Who ate all my time!  I can’t believe it’s over a month since I last posted.

Life here is super busy.  Isn’t everyone’s?

After many years of battling we finally have some support in place for the children, so have social workers, family support workers, and conferences and workshops coming out of our ears!  Funnily enough it’s also led to a friend (also an adoptive mum of a chap with additional needs) and I to realise that there is a huge hole in the market for a one-stop-website for parents and guardians like us.

Over coffee one day, lamenting the lack of such a resource, and wondering why somebody didn’t do it….we realised that we were just the people to fill that gap.  Now we are working hard for an Autumn launch.   Its exhilarating and exhausting in equal parts, and the steepest of learning curves, but we’re only a month in and getting great feedback, so watch this space.

With all this going on, you can imagine that crafting time is limited….I haven’t looked at a tapestry sheep in weeks, and my sewing plans are gathering dust.  I’m slowly working on a waistcoat for Dave, but I’m awfully glad he’s patient!

Thankfully, I have been knitting.  Most recently finished are these beauties.

Look at those colours!

Look at those perfectly matched stripes!

Sock perfection!  And a happy husband.  I’ll take that win!

Of course I have another pair of socks on the needles, for conversational knitting occasions.  But I also have Galaxie from Quince & Co. for evenings in front of the TV.

Image copyright Quince & Co.

I’m knitting it in Finch in the colourway Stream.

Image copyright Quince & Co.

Both the pattern and the yarn are sublime.  I’m happily doing a few rounds a night and enjoying the making.  I’m usually a product driven knitter, so this is a lovely change for me.  And it’s nice to be knitting a garment other than socks!

It’ll be ready for Autumn too.

Project notes

Still harping on about the Christmas Lurgy, even though we are racing towards the end of February, but it’s all relevant to this  story with another happy ending.

Whilst I’d been really sick the week before Christmas, it was Boxing Day when the flu took hold of The Husband.  Although born in Somerset, he’s a Northern Bloke by heritage, and made of stern, manly stuff.  For him to actually take to his bed when ill is unheard of in the 12 years we’ve been together.  For him to be in bed for nearly 4 days was like stepping into the Twilight Zone.

The kids were under the weather and I was still reeling from it, so we hunkered down and worked on getting well.  After a few days of this, though, Cabin Fever struck and my cherubs morphed into obnoxious little hellions!

By the evening they’d shredded even my last nerve and I’d sent them to bed, poured a stiff drink and turned to Instagram for solace.

Kristin (@kristinm100) had posted the most adorable pair of mittens, and they hadn’t been lost in the craziness of Instagrams algorithms!  I commented and asked if she could share the pattern name.

5 minutes later my inbox pinged and there was the pattern for the mitts.

I’ll admit to being rather overwhelmed by the kindness (although it’s not the first time Kristin has done something lovely for me.)   That little pattern, sent across the miles from Canada by the magic of the interwebs, from a woman I consider a friend, but whom I’ve never met, absolutely turned a truly shitty day into a positively magical one.

I instantly set to work to source the perfect yarn, and came up with Blacker Yarns British Classic DK knitting yarn in Grey.  This is a crisp, hardy yarn, in the fashion of Shetland wool.  The colour is the perfect grey, and whilst I wouldn’t knit this as a sweater next to my skin, for mitts it is cosy, and warm, and, I suspect, will take a bit of a beating!

Now obviously I had to wait for the yarn to arrive, it being the holidays and all, but that didn’t matter.

I was making friendship mitts.  Mitts that every time I wore them I would think of Kristin and her kindness.

I’ve got other mitts like this.  My lovely Goats of Inversnaid mitts were a yarn and pattern gift from my friend Christian (who lives considerably closer than Kristin).  And the hat that goes with them has been commandeered by Miss Button, who also gets to share the love.

It strikes me as nothing short of miraculous that such a simple act of kindness and friendship can result in bonds forged in the shared love of an age old craft.  Bonds that transcend age, race, background, education, socioeconomic status and good old fashioned geography.

That a few clicks of a keyboard can lift the spirits of someone thousands of miles away.

They say that random acts of kindness can change the world.  That you never know, if you do something small, how big an impact it can have on the recipient.

I have a pair of hand-knitted mittens that are testament to the veracity of that sentiment.

They are a happy blessing indeed.

As an aside, this pattern is so beautifully written.  Every row is clearly detailed, so even an relatively inexperienced knitter could make these.  Those of us with a few yards of yarn under our belts can whip these up in no time, but still feel a happy sense of accomplishment.

Phew.  A New Year is upon us and I’m glad.  Christmas Chez Stitches was immensely quiet, mainly due to us all contracting flu (including the grandparents) and after opening gifts and eating the feast, we all retreated to our beds.

I didn’t even have the energy to knit, so spent the time between coughing and nursing everyone, curled up on the snuggler with George and some simple embroidery.  It’s been most therapeutic and I can’t wait to share with you soon.

However, first up is the only Christmas gift I made last year.  Another pair of His Simple Socks by Elizabeth Seidle.  I love this pattern so much.

This time, although I used the same 3 ply yarn as the last pair, I knitted on 2.75mm needles, and am so happy with the result.  The fabric is soft and elastic and just all round much nicer that before.

The colours are much more subdued too. But these are for Grandad, and he has more traditional taste than Hubs!

Although, to be honest, if he hadn’t liked them as much as he did, I think they’d have had a home here, subdued colours or no!

Project notes

For her birthday, we bought Miss Button a pack of bulky yarn, as she’d said she wanted to learn to knit.

I’m fairly sure I don’t need to tell you what happened to that yarn…..

Yep, I knitted it.

There are surprising few patterns out there for tweenagers that require bulky yarn.

Funny that!

But I came across this pattern for a shrug and set to.

It’s a lovely pattern and a quick and simple knit. I’ll admit it’s a tad roomy for Miss B at the moment, but that’s not a bad thing.  She’ll get lots and lots of wear out of it.  It’s a great throw-on for cooler days that don’t yet need a coat.  And, for a girl with a passion for all things flamingo, it’s just the perfect colour.

I altered the neckline so that there is a defined top and bottom to this shrug.

The yarn is squooshy and soft and reminds of that Minky fleece fabric.

Not something I’d want to wear, but a hot pink, squooshy, fleecy shrug is quite the thing when you’re 9 and 3/4s.

Project notes