Finally got over the ebay fear (obviously have had no fear of buying from it!!) and set up a couple of auctions for some Rowan Big Wool and Debbie Bliss Cotton DK that had been left over from previous projects… happy bidding

Miss Rosehip posted a comment about how I was getting on with the Magnolia jumper – it spurred me on a bit, so now I am up to doing the shaping for the sleeves… Just so you know

Looks like we’ve finally sorted out a space for us to get planting on the allotment, and optimistically I’ve sown a bunch of seeds in readyness on the kitchen windowsill.

Some are things that’ll stay (like the tomatoes – that kept M in red fruit for about 4 months last year!), some will come up the hill with me when the soil is ready…

As there are – ahem – quite a lot of things growing, I did a seed marking chart (you can download the PDF here), to try and keep tabs on them… However as some things – like the sunflowers and purple podded pea* – have already burst their cells and I’ve had to repot them into glamorous loo rolls, I’m not sure if it’ll work…I guess as the plants get bigger I can cut it up and use them as labels, or stick them in my notebook or whatever. Anyhow it looks pretty stuck on the fridge, so it makes me happy… 

*v. excited by this – it was donated to us by the blanket recipient.. and look how amazing the flowers are.. They change colour by the hour apparently!

This is where I’m at with the socks…

Have only snapped one needle so far ("Why are you knitting with cocktail sticks?" – they might have something there… ) and am about to turn the heel.

Think I was a bit too generous with the sizing and so the question is; will there be enough yarn to finish it??

Craft club was all about baking bread this month – we spent a sunny afternoon kneading and squidging dough – adding pumpkin seeds, walnuts, cranberries, caraway seeds, sundried tomatoes, onion and olives to our rolls (not all mixed up, obviously!). There is something v. theraputic about making bread, and super easy once you have the ingredients together – have resolved to make it more often.

The colours aren’t *really* that bright… almost, but not quite!

I’d started doing a contrast hem using the Sirdar but it was too close a colour to the YT Maze so I frogged it and did again using some pure wool of unknown origin that matches the flecks in the Maze.

Anyhow I did the hem using the same technique as Pamela, and I think it worked ok. Am hoping the rumpliness* of it is a because my needles aren’t quite long enough for it to be stretched out flat, and that they’ll disappear when blocked… but phew! it is heavy already!

*quite possibly a made up word

So… this is who the blanket is for! Not yet born, but already showing off the blanket to good effect…

This was such a fun project to work on – we all already want to make another one for each other (without the excuse of it being for a baby!). Plus it’s a great stash / try out new stitches project…

Our club at the Luminaire was super fun… photos (and videos are now online…)

Not that I’m Welsh or anything but M is, so I made him a Leek and Goat’s Cheese Tart (without the bacon!) to celebrate…

In other news, am doing a swap with this lady; making her a felt ring in return for one of her beaded ones and in April am volunteering for a few days at the Sarah Raven’s Cutting Garden – yay! hopefully I will learn some, but it will be lovely to just see the place and all the spring growing that’ll be going on…

For a secret project – but I couldn’t resist this picture… All will be revealed shortly…