back again

I am still not sure where tthe time goes. It seems to fly by faster each year, which is a frightening thought! 
I have been busy doing the usual; running kids around from here to there, working, being a wife and mother.  It is all fun, but it all seems to conspire to keep me away from the keyboard.
So, while I am sitting here I will show you a couple of things I have done.  I have been knitting madly away; working in a fabulous wool shop, amongst such nice wool and patterns, how could I not be knitting?  But, it is also Show season, with all the agricultural shows coming up, so i am trying to get some sewing done for those.

Firstly  though is a pair of bootees I made for a friend of my son's who is pregnant. I had an epiphany while making these; as I don't know the sex of the baby I decided to put ribbons in for either boy or girl.  Such a simple idea, and I am sure I am not the first person to do this, but what an easy way to cover for either.

These turned out really well and I hope she liked them.

Another thing I have just finished is this smocked dress. it was so nice to do some smocking after not doing it for a little while. I bought this fabric before Christmas and had this idea floating around in my head for the past six months. Bargello was one smocking technique I hadn't tried before and I am happy with the end result. It is actually really nice for the dress to turn out exactly as it had been in my head.  It does seem to need a hook and eye, or two, between the buttons where the smocking is. Although I might try to reblock it first to see if it sits a bit better.  The smocking has much more give in it than I thought it would.

Besides these, I am in the middle of a knitted wrap, with a shawl planned after that. I have done some other bits and pieces of knitting too.

And I started a smocked dress yesterday. There is a local church group holding a quilt/craft exhibition as a fundraiser and I have been asked to put some smocking in.  Things I am happy to sell. So i am busy with that, I do have a few things they can have, but I am trying to sqeeze out a couple more dresses to include.  They want a christening gown. I have two here, one I am not prepared to sell and the one I made earlier in the year, which I do not really want to see but if i put a high enough proce on it and it sells than I guess I can just make another one.  

So it is all busy busy busy here in my house.