At last, my creative juices have started to return, although this time in the form of a vigorous knitting frenzy. Have discovered the absolutely fabulous site that is Ravelry - genius on many levels, not least the idea of looking up a yarn and then finding loads of gorgeous patterns to knit with it. I had some Rowan Aran wool which I was going to make a moss stitch cardi with, but half way up the back I decided a) it was going to be way to small, and b) I didn't really like it that much. So then I had all this yarn and nothing to knit. So I looked it up on Ravelry and have found a gorgeous pattern for another cardi. This time, I actually did the tension check and knitted my little square - good job I did as I needed to go up a few needle sizes. Anyhow, as with any new knitting project, all you want to do is knit, knit, knit! So I have been clack, clacking away and have nearly finished the back. Mind you, aran is very fast to knit up.

When not knitting, the cleaning frenzy has eased a little, although I have visitors tonight, so obviously everything has had to be spick and span. They're only staying one night! Good job they're not staying longer!! Casserole is in the Aga and wine at the ready ...

I expect you're a bit frustrated by the lack of pictures on this blog, but I am working on that. It's due to the totally crap nature of my computer I'm afraid, but a new one is promised soon, so stay with me, please!

One hot day

Good weekend, even though AGAIN no sewing. Well, a little sewing today but it was disastrous - perhaps I'm just not in the zone at the moment. It happens, although mercifully, not often. The less you think about it the better, otherwise it may become "sewer's block" or something. I was only trying to make a simple book cover for a friend's birthday, but it was all wonky and looked like a 7-year old had made it. Oh how nice it would be to have a little stash of ready-made, panic-free presents that I could peruse when a birthday arises. But no, it's always last minute with me I'm afraid.

Anyhow, the cleaning frenzy continued but this time it was outside. As the sun actually shone yesterday, husband and I decided to have a day 'on the estate' (ha ha), i.e. cutting the grass and generally tidying up the outside of the house. I managed to tidy up the drive, varnish the front door (front and back of it) and varnish the back of the back door. Then, I cut the grass and got to grips with the rockery and pulled out everything that looked dead i.e., most of it. Meanwhile, husband managed to spend his entire time strimming one little patch of grass. Delicate and hard work, apparently. Granted, the grass was knee-high, but I couldn't help thinking I could have done it in half the time.

Today I had mother-in-law and her sister over for Sunday lunch, plus brother-in-law. The roast Pork was super, but the pavlova I attempted for the pud wasn't cooked. How long are you supposed to cook a meringue for? Every book I read says something different. Anyhow, I just shoved the cream and strawberries on it all the same. No-one was rude enough to point out it was raw in the middle, thank goodness. Let's hope we don't all go down with food poisoning ...

Oh dear. I wish I could think of something I could make in an evening for my friend. I have set myself the goal of making all my own presents this year (I mean for other people) and so far I've done pretty well. Arggghhh. Most annoying if this one breaks my run. Thinking cap time. Hmmmm.

As usual, nearly all of the things that I was going to do today have not been done. No change there then. I have not done any sewing at all, which is madness as I have birthday presents to make for people whose birthdays will not wait. Instead I have spent the entire day cleaning. Not that my house is extremely dirty (of course) but the reorganisation bug that I had yesterday managed to mutate into a cleaning bug today. So I have spent 2 whole days moving things and cleaning things - which is really rather dull and not at all creative. I'm also fairly tired now, too. Boo hoo.

In order to redeem the situation, I fully intend to finish the make-up bag that I am making for my mother's birthday (which was last week). The idea comes from Tone Finnengar's book 'Sew Pretty Homestyle' which I cannot recommend highly enough. It is the most delightful book ever and I have made so many things from it which have all turned out really well. The make-up bag is very cute, with embroidery on the outside, lined on the inside. Then I have to cover an A5 size book for another birthday present, this time for my friend Yvonne. I think this makes a lovely present - just a blank notebook with a fancy cover. I for one am a bit of a stationery addict - I love the idea of a book just waiting to be filled with notes and ideas and journal entries and well, anything really. I shall show you the finished products when they are ... finished.

My latest creation

Today has been a day of reorganisation. I get these days - the urge to reorganise corners of the house which I'm not happy with or finally put something in order which has been bugging me for months. So today it was my sewing corner. Bizarrely, you might think, I've scaled it down from 3 desks (1 large, 2 small) to just 1 small desk. The reason for this is that it is located in our spare bedroom and instead of being a nicely organised sewing corner it actually more resembled an explosion in a craft shop. It was getting to the point where things were going missing and other things were appearing which I only had a vague memory of having seen before. So today, I set about making it into one of those sewing corners you find in magazines such as Ideal Home or House Beautiful - you know, where everything is perfectly labelled and all the storage matches and it all looks coordinated. I know, I know, it's not terribly creative to have it like this, but I do find that a creative mind can sometimes be an excuse for just causing an almighty mess.

So this morning, after buying my son's school uniform and spending 3 hours amongst the screams and shouts of a soft-play area, I rewarded myself by buying some new storage baskets. Yippee. Of course, I couldn't wait to get home and start culling my (until now) lovingly collected array of button bowls and bits of old crap that I'll never use. My god, when the urge seizes, it really does seize with a vengeance! Quite astonishing how much crap it is possible to keep hold of, filed under the assumption that it might come in handy one day. Not! On the plus side though, I now have a whole heap of buttons which have come from I know not where.

Of course, my fabric stash is sacred and that had to stay in all its glory, although it's all nicely folded now. But I do feel cleansed and serene and ... a little bit nervous that I might have been a bit hastey. But no, no it's fine. It's neat and tidy and a lot of it is really still there - it's just hidden a bit better.

Tomorrow I have to make a birthday present for a friend, despite the fact that I have 2 other projects on the go and have to clean the entire house and go shopping too. Oh crikey, I almost forgot that I bought some new kitchen storage jars, so I also have to reorganise my baking cupboard too ... not enough time, you see, is there ... however do people find time to work?