Operation Move House: part 1

Tomorrow, we are having our house photographed to be put up for sale.

It's with a heavy heart that we are (hopefully) moving on from this house. We moved in on 30th June 2005, just over four weeks before our second child, our first son, was born. I spent those four weeks, manically trying to get the house how I wanted it before he arrived. It took a lot longer than that though, and there are still things we never quite got around to doing!

When we moved here, we had a litter of teeny kittens, that were only a few days old! Moving our cat, Millie, and her babies was a delicate operation. She had nested in a box full of towels so we had to move that box, complete with four kittens, and Millie to our new house without stressing them out! We were held up for a number of hours but finally got moved in by the evening. Millie and her kittens were put safely in a bedroom. The next few weeks were fun, seeing them grow and become braver and very mischievous. We kept one of them and the other three went to homes of various friends. The last one was collected the day before child #2 was born! 

So, within a few days, all but one of the kittens left us, and our new baby came home to our new house. We celebrated our first Christmas here, with a baby, a toddler and two cats. We began the tradition of buying real Christmas trees in this house as we had a bit more room. That has become a real occasion, and Christmas tree buying day is an event in itself!

A few months after that, we brought a cocker spaniel puppy to join our home! As if life wasn't mental enough. She did all the usual puppy naughtiness but settled down eventually to be a loving, devoted, family dog. She's 8 this week and still as crazy as ever, although she sleeps a bit more these days.

The first year in our home was pretty manic, but it really doesn't feel like almost nine years since we moved in. We have since brought home two more beautiful baby boys, so have definitely outgrown this house. I think we all have mixed feelings about moving, sadness at leaving the home that is full of so many memories, excitement at the prospect of moving to a bigger house where our family can grow up and we can have a bit more storage space!

I just really hope it sells quickly as I'm not sure how long we can keep it this tidy for!

Crochet confusion part 2: worsted yarn

It feels odd referring to the stuff I have called "wool" all my life, as "yarn". The Americans are right though, it is yarn. Wool is defined as a fibre obtained from the coats of animals. Yarn is the term to describe a continuous length of interlocked fibres. So the pedant in me insists that I now call it yarn. 

When I started crocheting, I had a plentiful supply of yarn left over from my knitting days, but it wasn't the yarn they were recommending on patterns. Most patterns called for a "worsted weight yarn". Say what? I had no idea. Turns out that worsted weight is approximately equivalent to our aran weight. That is, unless the pattern is asking for light worsted or heavy worsted...they are totally different! (double knitting and chunky to us in the UK).

Why can't these things be the same the world over? Why can't we all use the same terms to describe our yarns? Why can't we all decide to just call the crochet hooks their actual size ie a 5mm hook (as is UK convention), rather than a "H" hook (US!)? Why is our single crochet a US double crochet?!

Sorry, back to yarn. 

So, I spent the first few months using aran weight yarn, not convinced it was the right stuff, but my items worked up ok so I was happy.

I was browsing the Wool Warehouse site, looking for some cotton yarns to make lighter hats, more suited to spring and ordered lots of balls of gorgeousness like this one...

Can you imagine my excitement when I spotted this on the label!

Finally I could feel confident that I was using the correct yarn. I hadn't used cotton before so thought I'd do a couple of little projects to try out the pretty new additions to my stash. 

I used the solid colours (Drops Paris) to make a cover for my phone using a pattern from Moogly. I lost some stitches along the way so it is far from perfect but it was good for getting used to using an inelastic fibre. I might even make a matching one for my laptop. 

 I loved working with the Lily Sugar n Cream Ombres to make this little hat. Gorgeous colours, perfect for spring days.

The cotton works up beautifully, giving a really polished finish to items. It is more expensive than acrylic yarns and less forgiving when it comes to sizing, but I think I will be buying a lot more cotton, worsted yarn in the future. 

Crochet confusion

When I started crocheting, I soon realised that Americans were into crochet in a much bigger way than Brits. Or maybe it's just because there are more of them so all the instructional videos were from the USA. This caused me and my crocheting buddies some confusion. Turns out US and UK crochet terms don't actually mean the same thing. But both countries use the same terms, oh maaaaan. For anyone else who is confused, here is a handy conversion table...

Most patterns I have come across on the web, use US terms. UK pattern books are the only place I have seen UK terms used. Even UK designers on the web tend to use US terms.

For anyone who is starting out, This useful graphic turned up on my Facebook feed this morning, courtesy of Oombawka design crochet...

Many people have asked me to teach them to crochet, but the truth is I just used YouTube videos when I was initially learning to crochet, mainly this series. I still regularly use the videos to check I am doing the correct thing or if I come across a new stitch. I would love to run crochet lessons but I'm still considering the logistics. Ask me to teach some Chemistry, fine. Crochet? Where do I start?! 

So, until then, just get yourself a 5mm hook (aluminium), a ball of aran weight yarn in a light shade and settle down with the YouTube videos. 

WARNING: CROCHET IS ADDICTIVE.

Teachers' strike

Today, my second child is off school. His teacher is striking. No other teachers in that school are striking though which has made that particular class very unpopular, and #1 child was pretty furious at the injustice of it all!

I'm in a funny situation, as a teacher who is a member of the NUT, I would absolutely be joining the strike action today if I wasn't on maternity leave. I fully support #2's teacher in his decision to strike and I hope that it will make an impression on Mr Gove et al.

