Birthday Weekend

My ravelry invite has arrived. I am 'whatkatiedid' if anyone else is signed up too - I only have one friend - Julie - who I added without asking, so she might choose to take her knitting bag home with her? So you can be my friend too if you like. How sad am I?

Not sure if Ravelry is going to be wonderful or another way to waste spend time on the internet? Anyone out there who has been at this party longer than me and can give me a clue here?

And speaking of parties, we didn't really have a party for my Dad's birthday, but we had a lovely day.

Bit of a dodgy photo there - sorry Dad. But have a look at these. My Mum has been knitting hats for Innocent Smoothie Drinks ever since I first told her about them. I think she should think about stopping soon.........

But I don't think my Mum - or my Dad for that matter have any idea how to be less than busy. This is another work in progress in one of Mums sewing rooms - she has more than one - naturally!

This is a single bed quilt Mum is making. Just the last corner to hand quilt now. Look at those hands fly!

I love the zingy colours on the creamy white background

so plenty of craft things on this post and None Of Them From Me, unless you count the (rather ordinary) sponge cake! Happy Birthday Dad!

Mum's not the only one! This is a commission my Dad is working on for a neighbour who wants a Biblical Scene for a Nativity for her grandchildren. (no real hurry - she hasn't got any yet)

Comments

[Lucy Locket-Pocket]

Hi Katie - I love your mum's quilt - the colours and contrasts are stunning! Just been listening to Jane Brocket on Radio 4 - have you bought the book yet? Lucy x

[RachelB]

Those hats are fab and what a great photo you should send it to them for featuring on their web page!!!! Or you should phone them on the big banana phone - I have seen a photo it really is a big banana.

That quilt is just gorgeous as well - I am not patient enough for that game though

Rachel

[Hanna]

I'm iHanna at revalery as usuall. Add me, you know I'm a friend. I have no use for that site but it IS very cool if have a big yarn stash, knit or crochet A LOT and want to share your projects and plans with others other than you own blog! :-) Waster or win? Hahah, up to you Katiediddi!

[Sarah]

I can certainly see where you get your craftiness from your Mum's work is great - those innocent hats make my few want to hide in the corner!! The quilt is an absolute beauty - and I'm sure the cake was yummy.

I'm a big Ravelry fan - mainly so I can ogle other peoples knitting and not feel so bad about all my stashed yarns. Definitely a great resource if you're looking for a bit of inspiration on what to knit or crochet next.

[heidi]

I tried to join Ravelry but they told me they are full! I have to wait for an invite. I'm really very impressed with your parents' work. They do keep busy! Love the hats, quilt and little sheds.

[Liz]

Love the quilt! About Ravelry - I joined, wasn't sure how much I'd use it. But the main database is so useful for seeing what other people have made with a particular yarn, or who's made a particular pattern and what they've done with it, that I've ended up adding quite a bit of my info in there too; and it's nice for showing off those secret presents when your family read your blog! (I'm 'greensideknits' on Ravelry).

[carolyn]

now I know where you get all your crafty goodness...it's in the genes!

[julie]

I'm glad you're on ravelry now - I logged in earlier and saw you there - thanks for being my friend! I can't believe how many hats your mum has knitted - quite amazing. I'll have to ask her what her secret is for knitting so quickly - my hands have been hurting a lot recently so I've had to have more breaks from my beloved activity :( I love seeing how creative your parents are - it obviously runs in the family.

[dottycookie]

Oh my goodness, how inadequate do I feel now? I think I might - note *might* - manage a grand total of 10 hats for the smoothies before I have to send them off. Her pompoms look great too!

[suzie sews]

Fab quilt and those hats cute...
I have ravelry envie...I have been waiting for ages...I listent oall the knitting blogs and I am getting to the stage of turning off the pod when they talk so wounderfully about it...So lucky you and enjoy the expereince...let us know how you get on

[rosie]

Greetings from a lurker! What a glorious clutch of hats (is there a collective noun for hats?) Do have fun in Ravelry, I love trawling it for inspiration and find the British Knitters group great for information and ideas. best of all is using the "friends" feature, then clicking on the blog tag, to find out when your friends update their blogs, and then clicking straight onto the new entry rather than having to do lots of typing (invaluable for someone like me who is a rubbish typist). (I'm caughtknitting)

[carolyn]

Happy Birthday to your Dad, love his little wooden houses and your Mum well she is obviously a human dynamo when it comes to little bobble hats. Sometimes I find the older generation really put me to shame, they have soo much energy.

[Maddy]

Dearest Katie,

I would just like to say a huge big THANK YOU for the wonderful parcel that has now arrived at my door. I feel so blessed to have met up with you on this amazing Internet.

I love all the things in the parcel and my Mum, who by the way is also a knitter and avid quilter, is going to teach me to knit something with the wool. I have been thinking of doing a neck warmer as I do love them so.

All the things in the parcel are wonderful and I especially love the book, random acts of kindness.

Thankyou once again, all my love,
Maddy

[willow]

I was just thinking this afternoon that I should pop over to ravelry and stick my name in. I see where you get your creative streak. Tell your mum I love the hats.

[joy]

a very happy birthday to your dad, and love that quilt your mum is making, you are so lucky give them a big hug.

[Rebecca]

I am still waiting for my Ravelry invite, I was a bit late on the bandwaggon and now I feel I am the only person in the world not "in" (OK, bit of an exaggeration there, but the only one in the knitting world anyway).

Those hats are brilliant, I knitted a few but nowhere near as many as that.

[melissa]

happy birthday to your dad! i love that quilt- it makes me think of a kaleidoscope- it's beautiful!

[CharlieP]

Wow! Incredible! All those hats and that beautiful quilt. Innocent are going to be very happy indeed :D

[commonplaceiris]

I don't remember whether I've commented before but I've been reading your blog a while now. I'm so impressed by the productivity level of your parents, and a little jealous! That quilt is beautiful.
I got into Ravelry at the beginning of the month and I'm trying to get the benefits without wasting all of my free time there!! At the moment I'm still working on adding to my stash, library and projects lists. Already got totally carried away with the queue of projects I want (or wish I had time) to make! I think once I get all of that sorted out it's going to save me a lot of time when I want to start a new project -- pick something from my to-do list, check out how it worked for people who've already made it, look for suitable yarn in my stash and get out the needles! And it looks as though the forums can be very helpful if you run into difficulties.

[Tash]

Looks like you had a wonderful time! And the hats are wonderful... hats off to your Mum for making that many (excuse the pun!). I've signed up to try Ravelry, it looks quite useful but I can imagine it may need a good bit of setting up if you plan to add every single ball of wool from ones stash to it!

[weirdbunny]

Fantastic quilt, I love the colours. And how cool is that to have building in a nativity scene. I collect nativitys, but none have an array of buildings, so cool. ~ love Julia x

[mary jane]

Those hat pictures are wonderful! Both your parents are amazing!

[Kate/Massachusetts]

Hi Katie! Your Mum's quilt really caught my eye! It is stunning! Is it a printed pattern or did she make it up? Also, her hats are gorgeous/what a great idea! Your Dad's Nativity is lovely! I wish you lived near me! I would love to hang out with all of you when you are in full creative mode!! :-)