New Year and another Resolution!!

OMG! I hadn't realised that I hadn't posted anything in a year. Just as well that one of my New Year's Resolutions is to knit and complete one item every month and get it on my ebay shop to sell. Sounds simple but this month's offering was started in the autumn of 2015! I can usually bash these things out in about a week but with setting up our new home and all the extra work that has created, when I sit down in the evening to knit, I usually fall asleep! Excuses! Excuses! I know!

Front of matinee - finished with a single button at the neck

 January's offering is a neat little baby girl's (0-3 months) matinee jacket in Sirdar Snuggly Tiny Tots fashion double knit. All a bit of a mouthful. This yarn is a joy to knit with and comes up beautifully. Sewing up is a different matter as the bits of white on the yarn are bobbly and won't pull through when sewing the pieces together. I got round this by stripping this bits off to create a plain yarn with which to sew up. Sorted!!

Back of matinee jacket. 

The yarn is machine washable, according to the wool and and is a mixture of 90% acrylic 10% polyester. The colour is a shade called Lemony (0918) and is a creamy yellow with white bits - rather like scrambled egg.

This matinee jacket is currently available on my ebay shop via the following link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hand-knitted-baby-girls-matinee-jacket-in-Sirdar-Tiny-Tots-DK-0-3-months-/231828451178?hash=item35fa0d6f6a:g:F84AAOSwKtlWqhTo

A stitch in time ...

Back in June 2014 I was looking for something suitable to give or make for my husband's 50th birthday. A moment of inspiration came in the form of a visit to Lauriston Farm in Goldhanger where they have North Ronaldsay sheep. The farm have the fleeces processed and sell the yarn, so I decided to knit him a jumper from their organic undyed wool for his birthday. I had 6 months to do it, easy!! .... On top of this was the house sale and move. I had also forgotten that whilst I can knit a baby jumper in a few days, with all the distractions I would be lucky to get it finished. 

The welt with the twist every fourth rib

Most of my knitting stuff was packed away during the declutter phase of the house sale. I kept this jumper and a blanket back as something to do. The real cost of this has been my layette knitting shop on ebay because it hasn't seen anything new for the duration, but I am pleased to announce that by his birthday on the 15th December not only had we sold the house and moved, but I had finished knitting his jumper as well .... but I hadn't sewn it up ... I hate sewing these things up and now it was super sized. 

Only a day or so late, he was presented with his jumper which fits but has been placed in his wardrobe case he gets it dirty. Grrrr!! My only comment to him was that if he snags it on a tree or something, let me know so I can repair it before it unravels. It fits him well which was a relief as the measurements were 6 months old. The arms look long but that is because he has long arms. Its made to measure!!

I found the pattern on ravelry.com as a freebee. It was quite a challenge as there were very little written instructions and instead you were following a chart with lots of vague symbols. I adapted and adjusted the dimensions to make it fit the recipient and added little touches like the twist in the rib which is also present on the cuffs and the neckline. 

The sleeves were inset which were easy enough and the pattern was adaptable for the increased stitches on the sleeve shaping. The wool was brilliant to work with and has a beautiful mixed colour look to it, although it looks grey here, it had flecks of brown.

I even have enough wool left over to make myself a hat, probably, if I find the time. And this adult sized jumper was definitely a very limited edition, one off - no commissions accepted.

Find out more about Lauriston Biodynamic Farm and what they do at http://www.lauristonfarm.co.uk/

Just in time for christmas!!

We are in!!

So we were left waiting to move in my last blog. Well I am pleased to say we are in but we did have a lot of luck or was it fine planning?

We had previously purchased a livestock trailer. Why? We don’t have any livestock yet but hubby had been watching them on eBay and managed to nab one a few months earlier. It really did come into its own during our move as we shipped the contents of the shed, the green house and the garage over to the new homestead. We began the weekend before as time had been taken off from work for the move even though we didn't have a final date. Load after load was transported over as the old house was gradually bailed out over the Saturday and Sunday. On Monday we heard from the solicitors that we were about to exchange contracts and could we complete the follow Monday 15^th December. Yes we could. We hired a van for the Thursday and Friday and set about emptying the house of non-essentials. We also tried to get most of our parcel Christmas shopping done before we moved as it was envisaged that we might be in too much of a muddle when we move to get things sorted closer to Christmas.

