go to the big scrap heaven in the sky, and I'll be very sad when she goes (getting rid of things is excruciating for me), but excited to get a new car that will start when I need it to.
I'm just over 2 months into a new job and I STILL can't get my head round some of it which is really frustrating (I know I'm a bit dizzy at times, but I didn't think I was particularly thick!). It's all a case of learning how all the agencies fit together and all the acronyms etc that they use. Never having worn corporate knickers in my working life, it's taking me a bit of time to get used to it all and so I'm growing a new brain cell to keep my other one company - hence the little duckie above, as she sits on the eggcup I'm using to hatch the brain cell.

What else have I been up to? Hmm, not sure where to begin so I'll just waffle through it.
My sis asked me to make her a nice big blanket for snuggling under on the sofa. She provided the wool and asked if I'd make it like the scarf I gave her for Christmas. With just the one working brain cell, I said "yep, no problem" without realising just how much work would be involved. I crochet pretty fast, but I reckon in all this has taken me between 80 and 100 hours to do. The pics don't show the true colours - they're more of a lovely rich mossy green and a subdued teal/turquoise. By the time I finished (no wonder I was very warm crocheting round the edges) I reckon it ended up about 6 feet long by about 4 feet wide (sorry, don't know what that is in metric, but think large rug!) and really heavy as it's an aran-weight yarn. Anyhow, she loves it and I had a really sweet call from my little niece to tell me she was snuggled under the blanket with Mummy watching a nice film. Awwww.

Even standing on the sofa I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture, so the pics are a bit rubbish I'm afraid.

Now for a lovely surprise (despite the very rude comments by a certain other person). I had an unexpected parcel the other day, beautifully wrapped and in a lovely box. I've been coveting Manos del Uruguay yarns for a long time now, and Lizzie made me a beautiful scarf for a Christmas prezzie. Click here to read her very, erm, charming post about it (and her pics are much better than mine). Despite the rude comments about little ol' me, she's done herself proud with this lovely prezzie.

What else? Oh yes, with my first pay cheque for a VERY long time, I treated myself to some beautiful hand-dyed cotton yarn. I have no real idea of what to make with it, but I'm leaning towards a lovely blanket just for me (or a pashmina type thing, or, or .....)

For no reason other than they made me smile, just look at these daffodils I bought at the weekend. They've all opened and have a wonderful scent. Well, I can pretend it's nearly Spring.

And finally, before I go for a lie down after that lot, I've waited nearly 3 years for this orchid to flower again and she's now been in bloom since the beginning of December. Not only has she given me beautiful flowers, but there are 2 stems of them. It was well worth the wait.

And that's me for now. Off to check the progress of my new brain cell as this one is exhausted now. Toodlepip.

PS Don't put some eggs on to boil and then sit down to write a long blog post. Oops.