For once, I’ve found the time to sit down and write up a blog post – a rare event! Time seems to be in very short supply these days. I’m lucky if I can even find half an hour in the evening for a spot of crafty activity.

However, there’s lots to tell, so I’d better get on with it.

I’m now approaching the end of my second week back at work – so far, so good! I’m now working part time and get to do the school run around work too. I’m loving being able to get home at 3.30pm and be able to spend time with my kids doing nothing in particular before having to think about organising dinner.


I can see now that I made a big mistake returning to work full time after I had Iona. I just couldn’t find that work/home balance and as a result my self confidence nose-dived, and I was getting very depressed and having problems at work. I’m trying to do one or two other things at work to boost my self confidence now too to try and make sure I don’t dig myself back into the same hole I was in before.

However, I now only have half an hour for lunch at work, so my internet time is very limited. At the moment, I don’t see myself getting back to regular blogging in the foreseeable future.

On the crafty side of things, I finally finished my entries for the Inside Crochet competition, took my photos (cue the crazy photo session in Vicky Park) and wrote the patterns. I got everything emailed off last Saturday and am now sitting here with arms, legs and just about everything else crossed. I sent two entries, one of which I’m especially pleased with and am rather proud of. For a while I felt really confident that it should do well in the competition. Now that I’ve sent it, I’m wracked by uncertainty! Everyone keep their fingers crossed for Billy Buttons!

Here are a couple of sneak peeks of the things I made.


I’ve also suspected over the last week that I’m going to have to take a temporary retirement from stitching. I just can’t see me having enough time to sit down and do any constructive stitching for a long time and I find crochet much easier to pick up and put down and get more done in short time periods. With my stitching I feel like by the time I’d got something out and got organised, I’d have to stop and put it away again. I’d like to do the ’12 stitches’ kind of thing that I did before, but there doesn’t even seem to be enough time for that at the moment.

I have a lot of crochet ideas rattling around in my head and an on-going obsession with crochet waistcoats, although I’ve yet to actually make one! This is my current favourite, although whether I’ll actually get around to making it is anyone’s guess! And I’ve had a frustrating couple of days trying unsuccessfully to track down some bamboo yarn I bought, pre-Niamh I think, to be used for a waistcoat! It has to be around somewhere!


Hopefully it won’t be too long before I get round to another post as I have Very Important Monkey News to share!

In the mood

Can you hear me singing? 'I'm in the moo-oo-ood for blogging, I feel like blogging .... ' Substitute dancing for blogging and you might get the tune. According to Google it's the Nolans.

Anyway, I'm in the mood to blog but don't have anything in particular to say - I really need to sort out photos for a proper post.

So I thought I'd just pop by to say hello, how are you all? What are you all working on these days? I'm still trying to crochet and document a couple of toys for the Inside Crochet competition, but I feel like I'm struggling to find the time to make any progress these days - it may take some late nights to get sorted out :-( I hate feeling disorganised like this.

The countdown is also ticking for my return to the world of work in May - not sure whether or not I'm looking forward to that. I made a big mistake in going back to work full time after I had Iona, so this time I'm going back part time. Still need to get the child care sorted out .....

Popularity

I think I mentioned before that I need to knit more monkeys. Well, I just couldn't believe it this week as I stood in the school playground watching my 10 year old and my (nearly) 3 year old, both in tears, fighting over that blasted monkey!


I'm still a bit too preoccupied with other things to have monkeys at the top of my to do list, but I did manage to complete these this week.


I can't look at them without smiling!

3 courses of antibiotics and a ventolin inhaler ......

Spoke too soon last time I blogged! By the end of that week all 3 of us were on antibiotics, and the following week Niamh was wheezing enough to be given a ventolin inhaler. That alarmed me slightly as, although I'm asthmatic and know it doesn't have to be a problem, how would you diagnose and manage asthma in a baby? Fortunately it was just a virus and seems to be clearing up now. However, we're not quite clear yet as Iona is being sick every couple of days or so, and Niamh isn't drinking her milk properly yet. We'll get there, eventually!

On the plus side, a bit of sunshine seems to have been just what I needed to cheer me up and I've been really enjoying having all this time to spend with my two girls! It's possible too that Iona is learning to listen to what she's told and isn't quite such a handful. However, she still can't be trusted around yoghurt!

Time flies again! And I don't quite know where the last 2 weeks have gone. Last week was mostly taken up with 3 colds - Iona's, Niamh's, and mine. We don't seem to have caught all that many colds this winter, but we have managed to pick up a couple of really nasty ones. Hopefully we're all on the mend now.

Little crafty activity to tell, but I can happily report that ZeroX1 and Captain Monkeypants survived a trip in the washing machine last Friday - we were all very brave!


