Miss Aine

Myself and Smem had a lovely time in Wexford over the weekend. We even got to go to the beach - although Smem didn't like it so I spent the time walking on the road with her instead and picking blackberries. Most importantly, I got to go bridesmaids' shoes shopping with my friend and bridesmaid - and we got brilliant shoes. The colour really pops against the colour of the dress so it should be nice. And it means I can concentrate on pink flowers for the bouquets.

I've had this pink stripey fabric for ages but just hadn't gotten around to using it. Some small bits had been siphoned off for other small projects but I really wanted to make something for myself. I really only had enough for a skirt though. So I've used the skirt part of a dress pattern that I really like. And I had this pink stretchy halter top at home in Wexford which I may attach to the top of the skirt to make it into a dress. Just need to make a lining now for the skirt and then bite the bullet and try and attach it to the halter top. Hope I can do it so that its still stretchy enough to fit over my head!

I saw a picture either on the internet or in a magazine (can't remember) of a centrepiece which just consisted of 3 Gerbera daises in a vase. It looked really nice so today I got 3 flowers to try it out. It looks really clean and simple. The room that our wedding reception will be held in has a blue and gold carpet, ivory tablecloths and chair covers and gold ties on the chairs, so I think the yellow would be really nice. Plus, it would be really quick and easy to do the arrangements, and not very expensive!

Sometimes I think I make too much stress for myself. After finishing the August pattern last week I started knitting a hoodie for Smem (free pattern from Bernat) And started a cross-stitch pattern that is in this months issue of Crafts Beautiful. I had intended to maybe take a picture of this finished and have it printed on cards for thank you notes for the wedding. But now I'm not sure. I bought an Aimee Ray doodle embroidery on Etsy yesterday which is very cute so I may use that instead. These butterflies may get turned into a bag - possible christmas present. I have also started C's christmas present - a monkey, like the one on the Tetley ad, except this will be knitted. On top of that I'm also still stressing about flowers (got a brill book in the library today by Jane Packer - cool simple fast ideas), and am planning a trip down home to Wexford this weekend to go shoe shopping with my chief bridesmaid for her shoes. We're on the home stretch though - only 8 ...

Heather K. Thanks for your lovely comment Heather - I'll send you a message via Ravelry to get your email address. Thanks to everyone else who left such lovely comments. Its always nice to know that other people think my work is good. Fingers crossed there'll be another giveaway next month. Its getting a bit close to the wedding so I get a bit distracted but I should be able to find time for some knitting!

*** The August Giveaway is now closed (24.08.09) *** Up for grabs is a pdf knitting pattern for: Dressing-Up Doll She's about 12inches tall with lovely plaits in her hair. She's got 2 outfits. One of trousers, a jumper and boots. One of a t-shirt, pinafore, knickers and shoes. Lots of fun to make for little girls, and not difficult at all. Please leave a comment (with some sort of contact details, e.g. Ravelry name, blog address, email, etc.) One winner will be chosen at random on Monday morning. Good Luck!

Sod the sneak peak of this month's pattern - I have a little slice of shoe heaven to show: Got these shoes yesterday for the wedding. I LOVE them!

Yesterday was a good day. I made a list of all the things I need to do, which really cleared my head, and managed to get through a good few of the things. It always feels good to cross things off a list! Work is progressing on this month's pattern so there will be a giveaway this weekend - for you regular readers. I'll post a sneak peek picture tomorrow.

I mentioned the 'C' word - oh no! But I will need to get a move on for this christmas now as the next few months are going to be mental. I got this ball of wool last year at the knitting and stitching show in the rds. I love the neon colours - its so wrong, its right! Not everyone's cup of tea though. After searching through Ravelry I found a pattern for a scarf to knit with it. I only started two days ago and I've knit loads. Its such a quick knit. There may be more of these knit for other presents! On a personal note, I've banned myself from constantly logging on to the computer. I waste hours each day looking at wedding stuff, or random knitting patterns. And as a result I get very little else done. So now I'm reining myself in and will hopefully get more productive. Here's hoping!

