Autumn Days

I love this time of year! I like the fact that it’s time to get out the hats, scarves and gloves. It’s time for comfort food, bonfires, conkers,  Halloween and the red, orange, greens and golds of autumn leaves. 

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I know some people find Halloween offensive but I have always viewed it as a bit of harmless fun where children can dress up, play games and enjoy themselves.  It’s believed that Halloween actually comes from the Celtic pagan festival of Samhain, which was a celebration of the end of the harvest season, and as we slip and trip into the misery, coldness and ice that is winter (you might guess I’m not a fan!) why shouldn’t we have a bit of fun I say!

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Little G absolutely loves Halloween it’s probably her most favourite day (after her birthday) and she pretty much talks about it all year round asking how many days until the next one is (this usually starts the day after the last one has ended).  For her Halloween is totally about dressing up and playing jokes. As it’s been half term week here the children have been off school so there have been plenty of places to visit which offer Halloween / Autumn activities.

We took a trip to Moseley Old Hall with my mum and dad to do some pumpkin carving which was good and messy. The excellent thing about pumpkin carving is the innards being transformed into warming pumpkin soup served with crusty garlic bread (yummmm).  

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Children were encouraged to dress up and the house and woods were great fun for exploring.  They have a really awesome tree house in the woods and Little G enjoyed building some dens out of logs, rope and stones with her grandparents.

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It was the best sort of Autumn day, a bit chilly but dry with a bright blue sky and crunchy leaves underfoot.   I think we all enjoyed a walk in the crisp air to blow the cobwebs away!

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Another day we went with some family friends to a trick or treat village where Little G was a cute cat and Little Miss an adorable pumpkin.

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The hat pattern is the Pumpkin-Top Earflap Hat by Kimberlie Goodnough. I’ve made it a few times now, it’s such a fun hat to make, quick to hook up and just perfect for Halloween / Autumn.  I did change the pattern slightly; I didn’t add the ear-flaps on this occasion and just added a scalloped trim to finish it off. 

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The yarn I used was Stylecraft Special Aran in Spice and Meadow which are just perfect pumpkin colours. 

So now Halloween has passed it’s on wards to bonfire night! I need to finish off some new winter hat designs for my girls before the weekend so I’d better get on with it as hats unfortunately (as much as it would be amazing if they did) don’t crochet themselves!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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My daughter’s fifth birthday…

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I’m in a reflective mood today so this post isn’t about crochet for a change!  My baby girl is turning 5 today which is a pretty big deal to me!

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Five seems like such a grown up age, a real milestone, an age where babyhood is left behind as she begins to do all sorts of things by herself.  She’s going to school now, she’s beginning to read, she can pretty much get dressed by herself, she’s lost her first tooth…the list of her accomplishments grows and grows.  

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I’m so proud of her independence and how she is maturing yet I have the secret sadness (that I’m sure many mothers share) that I’m not prepared for the fact that she is growing up so fast!48.jpg

I have to say I thought she was pretty incredible at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 and I know she’s going to continue to fill our lives with love, joy and laughter as she turns 5 (and older) but there is still a big part of me that wants her to stay little forever! I want her to keep her innocence, continue to believe in fairies, and still think that wearing a really twirly dress is the best thing ever (well do we ever grow out of that?).

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As I see her getting older I know there will be a day where she doesn’t need me as much and whilst I know that will mean I have done a good job at the moment I can’t see that I will ever be ready for that day.  That said I know my memories of this time will fade, as these things inevitably do, as I concentrate on how fantastic my older child is.

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But thank goodness we are not quite there yet!  Today I finished work early so I could be there when she finished school.  We’ve made fabulous ice-cream creations with her new Playdoh set, we’ve played with her other toys and then we’ve all gone out to her favourite restaurant for a birthday tea; lovely memories for all!

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Well baby, I love you more than anything else in the world – even crochet! I hope you love your birthday as much as we love you!

xxx

Pattern Release: My First Puppets: Michael Monkey

Yay!  So I finally got round to finishing the third puppet in my set of four!  These poor designs started life back in November last year and then got interrupted by Christmas, life in general and Easter until I had a bit of free time to come back to them.  So finally here to join Mr Crocodile and Geraldine Giraffe IS… Michael Monkey!

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A mischievous little monkey that just loves ‘monkeying’ around!

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Puppets are just such classic toys.  My brother and I both had puppet animals when we were younger (a lion for me called Lionel and Bubbles the Monkey for my brother) and we loved playing with them.  I love seeing my daughter playing with her puppets now and love hearing the imaginary conversations and scenarios she acts out with them.

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Designed simply so that even the littlest of hands can make the puppets mouth move these hand puppets are a fun extension of pretend play that any child can engage in. Let your child take the lead and you’ll be amazed at where you will go together! 

Michael Monkey will be released on May 5 2014 and I will certainly be running a giveaway over on my Facebook page to celebrate so make sure you swing on by.  Also I will be running a special offer on Ravelry;buy Michael Monkey and get another puppet half price (so if you want all three you can get one of the puppets for FREE!) this offer will only run until for a limited time (May 10) so make sure you pick up your copy.

And I promise that I will finish the final puppet this year and offer them in an e-book as requested!