However, I feel guilty that I am pleased my eldest child's teacher ISN'T striking. She is in year 6, the most important year of her school life so far, and is a few weeks away from taking her SATs. While I don't agree with the way 10 and 11 year olds are put under such pressure in order to meet targets, I am well aware that her results will influence her secondary education. For that reason alone, this school day is really precious to her. She knows she has to grasp every learning opportunity.

Is this hypocritical? Probably. But, as a parent, it has made me appreciate what teachers do even more. I'm sure parents across the country with children who are in critical years of their education feel the same, as well as the parents who are inconvenienced by having to find childcare for the day or take annual leave.

How will it affect the people who govern our country though? Yes, they'll see we're not happy (although I'm sure they are well aware) but it's doubtful they will personally feel the effects. It all seems a bit futile now. I only started my teaching career five years ago, but it has been peppered with strike action, suffered major upheaval at the hands of Gove and the constant threat of Ofsted has affected everyone, children included.

I don't know what the future holds for the teaching profession, but I certainly can't see things changing soon. This makes me feel sad, not only for schools and their staff, but most of all for the children, the "learners", who will suffer the effects far more than we can realise now.

As for those striking, it's a pretty good bet that many will spend the day trying to make a dent in their "to do" list.

From knitter to hooker...

I have been a knitter ever since my lovely Mam taught me when I was about seven. I remember making knitted dolls as gifts when I was a teenager. I even had to make a replacement for my friend's toddler cousin as he was devastated at losing the original!

However, as an adult, I always struggled with completing items. I managed to make ONE mitten for my precious first born. Parenting fail indeed. I didn't do much knitting until a few years later when I was expecting #3. I managed to make a blanket AND a cardigan before he was born!

(We won't discuss the lack of buttons on the cardi...)

I made this hat when he was a few months old and got a good way through the matching jumper. I still have a beautiful fair isle tank top in my knitting bag. By the time I finished it (although the loose ends STILL need to be weaved in, two years later!), it didn't fit over his head! *sob*

So, knitting. I enjoy it, but it takes me so long and for some reason, I only have a 40% completion rate.

Fast forward a couple of years...I was very heavily pregnant, it was the middle of August and I couldn't move much. So I thought I'd give crochet a go. Again. I had tried it a year or so before but struggled. Probably because I only had a 2.5mm hook which is very, very tiny and probably meant for elves or something. I watched a few YouTube videos, bought some more hooks and gave it a go. And it just clicked! I was hooked ;-)

The first item I made was a simple headband, followed by a baby hat, then I started on the novelty hats. The rest, as they say, is history.

My first project

Excuse the creepy doll...

A week later I completed this!

I have a lovely friend who knits for me now!

My little crochet business

I launched my little business, Betty's Bells and whistles in February 2014 and have certainly been kept busy since then! 

I make items to order and made all the parts of this hat last night in between multiple visits to settle my 6 month old. I had hoped to complete it last night but the baby had other ideas! He had a good nap this morning so I used that time to get it finished and here it is... 

I love it, it's so cute.  Once I have completed items, I check them meticulously to make sure they're perfect and then wrap them to protect them in transit. 

I recently ordered some labels (as well as business cards) from vistaprint and I'm very happy with the quality and design of them. They really finish off the packaging. Here it is, wrapped and ready to go... 

I even managed to fit in a cuppa and a biscuit before the baby woke!

What to do with a sunny Sunday?

It's a beautiful sunny morning here in Cumbria so I suppose we (read, the husband) should get on with doing some jobs in the garden. We are hoping to move house this year but before we can even put it on the market, we feel we need to get it in the best possible condition.

Unfortunately, this part of the process is taking much longer than anticipated! With four children to look after, finding the time to get these jobs done is hard. Keeping on top of the general housework is hard!

Still, a sunny day can't be wasted...the grass desperately needs cutting! If it's cut today, that means we need to get onto the estate agents this week, before we need to cut it again! Eek :-|

A quick project

I've been desperate to make a start on this hat for a few days now! I've cleared my crochet orders so I'm spending a few days making some bits and pieces for my baby boys. The lady who designed this pattern has a fab blog, Adventures of KT and the Squid, full of wonderful patterns, instructional videos and top tips for selling crochet items. I'm sure I'll be using many of her patterns in the future. 

I chose grey as the main colour, it hides all kinds of toddler grubbiness! Orange is the toddler's favourite colour at the minute and the green looks good next to both colours (I may have my eye on a green summer jacket for him...). 

So, back to the hooking. Hopefully it will be ready for him to wear tomorrow.

Edited to add: 

I completed the hat that night but the boychild refused to wear it! It turned out he didn't like the peak, so I ripped it back and just added another row of single crochet. He wore it, but not for long enough for me to take a photo! So here's a pic of the finished article. 

It's lovely and soft and the colourful cotton yarns add a nice texture. The cotton isn't as stretchy as the grey, acrylic yarn so not sure I would mix and match fibres again. Think I will try one for the baby that is just in cotton yarns. 

At least he will appreciate my lovingly created wares!

Banter begins here!

Oooh, well, this is exciting! I've thought a few times about starting a blog but always wondered what I would actually write about. I'm still not sure but being a crochet loving mother of four and a science teacher in my spare time, I suppose most posts will be about crafting, parenting or education issues. Other things that may be up for discussion include my mental cocker spaniel, local theatre, small businesses and trying to move house.

I spend most evenings crocheting, but tonight I'm going to play with my blog and change the background to something pretty. Then maybe some crochet ;-)