Temptations

I haven't been allowing myself to use my sewing machine and serger at the moment... why?! Well quite simply put.. because I have to organize my workroom, update my website(s), stock take and finish my end of year accounts. I know if I start using my machines then I say I'll do accounts tomorrow & then it'll be the day after & then next week etc.. so the only incentive that works for me is no sewing until they're done. It's been a hard task to stick to though!

One of my favourite pattern designers had an awesome one day sale on her patterns this month & another was looking for testers to sew up their next top secret designs and give feedback. I so very nearly caved in on the last one but I'm proud to say that I resisted. Mind you, the sneak preview photos of what they had needed to be tested has had me groaning and totally green with envy! 

Of course the temptations & distractions didn't stop there.. My favourite fabric designer has been posting sneak previews of her new fabric range available in May.. which means all I want to do is dream and work out what I want to sew with it! 

Then we've also had a fair amount of snow days this month & unfortunately the vomit goblin also paid our whole family a visit one by one.. so with both our children off school or us being poorly I wasn't able to concentrate fully. 

Thankfully though the end is in sight & I'm almost finished.. which means I'll soon get to order new fabrics and sew up some of those new patterns.. yes I caved on the one day sale - that was just too hard to resist lol :)

From thaw to freeze...

This time last week we were enjoying an unusual thaw.. It felt almost like spring! It was a welcome break from the minus -C temperatures and severe wind chill.

Of course we knew it wouldn't last and we didn't have to wait very long for more snow.. which our 2 children are thoroughly delighted about! 

Yesterday brought a big snow storm which closed all the schools in our area & today too as there's just so much snow to clear. We awoke this morning to a thick white blanket of about 12 inches with even deeper snow banks created by the plows when clearing the roads. 

We do have a path somewhere under there!

An hour or so later... AhHa, found it!

Snow days in NS mean having lots of outdoor snow fun with our 2 children & I do love having them both at home for these extra days off. One drawback though is my work time - which does get badly affected. My to do list is currently growing rather than shrinking and I think it might continue doing that for a while yet as it's still snowing outside... ❄️⛄️❄️

January is selfish knitting month!

Well the holidays passed in the blink of an eye didn't they?! All of a sudden it was the first Monday in January & our eldest was happily going back to school delighted to catch up with all of his friends. Our youngest on the other hand was sad.. she misses her brother greatly when he goes back to school especially when she still has another couple of weeks until her kindergarten starts again.

With snow on the ground & temperatures decidedly brrrrr with added negative wind chill.. playing outside has been in short bursts while wearing multiple layers of snow gear at the moment. So indoor play has mostly filled this week.. Lego building, art/crafts, having friends over to play & helping me organize & sort my supplies has kept us busy during the day.

After both are tucked up in bed and fast asleep I'm getting a chance to use my Christmas present... 7 skeins of squishy yummy merino yarns. I'm knitting something I've had at #1 in my ravelry queue for over a year now.. these thrummed mittens by Tanis http://www.ravelry.com/projects/fiona-kelly/thrummed-mittens & they're going to be for me! Rarely do I knit something for myself these days so I'm thoroughly enjoying my selfish evening knitting. I'm delighted with how they're coming along and love how the thrums make little POPs of colour amongst the dark purple.

 And the inside is just wild lol! 

Thrums are usually made of roving which is much thicker than my worsted weight yarn.. so i'm using 3 strands of yarn to make each my thrums & fortunately they're working great! 

So how has your 2014 been so far..  Have you been trying anything new or making plans for this year?