The van was hired from a local garage and came with a temperamental tail lift. It only worked with the engine running (a tired old diesel) and preferred up to down, but it did hold a phenomenal amount of stuff and it was only that first morning of the van hire when we experienced any rain. There is nothing more empowering than cruising around in a BIG truck although squeezing past over large vehicles did tend to promote more grey hairs with each encounter. We also had four cats, one dog and seven chickens to move and we did that on the last truck day as we planned to be sleeping in our new house by the end of it having moved the beds. Once the truck had been returned we looked to move the animals in the cars. The dog was easy. She loves the car. The cats each had their own carrier and only one showed any real resistance to the idea of being bundled up to a cat carrier. The chickens were moved when they were sleepy but it was still light enough for us to see what we were doing. Having purchased a 10-bird crate, our seven virtually filled it up. We have got two chicken houses and had already moved one so they were transported and duly deposited in their temporary home. Sorted!!

It was now Saturday with just two days left before the new owners would like to move in. The new house looked like a warehouse full of boxes and bags. The old house still had stuff left in it and needed its final clean. We opted to divide our labours and one of us stayed to move boxes to their correct location whilst the other went back and fetched more stuff, and more stuff, and more stuff. If I was to give anyone advice about a house move, have a dammed good clear out before you move. I thought we did but the understairs cupboard proved to be like a core sample of my life for the last 20 years with junk going back through time to the roller skates which our daughter had when she was a toddler. The livestock trailer was still in full operation and this time being used for rubbish ... lots and lots of rubbish. Locally the recycling centre is only open from Friday to Monday so we were moving car loads of stuff and a trailer full of rubbish each time. By Sunday we were back to two cars and a livestock trailer. By dark on the Sunday the old house was empty and having its final scrub. Keys had been dropped to the estate agent and we only needed to slam the door behind us when we left. Done.

I was sad to leave our house. It had been a good friend for 15 years. The kids had gone in as toddlers and come out as adults. We had spent a lot of money, time and effort in improving it but now it was time to move on. We had also learnt a lot over the years and made some good friends in the village. We had been part of the community and played our part. Our new house holds the promise of more space to grow food and animals. It was the ending of the first chapter of our grand dream.

To follow me in our new adventure see my other blog ... http://anewsmallholding.blogspot.co.uk/

SOLD .... almost

The idea of moving first came to us during one of those moments when the wine was flowing and we were lounging in our conservatory one summer's evening. I think it started with ... is this it? We have always been great fans of making our own food, whether it was jam, wine or bread. I said that I would really like more space to grow a whole packet of seed and raise some animals. We had already experienced the joy of choosing the veg for a meal from whatever was ready in the garden. We have also been blessed to have a variety of fruit trees and enjoyed both fresh and preserved fruit. So what next? The obvious answer was to move for a bigger garden. In the meantime we added back yard chickens to our current garden and have enjoyed fresh eggs.

The next stage in the plan was .... where to? In this local vicinity house prices with land have spiralled out of our budget so we could go northwards or France. Now anyone who knows me will tell you that I don't do languages very well and there could be a possibility of me being on my own somewhere in France on a farm whilst my husband worked from the UK or Paris and I would struggle to cope. Also I keep seeing stories of people buying properties abroad and being stitched up by 'local' rules and regulations. Northwards towards Suffolk looked like a definite possibility for some time. We even took a drive to view a property which sold before we had a chance to make an offer. 

Before we lived in Tillingham we lived our on Burnham marshes for two years. It is a wild and sometimes cruel landscape with uninterrupted views - definitely big sky country. We lived with my inlaws in a converted farmhouse. The children were very small and had just started to go to school. It didn't suit us at the time and we moved to Tillingham 15 years ago, leaving the inlaws to the farmhouse. Time passed and it keep niggling at me that what we want to do, we could do out there. With the passing of various elderly family members from both sides comes the problem of being a long way away and having to cope with making decisions from a distance. We came to the conclusion that moving back to the Marshes would be the only answer.

After various negotiations plans were approved and building work began in April this year to create the ageing inlaws their own space, leaving the farmhouse for us and we would divide the two and a half acres of outside space. The original time quote was 8-12 weeks for the build.  In July we put our house on the market expecting a quick sale and that we could be in by September ... or at least we hoped.

Many things were packed up to declutter our house to put it on the market. Photos were taken and we were on. The EPC and floor plans were completed and added to the website. The summer holidays came and went without a single viewing. We reduced the asking price for the house and then almost the day the children went back to school, we had our first viewing. It was the standard sort of thing. A young couple looking for their nest to create a family ..... but the rooms were too small. A week passed and I was wandering around Southminster when my phone started ringing. It was the estate agents. There are people (without an appointment) at your house now and they want to view your house. I rushed back to find no one there. I went into show house mode and about an hour later was showing my house to a couple who had sold their house and had seen ours on the website. Apparently of all the houses they had looked at on the website, ours was actually bigger than the pictures had suggested.

