My Featured Knit

This Rose Red hat that I knitted, and modelled by lil miss last year, got featured in this weeks Ysolda's newsletter here

It's such a honour for me as a outright Ysolda Knits fan

I love this photo.... and those gorgeous chubby cheeks :)

If you haven't heard of Ysolda before I thoroughly recommend her patterns.... you can find more of her designs here

Another Gift Finished

Next on the list was some much needed clothes for Lil Misses Dolls

These have been so much fun to make.... and especially photograph!

I feel like I should be introducing these dolls by name,

but around here dolls are just called bubba!

 

And being clothes for dolls, there was not as much finishing needed... and their may or may not have been the occasional cheat with the hot glue gun

To finish it off, some cloth nappies and baby wipes.

Nappy pattern from here

Now with christmas getting close and so many other things to sew, I am wondering whether I should make a nappy bag to hold it all together?  It would finish the gift of nicely... I guess time will tell.

And on another note I'm starting to wonder whether the lovely Juliet from Tartan Kiwi has a hidden camera in my house... we always seem to have the same projects on the go, see her latest here... mind you she's probably thinking the same thing about me!.... its getting spooky..... don't you think Juliet? lol



A bit of bling

Amidst all the holiday chaos I'm checking off my to do list 

• A pair of pretty dangles for mum

Done!

Fabric in background is destined for a summer dress for me... crossing fingers I will get it done!



Loving

Loving the Christmas lights

My dear friend and I took a trip down to our nearest city,

to do a tour of all the houses covered in bling!

We finished the night off, with our ritual Mc D's sundae....

and arrived home at 1am.....hence I'm very tired as I write this!

I am really going to miss her when we leave.... she has been such a great friend over the last 9 years....

but as she reminds me, she can always visit us :)

Loving that although going gluten free is a headache, and wallet drain.... I've surprisingly managed quite well...

with successes like these mini carrot cakes

Why? My youngest boy's blood tests came back positive for gluten intolerance.... we are hoping it will stop his vomiting and reflux....time will tell

Loving my little girls continuing obsession with

gherkins and yoghurt....

not eaten simultaneously

Its never safe in the fridge!

And a big mumma proud loving with my boys at the

final school assembly....

My eldest won a cup for Special Achievement....

hes one bright spark!

My second boy won a classroom award for all his hard effort this year, and the amazing turn around in his learning during the year!

I'm so proud!

And lastly my youngest got a award earlier in the day for his

excellent mathmetics skills and always entertaining the class

My very own class clown! lol

Lastly I'm looking forward to the mad rush of the new year.... new school... new town..... new and better view out my kitchen window,

bring on 2012!

Linking in with Paisley Jade

First Broccoli of the season

Yum!



Tastes so much better from your own garden.

Off now to go and see the christmas lights in our nearest city....

Weekend Away

We came back from a weekend away to find

a load of eggs including this one

Anyone feel like a bitesized poached egg?

My Creative Space - Flexi Frame Purse

Here's what I have been up to......

A very tiny purse, perfect for holding some coins

I used a 3.5 inch flexi frame

and the felt daisy was made using this tutorial...

its tiny but hopefully perfect for the recipient, a 9yr old girl.

And now this is where I finally spread the word!

no backing out now

If you would like to make one for your little girl in your life

I will be offering this as one of my patterns for sale.... 

and it gets better I will also have a range of purse frames, purse feet, magnetic snaps and general purse making goodies.... including these flexi frames.

Website and patterns are in the works, but for now this was your sneak peek.... hope you like?

See more creative souls here

Boys Pressies

Since we put up the christmas trees this weekend, my mind is focusing in on the pressies.

I want to try and make the bulk of the kids presents this year.

And first on the list are these hacky sacks

You can find the pattern here and there is a link with game ideas

And they're colour coded to avoid scraps over who's is who's.

I also recommend the great tip on the comments of the pattern page: use a pantyhose pouch inside the sack to prevent the beans getting lose between the stitches....

I used some old opaque tights and those plastic pellets.

Another great gift idea

The boys would enjoy hours of fun with these

Source: thebroodinghen.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

On another note... we have had potty training success today.... the end of nappies is in sight!

Christmas in November?

After weeks off pestering from the boys,

 I finally gave in this weekend.

The Christmas trees are up!

I got clean bedrooms and and clean lounge out of this, so I'm not complaining.... that was the deal.

Lil miss has been in awe of the christmas tree and its twinkling lights.... she has also tried to eat a few apple decorations.

Also I am hoping to make some more handmade decorations like this to hang...

But this time I will sew less crooked.

Anyone else got their Christmas decorations up in November?



Mending on my mind

I was changing the kids beds the other day, and as I was putting back one of the blankets on the bed, there was that hole again..... normally I would just ignore it and quickly put the duvet on top, then it would be out of sight, out of mind.

