Honestly?

See this bag....rather empty hey?  Well....I decided to be honest with myself and pull out all my unfinished projects....hhhhmmmm......dangerous ground.

So first one out is this ten-stitch twist....reason it's in the bag is that I've forgotten how to do it....simple problem easily solved I guess...

Second one....a pair of two at a time socks, put down and not picked up again.....

Last Dance on the Beach CAL.....I have done over half of this ....possibly even 2/3s

This is a re-entry....you may be able to just spot the issue....its a beautiful blanket, but the side has unravelled and I need to remember how to do the stitch so I can fix it again.....so simple, but again, enough to stop me getting on with it.  (Actually, I see that there a lot of areas along the side that look dangerously like they will unravel in time, so I'm actually wondering about sewing a border onto it and catching it all up with the machine, I think the yarn is quite smooth and therefore is slipping out where its been sewn in....ggggrrrrrr!)

This hat has never been near my head, as I could probably fit three heads in it...I was so gutted I just put it away...but brave I must be and unravel....maybe I should choose a different hat pattern altogether now....

Dream Stripes shawl...put down, never picked up again....

Another crocheted shawl which is just s-l-o-w, I like it, but I can see me putting it in the bag as it needs to be about ten times longer!

Another light weight wrap thing....I found the joining method on this so difficult to understand that although I got it right twice with some help, I can't remember how....(notice a theme here?)

A 'made-up as I went along' shawl which is really pretty, but it's a bit small and I need to add some more on to make it more wearable.

A started baby blanket, which stopped when I ran out of the multi-coloured yarn and couldn't find it again...so frustrating...

A Christmas table runner....no idea where the pattern is....

A shawl which I gave up on because the pattern was difficult to follow, although I wonder on looking at it now why exactly as there seems so little detail for so much effort....no idea where the pattern was from.....ooooopppppsss!

My first ever crochet project, stopped as I ran out of one of the reds....if I hadn't already sewn so much together I would add another colour in....rookie mistake...no idea what to do with this....its fairly wide so far, but pretty narrow.

Oooohhh....I had totally forgotten about this one, my temperature blanket with a square for each day showing the lows and highs of  temperature....I think I've done two months....

A last minute whim Christmas pattern which I just could not get my head around....

The cable beginning of wrist warmers....this really was the most fiddly part of the pattern, all they need is the sides putting on and sewing up.....

So that is all the projects neatly folded and sorted back into my big bag.

I've seen a few people referring to unfinished projects and I've always been slightly in fear over what was actually in my big bag....it isn't as bad as I thought somehow...in fact, I wouldn't even feel guilty if I started something new ;-)

But seriously, first port of call is the CAL blanket, as it is pretty close to finish, then I need to bite the bullet and unravel some of the things which I put down as I really didn't like them and then oooohhh, I can start planning some more unfinished projects :-)

Summer

Well, as ever, my life can hardly be described as uneventful.  These school holidays have been filled with all sorts of bits and bobs.  I often think I haven't done much until I look back through my pictures.  It must be the sign of a blogger (up-to-date or not!) who always takes photos of everything!

So a quick look at just a few makes, the above ripple is for biggest boy, and actually is now finished, ends sewn in, border added and in situ on bed (I must go and rescue it to take some pics before it is too lived-in)

The below toe up socks are Lousie Tillbrook's Have Fun Socks, and were started rather haphazardly, ripped out after realising I wasn't concentrating and have gone so far and been put down in favour of crochet....I'm sure they will come back in to their own when I am back on the school runs again next week.  It is nice to have a take-a-long project.

Biggest boy has been away on a church camp with friends and was part of a nativity dress-up (he was dressed as Michael Jackson....don't ask!) and a last minute non-delivery of wings meant that I was rustling up these at midnight before they left early the next morning.  I love a challenge....I also love the fact I have one of everything in my craft cupboard!  

I've had my sewing machine out a few times recently and have rustled up a number of cushions, which is a great short job that I enjoy.  Cushions that I have made for our caravan.

This is a patchwork cushion cover made up with wool blanket remnants from a local woolen mill.  I made this for an old Welsh friend who now lives in America.  The word 'Hiraeth' is a welsh word for a homesickness for Wales.  I really enjoyed making this....such an enjoyable make.

I have done loads of baking, actually, I think I've truly bought up much of the baking section in our local supermarket.  We've had friends to stay and I've baked until I've dropped a few times for various get togethers.  This cake below was a requested pig birthday cake....hhhmmm...

What with all the baking, there has had to be a bit of activity too.  I have taken up a bit of running again, although the term running  is used loosely!  As a family (even the dog) we have done a couple of Parkruns which have a weekly 5k run about an hour away from us.  My hubby is a runner and a nutter so he cycles the 30 or so miles to  the parkrun and then runs at snails pace with me at the back, and then cycles back home....impressive on his part, less so on mine...but hey, its an effort in the right direction!

Middle boy wanting to be like his Dad in everything has done a couple of kid's triathlons and this is him after the most recent one, which was a mudbath but much fun was had despite taking a good slide along a muddy field and landing flatout....up he gets, grinning from ear to ear and came in third in his small group.

And here he is, the hubster himself after completing a middle distance triathlon Ocean Lava Wales. This is a pre-cursor to The Big-One which is Iron Man in three short weeks' time.  The Iron Man is a 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike and a 26.2mile run.

I'm so proud of him, its only 18months since he did his first run, a half marathon on a foggy beach.

If only I had some of that determination....can you imagine how many things I could crochet and knit!