Now I'm heading home for a nooner, which is what I call having pancakes for lunch.

Well, now this is happening.  I'm doing another sewing/knitting challenge thing, Will I be able to see it through, or will I forget all about it, like I do most things?  WE SHALL SEE.

These are the categories:

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather

Chic Chemises for Cool Climates

Fabulous Frocks

Underneath It All

Tender Tootsies

Those Cozy Nights 

Baby It's Cold Outside

and you can find out more about them here.

But what Julia, I hear you cry, are you going to actually make?  Readers who pay attention might have seen my post about the Yarn in the City Pop Up Market Place that I went to the other day.  I bought enough yarn to make some really lovely things, and these are on the new list.  Where possible, the new list will coincide with the old list, to ease things.

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather
I have some very lovely red tartan fabric I want to turn into a Clemence skirt.  So that's the first thing I'll be doing.

Chic Chemises for Cool Climates
I've made a grey and brown (nicer than it sounds actually) Coco (blog post to follow) for this.  I'm also going to finally finish my Wisteria jumper, and at least start the "This One's for Parties!" jumper too.  I might try to start the Tambourine cardigan in the Kettle Yarns grey wool.  A bit more on the Rainbow Raglan too.

Fabulous Frocks
I'm thinking about making an Emery dress in black watch tartan; I've had both the pattern and the fabric in my stash for TIME, and they need to be used.  I'm also going to make a black and white polka dot Bettine dress to wear under my Tamborine cardigan.  Three guesses which one will be finished first.  Oh yes, and a grey and white striped Coco dress with a contrasting pink yoke.  Go me!

Underneath It All
Might make some more pants.  Probably will.

Tender Tootsies
Might start some socks for me.  Might.  Will probably finish at least one sock for himself.  Probably.

Those Cozy Nights
I'm not sure if I want to go down the loungewear route, but I might make some Margot pyjamas if I'm feeling particularly lazy.  Maybe.  Don't know.

Baby It's Cold Outside
These mittens, in sophisticated orange and grey yarn from TravelKnitter.  A gorgeous deep blue green Ishbel in Triskelion Yarn and Fibre.  Find and then finish the Peacock Mittens.  Maybe a hat.  Maybe.

That'll probably do.  The sewing seems likely, the knitting less so, but we've got a lot of long car journeys coming up, and I do love to knit in the car.

The raccoon problem is under control. They have their part of the town and we have ours.

I've been a bit laid back about the Outfit Along; it's a really great idea, and has focussed my colour choices slightly, but I found that there was way too long to do it in - I'm very quick when I sew; because my time is limited, I like to get as much done in a session as possible.  

I've already worn the dress out a couple of times;  to a wedding, to a party and to my WI meeting, where I also wore the cardigan, and was just far too hot.  I think the heat here in London is prohibiting wearing knitted items.

I was recognised by someone off Instagram when I bought this fabric.  How weirdly modern.  The whole lot is from John Lewis.  

They match pretty well, don't they.  I thought I'd maybe make the cardigan orange, but actually the blues go really well together.  The dress pattern is the Anna dress, which is superb and very easy to follow - French seams on the shoulders, get me.  I didn't make any alterations to the cardigan, except I picked up fewer stitches; I always slip the first stitch off each row, so I picked up 1 stitch for every other row, which works well.  Everything else was as written.

There are more lovely outfits here.  An Anna dress pattern can be bought here.  A Myrna cardigan pattern can be bought here.  I absolutely love the keyhole pattern at the back of the neck.  I may well try to add one to my knitted Coco, once I get off my bum and get on with that.

Because I'm not a Vanderbilt, suddenly I'm white trash? I grew up in Bel Air, Warner. Across the street from Aaron Spelling. I think most people would agree that's a lot better than some stinky old Vanderbilt.

It's about crafty stuff again, not politics, so don't feel you have to read on.

Handmade Monday again, and I should probably do some sort of update on the list of a Year of Projects as well.

The List:

Wisteria - on hold; but I've just bought some more yarn for it

Idlewood - split for the sleeves; plugging away on the body
Blue and Grey Socks - one sock done still done (lost in the stash)
Elephant blanket - two stripes still almost finished.  For Hattie's birthday (December)
Peacock Mittens - one finished, bar the thumb (still) (lost in the stash too)
Ringo and Elwood mittens - still queued (still want to make them, but the urge lessens)

Owl Blanket - finished and done
Paper Dolls - finished and done
Peerie Flooers - finished and done
Alphabet Blanket for Noah - done
Granny's a Square Afghan - done

Hexipuff Quilt - 147/500 hexipuffs done (I'm going to take it to Cambridge with me next week)

The Weather in the Streets - 67/400 squares done (there have been 90 days this year - that is NOT BAD AT ALL)

It's only now, when I don't really feel like doing anything, that I realise exactly how much I do.  I sat in Ealing A&E with my crochet, unable to focus; just sitting is jolly HARD WORK.

