Just a quick post from me today!

As a Mum of sons I do feel frustrated at times because all of the super-awesome crafting and sewing projects seem to be directed at girls or little boys, so I’m excited to see what will come out of this idea of “Celebrate the boy” month, run by Dana and Rae. They’ve set up a Flickr group for inspiration and showing off your spoils too.

Let me know if you join in!

Posted under recommendations

Those of you on my twitter friends list will have seen me bemoaning Nairn’s clear lack of ability but overwhelming interest in learning to knit. Thinking back, I don’t think I was much older than he was when my Nana taught me to knit and I am assured I was not the most calm and settled of children so my Nana must have had the patience of a saint back then. I’m sure he’ll pick it up in time – I may well have a nice little vodka habit by then right enough!

Anyway – a question for the knitters out there. One of my friends (who shall remain nameless until after Christmas!) asked me to recommend a knitting kit for an adult and one for an 8 year old child. I offered to put one together for him but I’m now not sure of the patterns I had in mind to recommend. The adult recipient has learned to knit but that is about the sum total of her skill right now, the child recipient can’t knit at all.

For the adult, I had thought about making up the kit with supplies to enable her to knit Branching Out from Knitty but I’m thinking now that for a beginner that is maybe a little advanced? For the child, I was simply going to make up the kit with instructions for knitting and purling and enough yarn to make a decent length scarf.

What would you suggest? Links to free patterns are especially welcome although I have a few Debbie Bliss books that I’d be happy to send up to the recipient. I’ve been a knitter for so long that I don’t really have the hindsight to see what a good starter pattern would be.

Posted under knitting, recommendations

A few months ago, Amanda declared a crush on me. What I haven’t really mentioned is that this is a reciprocated feeling. So I’ve decided to start the Kitschycoo fan club.

A few weeks ago on facebook, I pondered buying this awesome pettiskirt for Erica to wear to Greer’s christening. Opinions were divided amongst my friends and Amanda emailed me offering instead to make Erica a dress. Which she did, and what a dress. Not only is it made from the most awesome bird fabric ever, but it’s REVERSIBLE! It has a massive 60 inch circumference hem which went down very well with my little twirler. Did I mention it’s reversible?

Awesome side 1

Awesome side 2 (she was not impressed at this stage. Also, I’d crossed the ties accidentally which is why the dress isn’t sitting quite right.

When I was last through visiting Amanda, she got a fabric delivery from the States which gave me instant first dibs on the frankly stunning prints new to the Kitschycoo range. Having recently realised that Erica’s wardrobe consists of dresses, dresses and dresses I asked if Erica could have a couple of tunics made from the two prints that really caught my eye. And look what arrived yesterday!!

and

Needless to say I’m thrilled. Erica’s thrilled. And there’s a kind of smug satisfaction gained from supporting another Mum rather than a faceless corporation. Thanks again Amanda – you’re a star!

Posted under recommendations

Neither Ecover nor their PR company have paid me for this review and in fact requested that I was completely honest. In order to provide a fair comparison, I was sent Ecover’s new range AND products from their leading competitors.

So as I mentioned in my last post, Ecover’s PR people approached me and asked if I’d like to do a side-by-side comparison of their products against some leading brand petrochemical-based cleaning products. At first I was a little bamboozled – surely they’d read this blog and my varying mentions of hating housework and my lack of cleaning prowess? Why on earth did they want the world’s most apathetic Mum blogger to test their products? Then of course, my interest was caught because I’ve always been a fan of Ecover’s philosophies but my concern was that being plant-based and “green” would mean the products wouldn’t be up to much. I should also mention here that I have hideously sensitive skin and contact dermatitis and as much as I’d like to be cautious, I don’t have time to go searching for rubber gloves every time the kids spill something you know? So the more I thought about it the more my interest was piqued and I agreed to test them out.

