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sometimes a project will seem like a good idea at the time….sometimes the idea turns out well and sometimes it comes back to haunt you…i have spent the day getting aquainted with a new pattern….and you only have to look at the tilte of the post to understand how i feel about it now…it’s meant to be the starting motif for a table runner but the way i’m feeling about it at it at the moment it might just become a coaster….
Yes i know I’m meant to be making a bolero…but see there was this really cute baby dress pattern that i couldn’t resist…and no! not having a baby in the house didn’t stop me..I just started making it up in a bigger hook size..and whaddya know..it’s coming up perfectly for the 4 year old…. it’s eaaaaasy..plain old pattern..with lots of repetition…almost finished the back here..needless to say the incessent badgering has already begun…. 
also accomplished this weekend…my ramadhan reading list…a bit of tazkiyah is on the cards for me this ramadhan i think…
most of our books are packed and waiting to go to Algeria so the childrens books haven’t been easy to get to.. but undetered we managed to get a few books together for the childrens ramadhan reading list..these will be read collectively insha’allah…
and one last thing to show you..DD8’s finished stitchery…I’m going to help her design a ramadhan one tomorrow insha’allah…and thats about it
small accomplishments this weekend, but ones we’re all happy with….
Okay…so way back last summer when i started learning how to crochet..i had an urge to learn how to do filet crochet…it has baffled and bambuzled me all the way…and believe me there have been quite a few attempts…but today i found the easiest chart i could and persevered…it took three attempts before i finally “got it”..
and here’s the result….I’m going to work on a few more smaller pieces before i try my hand at the curtain pattern thats been haunting me since last year….oops…looking at it in the picture I’ve spotted a small mistake…..never mind….all I have to do now is figure out a use for it!! dd16 suggested putting it on a cushion??
So yesterday was indeed well spent masha’allah..the big girls and I sat down yesterday morning and hatched a ramadhan plan….we’ll be starting pre-ramadhan to give it a road test, and see if it fits us…
personal goals obviously might be slightly different for each family member…but on the whole we’re working on
- complete reading of the qur’an in arabic..and I feel more able to achieve this after having had tajweed lessons
- praying qiyyam
- for the girls and i to pray jama’aat..which we often forget to do…which is a shame because it’s so full of reward masha’allah
- sharing food with both our muslim and non-muslim neighbours
- we’re having a T.V free month insha’allah….
- estbalish more nawafil for the sake of allah
- read collectively (from a well chosen for the month of ramadhan to enhance our eeman kind of book) (the book has yet to be decided upon)
this is still a list in the making but those are what we feel are the most achievable goals for us … our main aim is to have our sins forgiven and to make allah happy with us…we really want to feel we’ve reached a higher level during this ramadhan, i want to know that i’ve tried as hard as i can to turn a new page and start afresh…i have a fear niggling me that i haven’t yet done anything to deserve my hijrah and that, that’s what’s holding us all back…. seeking taqwa is what it’s all about for me this year insha’allah…
we’ve started on our ramadhan craft list aswell… we’re re-starting our homeschool lives this ramadhan with the main emphasis on islamic studies…in fact so that we stay “in the zone” Islamic studies may very well be the only home-ed we do at all… so far on our list of activities we have
- a ramadhan stitchery…which dd8 is patiently waiting for me to design and draw on her piece of linen for her….
- ramadhan sun catchers to decorate our windows
- hilal biscuits
- a ramdhan calender…we’ll do this one just before ramadhan insha’allah
we need to fill this list up with more ideas, so if anyone has any then we’d be really happy… I’d like us all to try and keep a ramadhan journal this year too insha’allah.
The ramadhan routine is one that will work just as well for us outside of ramadhan…it just needs for me to be focused and to stay motivated enough to keep to it insha’allah, so the plan is….
- to wake in plenty of time before suhoor to get our meal sorted and to pray nawafil
- after suhoor to pray fajr, read qur’an
- between fajr and dhur, we aim to get the bulk of our cooking and household chores done, and also to tackle our ramadhan craft and our family halaqah,and get our ramadhan lesson done
- feed any non-fasters, pray dhur and then….
- everyone has agreed to have an afternoon siesta…..(we’ll see if I can manage to pull THAT one off)
- after siesta…concentrating on collective reading and handcrafts until asr
- then salat-al-asr and some quiet time to remember allah….
