Saturday

Hello!  How are you doing?  It’s the end of the week already and the end of our first week of Easter school holidays.  It hasn’t really felt like school holidays for us as not so small daughter has been in school pretty much all week for extra GCSE revision sessions – it’s been hard going for all the young people who’ve been caught up in exam chaos after the lockdowns – two years later and it’s still having an effect!  Anyway, not so small daughter’s school have been brilliant in doing what they can to make sure that their students have caught up, and there was pizza and cake on offer for those who turned up to the sessions so it softened the blow of getting up (reasonably) early in the holidays somewhat 🙂

Thanks for all your comments on my last post about the football match both here on the blog and on social media – I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about football and Ryan Reynolds!

I think with this post I’ve pretty much caught up with everything I wanted to tell you that was hanging over from the end of last month …

Christine is sewing a slipper base to the top. It is black leather with a rainbow flower sewn onto it

I’ve finished the first of my Sheepers slippers and the sewing together bit was actually easier than I expected.  In fact, I think this turned out to be the easiest bit of it all so far and I’m pretty pleased with it – but I want to show off the pair when they’re done so I’ll have to get on with the second one!  I’ve been distracted by sock knitting (some I can show you and some that I can’t) so it’s taken a bit of a back seat for now, but having made one then the second one should be easier and faster (ha!  just like learning to knit socks!) although it’s quite tough on the fingers to get the needle through the sheepskin so I can’t do too much at once.

What else?  Oh yes, I was sent this very lovely project bag by a Danish company called Muud.

A brown leather bag sits on a white table next to four balls of yarn - two shades of green, two shades of pink, a pair of gold scissors in a brown leather case and a short circular knitting needle

It’s called a Saturn bag and it’s perfect for holding a couple of balls of sock yarn and all the kit you’d need to knit them with.   It’s got slim pockets on the outside and more on the inside, and where the two zips meet is a small gap separated by the popper flap and that’s perfect for colour work as you can separate the colours to stop them getting tangled.  Genius!  There’s also a larger Saturn XL bag which would be ideal for holding a sweater’s worth of yarn if this has taken your eye but you tend to have bigger projects.

Inside, there’s a zip pocket in the lid which I have already decided is where my short circular needles are going to live when I’m working …

A zipped pocket in the black lining of the circular project bag lid

and this is what it looks like on the inside.  You can fit a fair amount in – these are two of the four 50g balls of West Yorkshire Spinners Elements DK yarn that I bought, along with some Hiya Hiya stitch markers and you can see how the inside pockets work.  My pen is in one of them, and that’s a tube of hand cream in another.  I discovered Nursem quite a few years ago and it’s been the best thing for my hands which can get quite dry when I’m doing a lot of knitting.  They do an amazing cream for cracked heels too, and they send a month’s worth of cream to a nurse or midwife for free whenever you buy any for yourself which I think is a fabulous thing for them to do.

Inside a circular leather project bag - there are two balls of pink yarn at the bottom of the bag and a pink pen and a white tube of hand cream in the side pockets

Here’s the bag with all four balls of yarn in it …

Four balls of yarn - two pink and two green - inside a circular leather project bag

They fit really nicely and once your sock is in there as well, that’s the bag full and you’ve got everything you need.  I hadn’t heard of Muud before but they’ve really thought their projects bags – because there are more of them! – through and I am very happy that they got in touch!

They also sent me scissors case (this is called Espoo on their website) – my Hiya Hiya unicorn scissors didn’t quite fit, unfortunately, so I bought a pair of the gold stork scissors that I think pretty much everybody except me seems to use ( 🙂 ) and they fit perfectly.

A pair of gold scissors in a brown leather case. There's a ball of green yarn, the edge of a brown leather project bag and a circular knitting needle surrounding the scissors. A pair of gold scissors next to a brown leather case. There's a ball of green yarn, the edge of a brown leather project bag and a circular knitting needle surrounding the scissors.

I feel very grand having a scissors case!  I’m afraid I have been known to bite my yarn which is really bad for your teeth and then neaten it up with scissors later …

And because in our email conversation, I mentioned that I like to take my knitting out and about, they also sent me this amazing Gimo rucksack which fits my laptop and my knitting into it.  Wow!

A brown leather rucksack standing on a stone flag and leaning against a brick wall. In front of the bag is a blue striped half-knitted sock and there are plants to the right.

It’s got lots of pockets, a magnetic fastener and an inside zip closure as well as a drawstring which makes it feel much safer if you’re travelling about.

A close up of the inside zip and drawstring of a brown leather rucksack

I did feel very spoilt when the box arrived from Muud, I have to tell you, and despite what it might look like in this post, it’s really not a usual occurrence for me to be offered sheepskin slippers and lovely leather bags!  They’re also not gifts without expectation – I am showing you, after all! – but I would never accept anything that I knew I wasn’t going to use on a regular basis so you can expect that my bags and slippers will be making appearances in my posts for some time to come!

