i like that and that and that, mummy

The new Cath Kidston catalogue arrived this morning and I was overwhelmed with excitement by the time I had a chance to browse through it after our shopping trip out.  I always skim through it quickly before going back through the pages and studying everything intently.  I LOVE Cath Kidston.  Anyway, I squealed with delight when I came across the nightwear section of the dossier.  They had some bed socks which I was desperate for last Christmas (Santa clearly didn't share my love for them) and, wondering why I was so happy, twin one rushed over and proceeded (much to my delight and James' horror) to pick out the following items he thought I would like to have.  He then moved onto these...  That's my boy!

crocheting :: attempt 1

For the longest time I have wanted to learn how to crochet.  I have watched my mum doing it for years and have always been amazed at how quickly she can whip up rounds and rounds of granny squares.  I would say that I am a fairly accomplished knitter- I may only knit fairly basic things, but I can at least hold the needles, follow patterns and tend to know one end of the wool from the other.  When it comes to crochet, however, I am at a loss- the terms all sound double dutch to me and for some reason, I simply cannot hold a hook and manipulate the wool at the same time.

Until the other day....Around Christmas-time I attempted (very briefly) to make a simple chain- and gave up almost immediately.  Then the other week I showed my mum this post, from the wonderful Attic24, as I figured she would love to be able to crochet granny stripes instead of squares.  When I saw her the other day she had started a test run of stripes and, feeling brave, I decided to have a go- and I did it....not very well, I might add.  I am pretty clumsy, count like a madman to myself, cannot for the life of me hold the wool in any normal way, but I managed to complete three quarters of a row.  All.by.myself.  (See the dodgy section- there, in the middle- that's my bit)!!

teddy bear's picnic :: part 2

So, after a few technical hitches here on blogger, and not much free time to boot, here are a few snapshots I took whilst trying to salvage the boy's notion of a teddy bear's picnic.

After the debacle of our failed trip I decided to treat the boys to one of their own, so while they had their nap I quickly downloaded the 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' song, grabbed a few sweety treats and laid out some place settings on our trusty picnic rug.

I think it went down fairly well.