I'm starting to conclude that I'm going to have to dig out knitting needles to make another companion for ZeroX1 as he is just far too popular in our house to share!

I picked up a copy of the April issue of Inside Crochet last week and found a competition to design a crochet toy - as part of the prize, the pattern will be published in the magazine. So I'm going to give that a go - I've come up with several ideas to choose from. One is now being prototyped and I'm still making copious notes on another! We'll see where that gets to!

On that subject, I keep having surreal conversations with Alexander concerning ears. Ears have been causing much concern! And Alexander's not necessarily all that interested, but he listens and then asks if I'll crochet him a Pokemon like Victini or Zekrom. I've conceded that I might make him a Munna!

Crochet catch-up with a Big Finish

This isn't exactly what I'd been planning to blog about, but I haven't got round to making the notes about what I wanted to say. And this post means I can keep blogger up to day with the stuff I've been posting on Flickr.

Towards the end of last year I started crocheting lacy motifs for a project. That project then changed and evolved so that many of the motifs weren't needed in the end. So I've been using the motifs for other things.

Such as birthday cards -



Then there's the dreamcatcher mobile-type thingy -




And the big finish? Well, here's Starflake from Patricia Ann Designs - stitching finished so long ago that I don't have a pic of it on Flickr.


According to Photobucket, it was finished on 25 Oct 2007 and it's been lying around ever since waiting for the inspiration to hit and for me to decide how to finish it off. At varoius points it might have been a pillow, a biscornu or a box top, but none of them seemed quite right.

However, as of the end of last week, it now looks like this!


I'm really pleased, not just because it looks nice, but because I've combined crochet and stitching in a way I've been wanting to try for ages. I think I'll be using variations on this kind of finishing again!

Wow - thanks for the lovely comments on my last post! I hope I didn't sound too down about Iona, she's just hard work. I'm sorry I haven't made it round your blogs yet to catch up.

As I type this, I'm about to become an aunt for the third time - my youngest sister is currently in labour with her first baby. So lots of good wishes going to Jill and Dave.

12 feb 2011 - my 44th birthday. Can't believe how much has changed since my 40th! I have to laugh at the scale of the change - on my 40th birthday I would never have dreamed that by the time I was 44 I'd have had 2 more children, both girls! I was quite happy seeing myself as the mother of a son, now it seems I suddenly have to reinvent myself as the mother of girls too! LOL!

Now to get something off my chest - apologies for the moan.

I'm not very good at birthdays these days, not that my age bothers me. What does bother me is the lack of attention my birthday gets from any member of my family - it's the same at Christmas - and it's my own fault, really. I put a lot of effort into organizing gifts and cake etc for other family birthdays and in buying gifts people will like at Christmas, and I find it hurtful that nobody does the same for me. I do get cards from my family, but presents or any form of celebration is practically non-existant. I've started trying to organize things myself around my birthday, but even that failed miserably this year, thanks to a nasty cold.

I know I should tell my family how I feel and that I see a birthday as a big opportunity to show someone how you appreciate them, but it feels very selfish and petty to be complaining about birthdays at my age!

Here's a photo of the one and only present I got at Christmas (from my parents).


I'd finished most of the stitching early last year and added a N for Niamh in the summer. I thought it would be nice to make it a special piece, dedicated to my family, and asked my parents to get it framed for me for Christmas. I'm rather pleased with the result - it definitely is something special!

Monday 7 February

Well - where did the last 5 months go? I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged - I certainly never intended it to be so long! Is there anyone out there even reading this?

What have I been up to? Looking after my family - that's about it! There's little time for anything else. I'm still on maternity leave being a full time mum. Iona's at one of the most frustrating stages of the 'terrible twos' - high spirited and rarely listens to anything anyone says. Any length of time spent around the house frequently descends into a constant stream of 'don't do thats' or arguments over getting her to wear clothes - it all gets rather wearing so as a result we spend most of our time out and about doing various activities. Attempting any adult crafty activity when I'm alone with Iona is definitely a mistake! Any crafty materials would end up generously draped round the entire house with Iona tied in a knot somewhere in the middle.

Fortunately Niamh is a very even tempered and patient wee girl and puts up with being taken here and there and all over the place. She likes to get out and watch people anyway. If she's in the mood she'll smile at people and see who responds.

My post natal depression also returned in the autumn and took a while to get on top of - I really felt I was struggling spending so much time alone with the girls. I think things are on the up now, although there are days when Iona is really hard work and saps my patience.

I also discovered how my depression impacts on my crafty stuff. It's a long time since I did any stitching and I think depression is part of the reason for that. Stitching needs a lot of concentration and when I'm very down I can't concentrate well enough for any length of time and just go off stitching completely.

