7am

Me and my Gorgeous Assistant

It was snowing this morning when we got up, so we decided to stay in all day instead of venturing out. I cleared the kitchen table and spread out the pieces for the layered Amy Butler A-line skirt. The pattern instructions were to sew the top two layers together and then insert the zip and then add the bottom layers, but that seemed a strange way round to do things to me, so I sewed all the layers together and then effectively followed the pattern for the normal A-line skirt. My assistant here helped beautifully with this part of the process. So this is how far I've got with the skirt. I finished the outer layer, now just have to sew together the lining, put the two together and hem it and it'll be finished. I do love this material, and was glad to have enough from leftovers to be able to make a skirt, but otherwise I don't think I'd bother making the layered skirt. Maybe once it starts fraying I'll love the BoHo chicness of it. I'm so ready for spring and warmth, I hope we don't wake up tomorrow to this again.

Toiletries bags and headbands

I'd really like to make another Simplicity dress and I'm considering the above Japanese fabrics, found during my lunchtime forays to Anglian Fashion Fabrics, a shop 10 minutes' walk from where I work and where I end up most lunchtimes, just to look. I think I prefer the one on the left. I'd have to line the dress though as the fabric is too see-through.

Yesterday I decided to make two toiletries bags and matching headbands, so while Hagos was in the bath and Meg was sleeping sweetly I got all the material and scissors and pins out and set to work. I managed to cut the outer material before madame jumped down and got involved.

This is her lying on the material and pins. I put my hand on top of the pins to shield her from hurting herself, only to be scratched and bitten for my concern.
It took me longer than I expected but I was really pleased with the results.
I lined the bags with shower curtain material I bought in John Lewis. And I backed the headbands in the green cotton I use for embroidery. I thought about embroidering something on it but didn't know what, and I wanted to get on. Anyway, these are more face washing headbands as the people they're intended for are unlikely to wear them in public.
The black material is, of course, Kaffe Fassett. The purple gerbera fabric is Carla Miller. Absolutely gorgeous. Now I just have to get the cord and stopper to thread through the top and they will be finished. Today we went into town. It was snowing as we drove in. After lunch we stumbled upon the French market that comes to Norwich twice a year and sells gorgeous things, particularly sweets. I bought some small pieces of nougat, as I'm trying to lose weight.

Husband and Home

I am extremely pleased to have my husband home again. As I said in a previous post, this tour somehow felt more significant to me because he was going to places I've never been before. It's comforting to be able to visualise the city/venue when he's away and having toured myself, to roughly know the schedule.

Anyway, he brought me this lovely present: Issey Miyake doesn't make my favourite perfume anymore (Le Feu D'Issey) so we're always on the lookout for a replacement. I really like this one so far.

I've been slowly, organically, working my way through a list of what I wanted to have achieved by the time Hagos came home and I think I've done rather well. The list included household and creative, fun, tasks. Having the house cleaner and clearer/more organised makes me feel lighter. I had a day of clearing our yard and cleaning the car and both look so much better I really want good weather now so I can sit out there and I wonder why it's taken me so long to get it done.

In amongst the household chores I made sure I also did plenty of reading, sewing, knitting and writing too. Interspersing it all helps achieve slow but sure progress.

Meg helping with the household chores:

Cleaning the car.
And keeping the settee cushion covers warm.

A Green Day

It always takes me a day by myself to rev up into some kind of momentum. Almost like coming out of a fog and being able to see more clearly.

Anyway, yesterday started off very slowly. I wrote a long list of THINGS TO DO, which left me feeling overwhelmed. So instead I cleaned the bathroom (a token gesture to the list) and then started knitting a jumper for Keigan's 1st birthday. I love the colour, a kind of moss-green. I'm planning to put little football buttons on the shoulder. It will match the socks, or I should say sock, singular, as I haven't knitted the second one yet. I lit a fire around midday and snuggled down with my knitting and cat and watched Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice.

Then, in the evening, I started sewing together my Kaffe Fassett Paperweight Algae skirt. And here's the result: I'm really pleased with it. I was concerned the lining would make it too heavy for summer, but actually it still feels lightweight and very luxurious. And I'm really chuffed with how professional it looks. I made myself stop just before completely finishing it last night because it was 1am and I really needed to go to bed. So I just have the lining to slip stitch to the zip, and the hemming of the skirt and lining to do, et voila, finito!

So this morning the list is still staring at me, making me want to crawl back into bed with my book and cat. I think I might throw it in the bin and have more of an organic approach to the day.

A Dress and A Sister

Here is my finished Simplicity dress. I made a longer version of the top, rather than follow the dress version of the pattern as that would have involved a zip and tucks. I'm really pleased with it and love the colour. This Kaffe Fassett design is definitely a favourite and I'd like to make a black one too. I thought I'd wait till I've finished my skirts though as I may prefer to make a black skirt. It looks really good on too, quite slimming! I decided not to line it eventually and hope that was the right decision.