- and preparing the house for guests and final iftar preperations…we generally have quite alot of people coming and going in ramadhan so between asr and maghrib is our busiest time for getting the house and meal sorted
- iftar is our realxation time..men and boys out to the masjid for tarrawih…mint tea….sweet things…and family time….
looking forward to a satisfying and beneficial ramadhan, ameen
it’s bringing me no joy!!!! this bolero is my arch enemy at the moment…it’s the thing thats driven me away from my crochet bag and sent me running for the hills….how can something so pretty become so scarey??
the pattern is confuddling me..but maybe that has something to do with fasting??
anyway i persevere…out of stubborness..and the even scarier teen who keeps loitering and badgering waiting for it to be done…I can’t disappoint can I??
other goals this week…apart from working on THAT thing up there…..BTW..have you noticed how I always seem to have such a volatile relationship with my WIP’s….strange……
anyway!! other goals this week…having been inspired by someone else to actually make some 
(that is, if i stop blethering for long enough to spit them out)
- to prepare my ramadhan goals list….yes one of my goals IS to write a list of goals..work with me on this one okay……last year was a bit of a disaster in some respects due to ill health etc, so i’m hoping to make the very most of this ramadhan insha’allah…and I really pray that it WILL be my last one in the U.K (ameen)
- help the kids to write a ramadhan craft list…. trying to keep the whole family focused here!
- get my “must do” sewing out og the way…
- give the house a “spring clean” in readiness for ramadhan
pretty easy goals to achieve on the face of it…am having a fairly busy week though this week…off to see RAINBOW this afternoon for a small scale hijama party , which will be nice…then off to the WILLIAM MORRIS GALLERY tomorrow..(weather permitting) and a sister has invited me to her house for the day on Friday for more Hijama and Qur’an….so if I go AWOL you’ll know why insha’allah. i want to try and organise a small, manageable reading list for ramadhan..books to inspire the soul and motivate me to become a better muslimah…. I may be back later with my choices i may be back later with pics of our hijama party you NEVER know…
to let you lovlies know I reclaimed my dying blogs and have given them a new lease of life…of course this is a fairly blatant attempt to validate my reasons for being at the computer I have posts to compose and pics to share…yeah right!! tell that to the floor that needs washing and the laundry that needs hanging!!
anyhow I’m…..
here
and
here
xxx
in stitching…cos every girl has to start somewhere. So with the boys out we settled down to some homely comforts…. DD8 has been asking to do some stitching for a while now, so today was the day we finally got started. Naive stitchery lends itself well to a childs first steps in sewing. I drew the picture onto the linen and away she went masha’allah.
sewing is such a calming and peaceful activity, and they kept coming back to it during the day
even the four year old insisted on using the smalles hoop in the house for her own creation
not bad for a four year old who’s never picked up a needle before, and the look on her face each time she misjudges and pricks herself are priceless miskeena. She even insited on stitching at the computer this afternoon when she was having her computer time
here is her effort, almost finished….i’m going to be kind to her and NOT show you the back…DD8 has promised a progress pic tomorrow and then when she’s finished this one she wants to start on a ramadhan stitching….and a hobby is born
I had nothing much else to do ….. so from naive art….
to naive stitchery, thinking of adding it as a pocket to the apron i’m planning to make myself..or rather the apron i’ve beenintending to make myself for MONTHS and still haven’t got round to making
can’t decide what my next project should be, and yeah I KNOW I said I was taking a break but I got itchy fingers…. the picture doesn’t do the bolero justice, for some reason it looks better straight from the mag..should I bother making it?? DD16 likes it….
got some nice yarn that it would look nice in…. should I..or shouldn’t i? should I go for something else instead??
and not a moment too soon….the four year old is happy..i have crocheted till my hands hurt..but it’s DONE…am now having a short break before starting another major project…have decided to do some naive stitchery cos i love folk art..it’s a thing that makes me happy…and i’m a great believer in doing things that bring you joy…making things that make you smile as you see the piece grow is so satisfying…here’s a link to some naive stitchery…obvious advice is to avoid the seasonal ones….you could always use elements of the patterns shown to make your own design…may possible be back later with a progress report..it’s raining bucket loads here so it’s definately a day for cooking and crafting and curling up on the sofa….
stitchery patterns
what can I say…Hijrah plans for us have not been easy to nail in place…it’s been a rollercoaster year and just when it looked like things were finally falling into place our plans get turned on their head again…and nothing to do but accept that it’s qadar and roll with it…the children were due to make thier leg of our hijrah tomorrow but now won’t be going due to circumstances beyond our control and hijrah has once again become elusive…all of our winter clothes have already been sent on ahead and we do have somone who can bring them back, but for me this is a sign of defeat..so these are the things that WON’T be happening..I WILL NOT be unpacking..because i still have a hijrah to make (sometime soon insha’allah) I will NOT feel defeated, because quite frankly that’s for wimps and I am WOMAN and I will NOT let any of this sidetrack me… the trick is to stay focused..this is either a test from allah to see how badly i want this hijrah or a tool of shaitaan to make me give up….either way I’m putting my head down and getting on with it…