The next level down in concentration is to crochet. I find it easier to improvise in crochet than with stitching, so if I don't feel like stitching, I'll often play around with crochet. The next level down is to crochet simple things from patterns, so my African flowers blanket gets plenty attention at this point and helps me feel better.

But if I feel any more down that that, then I struggle to find the will to do anything.

These days I'm doing a bit of improvising in crochet in a way that involves my stitching, alternating with time on the computer.

However my free time is limited - up to 1.5 hours most evenings but I have to split that between crochet and the computer and anything else I might want to get done, such as keeping myself and the house clean!

As a result, I'm typing this up one fingered on my iPod at 10.45pm - lights out in 10 mins! Hopefully I'll be able to get this on to Blogger sometime this week - just want to sort out some photos first.

I'll have to start just making a few notes every day or two on my ipod and blogging these notes every so often.

Bye for now (need to get some sleep) hopefully it won't be so long before I'm back again!

Revision

Remember this? I blogged about it in February.



I wasn't too happy with the way the sides worked out.


Well, over the 14 weeks since Niamh was born, it has gradually become this.


And I'm much happier now. Now it looks like the box I wanted to make. And reworking it was fun, and I got away with reusing the thread I used in the previous version without needing to buy any more.


I'm especially pleased with the box lining which I crocheted. After a quick look round, I couldn't find any fabric I wanted to line the box, so I crocheted the lining as I has some conveniently coloured cotton yarn. In fact, I think the lining has to be my favourite part of this box now!



Now I can hardly wait to start Twilight Pearls this evening!

15 again

Here it is! Sue Hawkins 15 sided canvaswork biscornu from the current issue of Stitch magazine. As soon as I saw it, I just couldn't resist it!



The stitching itself was fun, and I loved stitching each of the little squares. I particularly like the embellishment - just that little bit over the top for a pincushion! And I was really glad of the excuse to give Shisha a go. I really have been meaning to try it for a long time, but, as usual, never got round to it until now.



I did change the design of one square which originally included Queen stitch. I'm not a fan of Queen stitch and just didn't think it added anything to the design here, so I used Star stitch instead.

However, there is one thing about the design and the magazine article that really annoys me. I've seen it in other magazines and other articles too-it's the use of obscure thread brands that are difficult to get hold of. The design as published uses Oliver Twists thread and I know from previous experience that few shops stock this brand. In the past I've completely given up on getting any. This time I tried a bit harder and managed to get hold of one of the required threads, but in the end I still gave up and used Watercolors instead. Don't mistake me - I love the end result, but I did start out wanting to use the original colours.

Who is the target audience of these designs and the magazines? Perhaps professional embroiderers might have access to a wider range of threads. However, I wound have thought that the casual, hobby stitcher like me would prefer to use materials that are readily available. What do you think?


I know that some magazines will suggest stockists of materials, but even then they don't necessarily stock everything that's required. In this case, Stitch magazine does not even go as far as suggesting stockists.

So this project has ended very well - I love the Swarovski buttons I've used - but it started out very frustratingly and I had to spend more money getting threads in the colours I wanted than I would have wished. I think a letter to the magazine may be in order.

Tweet Tweet

Yes, I've finally succumbed and joined Twitter. You'll have noticed I'venot been around here so much recently, so why on earth start on Twitter too?

One of my reasons is exactly the fact that that I haven't been feeling like blogging his year, and these days I rarely have the time either. So, I have a new plan. I will definately not be blogging regularly for the foreseeable future, but I am intending to tweet something every day. I don't want to loose my online voice through not blogging, and after all, it's much quicker to tweet a single sentence than to write a complete blog post. Blog posts will be limited to those occasions when I have something specific I want to say or to share.

Also my tweeting will not be limited to stitching, crochet or other crafty activities, I'll be tweeting whatever comes into my head. I kind of like the idea of the stream of consciousness.

So follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tintocktap or you can subscribe to the rss feed for my tweets.

However, having said this, I actually have several things I want to blog about, if only I could find the time to write the posts!

Distractions

I might have guessed - just when I think I'm getting somewhere with MTM, along come a whole load of new distractions! Here are some of th things I wish I had more time for.


So not a lot of constructive making going on here!

Happy Dancing

Woo hoo - I'm dead chuffed with this! Yesterday I completed part 5 of Medieval Town Mandala - yay!


It's only taken me 2 years to stitch these 4 turquoise and gold corners. As there are still another 7 parts to go, it looks like it could be another 14 years before I finally finish this one!

Anyway, I'll keep going with it for now. I don't have a lot of time at the moment to dig through my stash and plan anything new to stitch, so it's quite useful just to plod on with this and I'm quite enjoying it. There is lots of planning going on in my head - I just hope I don't forget it all before I can do something about it!

