Illyria

Its not that I haven’t been being creative, its just I’m not happy enough with th results to post them! I am currently frogging a blanket and have an iffy pendant waiting for fresh inspiration, but am very proud of Mira’s work and happy to show it off to you!

A lot of what she told me she was painting was snakes, I hope in the sense of their wisdom and healing symbolism and not the other stuff!

I am currently waiting for her to fall asleep for her afternoon nap which is taking a while…

But an ideal time to catch up quickly on phone calls and emails plus my ever growing to-do list - testing paint pots next! Washable whites. Thanks for dropping by! xxx Heather

Today I feel like I have recovered a bit from school after spending the last three and a half days sleeping or dozing. I hate that the house is a tip so this morning I did some long overdue cleaning and made lemonade:

The recipe is: zest and juice of a large lemon, a pound of sugar, a pint of boiling water and a 1/3 rd oz citric acid.

As we have another heatwave predicted, it seemed essential to have a batch made up - and the smell! Definitely in my top ten smells.

Mira felt her hair needed more jazzing up today.

There are two guaranteed ways to produce this face: saying no and turning off the TV. We have a week of exciting activities planned - yesterday was soft play and she actually went in the ball pool for a whole two minutes! Today is knit and natter day, and swimming later on. Bath time has now occured twice without drama and she is sitting on a toilet every morning (but not actually using it yet!).

Ben and I graduated from Invest yesterday, and I finish work this coming Friday, which will give me seven weeks before the baby is born. Bump is still apparently testing my muscle elasticity or trying to kick his or her way out early! So now it is time to get going on finishing projects and getting the house ready. Completed project 1 - Birdie Brooches from ‘The Happy Hooker’ book:

They don’t look quite the same in the picture and something weird has happened to the middle one’s head/beak.  I prefer the flowers really - and have plans to put some on a cardi for Mira that Penny helped me finish! Photos to follow soon! I am also nearly finished my shoes and doing some more on my Babette.

There are zillions of things that need doing round the house - the cushions and carpets need cleaned, the open plan living/dining/kitchen needs painted to remove all the marks that won’t wash off. I think a washable tough white is the way to go! But I’m getting over my cold, and am fed up putting house stuff off.  The bathroom also needs a bit of finishing. I hope I can get through it  - in a sensible, not-wearing-myself-out-before-the-baby fashion!

My line manager forbade me to take any work home this weekend so I have been trying to revitalise - I have done no cooking and went to visit the Loch Lomond Quilt show yesterday. I managed two venues in an hour and a half, but Mira was getting to the noisy stage and couldn’t be bribed with gingerbread men anymore so we had to leave. It was very inspiring and so I started recycling another pair of shoes…

I had thought about this crazy lace patchwork idea before but after tramping through the heels of another pair, and failing to find anything I liked on Argyle Street yesterday, eco-friendlyness, creativity, economy and therapy once again come together in beautiful harmony! Lace from Charlotte and my stash, dyed with silk paint, applied with fabric glue, to be anchored firmly with beading. Watch this space! The ones I collaged with stamps last summer keep cracking, so I may have to find another use for them… ivy planters maybe?

My friend had a little girl recently and so I experimented with some layers and gifts I was given. The page is from a broken Bible with the genealogy of Jesus - a load of births!

I liked the layers so much I did one for Mira:

And here is her cake!

On Saturday I met Rachel John at one of the stands and she had the most amazing textiles made out of yarn combined from  ten or more strands of yarn, knitted on HUGE needles. What surprised me most was that she used yarn I previously disdained for being too fuzzy or eyelashy or glittery and made it look amazing! And the texture - so thick and soft and squishy! So I looked out all the yarn I couldn’t work out how to use before and made my own ten strand ball of eyelash, mohair, wool and cotton…

And cast on 14 stitches with my 20mm needles…

I think this is a great way of reducing waste too - I bunged in all kinds of end scraps, some from Cyndi, attempted some colour variation, but I’m still not keen on the eyelash.  Sorry eyelash yarns - never bought you, never will.

Will probably be a cushion for driving support.

…the beautiful New Lanark marled wool, could have bought every shade, plus Debbie Bliss soho, £6 the lot and free 20mm needles!

Mira thinks the needles are a good teething aid. They must have worked as I got a great sleep last night!

Thinking of maybe this? Can’t find the link any more - but I have the PDF.

More tomorrow!

So I am now feeling energetic enough to crochet and have already broken my no more stash vow rather badly… I thought about all the things I was going to give up this year in the way of trips and conferences, as travelling and fees would be demanding, so I bought yarn for when I’m too big to go anywhere and to comfort me and bring colour therapy… and to add to my blanket!

Th colours are a bit washed out but I have learned a lot this month: 1. I don’t like centre joins - I’m now doing them in the corners. 2. How to block - thanks Attic 24! 3. What colours work - I’m really not happy with the central 12 round and may pull it back to ten and then use it later, or crochet the last two rounds in the ivory. I also joined ravelry and got given some exciting knitting needles… more tomorrow!

Here is the original pattern:

Babette

I’m hoping to learn to be as bold and fearless with colour but I’m still a bit colour panicky…

In the midst of all the crazyness, I don’t know how I managed this, but one night and afternoon I responded to a sparkly urge from deep within my soul -

This isn’t a great photo bu I’m not sure the next is much better…

It was wonderful stress relief therapy at any rate and fun!

I have been considering these topics in a spiritual light for my Invest presentation on Friday, but here are some other senses of the words…

1. Family foundations. I love my families in the broadest sense - I even feel like my colleagues are family - sisters! Church family is blowing me away at the moment.  Mira has been so incredibly sweet and snuggly and kissy today - andI have smooched a lot of teddy bear fur! My sister came down to support me at the weekend and we will have a few very lovely visitors over the next fortnight.

2. Creativity  - both a foundation and baggage! Part of what I do is recycling, but I wanted to make hearts that would endure longer than card and I don’t have time to carve my own. These will be amazingly transformed when next seen…

However, to be honest, a lot of what I do is hoard  and collect, and stash reducing is a necessity. But I have bought this wire… so why? It is steel, and to buy this amount in sterling silver would have cost me over £200. The anitque colour is perfect , it cost me about £7 and should last for ages. So once my prelim marking is over, I hope to get started  - my head is buzzing with ideas. I also wanted some clear hard resin for jewellery purposes but that is proving harder to obtain.