Miss Aine

The November giveaway is now open. Up for grabs is a pdf knitting pattern for Fred the Squirrel: He's about 7.5 inches tall, including his ears, and sports a jaunty scarf. Leave a comment by Sunday night and three will be picked at random on Monday morning. Good Luck

The first ornament from the EtsyFam (Fabulous Artistic Mams) swap arrived in the post today. It's really cute. It doesn't show so well in the photo but the blue bit is sparkly. I can't wait to get the tree up. It was made by Melanie. Her shop is Whimsical Creations. Check it out!

I was getting tired of the pink so the blog has changed to nice fresh green. Lovely!

When we moved in to our house here in Celbridge we discovered that although the shower worked, the pressure in it was ridiculously light. There just wasn't a hope of washing yourself. It kinda felt like someone was drooling on you. Awful! So the bathroom was added to the long list of jobs to be done. Given that it involved tiling, among other things, C put this job off and off. But last weekend he finally got finished and just had to give the plumber a call to come and install the new shiny shower. He rang Roy on Monday and was in the house within two hours - he is a keeper, for sure. So now we have a fully working shower. I tried it out this morning. It is so long since my hair has been this clean. Rinsing it using a jug while you're in the bath is not the best - so old-school! In crafting news, I am still working on the quilt (Will it ever be done?). I've got over half of it quilted now so I'm on the home stretch. It needs to be done by next Monday and after...

This is Mr. Squirrel so far. He needs some clothes - a scarf or something. The tail took a few goes to work out but is quite good in the end. He will definitly be finished by the middle of the week so November's giveaway will be next weekend, for anyone who would like a chance to get a free pattern. In quilting news, I've finally got to start quilting my quilt. Its taking longer than I thought. It took about 3 hours just to baste it all together. And now I've figured out that I need to pin each square before I quilt it. So its slow. But I managed to get a bit done today. At least now that I've started it half the battle is won. On my blog reading today I saw a lovely post by Melissa at Day to Day She's posted a little art video from Utube. Check it out 'cause its super cute!

Smem and myself went down to Wexford for my god-daughter's birthday (the one in the red). Smem enjoyed being around lots of other kids. And it was fancy-dress so she got to showcase her fairy princess costume again. We got back on Tuesday so I could go to knitting. Priorities! Yesterday we all took a family day to the zoo - me, Smem and C. Smem couldn't see over most of the fences and didn't bother to look at most of the animals that we pointed out. Me and C enjoyed it though. Here is one of the baby elephants. In serious trouble at the moment trying to get my quilt done. Smem is taking up so much of my time. Still, I have until the end of next week so it should be okay. I'm also trying to get another knitting pattern out for this month for another giveaway this month. It will be a squirrel, possibly wearing a hat, so stay tuned to be in with a chance to win.

Since I last posted I have done major work on my quilt. All the embroidery and applique are done. Now I just have to sew on the border and quilt and bind it all. No problem! But it will have to wait a few days. It was my beautiful god-daughters 'happy birthday' this week and there is to be a fantastic party tomorrow down in Wexford. Its fancy dress to Smem will get to wear her fairy princess outfit again. Yeah! I had knit Jemima-Jane over the summer in anticipation. However her hair wasn't quite right and I hadn't done her hat so I spent yesterday evening and today at that. I think she looks quite pretty now.

Yesterday was busy as we had another panel meeting for Irish Quilting. Turns out my quilt is to go in issue 2 , not issue 3, so I need to have it finished by the end of November. Woops! I might not be making so many handmade presents for Christmas so! I did take the time yesterday evening to finish off the cardigan I was making for Smem, as most of the ones she has are getting a bit small. Still need to prep her for a photo-shoot.

Trouble is a brewing. Today my laptop has decided to let me know that it is starting to die. I can turn it on and the mouse works but the keyboard won't work anymore. Boo hoo. Its served me well though. I didn't pay too much for it and have it about 2 years. Plus the BF says that I can use his personal laptop (he has 2 cause he has a work one also, and an apple computer!). Just need to take off all the files I want to keep now. I've transferred my patterns and photos of Smem so the important things have been moved. Just need to figure out what else I need to take off it before it finals bites the bullet. Goodbye old friend.

Only 6 weeks to Christmas now so I am busy, busy, busy trying to get some presents made. Can't believe the time has gone so quickly. Plus, somebody is not sleeping great these nights so I'm quite tired during the day and not in the mood to get anything done. Poor housework! I have been working away on my quilt for Irish Quilting. I'm happy with it so far, just need to find the time to do it. The deadline isn't til the end of January so I may give it a break until after Christmas. I also finished knitting a present for my BFF so can't show a picture of that either - just in case! What I can show is the first finished ornament for the FAM Etsy ornament swap. I stuffed it a little to pad it out. Hopefully they will be liked - once I have them all complete. Great way to use up all the Christmas stuff I bought last year at the Knitting and Stitching show and never got round to using - being heavily pregnant and all!

I joined Etsy FAM (Fabulous Artistic Mothers) this week. One of their events is an ornament swap before Christmas. I had already seen a brilliant tutorial by Laura at Bugs and Fishes for some lovely felt ornaments. This is my version of her heart ornament. She also has easy to follow tutorials for sequineed baubles and mini christmas puds. Inspired by all that I tried this star. Its not finished yet as it is just pinned together, And I also tried this bauble-type thing. I think I will go with this one for the ornament swap.

Went to the Knitting and Stitching show yesterday. It was brilliant. So much lovely stuff and some really cool exhibitions too! Only problem is there's nearly too much so its hard to take it all in. Here is my stash: Didn't go as crazy as last year (a) the cash machine was out of money and not all of the stalls take credit card, and (b) i can't really afford to be spending loads now, what with not having a job and all. And besides, I still have loads of fabrics left over from last year! The biggest news of the show was the launch of the new quilting magazine from Ireland, Irish Quilting . Sherry seems to be doing really well with it and has had a really good uptake so far. Here is me and all the other ladies. I hate my picture, but sure nothing new there!

Found this picture on my camera and realised I had forgotten to mention it. Last Friday week I received this lovely thank you note from Innocent for sending in my knitted hats. A lovely surprise that warmed my heart!