The Saga of the Broken Back

Due to popular request - well, OK, just Lauren then - here is the saga of my broken back.

Shortly after I started my new job in central London, I rediscovered the "joys" of travelling on the underground. For some strange reason I just didn't enjoy being packed into heaving carriages like a giant sardine, nor did I relish being late for work every damn day when we were inexplicably held in the tunnels. So, I hatched a plan.

Having seen lots of people with very cunning folding bikes on the train into London (yep, we chose to live in the sticks), I thought that I should get me one of them. After a day's careful research I decided on a badged Dahon (or perhaps it's de-badged), which is basically a really good folder, but made for another company and sold cheaper. Just 100 Great British Pounds later and I was the proud owner of said bike.



I merrily cycled from London Waterloo station to work each day for nearly two weeks. It took me a while to learn the route, but I was starting to get confident and would bore anyone who took even a vague interest with tales of my travels. But alas, this biking mania was not to last.

On March 3 I was patiently waiting to cross the road to my office, when traffic came to a standstill and a nice lorry driver beckoned me across. Across I went, but sadly did not have the sense to check the bus lane first. Bam! I was hit by a moped and deposited rather unceremoniously onto the tarmac.

I knew something untoward had happened, because I could hear myself moaning very loudly, but was powerless to shut myself up. Lots of policemen turned up - rather an excessive amount actually - and I was eventually taken to hospital.

To cut a long story short, I have a compression fracture of the 11th thoracic vertebrae. I can walk, talk etc, but I'm not allowed back on the bike yet, nor am I supposed to pick up the baby. I have been doing that lately quite a bit though and everything still works.

Silver lining to this was that I had to stop breastfeeding at night and within 3 days of Dad being in charge, VV started sleeping through the night. Who knew it could be that easy! After nearly 11 months of next to no sleep I am now a new woman, albeit one with a sore back. Hoping to get back in the saddle soon - the bike fared much better than me and is sitting, folded next to my desk at work, begging to be let out again.

Baby Cardigan

It's been a long time, I know, but at last I am proud to present a finished project - a baby cardigan. "Baby" being the operative word, since it's tiny and much too small for its recipient. Damn and blast.

Still, I am rather pleased with how it turned out. I made it from Baby Crochet: 20 Hand Crochet Designs for Babies 0-24 Months by Lois Daykin. It's the first garment I've made and it was pleasingly easy to do. Lot of ends to weave in (why I leave them all to the end, I don't know), but no actual difficulties.

I blocked it - another first for me - but even that sneaky stretching didn't perform the much needed miracle. Ho hum, next time I'll check my gauge twice and then still use a larger hook to be sure.

If there are any readers left out there after my four-month hiatus, hello! My new job is going very well, as evidenced by a total dearth of posts. Had a horrible cycling accident shortly after I started and broke my back, but that's healing nicely now, so no long term harm done. Sounds worse than it is/was, honest!

Change is a-coming

I've been thinking about the form this blog should take, because changes are afoot in the cactuslover household - I'm going back to work! Not only that, we're moving to the UK and Hubby is going to stay at home with VV.

I'm both excited and scared about going back to work after nearly a year of being at home with my lovely VV. I'll miss him like crazy, but I'm looking forward to having some brain exercise.

All this means that I will have way less time on my hands for crafting. Boo! Hiss! That's been true for a while now, since VV got mobile, but it'll be evenings-only come February. I can see crochet becoming even more attractive to me, since I can be sociable (and watch TV) while I do it.

So, either my blog goes all quiet for ages between projects (rather like it has since Christmas, while we've been packing and organising) or I go to plan b. Plan b is to continue blogging my creations, but also flag other cool craft stuff I come across. That should keep the tumbleweeds at bay.

I've been wondering (from the start, really) whether I should write more about the happenings in my life, but my internal jury is still out on that one. Whatever happens, things will change and change is always interesting. Stay tuned!

Someone might actually be reading this!

Perhaps because I am still stupidly chuffed about this and thus haven't quite got over it, it's taken me a whole 18 days to get round to reporting that Lauren mentioned my blog when she received the Uber Amazing Blog Award. This means that someone (ie Lauren) actually reads my blog and she isn't family or anything!

The rules of the Uber Amazing Blog award state:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. (Check!)
2. Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing. (Check!)
   
3. Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog. (Will do)
4. Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from. (Likewise)

So, what are my fave reads? Before I name names, let me say that I am a Google Reader addict. I'm currently subscribed to a somewhat ridiculous 92 blogs (and I'm massively behind on my reading - 769 unread items to be precise!).

But of course I don't read them all religiously. Most of them get a quick scan before I'm on to the next post. But there are some that I always read and if time is tight, like it has been lately, I'll cherry-pick the following:

Lloyd and Lauren - the minutiae of their daily lives brighten up my breakfast every day.
The Hook and I - Amy is a crochet genius, blogging from the far reaches of Alaska and by all accounts, a mean cook too.
this mama makes stuff - tftcarrie refashions thrift-store finds with great style, often for her children who must be the coolest kids on the block.
laughing purple goldfish designs - more great crochet, with a thrifty-twist.
Today we are... - seamstress joleo hails from south-east England and her blog helps me feel less homesick.

So, there you have it. All of the blogs I love have one thing in common - personality. They are all written by people who tell you a little (or a lot) about their everyday lives and I like that. Craft and/or real people = happiness, at least for me.

Matryoshka Keyring and a Daft Badge

I made this quick keyring to go with the Matryoshka pouch that I made the other day, which is now lined:



The lining isn't exactly professional, but it's not too bad and doesn't catch on the zip, at least. To make it, I just followed the directions for the pouch, but omitted the zip. Then it was a not quite so simple mater of sewing it to the outside (I used dark thread in the bobbin and light up top so that the stitching didn't show too much).

Since this was a birthday present for my oldest friend (we've known each other since we were babies, she's not that old) and she's about to go on maternity leave, I wanted to make her something baby-related too. So, here's the daft badge that I whipped up:



I used scraps of fabric, some cardboard and a safety pin to make it, along with the lettering stitch on my machine that I've been dying to try out. The lettering is on some bias binding and I've zig-zagged the edge of the middle layer of fabric. It's all stuck together with iron-on hemming tape, although the base fabric (some orange needle cord left over from a dinosaur I made for my nephew) is attached to the cardboard with stitches, as is the safety pin (not shown).

As I was writing the card it suddenly occurred to me that "not long now..." could be misconstrued when sent as part of a birthday gift :)

PS Please excuse photos - had to use the camera phone at night (which is pretty much all the time here in Finland).