 

But with the approaching move in the next few months I am in a spring cleaning mood, and with that comes, either throw it, donate it... or fix it.   Plus with my newly found crochet skills, I thought why not mend it..... my kids have had these blankets since they were little from their grandma...

 its her favourite past time while sitting down, and now every extended member of the family has atleast one of these 

As I was fixing this, I thought I might take a few pics and write a step by step.... afterall, I'm surely not the only one that has come across this problem.... and then there's the op shoppers, that come across the odd granny square blanket.

So here's the breakdown

I cut out the granny square that had unravelled, and counted the rows that I needed to replace. I needed 3 rows. Starting with a new yarn, I crocheted in pattern stopping at the second row.

Now you will be crocheting your last row into the original crochet.

I recommend cutting out the old stitches as you go, that way the loops of the original crochet stay intact until you need them.

With working yarn to the back, insert hook from right to left through the loops of the double crochets from the original blanket.

Then pick up loop from the new row of crochet stitches and pull through secure with a chain 1.  See Picture above

Working in pattern

make three double crochets into the row before.

See picture above.

When you get to the corners, follow the same method, except work 3 dbl crochet into the previous rows corner, chain 1... then pull the loop through all the loops of the original crochets corner, chain 1 to secure, work 3 dbl crochet into the previous rows corner.

When you finish your last row slip stitch to close and fasten off.

And there you have it, all finished.....

and if you're like me you'll pat yourself on back....

 and wonder why you didn't fix it 2 years ago :)



Crochet Flowers Anyone?

I've really been enjoying crocheting lately..

can you tell?

Especially these flowers

pattern from Rose Hip

they are really addictive, I even started timing myself... 

and now I have to think up ways to use them.

I'm thinking, hairclips?

Lil Misses christmas tree decorations?

 Any other ideas?

Loving this week - Dyslexia

Last night I went to a seminar about Dyslexia.

I went there in hopes to find a way to understand my Little J

and instead I found myself having alot of those "Ah ha" moments.

My school years, my first office jobs.... my difficulty understanding written instructions..... the list goes on.

Laughton King was the speaker and is himself Dyslexic,

or what he likes to call Diesel...

he was very entertaining and well worth listening too.

I'm loving that I made the effort to go along...

I walked away armed not only with valuable information to help my boys, but also a better understanding of myself

plus a few other family members

Laughton King is doing a small town tour at the moment... so if you see his name in your parts.... I strongly recommend going along for a listen.... I don't think you will be disappointed.

Joining in with Paisley Jade here

25 Reindeer finally finished..

Just took me four years to complete.... yip another one of those UFO's...... now I just need to back them with velcro and finish the advent calendar wall hanging.....all in time for December

See more creative spaces here



Crochet Collar Dress

Here it is, the finished Crochet collar dress....

I love it!



Bring on summer!

Linking in with

Our Creative Spaces

Tea Rose Home

Make it Wear it

Sugar Bee Crafts Tuesdays 



Recycling and Magic in the Kitchen

I knew that one day, the gazillion amount of toilet rolls
that we go through would be put to better use .... 
 and that day has come.

I find whenever I grow my peas,  I always end up forgetting about them, then those pesky weeds grow up around them, and when it comes to the time to pull the weeds out, those delicate roots on my peas normally get pulled out too.... bummer!
Especially when your peas are at the height of flowering.....

So my solution was to plant them in toilet rolls

And I know it's self explanatory.... but just in case your'e wondering, this is what I did  .....
 I mucked around in Picnik.... amuse me :)

So far so good, no sign off weeds within the toilet roll

 

And with late frosts alway's threatening around these parts,

I used some more to get a head start on my beans

 

 

And what's the magic in the kitchen?

When Mike and I cook together, we end up with one tasty meal

( could have something to do with Mike being a ex chef )

Dinner last night.... hedgehog potatoes / kumara

A salad with raw asparagus, parmesan, gerkhin, lettuce and

yummy croutons.... with beef kebabs..... I just had to take a photo... yum!

Loving this week

Definately first on the list.....

Loving that we have finally made a step closer to the land....

house contract is signed, the deposit's paid,

and the architect had been contacted......

A relocatable house was not been part of the dream, but I'm loving that it will bring us closer to Mum and old friends, and I can send the kids outside for a majority of the year....

 plus the added bonus of looking out at this everyday...

deep breath and exhale

Loving that lil miss has just started daycare once a week, so I can catch up with the business accounts

( no more procrastinating )

But best of all she has settled in so well, no tears, no clinging to my legs..... just a wave goodbye, and of she goes to start a new adventure for the day..... how lucky am I :)

Loving getting outside more this year.... planting and weeding and enjoying watching this one have fun in the sunshine

And when she runs out  " Muummmm, moor wata"

And I'm still loving this chair that I picked up a couple of weeks ago, on my detour back home from hospital see here.

I scored this for $60.

and a lovely elderly lady insisted on helping me take it to the car.....

because she couldn't bare to see my 5yr old carry it with me

 (love random acts of kindness)

I plan to re-upholster it one day, but for now it will do....

especially as the boys fight to be the first to snuggle up in it.