When the trug arrived with some serious-looking  cleaning products I was even more curious. Ecover’s PR people pulled no punches, they were requesting that I test Ecover against the big guns – Cillit Bang, Flash and Mr Muscle. By this point I wasn’t sure what to think. Were they serious? An ecologically friendly, plant-based real alternative to less-than-environmentally-friendly cleaners that may not be green, but get the job done? Sounds amazing in theory but I just couldn’t see how it was possible.

My first test was on the windows. Nairn and Erica had drawn on the windows with crayon which I’d left as a sign of their independance and artistic creativity. Crayon is a pain in the patootie to get off of most surfaces at the best of times so I didn’t hold out much hope. I gave each window a skoosh – one with Mr Muscle and one with the Ecover – and both worked straight away. No real win for either… until I realised the Mr Muscle had smeared the wax rather than lift it straight off. Plus one for the Ecover brand, there.

My second test was with the all-purpose cleaners. I’ll confess here that we usually use a fair amount of bleach to clean the floor in the hall, bathroom and kitchen because quite frankly we have a lot of children who walk muck from one end of the house to the other. The problem being that the bleach irritates my skin and I can’t walk on the floor barefoot even once it’s dry, so I was really hopeful that the Ecover product would do the job. My gripe with this product though was that when I (stupidly) opened the cap and had a sniff it nearly blew my nostrils inside out, BUT once I’d diluted it in water the smell was a lot less grab-the-back-of-your-throat than I’m used to with other cleaning products. Plus two for Ecover.  The back of the bottle mentions using this one neat for stubborn stains but I found simply mopping with it diluted was enough to lift everything the kids/cats/goblins had traipsed in. This one I wouldn’t say was particularly better in terms of cleaning ability than the Flash, but it was comparable and had the added benefits for me of not irritating my skin.

Showing myself up here, but the kitchen is really Bob’s domain and so I handed over the degreasers to him so the hob could be given a once over. He used the Cillit Bang on one half and the Ecover on the other, then promptly forgot which side was which. But this in itself was a success because the hob was spotless with no ‘giving it a bit more welly because it’s eco-friendly and therefore not likely to be up to much’. The simple fact is, this stuff is good. My hob was pretty grotty and Ecover’s power cleaner managed to stand up to that against a product that is seriously strong.

The final product I tested was the multi surface cleaner (which I tested against Flash One for All spray). Stupidly, I used the flash on the first day and wiped down the table without wearing rubber gloves. Within an hour, I had a sore red rash in between my fingers which immediately hacked me off so I switched to the Ecover and it has now been my go-to product for everything. I’ve used it to clean the bathroom, I’ve used it to clean the table and I used it in the car to clean up after Erica spewed everywhere last week. In cleaning terms I found I preferred the Ecover immediately because it wasn’t irritating my skin but still getting the job at the same time.

So – I have to admit I’m surprised. I was worried about writing this review because I thought if I was honest and the product was crap that a) People that read this blog would stop buying eco-friendly products and b) Ecover’s PR people would send a hitman in an electric car to make my body into worm food. Luckily for me the Ecover range stood up to all the crap a family with four grotty kids and two less-than-tidy adults could throw at it. Would I recommend it? I’d do more than that – I’ve already replaced the multi surface cleaner and I’ll be moving over to an Ecover household. I do like it when I feel like an ethical and responsible consumer!

Ecover have kindly donated for a giveaway the complete set of the products tested by us. Please click here to enter.

Posted under recommendations

Very local-centric post quickly, just to say that Mandors in Glasgow are starting their own craft group from this Sunday! I am going to try and make it along – will I see you there?

Posted under general crafty updates, recommendations

Firstly I’d just like to say what an amazing and wonderful bunch of people I am HONOURED to have as readers and therefore as friends. I was gobsmacked by the response to my last post and I’m truly overwhelmed at the outpouring of support and experience that came from you all. Thank you, all, from the bottom of my heart

OKAY! Now we’re done with the schmaltzy PDA I can show you what I’ve been doing while I’ve not been doing anything. I know this won’t come as a surprise to any of you, given that I have four children but I’ve been indulging a lot in that naughty S word…*

…SHOPPING. You filthy minded scamps. What else did you think I was going to say?

