Frank and Josie's House

Sometimes there are things that wind everybody up and there's nothing you can do about it. The whole family is feeling it at the moment. The big move. That move to France. I said to my best friend the other day were not allowed to start crying now where only allowed to start crying in August. Did I keep that promise? No, no I didn't. It's one of the hardest promises I've ever had to keep. And it's not even August yet! I feel the tears well up every time I have to say goodbye to somebody else. Already things have ended for the children, various clubs that they do. Each time was a little harder than the one before. The kids are showing their love and strength of character in every single thank you card they write. And even as I write this now I can feel the lump in my throat. There are so many goodbyes. Goodbyes that you don't even think about. The people that you take for granted and assume you're going to see again. Every day people. Like the teachers at sch...

With so much going on lately I've not done as much crochet as I've wanted. This happens periodically so is of no great surprise. But what I have noticed is when I do sit down and get my hooks and yarn out I feel so much calmer. My brain still has lists running through it that nothing will quiet but it's quieter in there, I can feel it. So many articles and books have been written about the proven effects of crocheting or knitting when stressed. There are many you can read. I'm not here today to repeat those facts, I'm here to tell you my experience. It's a personal look into crochet keeping me sane! I find when my brain is super busy and it feels like there are hundreds of people rushing around in there, making lists and running errands, I have two options: really easy don't-have-to-think crochet or complicated-all-consuming-brain-has-to-focus-on-just-that crochet. What's included in those two categories is my personal opinion as it reflects how my brain...

Like a hot child next to a cool swimming pool I'm going to dive right in: we're moving to France! A little while ago I blogged about change gonna come  and it's taken ages to finalise but it's now official. I'm excited and terrified. Last year we visited France on holiday and loved it. Ever since the referendum we've been talking about how the time for such an adventure is now, whilst it's easier to move within the EU but also the kids are the right age. If we leave it later it'll be difficult as the kids will be near the end of primary school. My head is realing with lists of what to do, who to phone, what memberships to cancel. I mean, what do I do with the points on my Boots card?! Should I worry about buying the right suncream for my sensitive skinned children? I know France is a civilised country and has suncream so surely worries like that are ridiculous. Then there's the biggie: the language difference. I can speak some French, enough to order...

Well I've finally gotten around to writing part 2 of my Clover hooks etc review. It's taken a while but we went to lovely Tuscany for a week and I was recovering from an operation etc etc (to be covered in another post). Actually some of the hooks I tested whilst in hospital or Tuscany. I'm such a workaholic!! (Insert winking/sarcastic emoticon here). After my last post about these Clover Amour hooks I got a little bored of coasters and then had to try and make something of them as we had too many cluttering up our coffee table and every available surface. I am still attempting to alter some and make them into, at least part of, a blanket. Who knows if my hair brained scheme will work and it's so long now since I've looked at them that I'm not sure I've written enough details down so it's probably going to go hideously wrong. Don't worry, if it does I'll show you the pictures. Crochet gone wrong is always funny, frustrating too, but when it...

This is one of those blog posts that I just don't know how to start. I want to tell you about two amazing women: Amanda and her daughter Jenny. Two weeks ago Jenny died of a brain tumour. She was just 19. She had fought and fought so bravely for so many years with her mum by her side. I'm not going to tell you their story third hand when Amanda writes about it so beautifully. You can find their story here at Little Box of Crochet but also if you follow them on Instagram here  you get the full picture.  So if I'm not telling their story what do I want to say? I want to say thank you to Amanda and Jenny. Thank you for sharing your beautiful and heartbreaking story. I wish I could have found a way to keep you two together and let Jenny live a full life, but those powers are beyond me. To share such an intimate story so publicly is such a wonderful and brave thing to do. I feel honoured to have shared part of your journey. You have both touched so many lives and the messages ...

A while ago I was lucky enough to be sent some new crochet hooks to try and review. The lovely people at  Clover  sent me a total of 16 hooks (all of their  Amour range ), a set of stitch markers and a mini weaving machine! Where to start?! When I open the package my eyes lit up and I was like a kid in a sweet shop. So many colours and shiny things! Ooooh the excitement!! After I calmed myself down (it took a while) I got to crocheting. [caption width="720" id="attachment_1378" align="alignnone"] My new coasters using sizes 6.5mm and 7mm[/caption]  I've decided to split up my review in order to cover all areas adequately. I genuinely wanted to use each hook before I write about it so I have a lot of crocheting ahead before I complete my review (it's a tough life). Today I'm looking at the larger plastic hooks from size 6.5 to 15mm. For those not familiar with the technical points of a crochet hooks here's a handy diagram (left). The first ...

It's finally finished - the crochet hoodie I've been working on for months. I'm so pleased and look how gorgeous my wonderful girl looks in it! I started the journey with this hoodie in late December, post Christmas rush. My daughter's birthday is in early January and she often gets slightly overlooked due to the Christmas craziness. Family are very good at remembering her birthday but we have to be extra organised to make sure the budget stretches to her birthday. This year (technically last year!) I decided to make her something special: a fairy hoodie. Merida loves fairies, pixies, elves and all such creatures. She's forever searching for them when we go to the woods.  I set about the search, as I so often do in these cases, on Pinterest . I found amazing pictures but few patterns I could either decipher or relate to or that was the right thing. Finally I found this pattern:  Lutine des Fleurs by Sylvia Damey . There was a eureka moment when I found this. It was ...