It has been a bit of hectic week here: little ones weren’t 100%, not sick enough to be sick, but not sleeping; with a dose of coughing and several doses of contrariness mixed in. It was trying. Very trying indeed. “Sweetness and Light” wouldn’t have been my title last week…
And yet in the midst of it, perhaps as a result of it all, I did so much. When I had energy, I had buckets of it. Perhaps though, on the other hand it could have been simply a mental escape: when there were little girls weeping because “their goldfish wasn’t golden enough” (I kid you not) I could retreat into my doll-making-crochet-hooking-la-la-la-la-la mode; when small boys were trashing on the floor howling because they couldn’t find a “yourd” (sword) for a one legged ancient soldier doll I could just “uh-huh! uh-huh!” while sewing frantically, tongue sticking out the side of my mouth, foot tapping manically.
But now, we are at the other side of it all. Yay! December has arrived, the Christmas decorations are slowly trickling out. On Sunday, I made this chocolate cake for the first day of Advent (my brother, sister in law and delicious nephew celebrated with us) I will post the recipe anon, it is rather fantastic 🙂
I have been working on these commissioned crochet blankets and cuddle dolls: oh the relief and delight of finishing an order on time… I’m working on another blanket now, this time for our own Little One who will hopefully make an entry in to the world in the late spring… pictures soon!
Grace and I spent the week stitching (when she wasn’t crying about goldfishes etc) She made her first little purse, and I made my first 4″ jointed doll. Tiny, and so cute. I thought I’d be far too ham-fisted to sew something so miniature, but it was such a joy. I have decided that I am going to hand sew from now on: there is a certain peace and satisfaction that I don’t get from fighting with my sewing machine, endlessly threading bobbins and trying to get the tension right…
I am also working on the drafting of an 8″ cuddle doll pattern (AT LAST, after several requests for it); last week I left it for a second while small ones were playing “Angry Birds”, and came back to find it had “shoes” coloured in on its drawn feet and Grace had been drafted in to draw a “Tac-tor” Argghhh! Nothing is sacred!!
Now that our small ones are now fine again, they have taken to washing windows in a BIG way, with the squirty bottle of vinegar and any cloths they can find (my tea-towel stocks have disappeared) They also have cleaned walls, kitchen cupboards and the front door. James attempted to clean Granny Cat, but she was most unimpressed and beat a hasty retreat. It took Pebbles a few seconds longer to realise that she was next in line. Thankfully the chickens are out of bounds…
But, despite the house smelling like a chip-shop, I’m starting to see little cleaned patches here and there; the cupboard doors are sparkling, and the windows are clean from the bottom to about four feet high. I have to say I’m impressed. Sadly, I don’t think the cleaning gene comes from my side though. Nonetheless, should times get hard, at least I have the option of hiring them out as child labour…
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Lovely post, Ems. It’s hard going when anyone is sick, never mind a clatter of them. Kudos on your patience!! Dolls and quilts are beautiful.
Lovely post. As usual. I am in total awe of your sew-womanship. Those dolls are utterly edible. On another note, I call the contrariness the December Slump. I have a post ready to go about the same malaise – our house was similar lately.
Lovely post and made me feel all Christmassy too (after the sickness and wailing bit of course ;0) ). If you do resort yo hiring out the home help put me on the list… would love to get my windows cleaned by such cute little workers ;0)
Naomi, they sing the whole time too!! I think I’m onto a good thing actually!!
W.W, I think you are right about the December slump… Although with us it’s more end-of-November slump! at least in December everyone starts getting excited about Christmas! Looking forward to nodding away as usual when reading your post 🙂
thanks Nuala! Xx
My children were sick for the past week too so it must be the slump! But today they’re better and we were outside, what a difference it makes to get fresh air and for he constant sounds of sneezing to have ended. I can’t stop laughing at the goldfish thing. Unlike you I have nothing to show for our week of sickness, I’d say you’d create no matter what happened, your work is so impressive….and that of your window cleaners, send them to me!
How adorable are your helpers?! And those dolls! Gorgeous post Emily xx
oh i adore hand-sewing. albeit my things are abstract and arty, but yes, there si a pure peace from doing it.
my girl has been snotty and coughy too, and of course, that little bit more contrary 😉
the blankets look lovely and i can appreciate the relief and joy from finishing a project, especially a commissioned one!
I’m bookmarking your sweetpea doll tutorial and may give it a try… if there’s a head tut as well?
Working on a comprehensive tutorial… Two great starts on PDF patterns were COLOURED IN by our smallest (one had a “yourd” (sword) drawn in its hand) sigh….
Great post as always Em, lovely to see what is going on in your house! Glad ye are all on the mend, cake looks fab xxx
I’m sorry your littles were sick. We had something going around, most of the time it was a cold, since our oldest’s birthday, Nov. 24th. And now I have it.
The dolls are so adorable.
I love your helpers. Ironically, our oldest girl loves to clean the door window, too. And I’m just thankful it’s clean even if the top half isn’t because windows are low priority for me.