 January 31, 2005
Can you say relaxed?
We had the most fantastic holiday ever and it didn't end when we left Center Parcs on Friday afternoon. We finished off Friday with dinner at one of our favourite child friendly restaurants (where I think the staff are getting to know us) and spent Saturday and Sunday lounging around the house playing playstation and making paper mache masks out of old newspapers and balloons. Perfect.. The holiday itself? Well Brooke learned to play table tennis and swim without her armbands (holding onto a float!) I won't say that Cameron learned to swim but he learned that the water is fun and not something to be afraid of which I think at 5 months is all you can ask for. He loved floating around in his ring, with Brooke pushing him here there and everywhere. See? We walked a lot. Cycled a lot. Wayne and I took it in turns to pull the kids around in their Or at least Brooke pretended and Cameron just smiled and went along with everything she suggested. The funniest moment was when I was driving the kids (badly I should add) and chatting to Jenna at the same time when this little voice from behind me said "stop all that chattering and concentrate on your driving please mum" That told me then didn't it! They enjoyed being chauffered though. Wouldn't you? We all ate too much, slept too much and the Allmans lost at the boardgame challenge - the final score was 3 - 1 to the Rycrofts. Boo. Cameron loved watching the squirrels and birds out of the window. He used to snuggle up with Brooke in one of the chairs pushed up to the patio doors and watch as all the bread and nuts we had left out were eaten or dragged away. I slept at every possible opportunity and realised on Thursday lunchtime that I hadn't even changed a nappy all week! Thanks mum and dad and Jenna and Wayne for letting me relax COMPLETELY and have a fab week. When can we go again? PS - Agnes is all finished and seamed, I just need to get the snap fastening attached and then we're good to go. Photos later in the week..
Posted by Kerrie at 07:54 AM
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January 23, 2005
Happy Happy Happy Happy Holidays...
Its that time of year again when we sneak off for a few days of rest and relaxation. It will be Cameron's first holiday and Brooke is looking forward to teaching him to swim and generally showing him how to have fun. I'll be back in about a week's time, for now I'll leave you with cute pictures of the kids for no reason other than I love them!
Posted by Kerrie at 09:39 AM
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January 22, 2005
Reading
I seem to have been reading loads this month. Here are all of the books that I've read so far in January, we have a definite theme going here of psychological thriller type novels. Its time to get out of the rut and read some different stuff I think... Johnathon Kellerman - Therapy. Brilliant book, I love both Faye and Johnathon Kellerman and this was no exception. I really enjoyed it. There are 2 more that I have read but I can't remember what they were. I'll go find them later and add them to the list. Wouldn't it be good if I kept this up all year, then I would have a full list of my reads. Yeah right, I give myself until February! PS - I found all the pieces to Agnes, the pattern and the yarn so I'm definitely going to get that finished while I'm away. In addition to reworking a couple of patterns for publication in books next year and finishing off some sewing patterns for my store. Its going to be a busy but relaxing holiday!
Posted by Kerrie at 01:10 PM
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January 21, 2005
Tsunami quilt and other squares
Not sure if you have already seen this link (I found it from LoobyLu) but I'm going to try and contribute a square for the quilt. I can't wait to see the finished quilt, I expect it will be gorgeous. In other square news, I blame Kay and Ann for my obsession with mitre squares at the moment. I've made about 8 of them over the past couple of weeks, some in All Seasons Cotton and others in Big Wool. I don't plan to use all of them in the same project though, even I'm not that adventurous.. I should really get a photo of them all shouldn't I? I'm sitting here this morning trying to decide what knitting to take on holiday with me next week. I'm thinking a few mitre squares (of course) and Agnes if I can find the damn pieces that are missing. I think this afternoon whie Brooke is at playschool will be tear the house apart looking for the back and first piece of the front. There is no way I would have thrown them away so they have to be here somewhere, right?
