{the human wreath}

A string of Nepalese pom-poms arrived in the post this week from my lovely Mum, all red and felty and studded with beads.

And with one day left in April, and no wreaths yet made for my wreath of the month challenge, I am resorting to wreathing myself in pom-poms. 

More effort will be made next month, I promise.

{curly purly vase}

What, you thought I was joking when I said I like to knit all summer in 95 degree weather? Now that the giant Neapolitan blanket is finished and folded, I've been finishing off some things I started a long long time ago.

Before Tilly was born, I was in love with the idea of using cloth diapers, and made several little wool soakers for her (from this pattern by Curly Purly). In the end, we didn't end up using cloth, and while I could give away the ones I'd finished, one little half-done pink striped soaker was still sitting on the needles.

With a bit of tweaking, adding and subtracting (i.e. knitting on the fly, making up the pattern with each row without really having a plan), that little soaker grew longer and longer, fatter and then thinner again, and rather than having two leg holes, it just had one big opening at the bottom. Perfect for covering a freebie glass vase!

And while I seem to be fine spending the summer surrounded by yarn, Tilly is no doubt very grateful not to be wearing this woolly monster on her bottom! 

{blanket neopolitano}

Three panels. Each forty stitches wide, and perhaps 300 rows long. Approximately 36,000 stitches. Done.



It started out very pink. So I added a little of white to lighten it, and then a bit of brown for contrast. And suddenly, it became a giant slab of patchwork ice cream -- strawberry, vanilla, chocolate.



Only a few hours in, I realised that this blanket wasn't for us. We, the house of a million blankets, in the land of eternal humidity, do not need 5lbs of heavy wool.

Instead, it is destined for a certain little sister of mine (I'm banking on the fact that, mid-IB-exam-prep, she doesn't read my blog, so other family, please don't tell her!) who'll be heading off to university this autumn. Though she's a Snuggie fanatic, I'm hoping this'll come in handy when dear old Snuggie is in the wash.



And what's lovely is that the whole of our family contributed: Tilly chewed on the wool as it went from ball to needle; Bella donated a few of her own hairs (albeit, accidentally) for added warmth; Justin knitted two whole stitches on his own-- his first attempt at knitting, and, sadly, probably his last; and me, I just knit and knit and knit, all the while thinking back to my first year of uni and hoping that Alice's first year is equally, more and less momentous.

{mason jar lamps}

I teased you, months ago, with the promise of more from the vintage boxes that Justin's grandma gave me last December. You saw the linen tea towels, and the quilt scraps which became a giant patchwork basket. Now, after a bit of rummaging through a cupboard, I've got another little something to show you.

Three beautiful old mason jars that have been wired up, through the lids, to work as lamps.

Even more exciting, perhaps, than the jars themselves are the scraps and notions that were screwed inside. More quilt scraps, sections of lace and trim, old buttons, a wooden doo-dah -- all things, I imagine, that were cut off or left over from somebody's sewing, back when nothing was too small to save.



Only one of the three actually lights up a bulb when plugged in, but I'm hopeful that a combination of Justin, Lowe's and a few hours with a pair of pliers might fix the others. Meanwhile, I'll be getting to work on a lampshade worthy of these special jars -- watch this space!

{our life in felt}

Perhaps you remember the extraordinarily long list of birthday plans for Tilly that I put together over a month ago? Here's a little progress report.

First project from the list to tackle: write a book featuring Tilly and Bella. Books are Tilly's favourite things, and though she could quite happily spend hours reading and rereading "We're Going on a Bear Hunt", her absolute favourite of favourites is a touchy-feely book of dogs. In fact, the dog book is so well loved that many poor doggies are now missing heads and legs, making it more of a who's-who of injured strays!

So, with a pile of felt the size and weight of Tilly in my cupboard, I thought I'd make her something with texture. Our home in felt. Tilly's tree and lavender bush in felt. A felt Bella, felt toys; her whole world in felt pages.

There will be flaps to lift -- beneath Bella's name is her favourite bone -- plus ears that waggle and a tongue that can lick the fingers of little readers. Felt is so accommodating! For extra texture, I'll be adding  a bubble bath of buttons for ducky, a dangly string on the xylophone, and, no doubt, pom-poms somewhere and everywhere.

Many lovely hours of hand-stitching ahead, and hopefully, the fables of felt will be wrapped and ready by the end of June.

{chocolate bird's nests}

My favourite Easter treat has always been these chocolate nests -- the perfect way to hold all those Cadbury's Mini Eggs you want to scoff. I love using cornflakes for the nests, and found a great recipe here in case you want to give them a try.

Oh, go on then, I'll just have one more...

{hop to it}

With a few more days until Easter, there's still time for a last minute rabbit or two if you scramble. As I still have a bit of stencil-fever, I've rounded up a few bunny silhouettes for inspiration.

1. Kinderpendant's iron-on bunny bag tutorial is a lovely way to package a chocolate rabbit or a little Easter gift. Alternatively, trace their image onto freezer paper and simply paint it on.

2. A rabbit with a camera? Could there be a more perfect symbol for our Year of the Rabbit photo-a-day challenge?

 (source)

3. "Two Go Mad in Dorset" is the title of this springy print by Jane Ormes. I love how cat-like the rabbits are!

4. Decorated with super easy stamp outlines, these brown paper bags by mrrabbitsir would be a great last minute wrapper for Easter treats.

So, pull out the stencils and paint, the fabric and paper, and squeeze as many rabbits as you can into this week!

{to predict the future}

In the last few weeks, I've been getting down to business with writing my book -- which, if you missed my brief teaser before, is a journal for the creative mother and baby's first year. Though it has meant barely a moment of rest recently, what a wonderful feeling to make such progress.

Rather than rest, though, I've been trying to incorporate moments of fun into the book, and to thank for your patience lately, here's a glimpse. Mothers and fathers, fret no longer, for there need be no more uncertainty about the future!

P.S. According my oh-so-scientific calculations, Tilly will be a future police officer. Justin will be oh-so-happy to have someone to share his weekend doughnuts with!