The runaways....

This weekend I dog sat my brother's 2 Beagles, whilst he took his wifey off for a romantical night away.

They look sweet enough don't they?

I bet you're looking at these photos, cooing and saying "aaahhhhh". 

I bet you're thinking those beautiful creatures couldn't possibly get up to mischief.

Do not be fooled by their cuteness.

At precisely 6:30am yesterday morning, whilst I was out walking them, they ran away.

I don't think the locals living by the park, appreciated the swearing, cussing and shouting going on outside their windows at that time on a Sunday morning.

Could I get them to come back?  Could I hell.

I ended up going home, and returning to the park half an hour later.

And, guess what?  There they were, frollicking about without a care in the World!

 Naughty Pepper

Naughty Caster

*

Is it a bird? Is it is plane?

Yesterday I posted this picture..

 

and asked you to guess what I made with it.

Well, I made this....

Turning Violet into this....

Check out those Superhero moves of hers :0)

I've been planning on making her a Superhero cape for quite some time because she's always going on about rescuing people, trying to fly and calling herself Superhero Violet.  

My original plan was to make a cape using some bright yellow or gold 'Superhero' fabric, but when I couldn't find either of those, I picked out some shiny red and a purple, harlequin, and the flashy stars fabric that you see in the top photo.  The fabrics cost a few quid each (for a metre), plenty to make a couple of capes for my wonnabe Superhero.

I quickly searched on the wonder that is the WWW and came across this Clever Little Cape pattern by Apple Cyder.  It seemed just what I was looking for.

I didn't print out the pattern onto tracing paper first, I just drew an outline straight onto my fabric by eye,  pinned the 2 fabrics together, did a little prayer, and cut it all out.

The instructions were very easy to follow - though, being the novice sewer that I am, I'm not quite sure I stuck to them rigidly.  

Likes:

*I'm very happy with how my first Superhero cape turned out.

*Violet was more than impressed.

*The fabric was cheap.

*Very quick to make.

Dislikes:

*None that I can think of at the moment, but it has only been a couple of days.

& will there be a next time?

*Definitely, though next time I'll change the way the cape fastens, and will probably use Velcro rather than a ribbon.  That's not because I don't like the ribbon fastening, I just feel that it would be safer and more manageable for Violet.

*Also, I'll probably take a little longer on adding an applique emblem/badge.

So a very big thank you to Molly @Apple Cyder for the inspiration and pattern.

I look forward to making my next cape using the purple and harlequin fabrics, I may even attempt to make some Superhero arm cuffs and a belt.

*

Not a minute to spare...

I didn't intend on not blogging for a week or so, but as you all know, life just gets in the way sometimes and you find yourself without a minute to spare.

Violet and I have been kept very busy trying to tidy up the garden, when the sun shone, and painting her playroom when it didn't.  I'm expecting some child welfare group or Social Services to come knocking on my door any day, accusing me of forcing Violet into child labour.  She genuinely seems to love 'pottering' about though, and is quite happy spending the day either in her gardening gloves, or covered in paint.

Her playroom was previously a dark terracota colour, it's taken 4 coats to cover it up with a more subtle dove grey.  Perhaps not your first choice of colour for a child's playroom you may be thinking, but it'll make a great neutral background colour for bright artwork and other decorations that I've got planned.

Here's a photo of Violet enjoying a bit of cooking in her new room.  You can just make out the colour on the walls.

I did intend on painting the chimney breast wall in blackboard paint, but this plan soon got vetoed by Violet's dad.

I'll post more photos as the room takes shape.  

If any of you have some great ideas for children's playrooms, please let me know.   

Whilst I'm on the topic of decorating, just look at the fab things that have been going on in Violet's bedroom.

The butterflies are wall stickers, which I saw quite by chance on a brief trip to Ikea late on Saturday afternoon.  Violet absolutely loves them, and even went "WOW" when I'd stuck them around the walls.  

The rocket mobile is from a great children's book called the Alien Spotter's Guide by Simon Bartram. 

I think I scored quite highly on the Parent's point that day :0)

I've become a little behind on my knitting of late, but have had to pick up my needles again because my friends keep popping babies out. 

I'm knitting another pram blanket, using the same pattern I used on the previous one, which is the Honeycomb Waves Blanket pattern by Tahira Probst.  I'm even using the same yarn as last time, which is Patons UK Colour Works Aran, but this time around, I'm only using 2 different colourways (red/orange & blue/green).

Hopefully, it will be another rather quick knit, and I'll be able to post it off to the new arrival and his mother before the baby turns into a teenager.

I've also got a few other 'bits & bobs' to show you, but perhaps I should leave these until another post.  

Here's a sneak peak of the material I used for one project.  Can you guess what I made?