Posted by Kerrie at 07:45 AM
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January 20, 2005
Miss Kitty
Miss Kitty is made from recycled Rowan Calmer yarn (it used to be a hat) and wears a simple wrap dress made with an oddment of Amy Butler vintage fabric. She also wears a pink flower necklace made by Brooke. She is my entry for the LoobyLu January month of softies project. The theme this month was vintage catwalk. I'm sure many people went along the road of making a toy cat in a dress but I couldn't come up with anything more original. If you haven't already seen them you have to go and see the cute cute kittens that she is making, don't they just make you smile? I can't wait to see what February's theme is going to be.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:37 AM
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January 19, 2005
Manos top
Ages and ages it go it seems, somewhere around the 6th month of pregnancy I decided to make a top for myself out of Manos. At the time, it obviously didn't fit me and with the move coming only a short time after Cameron was born it was packed away and forgotton about. Until now. I like the way it fits, especially as I didn't use a pattern and just winged the whole thing. I would make the 3x2 ribbing a little shorter if I made another tank but on the whole I like it. It matches my new green jeans nicely.. The headless shot wasn't intentional. Between Cameron screaming for attention (he is well and truly into the screaming stage now, even when nothing is the matter) and me trying to use the self timer on the camera and balance it on top of a suitcase* to get the right height either I cut off my head or the majority of the tank. This was the best of the bunch! * Its nearly holiday time! Woo Hoo...
Posted by Kerrie at 08:46 AM
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January 18, 2005
Baby Merino games
I started playing with this last night. Yummy!
Posted by Kerrie at 08:04 AM
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January 17, 2005
Its all looking pink around here...
I can't believe how quickly the weeks are flying by. Look at the date. Its the middle of January already. I've been at home with Brooke full time for 6 months now and I can honestly say that I don't miss the office. Its been huge amounts of fun being a full time mum, Brooke is such good fun to be with and Cameron is a lovely baby. I'm going back to work in April but Brooke starts primary school at the end of next month, I am really going to miss her. She is so excited about starting school though, she has made a few friends in this area who will be in her class and can't wait for her settling in days so that she can meet her teacher. Sigh. She is growing up too quickly... As for Cameron, he is also growing up too quickly. No fair! I've been quite keen for him to stay a baby, more so than I was with Brooke. A few friends with more than one child have said the same thing, I was really keen for Brooke to do everything quickly, (sit up, roll over etc) but I just want to wrap Cameron up and keep him small for ever. No chance of that though. He is getting more mobile by the day which is scary as I thought I had another few months of him being very still before I had to worry about him crawling off and hiding. As soon as I lay him down on his play mat he rolls onto his stomach, and then if he wants to get to a toy he has been known to roll over onto his back, them his stomach again and move himself a few feet across the floor. Its un-nerving to come back into the room 2 mins later and find him in a different place. Bring out the stair gates... I've been concentrating lots on designing this year. I'm working on getting some of my designs put together in a booklet and published and I've also been experimenting with fabric more than yarn. My aim (and I'm telling you now so that you can all laugh at me in a few weeks when it doesn't happen!) is to have the online shop set up early February. I know that's only a few weeks away but I'd say that I'm probably about 80% of the way there. When that happens I should be able to confirm the shows that I've signed up to exhibit at as well. Its going to be a fun year.. This is one design that I'm working on now. Aren't the colours pretty? Its Rowan Handknit DK (unblocked so excuse the stitches) and I hadn't realised until I started knitting it that the colours are from Knit Happens. I'm sure Kristine would be proud of me...
Posted by Kerrie at 09:41 AM
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January 14, 2005
Happy Birthday Aunty Jenna!
