I’ve just realized that I’m knitting some heavenly socks that I had forgotten to tell you about. What does that tell you? I know…that crazy woman is just juggling way too many balls in the air at the same time….and you may well be right on that! I admit that I do have a bit of an addiction problem when it comes to socks. I seem to have a physical need to always have some socks on the needles…just in case, you know.

These are Sunshine Socks by Cookie A (now there’s a cool name!). The yarn is Juno Fibre Arts Alice Sock yarn in the Dusk colourway. They are 70% baby alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere. As soft as a cloud. In fact probably the softest, smooshiest socks I’ve ever knitted.

They’re going to look like this….

…and the pattern is taken from Cookie A’s wonderful book Sock Innovation – which is full of really yummy, but rather challenging socks….you know the ones I mean. The woe betide you if you try to watch TV and knit these socks at the same time ones. But then there’s something rather nice about not trying to multitask and just focusing totally on the one thing you’re doing. I can, however, manage to listen to an audio book or a nice play on the radio, or even the news while knitting these, but they do require a lot of concentration.

But there again. I may just be a bear of little brain – as Pooh and Piglet would say.

Helen

Here is Ilsa’s quilt. It needs to be finished, quilted and shipped off to England in the not very distant future otherwise there is no way it will make it by Christmas. Actually, my intention was to take it with me when I make a flying visit over to mum’s next week and mail it from there. Somehow I rather doubt that that’s going to happen – especially as I’m off to Germany over the weekend.

(Memo to self: Must stop gallivanting. Would be much more productive if I just stayed at home and got on with things).

So, having realized what a task I have in front of me, today you find me making stars like a crazy woman. And how much fun is that? The fabric is Amelia and I’m speeded up no end by my trusty little Quilt in a Day flying geese ruler. To be honest, I wonder how I ever managed before I got this little gem. My stars are way quicker – and totally accurate. Go out and buy one all you quilters out there. It WILL transform your life!

What a blissful way to spend an afternoon!

Helen

I’ve been tidying up and cleaning, but as you can see from the photo, my space is still rather cluttered and congested. Still, at least it’s clean and less of a mess than it was! The trouble is, this little bit of space is probably the most intensely used space in our whole house – and as you can see, it’s tiny!

I work in here, sew in here, knit in here, listen to the radio and generally chill out in here. All my fabric, quilting books, knitting and sewing patterns, yarn….everything is stuffed in here. It’s probably my very favourite place in the whole house – my sanctuary from fractious teenagers, MY SPACE!

I’be been waiting for days to take this photo – but it’s been totally fogged in round here of late – typical Zurich November weather (yuk!) and it has been actually too dark to take a photo – it’s still a way darker photo than I would like, but if you look closely, you will see a small shaft of sunlight recorded for posterity. This is the first time I’ve seen the sun since I came back from Houston over a week ago. I think this must be a very bad place to live if you suffer from SADS – because it even starts to get me down and I’m normally my own little ray of sunshine!! What you can’t see on the photo are the two velux windows built into the sloping roof – which mean that I get to catch any sun that’s going. Without them I would, in all honesty, be working in a cupboard. But I’m not – and it’s lovely.

I think it’s so important that we stay at home work at home women have some space that we can call our own – even if that space is as tiny as mine is. Nobody would ever question the importance of teenagers having their own space – and I actually think it’s probably even more important for mothers to have their own space too. I mean, family life does sometimes get a bit much, right – and if you’ve got nowhere to run away to now and then for a little bit of sanity, then I for one would probably go bonkers fairly quickly.

It’s so nice to have somewhere that’s mine, that’s full of my stuff and does not get encroached upon by other people’s junk. I don’t want to have to fight for a computer to use or continually shift left-behind homework or other people’s discarded dirty socks. I do that quite enough in other parts of the house, thank you very much!

So here’s to sanity and a room of my own!

Helen

Do you dye your hair? Have you dyed your hair? When and how did you stop….and was it very painful?

I guess this is something that we all have to deal with at some point in time. I’m going grey. Not a lot – more like silver threads with a bit more round the temples. I’ve always had my hair coloured – well, highlighted to be exact, but there are so many highlights that they have all run into each other and as a result I’m a sort of golden blond – probably today a fair bit lighter than I look in my profile picture, because my hair is also a good bit longer.

So, here is my quandry. I’m sick of spending hours and hours and lots of money at the hairdresser. It feels like my hair looks great for approximately ooh, a week before I start being annoyed by my roots. The roots aren’t dire really, as I’m naturally a mousy dark blond…with grey.., but I’m still always conscious of them. I think constantly how wonderful it would be to just not have that issue at all – superficial I know, but there you go. I guess I’m not the only one who thinks like this.

I also do natural about everything except my hair – organic food, natural cosmetics, don’t drink, smoke any substances whatsoever, exercise and try to leave a clean and healthy life. And then I let the hairdresser put toxic chemicals on my hair. It doesn’t really make sense.

Last week I met up with an old (and formerly blond) friend, who I hadn’t seen for years. She’s a bit of a hippy and has stopped dying and gone au naturel – and you know what, she looked great. Older for sure, but kind of interesting. ‘I’m sure of who I am and I like myself’ kind of interesting. She struck me as a woman who is totally happy in her own skin.

I guess I’m rather envious. I’m actually very happy in my own skin too – but something about me is really stopping me making such a blatant statement. The biggest part is probably the feeling that I don’t want to look 65 when I’m only 47. Still, I’m quite intrigued as to what I would look like – maybe with a natty cut I would look devilishly sophisticated. Maybe the grey hairs will be strong and curly and way better than what I’ve been dealing with up till now. Maybe I won’t look old, just kind of cool…

Am I brave enough to take the plunge – and how can I do so without months/years of looking utterly dreadful growing the blond out?

Or is it all just a VERY BAD IDEA? I mean I don’t want to be mistaken for anybody’s granny quite yet!

Help! What would you do?

Helen

Stars and flying geese have always been two of my very favourite things to sew – as shown in the oodles of starry quilts I’ve turned out over the years.

Well, you won’t believe this, but they just got easier…round here anyway!

In Houston I had my arm twisted to buy the Quilt in a Day Flying Geese ruler sets. I couldn’t (at that stage) really see what the big deal was all about. Now I certainly can (after playing with the ruler for an hour or two!).

You see, this…

turns into this….

and are cut down using the ruler into these…

perfect geese every time – which also means near to perfect stars!

Heaven! And just so you know, I wasn’t paid to say this – I’m just tickled pink to have found something so small that makes such a big difference!

Helen