A while back I was making a dress to wear to my Grandparent’ 50th wedding anniversary. I thought you might like to see me in it, (though not a great photo) as well as a few shots I took on the day.

(I made the earrings in my silversmithing class.)

A photo from their wedding day, and 50 years on. (The neat thing about your 50th wedding anniversary? It falls on the day- not just the date- you were married.)

My mum made the cake, and had it decorated by a local woman- all the flowers are made from icing. It was just stunning- I took over 100 photos of the cake alone!

Cutting the cake.

Dinner Shot :there were close to 80 guests (cousins in the foreground). A fantastic event to celebrate with Nana and Grandad.

Did I mention it knits like butter?

The fibre gifted by nuttnbunny barely lasted 5 minutes before I ripped it open and spread it out, matching up the colour changes.

I seperated each piece of roving into 8 and spun fine singles.

Beautiful fine singles, if I may say so myself.

Then, after practise on some other singles, I navajo plied, so to preserve some of the colour changes. It’s now drying in the spare room, and when I decide on the perfect project, I’ll post about that too.

I recieved this just after I started my blog break- about 3 months after it was sent, apparantly abandoned by the sender AND reciever several times, then so nearly delivered, several phone calls, and eventual delivery as I was heading out the door to an eye appointment. I opened it in the car and exclaimed over each item as I pulled them out. A most generous packeage from nuttnbunny in the states, and well worth waiting for. Most definately NOT abandonable! (On a side note, what do you suppose happens to abandoned packages?)

Yum! Look at all that goodness- not pictured is a fabulous cookbook, and underneath is 8oz of hello yarn merino in ‘citrus’- spun and plied and drying by now.

Also a pair of mitts- a pay it forward gift. So now I gots to pay it forward. Here’s how it works- I send a handmade gift to 3 people, each of whom will send a gift to 3 people…etc…. Leave me a comment if you would like it to be you!

Just in time to keep my hands warm, we had a huge front hit on the weekend, and tonights low is predicted to be -2oC (thats toasty for some of you I know, but it doesn’t get a whole lot colder than that in Christchurch).

And this alpaca is like butter to knit. Soft creamy butter. Yum!!!! (Currently becoming a much needed hat.)

Which means Michael’s gone off to his Customs Officer training. 5 weeks of live-in training in Wellington before 5 month rotational training programme in Auckland, with the possibility of some training in Christchurch.

The list called for ‘one washing bag’. I was only too happy to oblige.

Homespun cotton fabric- a simple bag with a drawstring, and loops for hanging.

I used my alphabet stamps to stamp the cotton tape with ‘wash’ and ‘dry’.

And his name on the back, so the laundry ladies will know who to give it back to! (Lucky thing doesn’t have to cook, clean or wash anything for 5 weeks. I told him not to get used to it!)

I’ve been a little absent- so lets make it an official break.

Michael has just been offered a job which will take him mostly away from home for 6 months training, starting in May. Until then we’ll be making the most of each other’s company.

No doubt I’ll be popping in with photos here and there. See you on the other side of April!

::photos are of fabric I have been using to make a dress to wear to my Grandparent’s 50th (50th!!) Wedding Anniversary on the weekend::

Kaimoana (food from the sea)

Long walks on the beach with Michael’s Grandad.

I’ve had some lovely black wool knit sitting around for a while now, and took a few hours to sew it up into a simple long sleeved top over the weekend.

A freezer paper stencil adds some interest.

My usual pattern- an old tee shirt I pulled apart a few years ago- which I must remember to make a bit bigger next time I make it!

So, I’ve been gone a while. Its been sporadic. But I have been spinning madly- 13 oz of rainbowy goodness, 13 different colours. Finally they are spun, washed and drying.

The last foray into rainbow spinning was a trial run- testing the waters, how not to approach it.

We had a little almost-disaster when I went to wash the yarn- narrowly averted with 3/4 of a bottle of white vinegar and several hours of stovetop boiling.

Lots more photos, and a tutorial, to come. (Probably after Easter.)