the real world ( + baby pics)

 Life is slowly going back to normal... or it will be next week when the lovely meals stop coming ( thanks friends, so wonderful), and ERO hits my husbands school ( bad timing!). We've had fantastic support, and the big kids have had some great experiences (yesterday chickens on their nannies' friends' property, today playing with friends who live in a yurt!). We've managed the traditional first family outing to Riverside cafe ( a beautiful cafe run by a local community), and we've caught all the poos since day 4! (We  nappy free part-time).

 And a pet-inspired ( from sad dead bunny beginnings comes comfort and learning in handwork...?)   house full of knitting. I Love it!

 We are getting to know wee Joska, who is less wee every day ( 4 pounds heavier in 3 weeks!), and I finally feel like I Know him!

garden update

 a quiet morning crafting in the garden , experimenting with weaving and another making yet more gifts for the many people she loves.

A few shots of my ever hopeful garden. certainly no profusion of flowers yet but there are hints of flowers and blooms to come; a few brave plant souls braving the early heat, dust and recycled bath water to bloom and energise my heart and soul.

more crafts

 A friend had a beautiful baby girl last week... Welcome Nia Grace! I made her this vest.To hide or accent the fact that the pinks are all different ( I just used what I had in my stash), I crocheted a flower to match all the colours. The buttons too, are from my stash!

 And now to share a project we have been working on for about a month: A playscape! I have been inspired by many different places. The idea I saw first in the LIVING CRafts Mag about a year ago and then recently I saw it again , although in a different form on the RYTHYM of the HOME site. 

 Together with the children I felted the mat in stages that fit the bubble wrap i had, then stitched on felted pebbles ( bought), made pumpkins and a cave.  the bushes were made by the children by making pompoms, and the grass was  crocheted with an extra row of loops n top.  There are more trees coming and then I'll stitch some hessian to the bottom for added strength and longevity!

happy Birthday to you....

A little bit of anarchy anyone?  So  amowhawk for him lest likely to actually get a real one ( not sure I'd want him to anyway); a way of dressing up for adults; a way of saying 'F' you to  the system when you want to!  Pattern from  the book Domiknitrix.  

The kids made badges , by drawing little pictures ( quite a challenge for some of them) and we used my badge making kit from Spotlight to finish them off.  Some images are only half a picture, but still look pretty funky we think.

 He also got breakfast pancakes, a mushroom kit and some spending money for the dump shops in Nelson tomorrow.  Have a nice weekend!

Wool!

This blog is turning into a yarn blog! I think this time last year i blogged about the garden more! (Its doing okay, maybe wilder than last year, yesterday I harvested carrots, cauliflower, runner beans; purple and green, zucchinni, and tomatoes). But look what  came in the mail today! The wool giveaway from Jessicah at Spinning a Yarn , dyed in the colours I suggested, PLUS, some goodies for the children, and chocolate for me (And maybe Struan, if it isnt gone before he gets home)!   i'm so blown away, thank you Jessicah!

A glove (other still to come), for Struan in some more of the wool I dyed last week, I'm very happy with it. The pattern is from stitch 'n Bitch for men . 

 In other new, we have been making some good old fashioned valentines cards for people we love, after first having read about the history of it and looking at examples of the olden days cards held at a museum (found by googling valentines cards history of).  The kids all got stuck in their own creative ways.

 it is incredibly hard to find paper doilies these days! Is anyone else going to bake off?  Sounds like fun don't you think?

wool dying

yesterday we dyed some wool with the girls while Tobin slept. It came about because Anoushka decided she didn't like the wool she was knitting with. So  I said, "do you want to make your own? " We've done this together before so they knew what was involved, and jumped at  the chance( in fact they are already designing their next yarns!) Anoushka had some white (badly) spun roving, from one of my attempts at spinning, and she will use the wool for a dolls blanket. I felted it slightly as I was rinsing the dye out after fixing and I'm quite happy with it actually. I hope she is too!

 Maaike started with some commercially spun grey wool (not sure what breed), and knew she wanted a rainbow wool. It ended up with beautiful yellows and pinks with some flecks of blue and green and orange. I like the mellow effect with the colours on the grey. Her wool will be a winter vest that I will knit for her next project.

 The light doesn't really do it justice.  I did some too, a whole lot of mellow greens/ blues /yellows on the same grey wool that maaike had, and some yellow/red/orange on some random white merino looking wool from the op shop. The white wool definately took up the colours in a brighter way!

 I felt really "present" yesterday, something I have struggled with in the past. I like playing OMA /grandma in the fantasy games if it means I can sit and knit at the same time. I have lots more projects to go.....

Another day at home (school)...

A pattern traced, cut out, fabric selection made, felt heart stitched on and mama helped with the sewing machine bit : a dress and jumper for a doll, and all before 9 am!

The finished (and blocked), homespun jacket. not too bad?

 

A silky eye pillow for a sick little Maaike,and a heart  pillow for both the girls for good measure (and hopefully to help oldest insomniac calm and settle to an anxiety free sleep). Patterns from Amanda Blake Soule's Handmade home. 

Unfortunately also lots of tv time beacuse the sick one is too sick for anything else.