Sunday, March 18, 2007

Mothering Sunday

Mothers Day in our house has always been a low key affair.

The kids have always bought small gifts and cards, which I really appreciate. I get totally pampered for the day too, having all my meals and coffees made for me. It is a day of rest and relaxation, which is unusual for me.
I wish I could get rid of the feelings of guilt I get if pick up the knitting needles when the ironing is building up in the corner. I've even tried putting the ironing out of sight but still the guilt niggles away. I don't always give in to it, sometimes I just say Sod it and pick up the needles. But then the fingers of guilt start creeping round my head and I'll end up putting the knitting down and doing some housework. Now it's not that I'm houseproud, by any stretch of the imagination! I think it's a self esteem issue, not feeling as though I am good enough to allow myself to do something pleasurable, when theres other stuff I should be doing. That sounds really heavy, I don't know where it came from but its true! Does anyone else feel like this ?
On to nice things!

I seem to have avoided second sock syndrome, and have got cracking with my 2nd Piece Of Beauty sock. I'm really enjoying this yarn, as I've said before and would definitely recommend it.

Progress on the sock has been a bit slower because I decided to push on with the bag. I eventually got used to knitting with the rough Kureyon, the colours are beautiful and somewhat make up for its coarseness. I haven't lined it yet but this is how it looks so far.



It has felted beautifully, but it's smaller than I thought even though I followed the felting directions on the pattern. Andrea has knit this bag before and said hers is much bigger. I guess it's all the practise I've had of felting any woollen garment that I get my hands on!! Queen of Felting, the Fulling Princess!!

My Victorian Lace Today book came this week too and it's beautiful. The photography alone is gorgeous then you get the delicious lace patterns on top! I love the historical angle that the author has used and recycled the patterns so that todays knitter can use them. I think it's fab and can understand why the book has been sooo popular! I have just started this one.


I'm using the Ullcentrum yarn I bought at Harrogate. I'm being very good and using from the stash, mainly I must admit cos we are skint! I am trying to stick to the No yarn til Woolfest and due to our financial state, it's not too difficult at the moment !! But it means I'm using stuff I'd forgotten I'd bought, it's quite exciting!!

Friday was KnitnNatter day with the multi-talented CarrieAnne! ( She'll kill me for that one!) It was a lovely group of folks as usual and all the group fees went to Comic Relief too.

Happily, Tom's back is slowly starting to improve. Thank you for all your well wishes. And a huge thank you to everyone who has commented lately. Your support and kind words really do mean a lot. And if theres anyone that reads my blog but doesn't leave a comment, please do, it's lovely to "meet" new bloggers!

16 comments:

TutleyMutley said...

A friend from our S&B is raving about the Victorian Lace book too - not being very good at lace, I'm not understanding the attraction?!
The bag looks cute - I love noro colour changes.
Happy mother's day to you! I'm waving my magic wand to remove all your guilt - there, does that feel better?
My son came out for a long walk with me yesterday - that was my Mum's day treat!

acrylik said...

Lovely to hear that you are being pampered today :)

You know what I think about ironing - don't do it! Use less electric and make extra time for yourself and all that. But I understand where you are coming from.

Wow - can't wait to see how your lace is coming on!

See you tomorrow xx

InkyArtitude said...

Lovely work Kat...... (no I don't mean the ironing). Think of it this way - the knitting is the awful chore whilst the ironing is the hobby and there just isn't time for the hobby! Work, work and more work, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it. Guilt is for jewelery makers not knitters. Happy Mum's Day! you deserve it.

dreamcatcher said...

The Booga bag looks fab! I love the look of items where the felting/fulling has obliterated stitch definition, the colours really blend into one another too.

That's such a pretty shawl you've started from VLT, full marks for using stash too :-)

As for ironing, I rarely iron anything these days. The only exceptions are some of DH's shirts. I find that once items are folded and put into a pile they end up looking as good as if I'd spent time slaving over them! Life's too short not to knit :-)

Artis-Anne said...

Guess what I did yesterday morning ? yup ironing BUT it was only because I didn't have anything to wear . I loathe ironing and come to think of it housework in generalbut I like my home clean so its a case of have to !! My kids are all grown up & in their own homes so it was like any other day for me apart from the fact my DH made a roast dinner :)
Glad you like VLT and look fwd to seeing your shawl , so many pretty ones aern't there ?
Great socks & yarn looks lovely and your Booga bag looks great too. I have some Kureyon in my stash to knit a cardi but it is so rough as you say but being on a yarn diet it has a good chance of being knitted up !!

Fibrespace said...

The bag is lovely. The colours are fantastic.

I don't bother with an ironing pile, I just iron as things are needed, I can't iron more than about 2 items at once without getting bored! As for housework, unfortunately I have no guilt about leaving it in favour of crafts, which makes for a very unkempt house!

HPNY KNITS said...

I love your bag! I happen to adore Noro- and this is a wonderful example of the great colors. felting is so different from machine to machine, knit tension etc.- so the same item will easily yield different results.- and looks fab!
can't wait to see your lace!

Piglottie said...

The shawl looks stunning and cant wait to see yours! I need to get this book. I love the bag, and the sock is looking great.

Hellbelle said...

Ooh that shawl looks familiar! Good luck with yours :)


Love your Kureyon bag, the colours are so natural and pretty.

Kat said...

aww, sounds like you had a lovely mothers day. sadly, I'm not a real mummy yet, but my husband treated me to lunch as he says that all ladies who do housework are mums really! However, I dont do too much housework because i too, would rather knit!

Kath said...

Glad you had a lovely day - my DH only got me flowers after I grumbled and then went completely overboard witha M&S(!!) bouquet! The booga bag looks lovely all the same - small yet perfectly formed! Try 'Easy Peasy' dyes for a simple step into dying - they really are easy to use and no toxic residue or nasty stuff! Go on - it's really fun and then you could spin new yarn and get round the rule!!

Kath said...

Here you go - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ASHFORD-RAINBOW-DYE-KIT-WHITE-BRITISH-ALPACA-FLEECE_W0QQitemZ220093960635QQcategoryZ3121QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Seems a cheap way to start up dyeing and I've seen some great results with these dyes! You do have a wheel don't you?

Rain said...

Your bag is fantastic, it looks really pretty.

Ironing - hide it and do it on a need to wear basis. I find if it's done and put away it always looks like it needs redoing when I come to wear it.

KnitYoga said...

Love the way the bag's turned out. The colours look amazing! Looking forward to seeing that beautiful shawl taking form, too. What's ironing?!!! ;-)

Sarah said...

I'm glad you've got your VLT!

I love the felted bag, it's beautiful. I hope that you overcome the ironing guilt!

RoxyK said...

Glad you had a lovely mothers day ;)

The booga bag is great. The great thing about felted bags is they don't usually need lining, so you should be fine without it! One less job to do....

Guilt over knitting i/o ironing??? Don't understand that lol ;) I rarely iron. In fact I only iron anything when I have to press my knitting anyway!

I rarely knit in the day as it makes me drowsy so doesn't conflict with cleaning time anyway. Which is a good thing otherwise nothing would get done. Unfortunately I don't have the same trouble with the internet & my iBook.....