I'm taking my pledge to make more and buy less seriously. This is the birthday season of all of Cubling's friends and it's been a bit of a mad rush, one that I enjoy nonetheless. I've been sewing and knitting, the former 5 minutes at a time, the latter, hours at a time with Snowflake on my lap, watching me, playing with the yarn, until she drops off to sleep, suckling away, sometimes woken by the yarn tickling her cheeks or tiny hands.
It's a peaceful place, these hours before she sleeps, when she drifts in and out of dreamland, smiling at me, gurgling and squeaking, her unimitable voiceless laugh, sometimes now joined by a giggle. One stitch at a time, one row at a time, one getting head around the language of sewing patterns kind of time, and bit by bit, presents are created.
This is the Grumpasaurus, which I've made a bit more cheerful, after all I know too well how easily the pre-schooler's mind is frightened. It turned out much bigger than expected and I just about managed it with one skein of the magical and colourful Anchor Style Magicline Dotty (100% Cotton).
Both the pattern and the fabric for this beauty of a tunic hails from Kitschy Coo (the fabric is Joel Dewsberry and I so so love it, if any sewers out there know how to get hold of more of it, pray tell me!!!). As a novice sewer, it took me a few backtrackings to get it right, and maybe I should just make another tunic for good measure and to get it right straight away before it's all forgotten again. I think it's an easy pattern - I just struggled a bit because sewing terminology is like a new language to me.
In between, I'm knitting squares for the Centenary of International Women's Day, they still need well over 60,000 squares, so please consider knitting one and asking your knitting friends to do so too. There's also a lovely cardigan on my needles which will be a perfect spring/summer item for my big girl. She picked the pattern and colour. I've learned how to do intarsia knitting - in spite of my years of knitting, there's still so much to learn.
It strikes me how much I minded not being able to have my own space in the evenings three/four years ago. Reminded by well meaning comments of friends who wonder if there isn't something that would make her sleep in her cot rather than on my lap. There probably is, but you know what? I'd rather have it as it is. Snuggled up, watching her come closer to good sleep, finding it, and all the while rowing on those evening waves together.
