Holiday Dreaming

You get home, and it feels like you never left. After throwing out all the gross food and cleaning the fridge, a big supermarket shop and a load of washing, it feels time for holiday mark II! Looking at the photos is good consolation.

:: Plenty of walking on the beach and through the bush with family::

:: The last is an amzing scene of spiderwebs which we happened upon at the right moment, when the sun was hitting them from behind::

And on the Ester front? My grand plans of having her cables finished were, sadly, not to be, as I only completed 6 rows, 4 of which were knit in the car. I shall perserve! (Great to see all those who have signed up for the KAL!)

Mellow and …Pink

But you knew it was going to be pink!

I had fun making and choosing mellow and pink things for Erica and her two wee girls Isabella and Mailee. Now that they have arrived, let me show you them

For Isabella

The pink gingham is from a skirt my Nana made and wore, and that I wore for several years. I hadn’t worn it lately, so I decided to make use of the fabric while it still has some life in it.

For Mailee

The back of this is also pink gingham.

For Erica

A little bag…with….

A gingham tummy filled with pink sweeties and…

A necklace inside the little white package…I hope this is “mellow” enough for you to wear Erica!

Also in the parcel was a kitty-cat to help out on baking day

And a packet of Tim Tams, NZ favourites, and totally worth doing a swap with me for….right Erica?! (These were actually for you Bret- to share with whom you saw fit!)

Thanks for being my swap partner Erica, and I hope you like the goodies.

Thanks also to Marta, for organising this fantastic event!

On Holiday

::Sleeping in::Coffee in bed::Lazy walks::Being cooked for::Sweets and Treats::

In the land of living, before we left home, I sent out my swap package to Erica (please see previous post for link- I’m on holiday!) Hopefully it will be in her hands by the end of the week. Hopefully some holiday photos soon!

Third time’s a Charm

Late this afternoon I began to sew….

Yesterday I bought some pink merino knit, with the intention of making a vest to wear over collared shirst during autumn. Determined not to let it fall by the wayside I cut it out this afternoon and launched into it.

I haven’t sewn anything in a while…I quickly stitched up both shoulder seams, then unpicked one of them so I could do the neck binding. Then I overlocked the binding to the wrong side- literally. As in not the correct side. Unpicking overlocking is never fun. Even less fun is unpicking it for a second time, when you make the exact same mistake again. Ya.

I had intended to do a little tutorial. Unpicking the overlocking for the third time, this went out the window. So I hope you enjoy the final product..because suprisingly, I am quite pleased with it.

A Week of Colour - Red

Not only is this red, but a WIP! Nuttnbunny has created a very beautiful KAL site and Christina has made a beautiful button which I have just, miraculously, managed to wrestle onto my sidebar. It even links to aforementioned site!

Well, like the VERY BAD knitalong buddy that I am, I swatched, cast on, completed the ribbing, tried out the cables, cast on the extra stitches for the front…….and continue to knit. Yes folks, the cast on date is May 1 and yes I hope to be wearing mine by then. (Prehaps a little ambitious).

I’m sorry! I just couldn’t wait!

In my defence I DO live in the southern hemisphere, where a sou’ wester is currently whipping our poor wee ears with icy Antartic blasts, and we even had hail today (I was in a fabric store and therefore didn’t notice). As you can tell my quality wearing time with Ester is fast drawing to a close. I’m not even sure she will dry when I block her!

Nuttnbunny has also been so kind as to allow me to join in the KAL blogging fun, so I’m guessing she forgives me (can you tell I feel guilty?!) and I will be able to whet your appetite for great things to come, as well as keeping up some blogging activity while the cast on date draws (looms?) nearer and nearer.

So here she is, in all her knitted half-way up the back glory, I expect things to slow from here!

A Week of Colour - Yellow

It’s a bit slim pickings on yellow around these parts-I’m sure you folk in the Northern Hemisphere have blazes of spring daffodils and other such lovelies to photograph, while we’re pulling our winter woollies out of the suitcases on top of our wardrobes.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up to my own show of colour this morning, at merely 7:00, serenaded by the sounds of heavey machinery.

I give you :: drumroll please:: The Concrete Cutters (please, take a bow) 

A little splash of yellow on a beautiful, albeit crisp, autumnal day.

In other news, Pedro took his first walk today, and showed amazing stamina for a small puppy, despite being rather overwhelmed by a full grown German Shepard and Dalmation!

Also, if I ever casually suggest a KAL to you, cast on immediately, because I assure you I have no restraint when it comes to starting my first knitting project of the season, especially with nothing else on the needles! Sorry Nuttnbunny, I need to get this blocked and into autumn rotation before the weather gets any colder!

A Week of Colour- Pink

Those who have been keeping an eye on me for some time will probably have noticed my penchant for pink already, for those who haven’t, there it is.

When contemplating the colour to pick for the mellow+yellow swap I decided, before thrusting pink upon the poor, unsuspecting recipient, I would wait and see what colour filtered through when I squinted my eyes at her blog. Enter Erica whith her two wee girls, all dressed in pink (kinda)…how could I not??!!

::Warning:: Sneak Preveiw of swap goodies, though nothing revealing::

A Week of Colour - Green

When Michael and I moved to Christchurch we were inundated by gifts from people who were downsizing their own homes. In amongst the boxes were loads of goodies- electric frying pans, dinner sets, linen and bedding to name a few. Michael’s mother, Marlyn, had gone through a house movetoo, to a smaller place to where she had been, and took the opportunity to give us some beautiful pieces that I had admired in her own home! 

We didn’t get around to opening some of the boxes until our recent move, including a huge white bowl and some pink salad servers she had tried to give me a couple of years earlier! While moving I rediscovered this vase and the gold pears inside, that we hadn’t had the space to display at our previous flat, now in pride of place in our teensy kitchen. 

A Week of Colour- Turquoise

I thought I didn’t own any and would have to look elsewhere, until I was bringing in the washing and realised this top I made a few months ago actually is turquoise! 

Adding to the discussions over at HappyThings I always line dry my clothes- I don’t own the other option! For a while I’ve been meaning to make a peg apron, maybe I’ll get around to it one day this week?

I like using the plastic pegs you can see in the photo- they have a double end which means they not only last twice as long (and I buy half as many) but when you pull them out of your ice cream container (read: new peg apron) they are always ready for pegging action!

As the days get shorter and the colder weather is drawing in around us down here in New Zealand I will be investing in a second clotheshorse to get all our washing dry inside!

And I know the rules say 1 photo, but just to prove its actually turquoise:

Though this photo makes it look green…..

News

We’re on holiday!

From uni and in a week, from our little home as we head up north to visit family for two weeks.

It will be Pedro’s first big trip and we got him a car harness to make the 7 hour journey that little bit easier. It’s a size= grown up Labrador, and though he may have gained 3 kg in a month, he certainly isn’t grown up yet, so the straps needed to come in- with the effect of making him look “like a skydiver” as Michael put it. Sadly I did not get a photo before taking it off him.

We took him for his final puppy shots today, so watch out world, we will be hitting the pavement in just a few short days!

 ::In other news::

:: This week I plan to join in with the week of colour, turquoise, green, pink, yellow, red!

:: I signed up for Marta’s Mellow+Yellow colour themed swap, but didn’t blog about it time for you to all check it out, so heres hoping you’re already signed up too! Eagerly awaiting my assignment so I can pull together a package to send off before we go away.

:: Nuttnbunny and I are doing an Ester KAL, which I may have begun a little prematurely, and may have to frog (payback for my wickedness I’m sure). We would love for you to join us!