in pursuit of organised-ness

I've had a busy couple of weeks with family visiting and planning a Christmas Market, which has meant that I haven't had much time for knitting, crafting or blogging. Which sadly means I have failed 2 of my November Challenges . Having said that I have made some progress on Evie's Red Riding Hood Duffle Coat. Here is the back, and the left and right front pieces with hood in progress. (Apologies for the crappy picture.) Looking forward to having this finished in time for Christmas. In other news, I have helped an old friend from school start a 'stitch n bitch' group at a local pub. No further progress has been made on my socks. And I have started my Christmas shopping. I can't believe it's December tomorrow, but I do have a potential challenge in mind..... tune in tomorrow. In the meantime check out Tami's Amis Blog for other WIP Wednesday Posts.

We have always eaten pretty well in our house, with a good portion of fruit & veg. But since our beautiful daughter arrived 3 months ago I've been a bit slack and my diet has gone totally down the drain! I don't mean a losing weight kind of diet, just your average eating well diet. We eat very little fast food and love to cook, so most food is made from scratch. The problem I've found is that it's much easier to grab something unhealthy (like a Cinnamon Swirl) for breakfast, or snack on a chocolate bar... Or at least that's how it's felt for the last 3 months. I've barely had time to make a cup of tea, let alone lunch, & have often got to the end of the day and realised that, actually, I hadn't eaten anything. I've started to notice that I feel different too. I'm tired (& baby is sleeping pretty well), I get tummy ache & just don't feel healthy. I am now starting to feel a bit more 'normal' with the baby stuff ...

A quick FO Friday post (as I'm meant to be packing for my weekend away!) to show you my first ever knitting commission . After showing off the sleeping bag I made for Evie I was asked to do one for a friend's nephew. There's a little pocket with J on (for Jude) & a footprint to use my new found embroidery skills. The bag (and pocket) were lined with a super soft fleecy blanket. I was left to my own devices to come up with colours & design, but it's gone down well & I am really pleased with it too. I don't think I'm going to get a chance to look at the other FOs til next week, unless I can get my packing done quickly - but you can go check out Tami's blog to see what everyone else has been up to.

I finally finished the 'big' project I have been working on - but I'm going to wait until Friday for the big reveal. This has meant I've been able to cast on a new project, Debbie Bliss' duffle coat from 'The Ultimate Book of Baby Knits'. I'll be making it in red, hence the name. There's not really much to show as I only cast on yesterday, but I am hoping to have it done for Christmas. In other 'WIP' news, here is a quick progress photo of my sock. (Yes, it's still on going! At least I haven't given up yet.) Check out Tami's blog for plenty more WIP Wednesday inspiration.

I haven't had much time lately for crafting and didn't manage to post a FO last week. This week, I have a very little FO to show you. A little embroidered cupcake button using the free kit that came with Issue 7 of Mollie Makes magazine . I drew my design on the linen using a wipe off fabric marker... ... then I embroidered over my sketch ... .... and wiped off the marker pen using a damp cloth.... ... then I mounted the fabric on a button.  For my first attempt at embroidery and covering buttons, I am quite pleased. I love the sketchy feel and it has sparked an idea for a sampler for Evie. I am now going to check out the other FOs on Tamis blog .

I completed this meme over 2 years ago on my other blog and thought it would be interesting to see how much has changed in that time. All items in bold I have done and those in italic are things I would like to do. Total number on list: 105 Items completed: 47 (March 2009 - 36) Things I'd like to do: 36 (March 2009 - 43) Afghan American/English knitting Baby items Bobbles Buttonholes Cable stitch patterns Cardigan Charity knitting Combination knitting Continental knitting Cuffs/Fingerless Mitts/Arm warmers Darning Designing knitted garments Domino knitting Drop stitch patterns Dyeing spinning fibre Dyeing with plant colors Dying yarn Entrelac Fair Isle knitting Free-form knitting Fulling/felting Garter stitch Gloves Graffiti knitting Hair accessories Hats: Cuff-up Hats: Top-down Holiday related knitting Household items I-cord Intarsia Jewelry Kitchener stitch Knitted flowers Knitting a gift Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting mag...

As the last 2 challenges have been knitting related, and I have failed to complete either of them, I'm going to try something new. Here are some things I want to do in November. ONE Complete my pregnancy section of Evie's Scrapbook . TWO Post a FO Friday post every Friday in November. THREE Try embroidery.