Finally in the sock-related news for today, I have some lovely news in that Winwick Mum is being featured as Hiya Hiya’s Blogger of the Month for April.  I was really pleased to be asked – I thoroughly enjoyed trying out their needles for my review a short while ago – and you can read the post here.

Before I go, I thought you might like an update on our Teeny Furry Trashers … they are still treating the house as a race track and climbing frame and there have been a few stern words but we can’t stay cross with them for long.

Hattie fancies herself as my assistant but doesn’t quite seem to have the hang of it …

A black, white and ginger kitten lying in a small blue box of receipts on a wooden table. She is surrounded by work papers and looking at the camera.A black, white and ginger kitten sitting on a laptop keyboard. The laptop is on a wooden table.

Astrid always wants to be up.  Up on the windowsills, up on the stairs, up on the curtain poles.  She’s going to think her name is “Astrid Get Down” as we’re having to lift her off the curtain pole several times each evening when we go to watch TV, and even sitting comfortably and looking like a tiny tabby leopard in the savannah that’s just eaten a small gazelle doesn’t let her off.  I have no desire for her to be a large tabby leopard surveying the plain as the curtain pole falls down!

A tabby and white cat is lying comfortably on top of a red curtain

And then they do this …

A tortoiseshell and a tabby and white kitten are lying against Christine's legs on a purple checked duvet cover. Christine is wearing blue, pink and purple striped socks and grey joggers.

(these are my Scheepjes socks in case you’re wondering about the yarn)

and this …

A tortoiseshell and a tabby and white kitten are curled up together on brightly coloured fleece blankets. The tabby kitten has her paw around the tortoiseshell in a cuddle.

and even the dog doesn’t mind that they are snuggling on his bed.

They have us all wrapped around their tiny furry paws!

 

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37 Responses

  1. Maggie says:

    Wow, the project bag is gorgeous!
    And the kittens are sooo adorable …my 7 year old helper still thinks sitting on your pattern is the best way to help with knitting 😂

    • winwickmum says:

      Uh oh, that doesn’t bode well for the future here, then! Our old cats weren’t bothered by my knitting but this pair want to chew the needle cables, the yarn, the pattern … I’m really hoping they grow out of that! 🙂 xx

  2. Ruthie says:

    OMG, those fur babies are just precious. I’ve been thinking about you as it seems like forever since your last post. Glad all is well with you and yours!!

    • winwickmum says:

      Aren’t they just? They are already firmly embedded in our hearts and despite their naughtiness, we just can’t stay cross with them! Hope all is well with you 🙂 xx

  3. Bridget Jarvis says:

    Glad all is good Christine. Life just seems to roll on by these days. The world is such a different place. I am knitting for A friend who sells to raise money for local cancer unit at the hospital. So this is how I spend my spare time. Weather here in Norfolk has been very cold and windy of late, hoping for better times ahead in the garden. I love seeing the progress of your little furry friends as I have kept Cats all my life but now after 60 years I don’t have any furry friends and I miss them dearly. Hope you have a good week. Love Bridget x

    • winwickmum says:

      We only lasted about three weeks without cats in our house I can only begin to imagine how much you miss them. It’s cold here today as well – I’m putting off going into the garden! You’re knitting for a wonderful cause and I hope it raises plenty of money for the unit xx

  4. Anita Pearson says:

    What fabulous bags, kittens, socks and news.

  5. Mary Wishart says:

    Fur Mischief are adorable. Your two are certainly entertaining you. My two Tabbies squash in beside me with their paws on my knees and nudge the computer or put a paw on my knitting. I have no room for movement of arms so I sit forward a bit. Big mistake as I often lose my chair. My dogs and the Tabbies often nuzzle each other in greeting and their are great games of chase and hide with each other. Love your blog. I have found it so very helpful. Thanks .

    • winwickmum says:

      Oh, they’re very good at squeezing in behind you into the warm spot, aren’t they? It’s lovely to see them getting on with the dog and it sounds like your cats and dogs all get on very well too! 🙂 xx

  6. Shirley says:

    Oh lovely bag great details must add to my wish list I loved the scissor cover that I shall buy as I was looking for one very handy for dropping into project bag

    • winwickmum says:

      The scissor case is brilliant, I love that it has a popper to fasten the scissors in safely. They feel like a proper part of my kit now, not something I have to go and root for in the kitchen drawer! 🙂 xx

  7. Laura says:

    Lovely kittens , fabulous bags were in the U.K. can you buy them please and thank you

    • winwickmum says:

      There’s a map on the Muud website but off the top of my head, there’s Knitt Ltd and Knit and Living – there are a couple more mentioned but I don’t think they have stock at the moment 🙂 xx

  8. Val says:

    My Tabby used to run up my curtains, and pulled the curtain track down on one side. Lovely bag

  9. Brenda says:

    Nice newsy post Christine and those Muud bags are beautiful. I hadn’t come across them previously. We are on the East Coast of Australia and you have no doubt read of all the rain and flooding here. No inundation of houses in our area but every where is so wet underfoot and the lawns are up to our knees! Good weather for knitting.

