Kreativ Blog award

To my surprise Lupie nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger award! I know Lupie through Lesser Known Skeins on Ravelry, hers was one of the first blogs I started reading from that group. As I'm not a frequent visitor to Ravelry (mostly because I lose hours of my day there), I don't always keep up to date with the group and it has got quite a bit bigger recently, but I do read the blogs of the people who formed the original group.

Right, on with the rules.
1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 8 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

I'm nominating the following 8 blogs (not easy, as not all of my blogs are creative blogs):
1. Andy in Amsterdam I like reading his blog because like me, he's left his home country and is living in a 'strange' country, and his 'strange' country happens to be my home country. I like the way he looks at the Dutch - some of it I recognise because I often feel like a 'foreigner' when I return to Holland, and some of it is recognisable in 'o that's definitely us', if that makes sense!
He's also a knitter and makes lovely things.
2. The Caked Crusader: nothing to do with knits but she posts regular cake recipes which are to die for.
3. I was knit together in my mother's womb: I've read Lynne's blog for a while, I don't know how she does it but everything she knits, flatters her.
4. Lazy Seamstress: I know Jeanette in real life. She sews and knits very inspiring, creative things.
5. Paradise Found: I think Amanda is a Lesser Known Skein - not even sure! Her recent sleepy knitted puppy is very sweet.
6. Poshyarns: one of my favourite blogs. Rebecca has beautiful photographs and knits and sews in a very understated elegance. Besides, she's a Radio 4 fan!
7. She knits shizknits: Sheree's blog was one of the first ever blogs I started reading. She knits but also writes about her young family, and is another accomplished photographer.
8. Tiennie knits: last but definitely not least! Tiennie is a very prolific knitter and has designed some great patterns.

All these blogs are definitely worth a visit.

Thanks for all the comments I've had recently, both on the Lyme Regis photos and the hot water bottle cover. Blogger won't always let me respond to comments - if you leave a comment and we've not mailed before, can you also leave an email address? I don't like ignoring comments, it is as if I take them for granted and I definitely don't!

FO: hot water bottle cover

I knitted this for mum as a late birthday present. I was going to knit her a little toy rabbit after I'd forwarded her the link to the pattern for it and she said she wouldn't mind getting that, but once I got started on it, it just wasn't coming together - it was too small, it wasn't cute, it wasn't soft. So I gave up on it and came up with another idea. Last time I was in Holland, she said a few times how cold she was, so a hot water bottle was a good idea. A cover was an even better idea. Yarn came from Violet Green, I thought she would like this as it looks like it's been spun straight off the sheep, and she has a wool blanket in these colours. I finished it while we were in Lyme Regis, dad took it back to Holland with him, and it's been declared a success. I liked knitting it too, and the cables look much more intricate than they were. More details on ravelry.

I've been given a blog award which I'll save for a post on its own. I'm immensely chuffed....

Lyme Regis VII

20 February 2009

We're now back home, after a long journey back, and I'm suffering post-holiday blues. It's lovely Spring weather here, and I want to be on the beach with a newspaper, coffee, my knitting and the kids!

Lyme Regis VI

19 February 2008

Lyme Regis V

18 February 2009

(it's actually really foggy here today and I haven't taken any photographs, so this is a photo from yesterday!)

Lyme Regis IV

17 February 2009

Lyme Regis III

16 February 2009

Lyme Regis II

15 February 2009

Lyme Regis I

14 February 2009

Snowy day

I'm sure most blogs in the UK had white posts either yesterday or today. No exception here!
We don't get much snow where we are, so when we do, it's always an event. When we get as much as we did yesterday, it turns into a major event. Schools close, airports shut down, cars get stranded, trains stop running and all news has to make way for snowy stories. I find it quite amusing as it is so predictable - at least once a year we have some 'freak' weather event that grips the country and grinds it to a halt, whether it's snow, storm or a heavy frost. And when it's all over and life returns to normal, we get the analysis: what could be done differently next time? And it seems nothing is done differently next time, because a few months later we get a repeat performance with some other weather phenomenon.




The kids' schools were both closed yesterday. It was lovely having them home unexpectedly for a day. We went out and played in the snow in the morning, in some places we had almost a foot. We got the sleigh out and threw snowballs and made snow angels. Back home to dry out and warm up and then off to an eerily quiet Sainsbury's for a hot chocolate and some much needed
supplies - after all, we could be snowed in for a few days to come :-) The rest of the day was spent on the sofa with the heating and woodburner on, watching telly. I even managed to get some sock knitting in. I had to fit in a few hours of work but the rest of the day we just did nothing. No, I tell a lie: I. made this:


She has cookery lessons at school and this is the first dish she's made all by herself with no help from me at all. It was yummy and was the perfect dish for the end of a snowy day.

They're now both back at school and I'm missing them...

ETA: I've been tagged twice and will get round to doing them!