A bit of Elf and bad health!

We have had the flu. All of us! DS2 got it first, for his birthday actually. Then DS3 and DH got it. Then DS1, and now it's my turn! I feel awful! I was already tired from being nursemaid to the smalls so I think it has hit me harder! But fingers crossed I will feel better by Christmas Day!

Anyway, there will now be a mammoth Elf photo post! I can't do fancy montages, so will just do a long list....

On the 14th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger was climbing up the stair garland!

On the 15th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger put the Birthday Bunting up for DS2's Birthday!

On the 16th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger was caught trying to hitch a flight in a helicopter!!

On the 17th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger was trying to steal the leftovers from DS2's Birthday Rainbow Cake!

On the 18th of December, we looked everywhere in the house for Naughty Noddy Burger. But we could not find him! So we went off to school, a bit dejected, and look who we saw on the way there!!!

On the 19th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger wrote the 6 on the 'sleeps till Christmas' countdown sign

On the 20th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger was driving around in a Ben 10 car!!

On the 21st of December, Naughty Noddy Burger stole a candy cane from MY stash of them, and was making his way up the lights to eat it on top of my bookcase!

On the 22nd of December, Naughty Noddy Burger took his stolen candy cane from the 21st, and put it on the Christmas Tree

On the 23rd of December, Naughty Noddy Burger brought a bag of chocolate coins for each of the boys, and tried to put them in their money boxes!!!

On the 12th of December....

....Naughty Noddy Burger ate a clementine!!

On the 13th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger stole mummy's Gin!!!!!!!!! 

On the 8th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger read Cinderella to the Bears in the playroom. He actually wasn't discovered until lunchtime!

On the 9th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger sat in my bauble wreath

AND then there was a mishap. In the Elf on a Shelf book, it says not to touch him or his magic will leave. Because he is not a toy, he is a magical elf! But DS2 touched him! *gasp* 

So on the 10th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger didn't move. He sat on his shelf. and the children were sad. But on the doormat in the morning there were 3 letters from Santa (via the NSPCC for a donation but the children don't know that), and also a little note saying that Santa had noticed the magic go from the elf. So just this once he would restore Naughty Noddy Burger's magic until Christmas Eve when he would go home with Santa, as long as the boys didn't touch him again. 

Something tells me the book has caused more problems than the concept!

Anyway, on the 11th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger played with some new lego, which was an early birthday gift for DS2!

More Elf Mischief!

Ok, so I am not going all elaborate with this, because I don't need to be yet. They are loving the simple mischief!!

On the 4th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger sat in the freezer eating an ice pop!

On the 5th December, Naught Noddy Burger rolled down the stairs inside a toilet roll tube!

On the 6th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger was caught riding a dinosaur!!

On the 7th of December, Naughty Noddy Burger was rummaging in the glass cupboard and got stuck!!

Elf tales!

This year we are doing Elf on a Shelf! I bought the book with the cute elf from The Book Depository. I love the creepy little thing!

Anyway, the basis of the Elf is that it arrives on 1st Dec, and watches over the children, reporting back to Santa each night to say if you have been naughty or nice. In the morning, it won't be on the shelf where you left it, because it has flown to the North Pole in the night, and come back. You have to find the elf again! To be honest, that doesn't sit well with me, the whole naughty and nice thing. So ours just gets up to mischief!!

DS3 has conveniently named the Elf 'Naughty'. ETA all 3 boys have chipped in and called him 'Naughty Noddy Burger'.  The Elf didn't move on the night of the 1st Dec, because DS1 was staying at grandma's and would be upset if he missed anything, so last night was the first time Naughty moved.

He seems to have found some chocolate coins and taken a nibble!!

I wonder what he will get up to next!!

Not just a Knitter!

Ooooh two posts in two days!!

I am not a particularly creative or artistic person. I cannot draw to save my life. My 7 year-old is already much much better at stick figures than me! I don't see myself as creative, the only thing I do is follow a knitting pattern (mostly..... ) and make my own yarn choices.

But I keep seeing lovely things on Pinterest, and  have things around the house that need doing, but I just haven't the confidence to do them.

Not anymore!!

I bought myself a good staple gun and staples, and chopped up the old vinyl tablecloth from my old table to make a smaller tablecloth, and to cover the two breakfast-bar chairs!! I dithered about for over two weeks before just getting on with it, and it was so easy!! I really shouldn't have got in a tizz about it.

I have also been Pinteresting all these bauble wreaths for Christmas for a few weeks now. I bought baubles ages ago. I dug out a wire coathanger and even found a glue gun squirreled away amongst DH's Detritus! So today I managed to get DS3 to have a nap, and thought 'right! I will do it!'!

I started by using the glue gun to glue the tops onto all the baubles. Zillions of them. Lots of different sizes! I then reshaped the wire coathanger, which involved some swearing and sweating as it did not want to bend to my will! It eventually succumbed, and I managed to find some pliers (again, hidden in DH's Detritus) and untwisted the top so I could slide the baubles onto it!

There were a few casualties, some of the plastic tops snapped under the pressure, but all in all it was fairly painless!

I then took two strands of white beads that I got with the baubles, and draped them around, securing them at the back with the glue gun so they didn't clump about. 

The only thing I was not overly happy about was the ribbon at the top, as it really could have done with being much wider! But it was the only ribbon I had, so never mind!

Anyway, without further ado, my Pinterest-inspired Bauble Wreath!

It's nearing December!!

