WIP Wednesday - better late than never!!!

Wow. It's been a while. So much has happened.

Back in February just after I last posted my 97 year old Grandpa died. Now, Obviously at 97 it wasn't that unexpected but it still shook us all up, particularly my mum and there is so much to be organised when someone dies that sometimes it feels like the grieving takes a back seat. I didn't feel like posting for a while and there wasn't a lot of crafting going on to post about anyway.

I was 6 months pregnant at the time and feeling rather tired and stretched in all directions.

But life went on, slowly and getting bigger by the day. It was tough but we had a lot to celebrate as he'd had a very successful and busy life. Actually, thinking about it, I reckon he deserves a post of his own........ check back later for that one!



I had planned to work up until I was nearly 37 weeks pregnant. I wanted to get my year 6 class through their SATS exams. We work them pretty hard up until that week ensuring they are ready for the tests in order that they go to secondary school with levels that accurately reflect their ability. We don't hot house them or try to get them to achieve levels that aren't reflective. That doesn't do anyone any favours, them or the secondary schools, but they do work very hard. And so do we. I knew that working that late into my pregnancy would be hard work but it was what I wanted to do for the kids in my class. It also meant that there was a natural break in the term at the time that I left without having to work until the half term holiday which was actually the week before my due date.......

So imagine my surprise when, at 36 weeks pregnant I get told that we'd had the Ofsted phone call. (They are the government body that come into schools to inspect them and check that everything is as it should be!) They called on the Tuesday after Bank Holiday Monday then came in on Wednesday and Thursday. I worked 14 hour days and was pretty exhausted to say the least but I was glad to have had the opportunity to do my share of the work and show the inspectors how hard we work. I'm the special needs coordinator and wanted to explain all the extra provisions we give to the children who struggle.

And it was worth it. We got awarded Outstanding again!!!

So I finished work on May 17th and have worked pretty hard on this..........

It's for my God daughter's second birthday. (I'm hoping her mum doesn't read this!)

It went really well for the first week. But then someone had other ideas............ I'll save that for another post too.

I have also started work using my 'Lucy' stash from Deramores.

I really want to make a huge granny square blanket like Lucy's Big Blanket. I like the fact that it can grow and grow with no limits as opposed to a ripple blanket which has at least one predetermined size from the start as it can only grow in one direction.

I had a long discussion with my mum about the colours I had and the fact that Lucy's blanket isn't completely random. (Have another look, the little squares are all edged with either dark blue or turquoise- see what I mean??) I wanted to make a big blanket for my baby. And not knowing whether it was a boy or girl decided that each of my little squares should be made from the pink or blue colours and then each set of 4 edged with either pinks or blues. - You'll see what I mean when I've made a little more progress on it, what I'm saying makes sense in my head ... honest! But here it is so far. .....

ok so it's not too impressive yet and perhaps I'm putting a little too much thought into the colours. I have an elaborate chart going on so that the colours end up evenly balanced - why can nothing ever be truly random??? but I'm quite pleased with what I've done so far...


I'm going to join the party late and hook up with tamis WIP Wednesday post.
Pop over to see what everyone else has been up to.

Oh and pop back to catch up on more news soon. I promise it gets more exciting. ;)
Nicky
xxx