Funny old year

It's been a strange year so far. Lots of ups and downs, but it's slowly getting back on track.

Last year I was working for an oil company and decided that I was fed up and wanted to leave the rat race behind to look after my grand daughter and maybe do something different with my life.

The first few months were quite uneventful and I must admit to getting a little stir crazy. I love being with my granddaughter, but sometimes adult conversation is everything. When the schools returned after the summer break and we started to get in to a routine of going to toddlers and meeting other children.

It was then that things get crazy.....

I met one of the mums and got chatting, turns out we had very similar interests and got along quite well. One day we were talking and just having a general discussion about what we want from life and where we see ourselves in the future.  We discussed the possibilities of going in to business together even looked a properties. Once we had calmed down and looked at the technicalities and expense of the whole thing, we balked at the idea and had another discussion. My potential partner was already self employed and had a wee business that needed a bit of time to help it grow, but we were told that she would have to close that business and then reopen with me as a new business. Neither of us felt comfortable with that, so we decided to look at other options.

My friend now how her own Etsy store and although not mega successful, it does tick along nicely. I'm sure that the quality of her work will shine through and once her name gets about she will do amazingly well.

I'm still a stay at home grandparent, but I work at a local hotel for 3 shifts per week, and am trying to build a stock of items to sell at Christmas fares. I would love to have my own shop one day and I'm not getting any younger, but for the moment I'm quite happy to spend two day a week at my sewing machine making whatever pops in to my head. I have a lovely lady who comes round on a Tuesday morning for a couple of hours and we sew, chat and drink coffee, which is lovely. She learns something new each week and I love passing on my knowledge to her.

Sewing for fun!?

In the last few weeks I have totally turned my life around. 

I was in a job that was making me unhappy and was putting far more pressure on my marriage than it should have done, so after speaking with hubby, we decided that I would call it a day and have a few weeks off.

I must admit that I am enjoying being at home, being a housewife, being a wife, being a mother and grandmother, though not necessarily in that order.
I've taken up sewing with a vengeance and am making at least one, sometimes two bags per day. To date I have sold four and have orders for five more, so they should keep me out of trouble for a while.

The sewing bug bit when I went with my friend to our local fabric shop for quilting lessons and has diversified and grown.

A whole new world

I can't believe how long it has been since I last wrote. 

There have been lots of changes in my life in the last couple of years. In March 2012 I became a grandmother to a beautiful little girl who is a totally wonderful light in all our lives. 
My two younger daughters finally left home and for the first time in our married life my hubby and I were on our own with just the dog for company. I have to admit that it was wonderful while it lasted. A month ago our youngest daughter came back home with boyfriend in tow as his mum was down sizing and there wasn't enough room for all of them. Next week our middle daughter comes back home after being away for over a year. Her lease is up on her flat and she has changed jobs so is coming home to take stock and decide where she is going to go from here. I have also left my job as the stress was getting to me and I needed to recharge the batteries a little.
Fortunately for me my husband is very understanding and has helped me to clear out the spare room and create a space that is just for me. I can go in there and hide when the chaos around me is getting too much. I love my room and love creating in there. I do feel guilty sometimes about spending too much time in there. My passion at the moment is quilting and sewing in general. At the beginning of the year I signed up for a beginners patchwork and quilting class and loved it. To date I have made and completed one lap quilt, a Christmas table centrepiece and am almost finished with another lap quilt.

Restless and Lost

Non knitting talk
Since getting in from work I have spent the last two hours sitting at our pc and looking for flights and hotels. We are going to Poland in June for a wedding and have decided that we would like to spend a couple of days in Krakow, as we have to fly in to there anyway.
For some reason it never entered my head that we would be so close to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and at less than 50 miles away it is too close not to go. As a teenager I read the Diary of Anne Frank and marvelled at her strength and that of her father, who after losing his family was prepared to share at little part of them with the rest of the world. When I was in my early 20's I visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam and remember that day being such a very sad day. At first I walked in and thought, yeah it's just another building, but gradually the feeling of the place overwhelmed me. I don't remember seeing one dry eye in the whole place, but maybe it was just me looking at everyone through very damp eyes. By going to Auschwitz I will be able to follow her there and almost complete the journey. In a weird way I am looking forward to going. I have heard so many stories of the place over the years, through documentaries, books and film, that it will be interesting and probably upsetting to go there, but I feel that it is something that I must do.

Knitting talk
On the knitting front, I'm a bit restless. Our knitting group has moved from every Tuesday to every second Tuesday and I don't know what to do with myself. I know I can knit, but it isn't the same without having someone to blether to. I can only talk knitting for so long with my beloved other half before he gets bored. I am still loving the shawl pattern that I am doing, and still hating the colourway. I have decided that I will bleach/overdye it. I don't think I can cope with the colours. I have so many ideas buzzing around my brain that it's getting a bit full and is ready to blow. There are so many things I want to make, and so few hours in the day. I need to get my finger out and just get on with it, but the pressures of being a full time employee, wife & mother does tire me out somedays. It doesn't help when I get calls from friends saying what a poor friend I am for not being in touch for almost two weeks, and why didn't I call when I was in town etc..etc.. Sometimes when I get an hour or two to myself, that's it, I want it to myself. Not having to be polite and saying yes in all the right places.
Last Saturday I went with a friend to a yarn store that I hadn't been to in a long time. It was great to just look and feel pretty yarn and look at all the lovely colours. We then spent the whole afternoon and most of the evening knitting. It was nice to just sit, be quiet and knit. I hadn't realised how much my brain was crying out for the peace that knitting gives me.
Maybe sometimes you just have to be quiet and calm before you can realise how restless and lost you have become.

