five women and a baby

Life has been a blur lately, with deadlines and late nights and more deadlines, long long meetings and lots of child-related activities on the side.

So going away for a bloggy crafty weekend was a welcome, restorative little island of calm amidst the chaos. Beautiful surroundings and inspirational and fun company in the form of four wonderful women and a baby were just what I needed. It rained, it shone, sewing machines hummed, magnificent food was consumed, and in the quiet mornings and evenings we sat around on the couches knitting, crocheting and swapping craft books and magazines. Oh, and we fitted a bit of talking in there too.

We emerged from the house once, briefly, for a late afternoon walk on the beach.











I didn’t achieve nearly as much as I hoped, but I did cut out a red riding hood cape, progressed on another pair of wrist warmers, completed a knitted hat (no photos as it is part of a set not yet finished - watch this space) and made my very first soft toy.

Behold.

The Bunny.





The bottom was fudged a bit but I learnt some valuable lessons and I’m pleased with the end result, particularly his friendly, quizzical expression. I hope his tiny new owner will grow fond of him too (at least, if I can prise him out of Son #3’s hands and get him in the post next month).

The pattern is one of the Wee Wonderfuls freebies, and he is made from a vintage (posh word for old) sheet and wool blanket. He’s stuffed with pure wool fleece from Sandra’s shop.

All in all, it was a truly great weekend, and one which was over far too soon. Thanks Sooz for organising it, Sandra for getting the house (!), Di for being my travel companion, Janet for being my roommate, Wil for being cute beyond reason and all of you for a fabulous weekend.

Until next time.