It was my sister's birthday yesterday so we took her to Pirate Pete's for dinner. Actually its not called Pirate Pete's but it has a pirate themed play area attached to it so Brooke has renamed the place. I can't even remember what it is really called now! It was a fun evening. Brooke was her usual crazy self, making friends with older children in the play area and hounding Aunty Jenna all evening. She insisted on "helping" her open all her presents which in Brooke language consists of passing her each one saying "here is the hot water bottle from mum and dad" and "shall I open the diary from me or do you want to?" She hasn't grasped the concept of not telling people what their presents are yet! Mum and I decided to get the restaurant staff to bring out a birthday cake and sing to Jen at the end of the meal. (If you think this is cruel you should see what Wayne and Jenna persuaded the staff at TGI Friday's to do to me on my birthday this year. Have you ever seen a heavilly pregnant woman covered in balloons being sung to by about 10 waiters in the middle of a restaurant? No? Well, its a sight not to be missed!) So after we had eaten, Wayne and I were looking at the dessert menu and asked Brooke if she wanted some ice cream. Cool as anything she replied "no thank you, I'm just going to have a slice of Aunty Jenna's surprise birthday cake" She is insane! Lots of knitting and sewing going on here at the moment but no batteries in the digital camera. They are charging now so I may sneak back for a quick update later on today or over the weekend..
Posted by Kerrie at 08:39 AM
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January 12, 2005
Bunnies
I couldn't resist buying Kate's bunny pattern just before Christmas, they are such cute little toys and I'm always intrigued about how toys are put together. I didn't get around to making any before Christmas but last week remembered the pattern and decided to play. I made 2 bunnies, one for Brooke and one for Cameron. I followed the baby bunny pattern for both but due to the different yarns they came out slightly different sizes. Brooke's bunny is knit in Rowan Calmer and Cameron's bunny is knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. An entire bunny from cast on, to seaming, to stuffing to sewing on of face took an hour. I made both of them in one nap time! Aren't they cute? The only thing I would do differently if I made them again would be to knit to a tighter gauge so you can't see the stuffing through and make the inc / dec stitches a little tighter. On the whole though I like them and so do the kids. Brooke has been playing very complicated games with them all morning while Cameron just laughs at her!
Posted by Kerrie at 09:23 AM
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Woo Hoo
Thanks to the wonderful Sarah, we're back up and running over here. I've been upgraded to MT 3.14 and comments are back to normal. Phew. Now I just need to go and play around with 3.14 for a while and get used to the new interface then I'll upload the photos of Kate's bunnies that I made at the weekend to show you.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:46 AM
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January 11, 2005
What makes you mad?
In the spirit of grumpiness that surrounds our house at the moment (me for commenty / techy reasons, Cameron just because he likes to scream and Brooke because she DOES NOT like her brother's screams) I thought I'd share a list of things that I've seen recently that have made me mad. 1. Children crawling all over the back seat of cars on the motorway. Why do some people not put seat belts on their children? Is it really worth it? The worst example of this I've ever seen was a small baby - under 1 year - actually lying on the parcel shelf, face pressed up against the rear windscreen. Tsk. 2. Children being left unattended in cars for long periods of time. Now, I dont mean while parents run into petrol station to pay for fuel leaving kids in car on forecourt (although I have never managed to do this, I always drag them both in with me to pay. I know lots of people leave them in the car, but not me..) I mean in Tescos car park while they go in and shop. For an hour. ??? I'd never seen this before we moved out of London but here in the country I see it ALL THE TIME. In car parks at Tescos, Kids playcentres, nurseries, garden centres. Everywhere. For goodness sakes people, take your kids with you! 3. Parent and child toilets that are too small for prams. Yep, that is a real help to me when I'm out shopping with the kids and I need to go to the toilet. How to squash me, a pram and a 4 year old into a normal size cubicle? So I go to the parent and child toilets, you'd have thought so right? Nope. They have 2 toilets in so you and your child can go at the same time but no room for a pram. Thanks.. 4. People on their own with no prams who insist on queueing for the lift and not taking the escalators that are like 20 yards away so that I have to wait for 3 lifts to come and go before I can get in one to go up to the food court. Hellooo, take the stairs! I won't go on, I'm beginning to feel better now I've ranted about that. You never know, I may soon show you some knitting progress. I've made loads over the last few days. Including some more work on Gypsy number 4ish. See, I can knit and bitch at the same time...