I LOVE the whole month of December. Well November too, as soon as Bonfire Night is over I switch over into Christmas mode!

I have been watching trashy Christmas films on tv, almost every single gift is bought, I only have one left to buy, and I have 3 gifts left to make, two of which are started. And the 3rd may be substituted for beer.

I am giddy with excitement, it is quite pathetic, but I just love the whole thing. The kids have a Nativity play (one is a donkey and one is an alien, so I am slightly concerned about that mixture!), then there is a school Carol Service in the church across the road, plus lots of other Christmas things. We also have my DH's and DS2's birthdays in December, so it is a busy month!

I can't post any pictures of my recent crafting, as they are super-secret secret Santa/Winter Swap gifts, so the post will look a bit bare. I am hoping to make a Bauble Wreath for my door (which you can buy, but I am hoping mine will look better.......hoping....) and I am going to start decorating the house this coming Monday.

I am also doing an Elf on a Shelf this year, for the first time ever. So there will be pictures of his night-time antics too!

Crochet-crazy!

I found this fabulously simple and  quick crochet cowl pattern on Ravelry. I am only a novice crochet-er really, so simple is super for me.

I made this one as a Christmas gift, and it took an hour and a half!

This morning I decided to make myself one, out of some mystery bulky yarn I had stashed. I used less yarn for mine, as I like close-fitting cowls, and I also decided to make some matching fingerless mittens!

Cowl-inspired Mittens!

So I used the basis of the pattern, and chained 17 stitches. Then I sc into the second stitch from hook, and each chain stitch. Then I worked each row as ch1, sc in the back loop of each stitch for 15 rows. Then join the foundation edge together with the last row crocheted, by slip-stitching them together for 5 stitches, sl-st into the next two foundation ridges alone missing out two of the chains from the row last worked (this makes a thumb hole) and then sl-st the edges together to the end. sew in ends and voila, a mitten!

Oops! Another month bites the dust!

I am finding this year has just flown by. Now that my second-born has started school, I am really struggling to spend enough time with them (for me....they are perfectly happy, I just miss them!). It is a day of just the youngest and me, then at 3pm all hell breaks loose and I try to fit in phonics and handwriting practice for DS2, reading with DS1, generally entertaining DS3, plus dinner, and then bedtime! It is manic!

We are now on the last day of half term, and I have loved it. I have loved just sitting for an extra hour in the morning snuggling my babies, and not having to be ANYWHERE! Ok, so my sister was visiting and staying at my mum's, so we spent a fair amount of time there, and it was Halloween so we have had pumpkins and parties and sugar overloads! Then fireworks for bonfire night, and two friends' birthday parties this weekend.......OK.....so not exactly relaxing!!!! Gosh!

What have I worked on since I last posted pictures?

I joined a KAL on the Mamapacks forum, to make a cowlette. This will be a gift for a family member for Christmas!

Then it started to feel a bit chilly, so I made some hats!

I made myself a Faberge Cowl (pattern on Ravelry) 

Then my DS1 won some yarn in a poetry competition on Ravelry, and requested some 'fingerless gloves with a flappy top on', so I made him some flip-top mittens!

I made MYSELF a hat!! The pattern is Torsion, on Ravelry, and is double sided. I added beads as well. Then I made some gloves to match!

So.... there's a mammoth catch up!

I am now getting seriously into the Christmas spirit, it is really pathetic! I am bouncing off the walls with excitement!

Until next time....

Stash rules!

I have noticed recently how my stash of yarn has exploded.  I have put myself on a 'yarn diet' in a bid to stop the madness, but as is the way of diets, there seem to be a growing number of 'rules'.

Rule 1. 
If it's going to be made into a gift, it doesn't count.

This is very important in the run up to christmas. It means that I can buy erm..... lots.

Rule 2. 
If it is for the CHILDREN, it doesn't count.

I may have snuck in a few skeins for winter hats/mittens/scarfs for 3 small boys. I'm not really sure why I think they need another 4 sets each, seeing as how all their stuff from last year still fits, but heyho.

Rule 3.
If it is cheap acrylic, it doesn't count.

I am a yarn snob. What can I say?

Rule 4. 
If I have a specific project in mind, it doesn't count.

Well I do! I needed the yarn for a knitted dress I wanted to do. And the next reason leads us to Rule 5.

Rule 5.
If it bumps me up to free postage, it doesn't count.

Because of course it's saving money if I spend an extra £10 to save on £3 postage *rolls eyes*

Rule 6.
If I pay for it by paypal, when I have paypal balance so it doesn't come out of my bank account, it doesn't count.

Speaks for itself!

Rule 7.
If it is Limited Edition, it doesn't count. 

Rule 8.
If some of the money goes to charity, it doesn't count.

Rule 9.
If it is on sale, it doesn't count.

Rule 10.
If I sell a skein of yarn from my stash, I can immediately replace it to keep stash equilibrium. 

Bonus Rule.
If I spin it myself, it doesn't count



So you see what I mean? With all these rules, my stash isn't really getting any smaller!!

Ah well, I live in a cold, draughty 18th century house and I need the insulation!

Gosh, two months have gone by!

Since my last post! I got distracted by the summer holidays! So anyway, I destroyed a jumper made from a handspun wensleydale yarn and turned it into this:-

Which will become a jumper for my dad for Christmas!


I made some shawls:-

Did some spinning on my wheel!

and made a hat from the handspun (plus two of the shawls above!)

So all in all a pretty productive two months!

Now if only I could post more blog posts.....