So MTM is the main focus of my stitching, but there are bits and pieces of crochet going on too. I put this together last week, having seen similar on Flickr.


And someone I know was very pleased with her new pink sunglasses last week!

Penny rug style

I love penny rugs (see www.flickr.com/groups/pennyrugs/) but I've never got round to actualy making one. It's yet another of those things on my mental to-do list that I never quite get aroun to. The closest I've come is this candle mat I made last year. It occurred to me recently that you could create a crochet version as it's easy to crochet circular pennies. The end result works rather well. And there are a whole lot of crochet shapes that would work really well in this way, so I have lots more ideas. Crocheted using 4 ply 100% cotton yarn and a 1.75mm hook.

Niamh

.... joined our family 2 weeks ago, weighing in at 6lb 12oz.



She looks a lot like her big sister, but her eyes aren't quite so big. Temperamentally, she's also different from her sister as she's the kind of baby who likes to let you know when she's hungry or thirsty or something's wrong. And she doesn't much like the current hot weather! But her big brother and sister are both absolutely thrilled with her.

I crocheted a couple of blankets for Niamh before she was born.



Since Niamh's arrival, I've managed to pick up both crochet hook and needle and am particularly enjoying stitching on Medieval Town Mandala!

Hellooo!

Still here - still pregnant - still working (but only until the end of this week) - still stitching? (Umm, not recently). Still blogging? I just haven't felt the inclination to share the thoughts rattling around inside my head.

Anyway, I've seen the rebirth of the SBQ on several blogs and thought I'd join in!

Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching. They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal. Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers. They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be? I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one. And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life.

I think I'm a 'process stitcher' - I do enjoy thinking about the what, how and why. But for me the process extends beyond just the stitching itself into the finishing too - I just love trying out different things!

Thanks to Lee for getting things going!

Talking about trying out different things - I've been having lots of fun trying out different things in crochet over the last 6 weeks or so! Here are a few of the things I've been working on.



The thought of stitching has been floating around over the last few days, but hasn't been persistent enough yet for me to actually do anything about it!

A Working Mum

One of those mornings this morning where you have to make the choice between work and children. Work won because I knew Iona would be absolutely fine once I left and she had the chance to settle down. She wasn't very well yesterday and extra-clingy this morning because of it. But I had to leave her in tears and it was tough.

I was reading Barbara's blog a week or two back and how she loves to post cute pics of her kids, and I realised that I don't post many pics of my own cute kids.


Iona and I went for a walk in the Botanic Gardens to see the crocuses and I asked her to sit by the pond and give me a big smile. So she sat and stuck out her chin and screwed up her eyes and nose in a funny big smile, but you just don't get to see her beautiful big blue eyes!


Alexander, now, wouldn't be so happy to be referred to as cute - he's growing up! But he is wonderful with his little sister.


Alexander and I were having a little chat yesterday and he was commenting on how big my stomach is getting, or my lump as he likes to call it! The way he's talking you'd think I really was the size of a baby elephant, but I do think I must be at least 4 to 6 weeks ahead of the size I was with Iona. I told him just to think about the size of women expecting twins, triplets or more!

I'm feeling a bit better about crafty stuff this week and have been enjoying some crochet. I just haven't managed to get round to taking any photos of it!

Not in the mood

 
I just don’t seem to be in the mood these days for blogging – don’t really have anything I want to say.
 
I’m struggling a bit with this pregnancy too – I’m sick of people telling me how wonderful it is to be pregnant or how wonderful it is that I’m pregnant  when I didn’t choose to be pregnant in the first place and even at the best of times still feel rather ambivalent about it. And with the tiredness, grumpiness, lack of sleep, breathlessness, wind and heartburn it just feels like heavy going. I feel like I’m already the size of a baby elephant and I still have over 3 months to go. And this baby really loves to give me a good kicking!
 
We also have builders in at home extending the house to give us a much larger kitchen and dining room plus extending one bedroom and adding a new one. It’s quite exciting seeing what’s going on, but I’m not particularly looking forward to all the work that we’ll have to get started on in 6 weeks or so when the building is finished. I think we’ll need to get one bedroom finished and the kitchen sorted before the baby arrives.
 
Anyway, here are a couple of recent finishes.

 
This hanging ball of roses (from a Betz White tutorial) is dedicated to Alexander who persuaded me to persevere, that it was worth finishing, one evening when I was feeling particularly apathetic.


Peaches and Cream sampler from the Victoria Sampler - love the design, but I really lost the inclination to work on it when I was in the middle of stitching it. But I really love the drawn thread bands - I was surprised just how much they lift the whole thing.
 
I’m now working on a bit of crochet, inspired by something Lucy at Attic24 was working on.