Posted by Kerrie at 03:25 PM
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January 10, 2005
Stuck
Bleugh. What a crappy start to the week. I've discovered the following this morning : 1. If I move to another host I lose the £200 that I spent at the end of November in upgrading to this new server account. So, I need help. I've bought the latest version of MT and I've read the Six Apart Guide to fighting comment spam. What I'd really like is to find someone who is techy enough and has the spare time to firstly upgrade this blog to MT 3.14 and then follow the recommendations here and set up MT blacklist and also MT-DSBL for me. Anyone want to volunteer? I'll happily pay you in either real money or yarn or knit you something in return. I'm DESPERATE. Please send me an email to Kerrie AT MagKnits.com if you can help. Until then I'll be sulking at home. Bleugh.
Posted by Kerrie at 12:06 PM
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January 09, 2005
Deja Vu
Once more my comments are not working and I cant use my FTP account. It would appear that despite paying a lot more money to upgrade to a new hosting package, my host has once again disabled the comments script due to spam and locked my ftp account so that I cant change it. Nice huh? Time to start thinking about moving Kerriesplace over to Dreamhost who host MagKnits I think. Ho hum..
Posted by Kerrie at 12:45 PM
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January 07, 2005
The hat
This is the hat I made Wayne for Christmas. Its not just any hat, apparantly it has magical powers. How else do you explain the fact that he wears it? Its a simple 2 x 2 ribbed hat made out of Rowan Calmer. I love this yarn, it is so soft and fun to knit with. I wanted to make him a hat that I thought he would wear and also one that I would wear if he decided he didn't like it. This was it. I didn't use a pattern, just cast on 96 stitches with 5mm needles and worked in 2x2 rib for about 9 inches before working the decrease rows at the top. It turned out great. When it became obvious that he would wear it I realised that I didn't have a nice black calmer hat of my own. So I cast on 91 stitches and made my own, in a lacy pattern. This was a 10 stitch pattern repeat with the seam falling in the middle of the lace so it is almost impossible to see. Brooke tells me I look silly wearing it, she rolled her eyes at me and said "oh mum, you're not really going to wear that are you?" Yes, Brooke. I am. I like it. Especially the wavy edge which Brooke told me looks like a fairy's hat only its black like a witch would wear. Um, OK. Thanks for that. So now Wayne and I have our black handknit calmer hats, don't worry - I won't be making it a whole family thing. Brooke and Cameron are safe from the threat. Maybe in white or pink though.....
Posted by Kerrie at 07:49 AM
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January 06, 2005
New Year List
So, I was thinking this morning how I haven't really made any new years resolutions this year - knitting or otherwise. I've seen lots of lists on other people's sites about their resolutions, Julia's has to be the most comprehensive and organised one I've seen so far, I had to go and have a rest after just reading it! I'm not feeling very organised at the moment, there is lots for me to think about over the next couple of months with Brooke starting school, Cameron starting nursery and me going back to work so I wont be worrying about resolutions. Having said that, I love a list. So here is my list of projects I hope to get completed in the next couple of months. A couple of bunnies. This pattern is so cute, I wanted to make some before Christmas but ran into that old not enough hours in the day problem. A top down raglan for Mr C. This is on the needles but needs a little more planning. Gypsy number 4. Again this is half done but needs finishing. Clamshell shawl. Did I ever show you a photo of this pattern? Its a really cool design that I picked up from Ally Pally. I have lots of Koigu scraps to make it with and can't wait to start. The clamshells are addictive. Cardigan for me. Not sure what, maybe Fanny from Big Just Got Bigger. Or something else. Find pieces of and finish Agnes. I have the 2 sleeves in my workbag but cant find the back or the front piece of the cardigan. That's what happens when you move house and mess about with your yarn stash too many times. I just hope I haven't accidently thrown it away. That should keep me going for a while don't you think?
