There's no place like home

Ahh home after a week long road trip, and it feels so good. The girls are in their own beds, fast asleep and I'm sitting here eating chocolate :)  We traveled the length of the North Island (NZ), just the girls and I, on the way down there to see my family and then the Chief flew down to drive us and the green caravan (called Towbe/Toby) back up north.   We are absolutely rapt with the caravan - it's the cutest little 70's gem. Perfect size for our family - it has an awning for the girls to sleep in during summer holidays. It's in great shape, but I have a little redecorating to do (Red/Green stripe curtains and some bunting are at the top of my list).

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Loads of fun with family, friends, Autumn beaches and sightseeing.

I did have time for some crochet while away - but I had a tragedy when I lost my only 4.5mm hook down the front of the car (who knew a hook could wedge itself between the windscreen and the dash - never to be seen again).... worse though is that the shops are all shut due to Easter so no new hook until Tuesday!!!! I guess I just have to pull out one of my other projects.  Granny squares here I come again.

Hooks, books, some jars and a cup of tea

Ahhh. The kids are in bed, time now for a sit down with my favourite Tea.  Working lots currently so not much time to crochet but I did make this Cowl (Simple speedy cowl by Melissa Mall pattern here ) the other day for someone special. This one is smaller than I think would be ideal though - oh well, good excuse to get the hook out again.

My favourite thing at the moment has to be Feijoas. Mmmmmm the aroma is divine, we are lucky as our wonderful neighbours tree ripens before ours so we get tons from them and then our ripen once theirs are gone. I spent the weekend bottling and baking them. Feijoa Loaf, Feijoa Ice-Cream. Delicious!!!

We got a good second hand score as well, a collection of little classics for $10. All my old favourites like Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice and a few to keep The Chief happy like Treasure Island. They look great all on top of the bookcase in the study.

Crochet hook calling - bye for now x

Creepy Crawlies

I don't know about you, but my children are kind of obsessed with all the creepy crawlie bug like creatures in our garden.  I'm not really so fond of them myself (the critters that is, not the children).

They especially love Praying Mantises

But the Wasps nest that we found up in the guttering was pretty exciting (for them) the other day..... Imagine how fast we had to shut the windows and hide inside once we had brought a premature end to the life of the nest - eek!!!

Cup of tea anyone??

Have just finished this super cute tea cosy from Crochet with Raymond - I wanted a modern look, so omitted the frill around the top and bottom. I love the effect, especially against the black of the teapot. This is again for our caravan so hence the bright green. Just wondering if I should add a few flowers to the top though? What do you think?

I think it'll go really well with all the new goodies (bowls and cups) I bought yesterday - they were all on sale and were just so cheerful. The girls are loving having their cereal out of them in the mornings. I'm loving the tea cups, they are just the perfect size.

I am absolutely loving the following book, given to us by my darling Mum and Dad. It's just the cutest little retro caravan book - perfect for our project.

I picked up this magazine - GOOD -  the other day.  It's a good read, and has a great article about Bananas and how pesticide laden the commercial crops are. I just never realised just the damage that they are doing. Most of our fruit comes from our on non-sprayed orchard so I forget about others using nasty sprays. From now on I will be buying bananas that are Fairtrade and non-sprayed (they are available in the mainstream supermarkets as well and are only about an extra $1 a bunch).

Have fabulous week

Kylie x

Phew... deadline met!

As I mentioned previously I was under a bit of deadline pressure to get a hat finished as the Chief is off to the cold tomorrow. Finally I changed it last night! It's really warm and super soft - made in a lovely charcoal Merino.

I tried it on and threatened not to give it back, as it's so warm but it's way too big for me ;)

It's the Ribbed Watchman's Hat by Channah Koppel http://hatsforisraelisoldiers.blogspot.com. He wanted a "manly" hat, so what better than an Israeli Soldiers hat. Lovely to knit, but I did use 8 ply/DK as I had no 10 ply. I added a few extra stitches in the cast on (about 110 stitches instead of the 98 that the pattern said) but I think I could have just stuck with the 98 or even 100 as it's a wee big loose around the bottom.

That should keep him happy, now I can get back to some colourful crochet!