Just like any other day...

Here's the Halloween pudding - chocolate cake with cobweb and green icing. Mr Stressy didn't like the green icing (just normal buttercream with food colouring!)

Mornings at our house are manic. Is ours the only home to have mad mornings? Well, I need to re-phrase both those last 2 sentences. My mornings are manic, Mr Stressy and boys have calm mornings.

Alarm goes off at 6.45. I get up and make a cup of tea while Mr Stressy goes back to sleep for 10 mins. I take tea upstairs then head straight back down to make the packed lunches. Mr Stressy has a shower, boys stir bleary eyed and come down to watch TV, raiding the biscuit tin on their way. I empty the washer and hang up the wet washing. Boys shout me to come and watch some funny thing on the telly. Put down wet washing and go to see some inane rubbish on the goggle box. Finish hanging washing up. Empty dishwasher and put pots away. Set up breakfast. Line up lunches ready for collection. Mr Stressy comes downstairs and complains that the condensation on the upstairs windows is very bad and can I please wipe them down as he is far too rushed.

He goes to work. I dry the windows. Eldest son goes into bathroom then heads back downstairs to torment brother. Much yelling and screaming, Peacekeeper Mum rushes downstairs to restore order. Having nearly won the Nobel Peace Prize, it's my turn to use the bathroom. Half way through shower, knock on door - eldest son needs money (don't they always?). Leave the peace of a shower and drip back downstairs to find cash. Dry hair, slap some make up on, get dressed, charge back downstairs, grab breakfast then leave for the relative peace of work.

It is no wonder I often arrive somewhat frazzled. Where am I going wrong? Answers on a postcard please.

BOOO!!!!

Happy Halloween one and all.

I have been spectacularly bad at blogging of late. Sorry. Half term is one of those busy times - I had planned on doing so much knitting, getting so much finished and not casting anything else on... Well, the thought was there wasn't it?

I have finished something though. My nephew wanted a cushion to match one I made him years ago. So I have made one of my Christmas presents. Hooray for me! I did this very quickly because it's in the truly hideous Sirdar Foxy . A horror to knit with, a horror to feel and it squeaks so much. I shall have to educate said nephew in the delights of Posh Yarn. He really needs serious help I feel!
So glad that you all like the Golden Wedding Blanket too. I made another square - these flower ones take an age to do, but are worth every minute spent on them.

I've cast on 2 new things. The first is a Baktus scarf, not shown here, that can wait for another day. The second is this. I'm going to tease you and not say what this is. You know how I love clever knitting? Well this is clever beyond all imagining. How someone could design a pattern like this is beyond me. Keep watching to see how this mystery object transforms into something very pretty.
On the weight-loss front, I didn't get weighed this week as I went away for a few days. I am still trying hard though, but am starting to find it a bit difficult and more of a chore now. Determined to reach my target by Christmas though.

Had to go clothes shopping this week - my clothes are all now huge and look very stupid. Strange how I couldn't button up the trousers a few months ago - now they just fall down! Although it feels very good, it's a double-edged sword and is costing a small fortune. But never mind eh?

Must go and make a gruesome pudding now. I think it will have to be something green and monstrous just for Halloween. Youngest son wants strawberry jam 'blood' incorporated somewhere in it. He used to be so nice...

Golden Wedding blanket

It occurs to me that although I've talked about the Golden Wedding Blanket a lot, I've not shown you a progress picture for quite some time. I've been ordering more yarn and buying more and looking at it and stroking it and generally ooohing and aahhing over it all. Just look at these colours, don't they all look so pretty together?

There is, of course, way more yarn than I need for this project. I tend to panic buy though, always wondering if I'll run out, dreading the outcome if I've not got enough to finish that one last square. But I don't think that will happen do you? (Even though secretly I'm already worried about the amount of cream yarn left for the background hearts and flowers...)

So anyway, here it is so far. I'm planning on making it 11 x 9 squares, so am not even half way yet. However, now that the Mystery Blanket is done, I can concentrate on this one much more.

Well, once I've cast on a few more new projects, completed a bit of Christmas knitting and maybe had another go at attacking a few more WIP's..

Very quickly...

Mr Stressy is due home any minute and tea still isn't even started let alone ready. I just wondered how the diets have gone this week? Nobody's e-mailed me to say they've lost anything. I'm down another pound.

Oh, and is it just me, but does everyone's ironing pile seem to breed and multiply by the second? I swear my laundry basket could teach rabbits a thing or two about reproduction!

Mystery Blanket 2009

Yes, Rhiannon, (ah how I love that name!) you are indeed correct. The finished project is the Mystery Blanket. It is done, finished, completed. I have actually finished something!

Forgive the quality of the pictures, it's a very grey day here so the colours aren't coming out as well as they should. But I was so excited, I just couldn't wait to show you - I'm not going to hang on for a sunny day, goodness knows when that could be!

I have trouble picking a favourite square, I like most of them, but I think this Fair Isle one would be quite high on the list. I love stripes and I love fair isle. But then I love the beads too and the sequins. I have, however, hated knitting the red lacy one. It took so much longer than all the others.
The centre square was in the last parcel to arrive and kept us all guessing. Love that one too.
I did originally want to use this as a wall hanging but it's very heavy and as you can see from the picture, the squares are being stretched into rectangles. So it will be just another blanket to warm me up on those chilly winter evenings.

I have so enjoyed this whole Mystery Blanket project that I've already signed up for next year (not thinking about the price though...) anyone else fancy joining in?

And you know what? Now that I have actually finished something, I'm quite keen to finish something else. But first I must get up to date with the Golden Wedding squares and start my Christmas knitting. Oh what a shame, that means I'll have to cast on something new. Dear oh dear.

Saturday Pudding

Just to further enhance the torture which I seem to be putting myself through, I made cake for Saturday pudding. Well, cake and cookies to be exact. It was too hard to resist. I ate a cookie and a teeny piece of cake. Both tasted very good - my first cake in a very long time.

I convinced myself to be strong and leave the rest alone though. This was my pudding.

Too much to scoff alone, so all the rest of the family helped me out. They're kind like that.

Oh, and please do come back tomorrow. There is exciting news. I have a finished project to show you. And it's a very lovely finished object, if I do say so myself.