So. My good friend Evelyn posted photographs of her gorgeous daughter Esmé over a year ago and of course being me my first response was, “ZOMGshe’sgorgeousEvelynWHEREDIDYOUGETHERDRESS?!!” Evelyn graciously directed me to Cindy’s shop on Hyenacart but alas, she didn’t have any fabulous technicolour dreamdresses available in stock. I bookmarked the store then completely forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago when I was clearing out my email, I found an exchange between Cindy & I. I decided to drop her a quick line to see if she was still making the dresses and oh FRABJOUS day not only was she making the dresses but she had space for me to place an order. Hooray!

I thought Greer was probably a little young for the full twirly dress effect so I got one for Erica and one for my niece Bailey. My sister Stephanie and I have a pretty good deal going, I give her Erica’s clothes once she’s outgrown them then she passes Bailey’s clothes back to me for Greer. We have just acquired a new niece last week when my stepbrother and his girlfriend had a little girl so no doubt these dresses will be passed on to little Maissie too! Anyway, I digress. Point is, beautiful dresses of wonder arrived this afternoon and I immediately stopped what I was doing to make Erica put hers on. It’s so colourful it has immediately washed away bad mood (I was really irritated today because it’s been raining constantly for months and I need some sunshine!)

I think Erica likes it.

What do you think?

*That reminded me of a story. When I was in Primary 3 (so 6-7 years old) I remember grassing someone in my class in for swearing. The teacher asked me what the swear word started with and my precocious little reading mind went into overdrive and I said, “It began with an S.” The teacher had a think and couldn’t work out which particular profanity had been levelled so told me to whisper it, so I whispered, “shit“. She gave me into trouble and told be it didn’t start with S, it started with Sh! Isn’t it funny the things you remember?

Posted under for the kids, recommendations

As promised, here is my belated 100th post giveaway entry!

I’ve been trying to come up with entry criteria but due to lack of sleep thanks to a very cute little girl I haven’t got the imagination. So! I recently finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (which is amazing and beautiful and made me cry) and I absolutely loved it. Embarrassingly this is the first book in many a month that I’ve successfully completed but it’s really triggered my inner bookworm.

With that in mind, to enter this giveaway I would like you to recommend a book to me – it can be any genre at all – and tell me why I need to have this book in my life. If you’re not a literary type then feel free to recommend a website that you think I need to see.

In return? One of you lucky types will win four stitch markers, a pair of gorgeous pink resin knitting needles (made by Kerry at PennyDog Jewellery) and the knitting bag made by me and embellished with a removeable needlepointed flower brooch by Debbs for the Crafteroo mixed media craft challenge (with apologies for the picture of the bag, it’s not the easiest thing to photograph!).

Go!

Posted under recommendations, site stuff

Okay okay so I know that none of you have particularly been awaiting this moment with bated breath but it’s a big day for me! The ever lovely Amanda from KitschyCoo kids asked me at the end of February to test a pattern that she’d designed. “Sure,” says I, “No problem.” Hmm. It’s only six weeks later and I’m finished…

This was the first KitschyCoo pattern that I’ve sewn. I also have a coat pattern which I’m hoping to sew up before Christmas, but I’ll admit happily that my novice sewing skills really put me off even though when I flicked through Amanda’s instructions it all looked straightforward. I shouldn’t have worried. In the end, the actual construction of the entire garment was done in less than an hour and believe me when I tell you I’m irritatingly meticulous and therefore slow. The one thing that held me up was that no matter how hard I tried I could not master the buttonhole function on my sewing machine. TURNS OUT that’s because I’m missing a vital part from my sewing machine accessories – namely a buttonhole foot. Doh!

