the knitty gods shone down on me ...

a few days back i sent out a prayer to the knitty gods, for i truly doubted the little itty bitty ball of yarn i had left would be enough to finish the job in hand...

and the knitty job in hand was the little sweater vest i had cast on just over a week ago. 

a little vest that tested my knitty skills and ripping back ability to not quite the limit, but nearly the limit.

the knitty gods obviously heard my plea, got together and pondered, they then must have decided i deserved a little good yarny luck my way, having shown great perseverance in continuing on my knitting path despite my ripping back ways.

and thus, my little knitty vest, (recipe from Lullaby Knits by Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard) was finished with just over 2 yards of Malabrigo Rios yarn left to spare.

i did not weep, but i could quite easily have, with relief.

i love my knitty vest, it is all i hoped it would be and so much more, for it has given me the confidence to move on to the next knitty item for my granny trousseau... my lending library of little knits for my clan. 

and as i learn, i have found my little cogs have started turning, thinking of things to make and ways to do it for myself. 

this is making me most happy indeedy!

i have rambled about my little knit over on my ravelry page for those that may care to take a look see and know any nitty gritty. 

next up i am going to be making this little sweater vest. i am beyond in love with the design, so much so, i have a cunning plan. 

i will of course need the knitty gods to shine down on me but i am hopeful they will. 

for when i have made an itty bitty size, i am going to do the maths and make a bigger size for myself. 

for surely a tweedy sweater vest with side buttons over a floral frock would be really rather perfectly peachy.  

 

magical and magnificent...

when Our #1 came to stay it was both magical and magnificent for two and a half weeks. in between work hours we plotted and planned a road trip to Portland where we spent our hours wisely in secondhand stores, just like the old days. and then on other days, when i was doing my thing, she was busy doing her own with Miss Ethel.

in just a few short months Our Meg has learnt to sew clothes and not only that, but cut patterns for clothes and even more impressive to me, put in zippers. until now i have never sewn a zipper, however after a lesson from my daughter it is true to say zippers are making a scene around here.

she made me two frocks, oh lucky lucky me...

i am thinking the green wrap~around frock may well have an outing when Our #3 graduates in a few weeks time and the little brown frock with its handy dandy 'built~in' bloomer shorts underneath? well surely that is the perfect attire for wearing on a breezy day whilst cycling around and about.

i miss Our #1 now she has gone, it has been ten days since Mossy Shed lost a bit of its sparkle and in just a few months Our #3 will be leaving the nest too, choosing to go back to his roots across the pond. 

my nest is becoming quite empty... in the space of four years, three will have flown far far away. 

 i like to think i have got used to it, i tell myself that each and every day, but i must confess, it is a terrible fib.

 for with them, i am whole and without them i am a little bit broken and i am beginning to suspect one never truly gets used to it, one just gets better about fibbing to oneself.

a booky moment ...

i think my man is ready to pack his bags and leave. 

i am not a nice person to live with at the moment. i put it down to many things, a list i could write as long as my arm but none of the things on my list excuse being a 'bah humbug' and taking it out on him. 

i am hopeful he will stick around a tad while longer and ride the storm out...

i did not intend to wake up this morning and do what i did, but a chance conversation with my adopted auntie yesterday afternoon led to me pulling up my knee socks this morning and rustling around the kitchen drawer for my book writing cap. i must confess when i found it, it was rather dusty, a little moth eaten and most definitely wrinkly. 

i then spent quite a few moments unearthing scribbled notes from months and months ago, once again, telling myself off for not being better organized and having a terribly pants habit of writing in the middle of odd notebooks found lying around the place and then moving onto another random notebook found elsewhere. 

i am wondering if i need to go on an organizational camp, i expect such a thing exists.

and so i sat down at Colin the Computer this morn at precisely 8:09am after my morning walk with my little black cloud and tippity tapped away... the outline of a book i have been carrying inside of me for a year came outside into the fresh air to breath.

i know this book needs to be written, however i do not know whether i have the courage to go through the whole process again. letting it go out into the world for others to take hold of and add their vision to. to let them do so is tres tricky for me. i tell myself this time i am older, i am wiser and i am stronger than before, i tell myself many things to keep Mr Doubter from my door...

but the thing i tell myself most is, i love the working title i have. 

it alone makes me want to write another book.

'clever crafting for small beings, little critters and other folks'

and i love what i see inside my head, of what this book could become, now i have dared to peek inside.

 i have no idea whether i will be allowed to keep such a title when the time comes, nor if my booky vision will ever see the light of day beyond our Mossy Shed's four walls. however for now it is my jumping off point into a place i ran away from not so long ago. a place i now find myself running back to, with my heart beating a little faster, and noting a little black cloud slowly but surely being left behind...