Firstly some OxfordKitchenYarns news – A third of the remaining Chunky Yarn is labelled up and ready to go.

The rest are in the dyepots. Later this week (probably this friday) I’ll post a preview of the rest of the current chunky collection, and then off to Darn it and Stitch they will go on Saturday (assuming everything has managed to dry in time.)

I’m also planning to show you the cowl I knit up so that you can see the yarn in action. (I love the stitch design it gives when you just knit up stocking stitch.)

Until then…

 

…or a list of good things.*

Tomorrow (until next monday) there is a great ‘Learning Through Play‘ ebook bundle going on through Raising Playful Tots (more on them later!) and NurtureStore. (You can see a great preview here at Bird and Little Bird.) £60+ worth of ebook for £6.30.  I’m a big fan of a good bundle, (and a good ebook for that matter!) and have had great success with the ones I’ve bought over the last year or so.

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I really enjoyed Finding Time to Read When You’re Mothering Littles over at Fimby. Personally I have always relied on digital readers – first a palm pilot and now a kindle for reading in bed when there are small children around. That way I can read in the dark and hopefully not bother them. (I do most of my internet reading that way – cutting and pasting things that look interesting and then reading them hours later in bed.) Right now – unless it’s a read aloud – actual paper books (despite my huge love for them) are harder to read, though now I have a tiny book light I should pull my finger out and read some of those too in bed. But yeah, last thing in the night, and – right now – first thing in the morning, since I keep waking up before my alarm, I read. I would be lost without it, in a way.

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Since the children both had their birthdays I have continued to make batches of Nigella Lawson’s Roll-out Cookies (which can also be found in ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess‘.) Both the dough and the cooked biscuits freeze really well. In fact I tend to cook the entire batch and then freeze half. I just add them to the biscuit box (still frozen) later in the week and they are totally fine. Each time I’ve made them I’ve played with the recipe – rolled out and cut out and then ice, rolled out and cut out and left plain, cut into circles and then a large chocolate button pushed into the middle (thanks Kim – the chocolate was great!) and today, rolled into balls and then rolled in cinnamon and sugar.  NOM!

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I am also making TONS of playdough right now. (In fact I have Christmas playdough plans which I must get onto!) My mum gave me her recipe, which I lost. However the same recipe turned up in Let’s Play Dough which is a free ebook from the NurtureStore which is full of good ideas and well worth checking out.

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I said I would talk more about Raising Playful Tots. I came across this podcast because they interviewed Annie Riechmann from Bird and Little Bird (and the creator of Alphabet Glue, which I LOVE!) a couple of weeks ago. Since then I’ve been slowly downloading the archive and having a good time listening to older episodes. I am really picky about podcasts and right now the only other ones I listen to are the Friday Night Comedy podcast from Radio 4 and Savage Love, both of which I can only listen to when the children are asleep or I’m on my own. Raising Playful Tots however can be on during the day. Which is great. If you have small children it’s worth checking out.

So there you have it. A short list, of mostly interlocking things that are of interest to me right now. Maybe they might interest you too. 🙂

 

 

*Btw NONE of these links are affiliate links. Not that there is anything wrong with affiliate links, but I’m not currently affiliated to anything (apart from the shops that sell my yarn, maybe?) I’m just putting these links out there because I genuinely think they are good things. Have at them, if they also seem interesting to you.