1. I have decided to take part in a "sew-along". Which is apparently a real thing, who knew? It is to make a peplum top, which is either going to look sensational or dreadful. We will see. Details can be seen here. I will be using a stretchy knitted fabric, which I haven't used before and will need a different needle for sewing machine for; the whole thing is filling me with trepidation.
2. This morning was remarkably stress-free, considering that I was on my own, and had to get two girls to school and Nursery. I managed to get home and it was only 10am, so I had a cup of tea and a biscuit to celebrate, and suddenly it was 11. I don't know where the time went.
3. Lots of cooking from scratch this year so far. We've had cottage pie from leftover New Year's Day beef, lasagna, chicken and mushroom pie, macaroni cheese; all sorts. Rather too many white sauces though, so perhaps a bit of a diet for next week. The macaroni cheese was for the girls - of course it was rejected by Hattie.
4. Hattie. Hattie is so clingy at the moment. She doesn't want to go to sleep, she wants to sit on my lap all the time, she wants me to cuddle her all the time, and she doesn't want me to leave her alone in her bed. I refuse to go down the "sit with her until she falls asleep" road, mainly because she needs to learn to settle herself and go to sleep; but when she is sobbing because there is no one to look after her, I feel terribly guilty and like the worst sort of mother. Of course, the little ratbag stops sobbing after approximately two minutes and then sings a "I not tired, I not going to sleep" song.
5. A new thing: re-reading Iris Murdoch. I read a lot of Iris Murdoch as a twenty-something, and while I knew that they were/are excellent, a lot of the charm and wit passed me by; so now I'm re-reading them all as a proper adult with a family. I've started with "A Fairly Honourable Defeat", and am going to work my way through them across the next couple of months. AFHD has a character in that is eerily similar to Benedict Cumberpatch's Sherlock, so that's nice casting. Highly recommended, if you like books about frighteningly horrible people.
2. This morning was remarkably stress-free, considering that I was on my own, and had to get two girls to school and Nursery. I managed to get home and it was only 10am, so I had a cup of tea and a biscuit to celebrate, and suddenly it was 11. I don't know where the time went.
3. Lots of cooking from scratch this year so far. We've had cottage pie from leftover New Year's Day beef, lasagna, chicken and mushroom pie, macaroni cheese; all sorts. Rather too many white sauces though, so perhaps a bit of a diet for next week. The macaroni cheese was for the girls - of course it was rejected by Hattie.
4. Hattie. Hattie is so clingy at the moment. She doesn't want to go to sleep, she wants to sit on my lap all the time, she wants me to cuddle her all the time, and she doesn't want me to leave her alone in her bed. I refuse to go down the "sit with her until she falls asleep" road, mainly because she needs to learn to settle herself and go to sleep; but when she is sobbing because there is no one to look after her, I feel terribly guilty and like the worst sort of mother. Of course, the little ratbag stops sobbing after approximately two minutes and then sings a "I not tired, I not going to sleep" song.
5. A new thing: re-reading Iris Murdoch. I read a lot of Iris Murdoch as a twenty-something, and while I knew that they were/are excellent, a lot of the charm and wit passed me by; so now I'm re-reading them all as a proper adult with a family. I've started with "A Fairly Honourable Defeat", and am going to work my way through them across the next couple of months. AFHD has a character in that is eerily similar to Benedict Cumberpatch's Sherlock, so that's nice casting. Highly recommended, if you like books about frighteningly horrible people.
There's a Craftsy course/tutorial about sewing knits that might be worth looking into to give you confidence. I've been meaning to do it for a while. Also play around with the pressure on your presser foot - knits are easy to stretch when sewing. If you aren't getting neat, even results on some practice fabric, you might want to buy a walking foot. I'm not sure if they are essential for knits in the way the ball needle is, but they are really good for moving stretchy (or thick) fabrics through your machine evenly. I used mine when sewing a bamboo fleece blanket and it was invaluable.
ReplyDeleteThis is on hold too. I'm getting a new copy of the sewing machine instruction book soon.
Delete