Somehow getting back into the swing of this whole blogging thing is proving tricky. I haven’t posted for a little while not because I haven’t been around, but because I think I’ve been over thinking the whole thing. I’ve been spending my days cleaning and reading and knitting and house hunting and through it all I’ve been composing blog posts in my head and coming up with ideas of what I’d like to post. Composing commentaries about what I’m doing is something I’ve always done, long before the blogging thing. While baking as a child I’d be presenting a tv cooking programme in my head. Somehow, though, I’ve reached the end of every day, without a clear idea of what to write, with only the odd picture taken before dark, with all of these half formed ideas, and every single day settling down to write any of them has become more of a challenge. I’ve finally reached the conlusion that the only way to tackle this problem is to stop thinking about it so much and just post something. Tomorrow I’ll post something else. And so it shall continue.

Thankyou to everyone who wished me luck with the exam results. Most of them went up a week late on Saturday, and I did pretty well. I’m still waiting on a couple but it looks like if I actually work lots this year a first is a possibility. So I went and bought some books, and have even almost finished one. I’m reading Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larson. Beautiful, strong, and also tragic writing. Fascinating and worth reading if you haven’t already.

I only found out / decided to move last week and it’s all rather exciting. It’s also a bit daunting, I’m trying to find somewhere in a very specific area, and I’ll be living by myself for the first time ever. I think that’s more excting than scary, but I’m not sure what the reality will be like. I’m certainly looking forward to being able to make a more dedicated craft space. We actually found a perfect flat and viewed it on Sunday only to discover that the owner had accepted an offer subject to survey which pretty much meant it was already sold. There is a similar looking flat across the road from that one, but the owners are proving decidedly elusive. And then there are the other flats we’ve seen, the ones with the damp and the crumbling walls, and the smells. Fun stuff.

One great effect of this moving thing is that it’s finally motivated me to clean properly. I’m a real hoarder, and messy but I actually hate mess. It’s obviously hypocritical but I spend crazy amounts of time just tidying up all my crap because I can’t do anything in the mess. Always before it’s done I make more mess, not to mention that I might be queen of the tidying up involves making more mess approach which usually ends halfway through at the messiest stage. At the moment, however I feel like I’m getting somewhere and it’s oddly satisfying. I’ve washed all of my clothes (literally) and the bathroom is sparkly. The pile of crap in the bottom of the wardrobe is gone, the clothes are ironed! and hung up again. I’m starting to sort out my crafty stuff and tomorrow I might actually tackle the stuff, and the dust, lurking under my bed. In a few days time I’m hoping to have the space to sew and the mindset that it’s ok to be crafting and that it’s not procrastination. Getting the dressform has really made me want to sew again.

Along with this somewhat mature attidue I’ve also for the first time ever got some plants and watched them flower, and grow. I’m not quite sure what to make of this, I keep expecting to wake up and see them shrivelled up and dead. Just to show them some extra love I made one of my plants a jumper.*

a couple of days ago I got out my needle case to darn a jumper. The darning didn’t go so well but I did take pictures of the needle case. Look how old and wonderful it is.

I’ve loved this forever, it used to be my mum’s and I used to sneak it out of her sewing box all the time until eventually I acquired it as mine. I made myself at least a couple of these but I never loved them as much as this one. It’s falling apart but isn’t quite ready to retire so I gave it a pretty new ribbon.

Why I adore it so much has always been a little inexplicable, but I do like all kinds of old needlecraft things, I love the packaging of old areo sock needles for example.

There has been knitting, but mostly it deserves more attention than I can give it with pictures taken after dark and this little getting back into the swing of it post. But the green Italian / Australian merino has become a little swatch sprinkled with buttons. Thanks to my friend Sean and the charity shop his mum works in I now have a button box all of my own.

That picture I did take in the dark, if you want to see the real colour scroll down a bit. ‘Tis bright though.

* it is possible that this jumper is actually a swatch that happened to be lying around while I was cleaning up and that fit the pot perfectly - but please don’t suggest this to my plant.