Another week went past and we had new neighbours moving in opposite. I wandered over and welcomed them to the road only to be greeted with, "Our son wants to view your house" ....  O. K. A few hours later Couple No. 3 were getting the tour. Meanwhile couple No. 2 had made an offer on the house way off from the lowered asking price. It was dismissed. Couple no. 3 said that they wanted a property with space to the side of the house, which was don't have.

Another week passed and we had another phone call from the agents announcing Couple No. 4 would like to look at our house. Now these two didn't really look right from the start. They were a young couple with the lady very, very pregnant. My priorities at 8 months would have been to stay put and have a baby - not move house. They had the tour and I was chatting with them at the end. I remarked that I would be getting lots of rest before the baby came out and she said, "Oh my employer doesn't let me rest". I asked what she did for a job and she said that she worked for the regulators who check that estate agents are selling houses accurately and honestly. ! ! ! ! !  Needless to say, they didn't make an offer.

Couple No. 2 were definitely still nibbling as they made a counter offer, still short of the lowered asking price, which was dismissed again. We were now nearly at the end of September. We made a counter offer which was accepted after a nervy weekend of waiting and we went to SOLD.  In the meantime the building site was still very much a building site and a long way from being finished. There had been problems along the way which had been sorted but it was now 5 months into a 12 week build.

Then came the surveys. They had two for reasons which I still struggle with, almost on consecutive days. And then the paperwork from the Solicitors arrived .... many, many pages of questions and a contract. Interestingly enough, if your property is the home of anyone who is aged 17 or over, they must sign the contract too to say they will be moving. The idea of leaving one's children behind to live with the new owners is a strange one, but ours duly signed and the contract has been returned along with the questionnaires.

We are now over half way through November. The building work is still not finished. The builder needs to have an operation that could put him out of action for a few months, regardless of the state of the build. It is nearly to the point where a competent DIY-er could finish the job but I think he was expecting to have finished by now.

Our chain is only 3 parties long. We are at the top with our buyers nestling very nicely in the middle. Their buyer has gone into rented accommodation and is itching to move. Packing has been sporadic as I identify things which I could do without ... or could I? We had Remembrance Day a few weeks ago and I couldn't find my black boots ..... packed in July as we were hoping to move in September. I did have the foresight to keep some coats back.

We have started to make contingency plans for how to cope if the building work has not been completed. Could we be ready to move in a few weeks time?  Christmas is looming on the horizon as our house fills with packing boxes. Neighbours have started erecting outside christmas decorations (in November) but I can't really even contemplate still being here at Christmas.

What has happened to the knitting, spinning, weaving? Most of it was packed in July leaving the jumper made from Lauriston wool (see earlier post) still being knitted. It is very nearly finished and will be a present for hubby's 50th on 15th December.

In two days time it will be the 7 month anniversary of the start of the building work. It is very frustrating waiting for the cogs to turn and the move to complete. Then to add insult to injury, another house that has sold in the village had removal vans outside today. I wished them luck, secretly longing for it to be us .... one day soon.

Inspiration comes when you least expect it

Visitors Centre map

So life is pretty up and down at the moment. Change is always difficult and we are trying to move at the same time as dealing with the passing of my Mum. The house is in chaos with car loads of extra stuff coming in from the clearance of her house in Stevenage. I think it is important to get away from it all and the opportunity came last Tuesday with the monthly meeting of the East Essex Smallholders Group as a farm visit to Lauriston Farm in Goldhanger, Essex. 

Having got lost on the way despite having printed out directions, the place is quite remote and down an unmarked gravel road well off the beaten track. Among the first of the group to arrive, we donned our trusty walking boots and we duly sprayed against bug attacks.

Essex salt marsh

Lauriston Farm is a bio-dynamic organic farm. ??? It was explained to us, I think, but basically the owners are operating a permaculture. ??? Operating organically, they do not bring in any fertilisers or pesticides. All the manure is recycled on the farm. They had North Ronaldsay sheep and Shetland cows. North Ronaldsay sheep typically live on the rugged coast line of the island with the same name, so it is ideally suited to grazing the Essex salt marsh. Cool! After the chat in the 'education centre' we were taken for a trek around the farm. This led us past sheep and cows, then up to the sea wall. This is a scene that I am familiar with but usually from a different direction. The farm has 225 acres which includes an ancient decoy pond and a salt extraction site dating back to Roman times. It was all very educational! 