My sister and her husband came to visit over the weekend. We went into town on Saturday, visited a couple of shops, I got my John Lewis fix and then we picked my friend Bev up and came home. Then we went to V's Cafe for lunch, which was extremely nice. I had my usual double egg on toast. I kept meaning to take my camera with me every time we went out and kept forgetting so I have no photos to show. On Sunday we went to Reepham Station and had tea and cake there. Jacqueline and I had the most delicious coffee cake. So today I'm back on my diet of fruit and veg.

I dyed Jacqueline's hair while she was here, which was good fun. She got a highlight kit. Then I straightened it all for her, and she really suits her hair straightened. I'm trying to persuade her to buy a set of GHD straighteners as mine aren't and take ages to use. Anyway, this is the result.

Time and Space

I became aware of Tanya Streeter when she designed champagne flutes for Habitat. She's a world record free diver and the champagne glasses had solid bases with air bubbles, I guess to signify her holding her breath at great depths for long periods of time? She came to mind tonight when I was in the bath, thinking about how I mostly operate on the surface of life these days. I rarely reach the point where I plumb the depths of my subconscious / unconscious, though I often wake in the night with existential angst! I have so many distractions: people, earning a living, TV, housework, working towards practical goals; I don't often feel I'm still enough to experience insightful moments that reveal something honest and worthwhile about life. Which is what drew me to writing many years ago, and is the state I want to find again so I can continue.

In the meantime I can read other people who do manage to make meaningful connections and write about it.

Today

So, today, the Barcelona Layered Skirt pattern was playing on my mind when I got up. I'd worked out last night that I just had enough material to make it with my leftover Amy Butler Coriander Olive. So I traced and ironed and cut it all out, and now I have a dress and two skirts ready to sew together! I'm very excited!
This is them all hanging up next to the new Sardine mountain. So now I'm taking a break before pressing on with my Spring Cleaning. I've done the bathroom, now I just have the rest of the house (and car, and shed) to do.

I've located a new place to write in too. It's on the couch in Hagos's studio. I like being surrounded by Hagos's stuff, and it's comfortable and quiet in there, and has none of my own distractions.

I spoke to Hagos on MSN this morning for a wee while. He's in Istanbul at the moment. It was REALLY nice to chat to him

Gingery goodness

Meg is SO beautiful.

Even with her filthy, sharp claws.

Barcelona Skirt

I finally got a burst of energy last night and decided to cut out both my Barcelona A-line skirt pattern, and the Simplicity dress pattern. And tonight I cut out the material for the skirt. I think next I'll cut out the skirt lining, and the material for the dress so I have it all ready to go. I did it all while Meg was out hunting, though she came in tonight just as I was taking the pins out of the pattern and material and attacked me, making me bleed, when I shielded her from hurting herself!
I'm still feeling sluggish, but better than yesterday. My mind isn't totally present though. I think it's because I have to concentrate so hard during the week that come the weekend my brain really lets go!

Tomorrow I have to go to the gym and have blood tests to see if there's an underlying cause to my tiredness. And I really want to get an AL Kennedy book to read. Either: Day, Paradise, or Indelible Acts. I might leave that till I'm back to work on Tuesday to save an extra trip into town. And I need to buy an invisible zip and some thread. And so the list forms again.

I made a great breakthrough on the domestic front tonight, which made me stupidly happy. Our vacuum cleaner hasn't been working properly for about a month. After a swift appraisal I decided there was a blockage in the tube, thus preventing the right amount of suction. It's been a real pain, and I've ended up picking half the crap off the floor myself every time I vacuum. Tonight I was pushing it around, trying to make the floor look better, when for some reason I decided to check the bag wasn't full. AND IT WAS! It was so full the stuff was hanging out of the hole. Now, I checked the bag wasn't full when I was first aware of the problem. Anyway, new bag, fully functioning vacuum cleaner. The floor looks clean now. I'd just about resigned myself to having to buy a new one, or ask Hagos to take the hose apart to find the, er, blockage.

It's bedtime. My hands are FULL of scratches.

Off-piste

It is deeply relaxing, occasionally, to revert to teenage time-keeping and do exactly what I want, when I want, without any regard for other people or THE CLOCK.

Hagos went on tour on Thursday, his birthday, for two and a half weeks.

Since then, apart from working yesterday, I've been eating what/when I want, sleeping when I feel like it (I got up this morning at 9.30am to have breakfast and go out to the library, then came home and went back to bed with my hot water bottle and my book and Meg, until 3.30pm - bliss!) and I have no plan for the rest of the day, except maybe to have a bath.

(Me and Meg getting up again - she always has to be first down the stairs.)

My life is so often filled with THINGS TO DO and LISTS and STRICT DEADLINES that it is such a luxury to let it all go for a day and snuggle in, read a book, eat eggs and rest.

And though my projected list for Saturday was to clean the house and begin making my skirt and dress, my only plan now, apart from having a bath, is to eat the curry Hagos cooked before he went on tour.

You SHALL go to the ball

Mo lent me her Knit Simple magazine months ago because inside there is an amazing sock pattern to knit socks in-the-round for any size of foot with any weight of wool. So, I chose to make Keigan a pair of socks for a 1-2 year old in DK yarn. Most sock patterns are for 4-ply, which takes ages so I was chuffed to find a DK pattern.

