Slow Progress

I've change my plans for making the Little Hoodlum Hoodie because even as a beginners pattern it wasn't basic enough for me.  Instead I've opted for a  free Lion Brand pattern which I think is quite cute.

After a few attempts I finally got into the swing of things.  Have to admit that I am seriously-painfully-slow at this knitting malarky but I'm in no particular rush.  This much has taken me about four evenings to do!!

This pattern doesn't call for circular needles but those are the ones I had so that's why I used them.

If you look closely you'll see that my stitches aren't very even but I'm hoping that'll improve with practise...

When I presented my progress to My Little Man he was very unimpressed. Apparently he wanted a rainbow hoodie....looks like I'll have to add lots of colour to the front section!

Tell me, what are you working on?

TTFN,

xoxox Valula xoxox

P.S. Forgot to mention that I am absolutely and totally loving my knitting :-D

Change of Direction

I've finally decided that I'm to learn to knit, this has been coming for some time and has largely be inspired by the beautiful clothes made by the very lovely G at Firefly Cottage (a blog that I absolutely adore).  Much as I love my hookery I am not really all that enamoured with crocheted clothes.

Can be found here

My Mum taught me to knit as a child and my skills have remained at that learner-level.  Maybe this is an adventure into madness and frustration but nothing ventured, nothing gained!  I'm going to jump in at the deep end and go straight for a seamless hoodie Little Hoodlum for my boy-child.

This has sent me off in search of yarn, of course I need needles too, but eyeing up yarns is just much more enjoyable!!  There are some truly delicious looking yarns out there (especially in the US - lucky ladies) and I'm just not sure what to go for.  My little man would like something multi-coloured, bright and a little bit mad like himself.

There are very few wool shops near here which amazes me given the number of sheep!  And, the local woollen mill has a very tiny collection of yarn.  So, it looks like it'll be an internet purchase.  Any suggestions would be appreciated?  Would Lily Sugar'n Cream work?

Wish me luck....

xoxox Valula xoxox

Bad Parenting

I readily admit that I am not the world's best mother but I honestly do try, however, sometimes I fail miserably...(I don't really know whether it is wise to share these with the lovely ladies of blogland)

Bad Parenting:

Last week whilst driving down the main street in town I was cut up by the on coming car which was full of boy-racers, who were laughing at what they had just done.  As it was a sunny day both I and the offending boy-racer had our windows down, so without thinking my actions through, I declared 'That's right d*ckhead it's only my side of the road'.  This caused the boy-racers to laugh even more but it also lead to the immediate and obvious question from my little ones in the back...'Mammy whats a d*ckhead?'  I then had to explain that it was a very unkind and rude way of saying that the boys hadn't behaved properly and they I was naughty to have used it and that they most certainly should not use the offending word.  Not content with that explanation I was further required to explain that my expletive was the same all calling someone a willy-head.  This lead to much laughter in the back of the car and repeated giggly comments to each other of 'you're a d*ckhead'!!

Hanging my head in shame.



Bad Parenting: The Sequel 

A couple of night later my little woman called me from her bed to ask a question, the conversation went something like this...

Little Woman: 'Mammy what is the other word for Dick?'
Me (a little hesitantly): 'Do you mean Willy?'
Little Woman: 'No Mammy, the other word.'
Me: 'Do you mean Penis?'
Little Woman: 'No Mammy, you know, the other name for Dick.'
Me (in my head) 'OH NO!!'
Me: 'Oh I see. Do you mean Richard??'
Little Woman: 'That's it Mammy, thanks'

Ooooooooooooooooooooh Noooooooooooooooooooooo....why didn't I start with that one??? 

This immediately lead to me logging on to Amazon in search of books to improve my diminishing parenting skills.

Please someone tell me I'm not alone in my failings....

xoxox Valula xoxox

A busy weekend

We decided to have an End-of-School Holidays Sleepover party for the kids...

It started nice and early, we had a gaggle of kiddies aged from 2 to 7 tearing around the place - fuelled by sunshine, fresh air and tonnes of sweets.  The mothers drank gallons of tea, ate goodies and only occassionally had to intervene.

We had a couple of minor first aid incidents, the first involved a splinter in the foot (my little woman's reaction did make me wonder if major surgery was required) and the second involved the smallest-littlie falling into a patch of nettles, thankfully she was quickly settled by a quick dip in a bread soda bath.

At one stage an eerie calm descended on the house, you know the one I mean, when it is just too quiet...they must be up to no good.  Sure enough when we went looking we found that our children had been transformed into mini-coalminers thanks to an adventure in the coal shed!

The outdoor play continued until quite late.  The non-sleepovers went home.  And, we washed the remaining 7 in the bath...at all once...they were like sardines but judging by the amount of laughing and splashing they really enjoyed it!

They then made homemade pizza's, watched a dvd, ate popcorn and went to bed....not that much sleeping took place........

All in all it was fantastic fun - I enjoyed it as much as the kids! 

And the following night I slept like a log :-)

Happy Days

xox Valula xxx

The Fastest Dessert in the West

We were recently invited to relax in the summer sunshine at an impromptu barbeque.  We decided to bring the dessert.  My history of making desserts is dubious at best... so I nipped next door to our wonderful neighbour in search of some inspiration and was rewarded with a very yummy and super quick dessert. 

So I thought that I'd share it with you.

You'll need:

Choc-chip cookies (the ones with the big chips are really nice in this)

Cream for whipping

Fruit - strawberries, kiwi, tangerines or whatever you fancy

Chocolate - grated or peeled with the potato peeler

Whiskey or Baileys or orange juice

We, of course, decided to make the grown ups version because the kids would have loads of sweets there and there was no point sickening them...honestly that was the reason...

So, pour the cream in the food processor and set it a-whipping

  

Then, pour some whiskey (and water or the juice from the tinned fruit) into a jug.  I'd recommend reducing the strength of the whiskey because it will be eye-wateringly-alcholly otherwise...but it's up to you ;-)

Then drop each of the cookies into the whiskey for a couple of seconds

Cover the bottom of the bowl with the dripping cookie.  Add a dollop of whipped cream on to each one and chuck on a few pieces of fruit.  Repeat this until you have a couple of layers made up.

Then I pour in any of the unused whiskey mix...it'd be a shame to waste it.

Smother the whole lot with cream, add some more fruit and throw on some choccie shavings for extra chocolatey goodness.

Et Voila!  Dessert made.

Feel free to leave out the fruit if you wish but in my humble opinion once it contains fruit it is technically a health food and can be enjoyed guilt free!

And, I love the 70's look it has, it's possibly not the most elegant offering but it sure is tasty.

Enjoy.

oxoxo Valula oxoxo 

Life on the edge

Some people injure themselves in the pursuit of their massively adventurous hobbies, you know, sprain an ankle whilst skiing/rock climbing/pot holing/ski diving etc

Picture from www.chinaodysseytours.com

Not me though.  No sirrreeee.

I manage to injure myself whilst crocheting!  What can I say, I'm so rock and roll..........

♥ Valula ♥