Happy, friendly sheep

The final part of the walk took us back into a field where we were met by some very nice sheep. Their fleeces were starting to shed and were coming off in big chunks. The owners shear the sheep themselves and then send the fleece to be processed. This is a costly undertaking and always a gamble as they then have to sell on the resulting balls of yarn. We were shown some of these upon our return to the education centre. There were 50g balls of double knit at £3.50 each and 100g balls of double knit at £4.50 each. We were also told a story about how they had sent 75kg of their fleeces to be processed which had been lumped in together, rather than sorting for similar colours, resulting 75kg of grey wool. They weren't impressed with this so the processors over-dyed some of the wool in heather (dark purple) and plum. Upon closer inspection, the grey is more of a fawn/brown colour, which I liked. They also sell sheepskin rugs and meat boxes from their farm gate and run courses on getting to grips with a bio-dynamic farm. A brilliant evening enjoyed by all.

It wasn't really until the dog walk the next day that the idea came to me that my husband will be celebrating his 50th birthday in 6 months time. What could I buy him? He had commented that he didn't have any warm outside jumpers. I have made him a beautiful, intricate aran jumper which took years and he is too afraid to wear  . . . so I decided to make him a jumper from this North Ronaldsay wool. After a quick email to the farm, a few days later I was back down the gravel track to purchase 10 x 100g balls of the fawn/brown wool. Six months seems plenty of time but with all the current upheaval going on, it will soon fly. Better get busy knitting!

The North Ronaldsay wool is a little courser than the typical double knit that I'm used to but it does have the rugged quality that I was looking for. It knits up well and isn't so dark that it is difficult to work in the evenings. Lauriston Farm only seem to operate a farm-gate sales for their produce but they offer a friendly welcome via their website. www.lauristonfarm.co.uk

A lifetime of craft

Ann Wheeler (1st July 1936-7th April 2014)

On April 7th 2014  my Mum lost her short battle against cancer. She was my teacher, my inspiration and my friend. She introduced me to knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, dressmaking, photography, flower arranging, cooking, cake making and cake decorating. With a family of six children, making things was infinitely cheaper than buying them. I have fond memories of christmas cakes and trays of bread pudding. Dresses were made for special occasions and I was delighted when she agreed to make the cake, bouquets and some of the bridesmaids dresses for my wedding 25 years ago.

One of the crafts which remained unique to my Mum was that of egg decorating. I was still living at home when she began this craft which involved using real blown eggs with doors cut and hinged, then smothered with beads and pearls. Each child as we were married were happy to have a special egg for the top of the cake. As her skills improved, the eggs become more and more delicate and complicated. 

The family have had to clear her house and it struck me that the world has lost a crafts person of great skill. Her vast stash of crafting materials will be sent to the egging guild for redistribution and the collection of eggs that she created have been divided between the family. Its all very sad. I did manage to salvage the photographic record of all her decorated eggs which fills three photo albums. 

As a footnote to this blog I would like to say, share your craft as widely as possible. Teach, display and distribute. It is a gift which may well leave when you do. 

Just enough ....

Blue cable jumper

There is some fabulous yarn out there and one of my favourites is Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo Double Knit. It is 80% Bamboo sourced viscose and 20% wool. It knits into a beautiful soft, sheeny stitch which is perfect for young skin. I had bought some balls of this yarn, knitted a baby jumper, sold it on eBay, but still had some yarn left.  I decided to make the same jumper again to sell but wasn't sure that I had enough yarn. I started to look around on the internet to find more in 'Sail boat' and nice, mid-blue colour only to discover that the yarn had been discontinued and I probably had the last few balls left in the world. The pressure was on to finish the yarn with what I had left, or I could undo what I had done and make something else. I decided to plough on and hope for the best. Making the jumper in 0-6 months, it should take the least amount of wool possible.

In the end, I did have enough, just. It is a shame that Sirdar have decided not to continue this colour. The trouble with many of the baby yarns is that the colours are a bit pastel. 

The finish article is now available on my ebay store via the following link:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Babys-blue-cable-jumper-for-age-0-6-months-in-Sirdar-Snuggly-Baby-Bamboo-dk-/231178971575?pt=Baby_Clothing&hash=item35d35729b7