And here is the result! It's been a while since I've seen a 1 year old's foot, but... the sock looks more like it would fit a 3-4 year old. I checked the pattern though and I think I did it correctly. The length of foot before cast off for the toe is 5 inches. Maybe I'll keep it until I find a foot it fits!

And a couple of gratuitous photos of Meg.

In a Beautiful Pea Green COAT

Remember my Boden disappointment recently? Well, after trawling Ebay I discovered the coat had become available on the Boden website again, but in PEA GREEN. I ordered it. It arrived. I think I'm going to keep it. Pea green. Pea green. Pea green. Hm.

It's Sunday morning and we're on the countdown to Hagos going on tour for two and a half weeks, which in tour terms isn't long but somehow it seems major in my mind because part of the tour is to Turkey and Israel. Most of the places he goes to I've toured there myself and am at least familiar with the country, even the city, and often the actual venues he's playing at. But I haven't been to Turkey or Israel so I'm a wee bit trepidatious. Shouldn't be, I know.

The days leading up to him going away are always a wee bit strange. It's an inbetween phase where the absence begins even before he physically leaves. Our minds are both taken up with the practicalities of what we have to do before he goes. Anyway, it's his birthday the day he actually flies, so we'll aim to get everything prepared for Wednesday afternoon, so that by the time we go out to dinner on Wednesday night everything's packed and prepped and we can let go a little and enjoy ourselves.

Time Travel

I finished Tom's Midnight Garden today and really enjoyed it. I haven't read it since I was a kid, but it soon became apparent that it must have been the springboard for The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I'd be surprised if she hadn't read Tom's Midnight Garden before writing The Time Traveller's Wife. Though she obviously developed the time travelling idea further. My bookmark, as you can see, is of a beautiful blue velvet coat by Boden, torn from its catalogue. I ordered the coat about a week ago, in the winter sale, and was excitedly anticipating its arrival. My current winter coat is so worn I really need to throw it out. But I received a letter from Boden a couple of days ago saying the coat is out of stock and I hadn't been charged. I don't usually get attached to clothes I order but I'd fallen in love with this coat and was crushed. Maybe I should try Ebay.I've had a really nice couple of days off. I'm only working three days a week until the end of March, using up the remainder of my annual leave, and it makes such a difference. Yesterday I re-joined the gym for a month and really enjoyed using my body again after the long winter. Above is Hagos and Meg resting on the couch.

And today we went into town and had lunch in Ha Ha's. This is my view under the table. Afterwards we did a bit of shopping in town and went to the library. I bought some healthy snacks from Tropical Wholefoods as part of my trying-to-lose-some-weight regime. The fruit used in the snacks is all sun dried, NO preservatives or sugar! I saw some dried mango in Sainsburys yesterday and picked it up, thinking it was 100% mango, but it had sulpher-something preservative in it! I actually used to work for Tropical Wholefoods in the summer during my first degree in London. The people who set up the company, Kate and Adam, are friends of a friend. The food they produce is all so amazingly delicious I would often return half my wages for produce! And they gave me stuff at cost price. One particularly good product was sun dried mango dipped in organic chocolate! Ah, it was out of this world. These bars are pretty good too.

Chilli seeds

Hagos's brother gave us chilli seeds as part of our Christmas present this year. 10 packs of 20 seeds in each pack. That's a LOT of chillis. And we absolutely love chillis, but the instructions say, 'best grown in a polytunnel or greenhouse', neither of which we have... And then you have to repot them all every coupla months. And, you know, Sainsburys sells them ready grown...

So we're adopting out our chilli seeds to Janie (accordion player extraordinaire), who has experience, and a solid track record, of growing things you can then eat. We've asked to be given a share of the crop, so, everybody's a winner!
Seriously though, they do look fab, and it is an ambition of mine to grow stuff one day. In the future.

Emin-esque

It hasn't quite reached Tracey Emin heights around here yet, but that's mostly out of consideration to Hagos.

I had one day back at work, then two days off with a horrible head cold. Last night my body felt so exhausted just trying to breathe. Hagos has been really sweet looking after me, keeping me warm, making me sleep, getting me Lemsips and cherry menthol Tunes.

Anyway, I woke up this morning about 5am, have had a Lemsip and feel less blocked up so I hope it's on its way out. I'm planning to go out to lunch today, then Vicky is coming over tonight to watch a film - a good film. Vicky is notorious for liking very BAD films.

And then I'm hoping to be much more creative on here. Some people make stuff on their blogs every other day! I have the stuff to make, just haven't got round to doing it yet. I have finished another mitten, and though it seems pointless to photograph and show it as they're almost exactly the same as the mittens I made Bette for Christmas (though with a longer cuff) I'm going to show it anyway. I've given up declaring I have knitting needles on me when I fly. They never find them. And I have a sweet little suitcase that is specially-designed to fit in the overhead lockers so I'm ready to go as soon as I get off the plane.