I have a new-found respect for people who live with chronic pain all the time, and still manage to be cheerful and positive.

March Madness 31/31 - I did it.  31 posts of varying interest to other people; although some had more than 50 page views.  Inconceivable.  I might take a bit of a break in April, you'll be devastated to hear.

I'll leave you with a picture of my Wisteria jumper.  Without me in it.

I'm having terrific trouble with it.  I'm not entirely sure that it won't be much, much too big for me, and I'm decreasing like crazy across the back in a desperate attempt to reduce the sheer volume of bulky knitted fabric.  Oh dear, oh dear.  

Handmade Tuesday

I have a fun, new hobby.  Again.  It is a logical extension of my current thread and yarn obsession, as are all my hobbies, but this one has, like, a message?  It's to make you stop and think?  It's about taking a bit of action?

Actually, I do think this stuff is important. People are dying so that we can have t-shirts that cost less than £5, and that doesn't sound right.  I know, free market economics, blah blah, but we do need to be a bit more aware of where our stuff comes from and what happens to the poor sods who make it.  

Some more craftivism stuff can be found here.  I'm not going to bang on about it; suffice to say that we must live what we profess to believe, and if that means paying slightly extra for a t-shirt or looking after your neighbour's child when she really can't cope any more, then that is what you do.  

Handmade Monday

Blackberry and Apple Jam

1. Take your two daughters blackberry picking.  The older one will help, the younger one will come too.

2. Try not to strangle younger daughter after she runs away up the towpath, very close to the edge of the canal.

3. Take children to Waitrose to buy cooking apples, as they are not yet appearing as windfalls in either Hanwell or West Ealing, which are the only places you are prepared to look.

4. Put all ingredients in the fridge and get on with other things such as mopping up accidents, trying not to shout, light crying and serious gin drinking.

5. After children are in bed, get all ingredients out of fridge, sterilise jam jars in a half hearted manner, find recipe, put younger daughter back to bed, drink gin.

6. Weigh ingredients.  Discover that the ratios mean that you now need to peel, core and chop 7 apples.  Cry quietly.  Peel, core and chop 7 apples.  Cut hand with peeler.  Drink gin.

7. Make jam in standard manner; bung everything in a pan, boil until setting point is reached - forget to place saucer in freezer prior to starting jam making, so test for setting point on bottle of vodka.  Contemplate drinking vodka.  Finish gin, search vainly for bottle.

8. Pour boiling hot jam into boiling hot jars.  Get jam on hands, tea towel, feet and work surfaces.  Curse gin.

9. Put lids on jam jars and photograph.  Bask in all round domestic goddessness and pour a small celebratory vodka.  Top up with gin.

In which I come out as WI curious

I'm trying to be a gardener but I'm really not very good at it.  It's not instant enough for me, the idea of waiting for things to happen is anathema to me, and I either over-water my plants, thus killing them, or shamefully ignore them, thus killing them.  I have had a very hardy Dracaena marginata for the past 15 or so years, which I haven't managed to kill yet, although it was touch and go at one point, but a  bit of pruning and a lot of feeding saved the day.  I've kept my basil plant around for a while, and most of the plants that I've put in the garden have survived and even, whisper it, thrived, including a French Lavender and two English Lavenders, so perhaps I am getting better.

Last week, I decided that the time was right to go to the local WI meeting, and went along to Northfields Community Centre with my mug and my poorly orchid, and listened to a very interesting man from Kew talk about gardens, gardening and caring for orchids.  Apparently appearances are deceptive, and my orchid is not on the verge of the compost heap, but has a whole bunch of healthy roots just under the surface.  With this in mind, I have fed it a bit, and watered it over the draining board so it is not standing in any water and it doesn't look any better yet.  Instant gratification - why isn't it perfect immediately?  Ah well, and I'm sure it will pull through soon, I have faith.

I did enjoy the WI meeting.  Disappointingly, we only sang the first verse of Jerusalem; having had to sing the damn thing frequently at school, I like to show off a bit and put in a bit of vibrato on the whole bow of burning gold line, although no one else likes it much.  The talk was very interesting, and I learned a whole lot about orchids, so much so that I was inspired to look after mine a bit better, and actually follow instructions for the first time in years, and the cake was delicious, so I'm really looking forward to the September meeting.  I might even take my crochet along next time.