And last of all, I'm loving making new Kiwi Bloggy friends via Paisley Jade's link and Our Creative Spaces

Linking up with Paisley Jade here

My Creative Space - Little Dot Skirt

So the plan was to share my finished crochet yoke dress.. but my mind has been elsewhere, dreaming up a skirt that I just couldn't resist to start.... and as usual I had ligitimate reasons 

The overlocker had black on it, I needed white...

so really it made sense to whip this one out first, right? 

Sounded good enough reasoning to me.

So here is the dotty twirly skirt....

I would have liked some modelled shots, but my model won't have a bar of it today.... when it was time to change her nappy she ran screaming away from me to hide behind the curtain

It's basically the same as this skirt I made here, except the skirt has two layers to attach the stretch lace to, and the waist is sewn in two places so I could insert the faux bow

I tried my hand at doing a rolled hem, but no luck....

I think I need more practice......

I've just cut it off for now and I will leave it as is, until I'm more confident with rolled hems.... one day.

And I just love the navy polkadots,

 especially teamed up with something red

Looking for more Creative Spaces? see here

also linking up with Make it Wear It



New House/ Old House

Our land is finally about to have a house

This weekend we went to see some relocatable homes,

which of course is not our dream strawbale home...
but definately a means to an end....
and an affordable and doable one ( if theres such a word )

So now to add on to my list of jobs, 
I am now chief project manager.

Mike has handed over the reigns to me.... and my stomach is churning over at that thought!

We are so close now... we could be living up north as soon as next year!  I can hardly believe it!

And it all starts tonight, as I've paid the deposit.... yikes!

Universal Craft Blog Directory

Have you heard about the

Universal Craft Blog Directory yet?

Crafty Rie  has thought up this great idea of linking all the crafty blogs up on one site for us to peruse....

and the best thing is?

If you consider your blog to be full of crafty endevours then you can add yours too!

So come on, and join me here.

My Creative Space

I've been dabbling in crochet this week, trying to perfect it.

I've finished a couple of dishcloths.... already in use - 

I now understand the hype of these, they're so nice to use and great to crochet in the car on long trips.

Now I'm venturing into making these yokes for my girls summer dresses.  I've ripped back these a few times to get them right.... and now I'm happy with them, I've been auditioning fabrics

This is my first yoke, my own pattern 

(that will be why it looks a bit angular)

 but it just didn't look quite right with this fabric

This fabric is much better but the print is too big for a little body.... 

so I'm back to the drawing board on this one..... times like these make me wish I had a fabric store down the road!

But my second yoke.

( Made this by adapting this tutorial.)  

Is the perfect match for this fabric.... 

Now todays mission is to cut out and complete the dress!

Wish me luck

More creative spaces here

Thankful it wasn't worse

This week has turned out to be another of those weeks, when it rains it pours...

It started with Lil Misses accident on the trampoline.....
 Basically Little J supposedly fell on Lil Miss ( my back was turned, I know, slap my hand ) the doctor said "muscle damage".... so my little girl  went from being miserable and clingy with limited movement, to a crawling toddler... everyday a wee bit better.... today she is finally taking little steps with a limp.

During this we had a had a appointment for Little J's sleep study ( to do with his heart murmur )..... so on Wednesday, he and I drove down for the hospital admission at 6pm....  well, sleeping in a hospital it is never fun!... and of course this night would be no exception.

That night, I woke myself up at midnight feeling short of breath, so I turned to the side to recover, only to find the room spinning.... I got up to the bathroom to walk it off.... then returned to bed only for it to happen again, by that time I started to panic, then my left arm started to go numb... I managed to get myself together enough to reach for the nurses call button, but by the time she came in.... I had lost it, I was freaking out, and my other hand was going numb.... my hands didn't feel like mine at all, they felt like chunks of wood. 
So the nurse checked me over, and reckoned that I was having a panic attack, and told me to walk it off and make a hot drink.  After taking her advice I was still feeling shaky, but was extremely tired so I lay down again, only for the room to spin a third time.... thats when I was admitted to the Emergency Department, and if you hadn't already guessed it, I was suffering from vertigo..... man it is horrible.

I finally got back home on Friday, as I took a detour home to visit my Sister in Law. 
I was trying to limit the amount of driving that I had to get back home, and the roads on the way back, were alot straighter than the one I drove on to the hospital. 

So reflecting on this last week, I am thankful for the following :

• That I made it safely to the hospital on Wednesday ( I thought the car was out of balance, turns out it was me )
• That I was in hospital when the vertigo happened... and Little J was fast asleep
• Thankful for all the lovely staff, who were so concerned for me in my predicament ( I had the baby seat - woops and noone nearby to pick me up )
• Glad that my Sister in Law house was within my reach, and the medication allowed me to get there safely ( half an hour drive )
• Estatic, that on my drive back I scored a couple of thrifty finds..... including an awesome chair.
• And finally, loving that I got to spend some one on one time with my youngest boy..... even if I was feeling a wee bit poorly

Tonight after washing the nappies by hand ( washing machine broke down yesterday  )  I write this while sitting in my new favourite chair, next to Mike, watching the All Blacks vs Wallabies game... our first try just scored!
Time to get out my crochet and enjoy the rest of the game.