    • winwickmum says:

      I’m glad you’ve not been flooded, it’s always a worry when the rains start and won’t stop. And yes, definitely a good excuse to stay home and knit! 🙂 xx

  10. Audrey says:

    Love your project bags like the colour .I’m at my daughter’s who has three young cats like yours too ,racing up the stairs into a bedroom ,back down the stairs .non stop .but love there cuddles on a evening. Lovely reading your blogs again .Take care

  11. Busybeejay says:

    My OH and son are Wrexham supporters.Both are football mad.For 40 plus years we lived in Mold,now in Cheshire.Our son lives in Cambridge.Our weekly Sunday chat is often about Wrexham and they are hoping to get tickets for the play off at Wembley.

  12. Bobbie Jean says:

    Ahh. Necessity is still the mother of inventions. I do like that bag and the kitties and those scissors. I had a pair back in my cross stitching days. I cannot imagine biting yarn. The very thought sets my teeth on edge. LOL. Necessity can make teeth a cutting edge tool.

    That leather is soft and ages well. Some years ago my daughter gave me a pencil case for my drawing pencils. It quickly became my favorite.

    Congrats for being recognized as the fine knitter you are.

  13. Lorelei says:

    Hi Christine
    I loved the Mudd bags, lucky you! I was sad to find I could not order one for delivery to Canada. Glad to read your new post – a bright spot in these sad surreal times.

    • winwickmum says:

      Did they not have any Canadian suppliers on their map? That’s a shame, but I bet the situation will change as they get more well-known. I’m glad you enjoyed the post, thank you! 🙂 XX

  14. Peggy Bird says:

    Hi Christine ,
    The fur babies are gorgeous and growing. I adopted a 4yr old rescue last Christmas and it’s been such fun watching her personality emerge. She is such a character
    Those Muud bags are drool worthy, I wonder if they ship to Canada or have a supplier here? The only thing that would improve the sock knitting bag would be a shoulder strap for cross body. That way when I’m out walking etc… I could still be knitting lol.
    Take care – Peggy

    • winwickmum says:

      They may well have a Canadian supplier – if you go onto their website it recognises where you are from and brings up a map. Some of their bags do have a strap like that, and I’m not sure if you can buy a separate one to add to an existing bag. It’s lovely watching our pets develop their personalities, isn’t it? 🙂 xx

  15. Chris says:

    Oh what a lovely post! The bags are gorgeous, and I’m sure will inspire lots of creative ideas! I sadly lost my sixteen year old puss at the beginning of December, but my neighbour’s ‘tubby tabby’ regularly ‘calls in’ to church up on me. His folks are currently away on holiday, so he’s spending a little more time in my company. He’s wonderful at sending (incomplete) emails, rearranging rugs, chewing cables and yarn, but I can’t resist. Everything stops when he arrives! Have a wonderful Easter! Chris X

    • winwickmum says:

      Ah yes, I think you may have mentioned your furry visitor before, I’m glad he’s still keeping an eye on you! I wonder how many emails around the world have been sent by feline foot? 🤣 xx

  16. Christina says:

    Aren’t those kittens the cutest ever? Just seeing their photographs makes me happy.

  17. Your kittens are so adorable. The bags are very smart with lots of useful options.

  18. Maggie says:

    Thanks for your helpful comment on my blog, its much appreciated. I did check out your sock calculations and yes, it appears I do need a 72 stitch sock! I’ve not long been knitting socks but I don’t seems to come across many that knit them with that many stitches, except for mens socks. I do already have your book so should have known! Lucky you getting that project bag and rucksack, they are amazing, love the colour too, I’m sure you will get great pleasure from using them. Have a lovely Easter, and thanks again x

    • winwickmum says:

      You’re very welcome, I’m glad you were able to work it out! Now that you know what number you need to cast on, you may well be able to adjust some of the patterns you’ve seen that don’t go that big as you might find that adding a plain stripe or continuing the pattern for another few stitches works for you 🙂 xx

  19. Melissa says:

    The kittens are adorable! We have a climber too, and what has helped is getting her a cat tower. It gives her a safe place to climb up high and keeps her from damaging the furnishings.

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