Bite the bullet

I must admit, I am a lazy knitter. I get bored easily and switch from one project to the next without a thought about how much time and effort I have spent on the previous project. I have so many UFO's it's like a graveyard for them in my house. However, that being said, I have managed to complete one or two projects so far this year.

It's such a beautiful day here in Ellon, and my other half is out scuba diving for the day. Rather him than me, the water doesn't get much above 2°c in the North Sea. Anyhoo, I have decided to clear out my stash corner that was looking a little untidy to say the least. I have seperated out the acrylic from the good stuff, and am in the process of finding a home for it all. I have been on an embargo, but I can't help myself when I see something pretty. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get on with it. The basket in the photo is approx. 3ft long x 16" wide and as you can see is quite full :)

I was talking to my friends and hubby the other night and got the evil eye from my hubby when I mentioned the stash problem. Of course I retorted that it wasn't anywhere near the amount that he spent on gadgets. I was totally flabbergasted when he replied, "Oh but I don't buy most of it, you do". Thinking about it, once I got over the initial shock, I realised that I have bought quite a number of his gadgets and gizmos over the years, so now I feel less guilty about buying things for me :)

Here are a two of my completed projects.

A little jumper for my daughter's friend. She has just had a baby boy and I thought it would be cute. It is made from Sirdar Crofter, and is quite nice to work with. I didn't like the fact that I had to keep winding off yarn to get a good stripe match though. I had four balls of this, and not one of them started in the same place for the colour change.

A hat for me, made from Rowan Lima. One serious point to note. Wash it well before wearing it. If you don't wash it and just pop it on. Make sure it isn't going to rain. This stuff stinks worse than a dead dog when it is wet and it also stretches. I made mine on needles that were 2 sizes smaller than required, and it stretched like the devil when it got wet. I ended up sticking it in the tumble dryer to felt it slightly. That being said, it is so soft, and a pleasure to work with.

Christmas

I know, it is only the middle of October, but I am off work for a week and I have been trying to get ahead with my Christmas preparations.

Last weekend my hubby ordered me a new sewing machine, so I am waiting very impatiently for that to arrive. I hope it's soon.


I have started to make a Christmas throw using some fabric that I bought recently. I made a bit of a boob when doing the first block. I was going to have the holly fabric going from small to large and then in to the flowers, with the opposite side being quite neutral. As you can see I got carried away and put it on opposite corners. I quite like the effect, so will do the rest of the blocks the same way. I am making six blocks like this, and will then probably do something different round the edges. I haven't quite decided what yet. Unfortunately the picture doesn't quite show the colours very clearly, but it is very Christmassy and vibrant.


The cushion is something that I started making a few years ago from a kit I found when trawling a charity shop. I was very good and had hand sewn all the pieces on except the reindeer. I got bored with it and put it away to work on when I got the urge. A few months ago we converted our study in to a craft room and as I was sorting through my rather large stash of card making and scrap booking items, I found the bag with this in. I bit the bullet and decided to complete it and this time decided to satin stitch around the edges with the sewing machine. There are a few errors, and Santa doesn't have any eyes yet, but I am happy with it. The back is made from a cheap fleece throw that I bought in our local Asda (Walmart).






The weather here is very damp and miserable today, so it is ideal for sitting in front of my machine and playing. I also have my computer behind me, so I can listen to my favourite tv shows via C4 on demand or I can listen to one of the presentations from Create & Craft, providing it isn't Stephanie.

Where has the time gone to?

Since I last wrote, I have changed jobs, become a mother in law, and lost, then found my knitting.

In June 2007 my oldest daughter cam home from work and complained that she had a black spot on one of her eyes. As she had been arc welding a few days before, we thought nothing of it and told her to go to the doctors the following morning. The next week was spent going backwards and forwards to the hospital for various checks, and then finally being admitted to hospital. Initially the prognosis was that she had a cyst behind her eye and they would drain it. On further checking, it was found that she had a tumour on her shunt, and her brain was swelling becuase there was no where for the excess fluid to go to. Needless to say we were very worried when they told us that the top of her skull would be removed and the surgeon would have to go between the two halves of the brain to remove it.

A week later the operation was done, and she was allowed home. There was a lot of memory loss, mainly short term, but we got there. Her boyfiend never left her side and he was the only one that she really looked for when she opened her eyes in the morning.

On 20th June 2008, my daughter and her boyfriend were married. It was a week before her 20th birthday. Most people thought she was crazy, but he had been by her side through one of the hardest things, so it just seemed like a natural conlusion.

During this time we also had a lodger, who moved in for a few weeks and ended up staying for almost 3 years. He now has a home of his own with his girlfriend, and my house has returned to it's usual chaotic regime.

I left my job as a carer in October 2008, and was employed as a temporary receptionist. In February 2009, I became a full time receptioist, travel booker & document controller with a local engineering company.

It has been a crazy time, and my knitting & spinning have been on hold.

I now have a new craft room, access to my pc and am free to knit, spin, card make and play to my hearts content.