Anyway. This jacket (which is fully reversible by the way) has been semi finished for over a week and yesterday Kat came to visit and whilst Bob kept us supplied with tea and cake Kat did it for me showed me how the buttonhole function works. So! I’m proud to unveil my version of the KitschyCoo matinee coat.

Side one -

Side two -

Erica absolutely loves it. It took a bit of bribery with a new nightie to get her to take it off! I’m extremely happy with the way it’s turned out and I’ll be making another one very soon so that she has a spare when this one is in the washing.

We also owe a wee thank you to Sam from Incy Wincy Stitches. You might remember that in this post I’d mentioned the first hat and booties set was going to Sam and in exchange, Sam sent up the gorgeous blue bag that Erica is clutching in these pics. It’s a crocheted clutch and was filled with hair bobbles and slides for Erica which she was just thrilled with. All in all, a very happy wee girl yesterday – just look at that smile! (She was actually laughing at Nairn and Findlay who were hanging out the window shouting to her)

So what do you lovely lot think? A passable first attempt at following a pattern?

In other news I’m looking for a little bit of input from you lot. It’s Erica’s 2nd birthday in less than two weeks, then Findlay’s 8th birthday five weeks after that. I’d really like to make each of them a handmade gift but I’m looking for suggestions. What are your go-to handmade gift ideas for children? Or as a parent, what would you really be happy for your child to receive?

Posted under for the kids, recommendations, sewing

I was having a discussion the other day about the blogs that I read and my method of reading. Suffice to say if your blog is on this list then I read it. If it’s not, leave me a comment with a link and let me investigate! I read every single entry on my list and I try to comment on as many as possible because as bloggers I believe we thrive on complete strangers commenting on our work! So in that vein, I’ve picked five blogs that inspire me for the inaugural “We love your blog!” award. I think you should all go and read these blogs with a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake, remember to leave nice comments too!

1. Carina’s Craftblog – Written by the fabulously talented Carina Envoldsen-Harris, this blog is one of my favourite reads. Go! Look! Be dazzled!

2. Incy Wincy Stitches – Sam Gillespie chronicles her textile work and button making skills with an added dash of family life. Her French Knot Sheep have already been picked up and featured on Craft Gossip.

3. Kitschy Coo – Amanda has a shops on etsy and folksy selling her well-executed childrens’ clothing patterns and designs. Her blog chronicles her adventures in parenting whilst running a business, with humour and points of interest thrown in.

4. Beads by Laura – Laura Sparling is a UK-based glass artist with a penchant for knitting. Her cupcake beads have proven to be highly popular of late and her work is in demand. Check out her blog for musings on wool, on glass and on salad cream (seriously!)

5. Little Cotton Rabbits – Julie Williams creates the most fantastic knitted toys and her photography is just to die for. Her blog shares insights into her life with two children, one of whom is Autistic, whilst keeping up with demand for her toys.

I’ll be back next week with some more crafting and baking, including showing the 1.2kg of wool I dyed by hand this week. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Posted under recommendations, site stuff

It’s my first wedding anniversary today! (And even more sickening, it’s the fourth anniversary of our first kiss. Awwww!)

I was a very precocious child and an early reader, the first book I remember being obsessed about was a beautifully-illustrated copy of “The Owl and The Pussycat” which has been lost in aftermath of growing-up-with-three-siblings. Bob gave me my present last night and I’m so absolutely thrilled, it was so thoughtful and just perfect. He picked a print by an American artist called Tanya Newberry and here it is (click the image to go to Tanya’s etsy shop):

Isn’t it gorgeous? I had a flick through Tanya’s blog last night and her work is beautiful – definitely worth a look.

This last year has been action packed for us. There’s a lot that I don’t post here but I’m sure my extended absence last year may have given up that things were going on – in our first year of marriage we have had to deal with so many stressful issues that could have driven us apart but which have brought us closer. The next year is going to be another eventful one for us with the birth of our fourth (and final!) child but I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to share this with. Here’s to the next year and beyond!

Posted under recommendations, retrospective