This baby ball is a great project if you’re looking for a gift to make for a friend who’s had/having a baby. It’s relatively quick and if you’re a beginner it will introduce you to short rows, so you can feel like you’re buuilding your skill base.
The pattern is a freebie from Slip Slip Knit, which has lots of other nice patterns (I particularly like the Frangipani Pin Cushion which I would make if I didn’t already have quite a few pin cushions).
I’ve stuffed it with toy stuffing and used a cat ball with a bell in the centre of it. I chose a cat ball (rather than just a bell) as I suddenly got concerned that the baby would manage to rip it apart and choke on the bell.
If you’re interested in finding out about the lovely crochet monkey then check out Kimberly’s blog at Likety Split Craft.
Some thoughs on housekeeping
I’m quite a fan of domesticity when it’s about making a house a home, and basically when it’s fun e.g. baking and sewing. Cleaning is not my idea of fun but I do understand that you need to maintain minimum hygiene standards. However the discussion on Woman’s Hour on Friday about ‘the art of good housekeeping’ makes me worry that people don’t have enough to do with their time.
Do people really iron bed linen? And who has time to move all their furniture into the centre of the room before they vacuum?
There’s apparently even a place called The Household Academy where you can go and do a one day ‘domestic bliss’ course. And the most shocking thing of all – you can buy Christmas vouchers to attend courses! I would be gutted if anyone gave me vouchers like this.
Anyway it’s an interesting discussion that you can find here. And for those of you that want to learn how to do it properly (or in fact feel an immense sense of relief at how far we’ve come since 1949) then I’d recommend purchasing the Persephone Book ‘How to Run Your Home Without Any Help’ by Kay Smallshaw (which is where the pictures above come from).
Oh my goodness – thank you for the intro to Slip Slip Knit – I LOVE the Christmas baubles which will look perfect on my knitted christmas tree
I have that book, it’s a really interesting read isn’t it and makes me want to hug my washing machine.
I wouldn’t hesitate to use dates in a Christmas pud, or figs, prunes or any dried fruit.
Sue x
You have to iron your bed linen at least once, it’s the best thing!
A friend of mine started ironing his duvet and bedsheet once; I thought he was clearly insane. However, he convinced me to give it a go and it’s great – getting into a crisp, clean, freshly iron bed is lovely.
Probably because it reminds me of being little and getting into my Nan’s spare bed – when starching cotton sheets was the norm!