Oh my gosh. My head is full of wedding stuff at the moment. I'm trying to sort out what way I want to do the flowers and how much it will cost. I keep getting side-tracked by other colours, etc. I like so many flowers, and colours, so its really hard to pick. I did one thing done - Smem's cardie for the wedding. Its got a little flower on the front but its hard to see done in the navy. I may make a fabric flower instead in the fabric from the dress. I also started to pull apart the third bridesmaid dress so that I can make a start on making Smem's dress. I can't believe August is half gone already. I'll have to get started on a new pattern for the end of this month's giveaway. So much work!

The wedding preparations have taken another push this week. Yesterday I went down to Liffey Valley (the closest shopping centre) to source accessories. I got another of the bridesmaid dresses on sale for only €17.98 to take apart and make a dress for Smem. And in H&M I found wraps that are an exact colour match for the dresses - so I bought two of them. Boleros would have been better, easier to manage, but the chances of getting them in the right colour was looking pretty slim. In H&M I also got a corsage for my dress, a wrap with some sequins and a pair of cream shoes. I settled on a kind of mauve colour rather than the pink that had been in my head. A little bit more grown-up and fits in with the tone of the bridesmaid dresses. Now just need jewellery plus shoes and bags for the bridesmaid. Oh, and to make Smem's dress (have a cardigan that I started last night half finished already!), sort out something for table centrepieces for the reception, make tealight holders...

Well, myself and Smem had a great few days in Wexford. The weather wasn't too bad and she spent at least half of each day outside running around. My parents did lots of babysitting, both during the day and the night, so she's really comfortable with them now. Myself and my mother went to see Lisa Hannigan on Friday night in Whites Hotel, which was really good. I'll have to get her cd now as it really seemed like my kind of music. What I would have liked to have made if I had taken my singer/songerwriter phase further! Got a little bit of knitting done while I was down there, but not much. I have about 12 repeats of the Fairylike Billows wrap done now - only another 6 to go so not too bad. I'd gotten this hand-dyed wool with the intention of making wraps or shrugs for the bridesmaids but its too blue against the dresses so will have to re-think that. The local yarn shop has a sale at the moment so must go down tomorrow when they're open and see if there's...

I made this little smocket for Smem months ago, but just hadn't gotten around to added fasteners to the top. I got the pattern on Burdastyle - a brilliant with lots of free patterns and advice.

Myself and Smem are off to Wexford tomorrow until Saturday. Hopefully the weather won't be too crappy. At least the house is big enough so there's plenty of space to run around if its raining. And if its good we might get a trip to the beach! We will be meeting up with my cousin and her daughter, whose only a month younger the Smem, so I made a little present for her, as we've never actually met her (shocking I know!). We'll also have to meet up with my goddaughter, Rhianna, so I made a little present for her too. I found a pattern for little felt owls on Cut Out and Keep I followed the pattern mostly for the blue/white and green bird. I just couldn't get his wings to sit right so I sewed them on differently. For the pink/purple bird I turned the body upside down and flattened the bottom a bit, and gave him different wings. I think they look rather cute!(crappy photo though!)

The body for this doll sat in one of my WIP bags for months. I started off well, really into it, but ran out of ideas when I had just made her body. So she waited, with no face, no hair and no clothes. Over the last week I've taken her out again. Its good to have a project on the go that I can pick up and put down easily so that I can work on it while Smem plays. And I started to get excited with her again. So, this is Eloise - I'm thinking she needs a little dog on a lead for her. It would be the perfect accessory. And thanks to Ariel for her advice on the blogs. My blog list on the side of my blog actually puts the ones that have been updated at the top automatically so I can keep up with which ones have been updated. I just don't have the time anymore to read them all :-(

I have so many blogs on the list of blogs I read. I can't keep up with them all. I used to just have a few and I could flick through them every day or so and catch up on what everyone was up to. Now there are too many. It takes hours to go through them all. And I've loads of more blogs bookmarked to add to the list. I suppose its a good complaint to have. I've love that there are so many other crafty people out there.

My newest pattern is Humpty Dumpty. In my Etsy shop and available through Ravelry download for $4.