Where have I been?

I know, I know, it's been ages. I'm sorry (kind of). As a small excuse, we were on the other side of the world for a while, here:

(pretty good, huh!)

And before that I was getting ready for craft fairs:


while simultaneously trying not to have a nervous breakdown from looking after three small children in the cold, dark and rainy English winter.

I'll try to do better in future, honest.

And a little bit more...

After my last post, I thought I would show you the progress on the mother of all ripple blankets. I have been working on this since May (admittedly on a slightly sporadic basis) and I am now 23 stripes from finishing. Each one takes about one and a half hours, so I make that a good 34 hours or so of solid crochet time. Then there is the sewing in of ends. Thanks to some
sage advice I received a while ago (on the no-end-in-sight ripple along) to crochet over the ends as I go, I only have about 50 loose bits of yarn to darn in. I wish I had asked sooner!


It is a lovely thing to work on - so satisfyingly heavy to sit under on winter evenings, and easy to pick up in the few unscheduled moments. It's not really portable any more though, so I can't work on it while out and about. Maybe I should get into sock knitting or something - that has to be the ultimate in take-it-with-you crafting.

Twice the fun, twice the work

I have finally finished these blankets as a present for a friend who is having boy/girl twins. OK, so she gave birth last week. I'm a little late. What you gonna do about it?

I wanted to make a gift that reflected the non identical, and yet twin, nature of the babies, and these blankets seemed the perfect thing. They are both worked in rainbow shades - one bright and one pastel. Now, I'm not one to suggest that there is anything in this gender stereotyping lark, but I do think the pastel one is especially pretty.

I have definitely got the rippling bug - these are numbers four and five, with another big bag of yarn waiting for number six. Of course, it would be nice to one day finish the monster of all crochet blankets. Preferably before next summer.

Drum roll please....

And the winner of the delurk and win contest is...


wait for it...


(yes, I used an actual HAT!)
wait for it...

(that says 'yump' by the way!)
email me at cnarunsky@aol.com with your address and I'll get something in the post to you!

Thanks for all your birthday wishes everyone!

No regrets?

It's my birthday this month, and I am turning 35, which is apparently the new 40 (or so I am told by women who don't want other people to notice their 40th birthday). As tends to happen around this time of year I have been taking stock, having a ponder, and generally feeling wistful. What better way to kick me up the backside than a birthday contest. A de-lurk and win contest. Leave a comment about anything you like, and I will put your name in a hat (ok, probably a bowl actually) and one of my lovely offspring will pick a random person to receive a parcel of some sort. Could be anything, but I can guarantee that at least something will have been handmade by me. The deadline for comments is the big day itself - the 13th of November.


And because I can't post without a picture (it's just wrong) I have to include this one of Golden Boy. Mama loves you!

Sunshine

A week in Cyprus, with good friends, good food, and sunshine. Just what I needed to restore myself before heading back into the dismal English weather. The clocks have gone back now so winter is well and truly on the way.

We spent time in beautiful cobbled villages, where old women sit and crochet in the streets, and pomegranate trees drop their ripe fruit in alleyways - a very different kind of windfall to the wormy apples we get at home.
And don't think for a moment that I neglected my Crafting 365 challenge while on holiday. Although it is a little peculiar to sit by a swimming pool in the hot sun and knit bobble hats.

Five weeks of crafting

Lupin sent me an invitation to join a new flikr group recently, with the challenge to do a little bit of crafting, and document it, every day for a year - Crafting 365. This is the result of the first five weeks. Not quite one photo per day, but then how many pictures of the same crochet blanket can you take?


Five weeks down, only 47 to go!

Do try this at home!

Crafting for the whole family today (well - the girls, anyway). Shrinky plastic, some coloured pencils, and some pins. Not to mention this fantastic tutorial.


The squeals of delight got louder and louder as the plastic shrunk smaller and smaller. And you should have heard the kids!

Tagged!

I was tagged the other day by Sara, and must now share with you seven random facts about myself, as well as posting the rules of the game, which are:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

My random facts are:

1. I stopped biting my nails years ago, but now I bite my fingers instead. It is really quite horrible
2. I hate to be taught - I have learnt all of my crafting skills from reading books.
3. I blush easily
4. I can never say no to anyone even if what they are asking is nigh on impossible
5. If I was never allowed to eat chocolate again I would probably survive. Probably.
6. Giving up work to raise the kids was both the best and the worst decision I have ever made.
7. I count everything in multiples of six. Obsessively.

Now I get to tag people in turn:

1. Chichiboule - a great read!
2. Suzanne (Alabamawhirly) - inspirational on so many levels
3. Christine at Paper and Cloth - love ya!
4. Bea at Hermit the frog - so full of energy and humour
5. Amelia (Bombus) - what a great lady!
6. Kate (Greygoat) - pure genius
7. Ali (Alicub cards) - a great artist

Don't hate me, please!

And..........relax!

I can breathe out, put my feet up, and drink coffee in peace today - the middle one has finally started school! The poor child has been asking "when will I go to big school, Mummy?" since January (yes, really); wearing her uniform since July, and working herself into such a state of excitement that the last few weeks we have been operating on the verge of hysteria.


Off she went this morning without a backward glance, into the classroom full of books and toys and playdough, and wonder of wonders - other children. Only half days for now, but hopefully soon she will enter the exciting world of "staying for lunch" with the big kids. And then my life really will be transformed. Scary thought.