Posted by Kerrie at 07:50 AM
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January 05, 2005
Christmas in pictures
So, the holidays were kind to Brooke and Cameron. Lots of presents, lots of good food and a christmas day with each set of grandparents. Who could ask for more than that? Helped by big sister, Cameron learned to bounce in doorframes. All by himself he learned to roll from his back to his stomach. (Note to Cameron - I know you're proud of yourself but please, try not to roll over in the middle of the night until you have learned to roll back or turn your head to the side. I don't mind being woken up by you moaning that you're stuck on your stomach, however I would prefer that when I come through to turn you over that you simply smile at me and go back to sleep. Squealing in excitement, waving arms, kicking legs and blowing spitty raspberries at me are not acceptable responses in the middle of the night. OK?) He got lots of teddy bears, this is one of his favourites. Brooke got dressing up clothes. Lots of dressing up clothes.
She also received her first motorbike. Its pink. And very Barbie. No prizes for guessing which Aunty bought that for her! Grandad helped Cameron sneak a ride on it when she wasn't looking! Phew, Christmas is hard work. Especially with so many presents to open. Brooke and Cameron found time to relax in front of the TV at the end of the day.
Posted by Kerrie at 09:35 AM
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January 04, 2005
A Little help..
In the face of such devastation as we are seeing with the Asian Tsunami I feel very small and helpless. The numbers of dead and injured are so large that I cannot comprehend them. How can one act of nature cause so much loss of life and injury? It doesn't bear thinking about. The horrors that are being shown on the news and in the paper make me cry. I have to admit that I no longer follow the coverage that is being shown, not because I don't care but because it makes me feel so useless. I can do so little to help all of the people who are suffering but I want to do what I can. There are many ways to donate money to the cause. In the UK you can go to the Disasters Emergency Committee or one of many other organisations. I have decided to do my small piece and have pledged via Blogaid to donate all of January's MagKnits donations to the DEC. Its only a small step but one I believe most of us should take in one way or another.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:56 PM
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Happy New Year!
Well, 2005 is here already. I have no idea what happened to 2004, for Wayne and I it was the year of too many things happening at once. It was almost a direct copy of 2000 where we moved into a new house 1 month before Brooke was born only this time we moved into a new house 6 weeks after Cameron was born. Never again. The moving house and having baby at the same time that is, no guarantees we won't do both of them again - just at different times. We're planning to do nothing of any great significance this year but lets wait and see how that goes. I have lots of schemes in my head that I'm itching to start and 2005 just might be the right time for them, you never can tell with mad schemes just when they will begin... Our Christmas and New Year were great. Cameron enjoyed it as much as any other 4.5 month old and Brooke had the best time. She was so sweet, helping Cameron open his presents, saying his thank yous for him and getting on with her own as well. Neither of our children are early risers and on Christmas morning Wayne and I had a very civilised lie in until about 8.30 when Brooke got up, opened her stocking presents and then Cameron woke at about 9. We spent Christmas day and boxing day with Wayne's family and New Year with mine. Lots of good presents, good food and being thoroughly spoiled by both sets of parents. Perfect... Now its back to normal. Wayne went in to work today and I thought it was about time I updated here. I have lots of photos to show you of knitted Christmas presents and other bits and bobs. Christmas 2004 will go down in history as the first time ever I knitted something for Wayne which he likes and has worn just about every day since. OK so a hat isn't the most adventurous present in the world but for the man that doesn't like knitted things, its a giant leap.. All I need to do now is to sneak a photo of him wearing it to prove to you all. I'm going to upload the holiday photos sometime today so expect piccies tomorrow..
Posted by Kerrie at 09:23 AM
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