Hurrah for Public Transport (and Preparations for a Homemade Christmas)

There has not been so much blogging lately as I am snowed under trying to balance studying with sorting out our lovely new old house (if you know what I mean). An aged house such as ours has its own particular set of problems for any new inhabitants inheriting all the ‘quirks’ that the previous owners never fixed. But it’s fun

I am also trying to make preparations for a make-do-and-mend, pre-loved, home made, Un-paving Paradise Christmas with all the family. I have already made a shawl, wrist-warmers, napkin rings and am onto the recycled cotton crocheted flannels (which will be wrapped with home made soaps and bath bombs) and pine cone decorations. Last year I made two pairs of these lovely slippers, and will also make a couple more pairs for friends and family for this year. It’s a simple, but very effective pattern. My middle child still wears them and loves the fact that they were created especially for her, which is as much the value of a home made gift as the gift itself 🙂

It being half-term here in this Lost Corner of Middleshire, we took the children to the National Space Centre. It’s a fantastic place. The planetarium alone is an amazing experience. A particular favourite was the ‘rocket’ in the cafe, which every so often would begin to rumble and emit vast quantities of dry ice lit by red lights, to much shrieking delight on behalf of the children stood underneath. Also, if you book online in advance, you get a free annual pass. Read more here.

We travelled by train and stayed overnight as it’s a long way away, which led to some interesting questions with regard to the eco credentials of train travel: why is it more environmentally-friendly to use the train, but costs more? Shouldn’t the fact that there are 100 people travelling in just one carriage be more economical for the traveller? Why, even when you have discounts such as the Friends and Family Railcard and you book weeks in advance, is rail travel in Britain so expensive?

CROCHET RAINBOW AMIGURUMI UNICORN – ECO FRIENDLY?

We have a little girl in our household with a birthday this week, and this little girl has a penchant for unicorns. What does the trying-to-be eco-friendly household do when it comes to birthdays? We make things. Yay!

 

I found a wonderful pattern for a crocheted amigurumi unicorn. I am not exactly a beginner ‘hooker’ but I am not yet proficient, so I need simple patterns. This pattern is just that. It is quite fiddly in places, particularly when stuffing, but that may be because I have only made one other stuffed toy previously, many years ago. Like many crafty types, I have a rather large stash of yarn, so I decided that instead of buying stuffing I would chop up some soft acrylic aran yarn in cream and use that as my stuffing. I made the body out of Twilleys Freedom Echo DK in ‘natural’ shade, which is manufactured in England from recycled cotton. I made the mane, tail and horn from Sirdar Smiley Stripes DK in ‘Honolulu’ shade, which is manufactured from 80% bamboo and 20% wool.

 

I am uncertain of the eco credentials of bamboo. It is a great crop in that it grows quickly and is incredibly versatile, which makes it renewable and useful, but bamboo can’t (I assume) be grown in the UK, so it must have travelled thousands of miles, if it has come from China, and accumulated a fairly substantial carbon footprint along the way. Also, I have no knowledge of the conditions in which it is grown;, for example, has rainforest been destroyed in order to grow bamboo? Is the harvesting of bamboo destructive to the surrounding ecosystem? Are pesticides or fertilisers used that disrupt the local ecosystem? There are often no easy answers when it comes to making better environmental choices. The more I learn the more I realise how complex it all is… So I presume that 80% bamboo and 20% wool is better than a man-made fibre.

 

I am also thinking of trying out this recipe for a rainbow unicorn cake (using fresh ingredients instead of cake mix). So cute!

 

Funky Granny Square Jacket

 

I made lots of presents last Christmas and gave them to friends and family. In January I took on the slightly more ambitious project of crocheting a jacket for our little Fluff. It is, at long last, finished. I made so many mistakes along the way that it’s a wonder it did get finished. I got fed up with it at one point and made a couple of other (smaller) things as gifts. Nonetheless, I have hidden or snipped off the unsightly ends and crocheted a border around all the edges. I then added some large mismatched buttons from my craft box to give it an extra little je ne sais quois.

 

The pattern came from Kitsch Bitsch and can be downloaded here for a small fee (I have no links to the site – it’s just a good pattern). I adapted it to make a jacket suitable for my daughter as the instructions were for adult sizes. For this project I bought Rowan Purelife Renew, which is made of recycled wool. I also used yarns that I already owned, including Aran weight acrylic yarns in dark green and cream, Sirdar Simply Recycled cotton in yellow, coral and tan, plus some pure British wool yarn, both dyed and undyed. My photography skills really don’t do it justice. It looks much better in real life!