It's been a while....

I've been busy, so busy. Holidays, work, kids, reading, crochet have kept me out of trouble but no time to blog. Winter is here in full swing, and with that comes a little bit of a loss of enthusiasm unfortunately.

I've been busy making loads of hats and jewellery, tons of orders have kept me busy!! But there has been a bit of time for a lovely Rainbow Scarf for each of my girls, a few natural remedies (hence the Calendula below) and of course baking.

It's been a busy morning, racing the kids around to school, swimming, creche and now I'm having a peaceful cup of tea before I need to hang out yet another load of washing - it's the first non-rainy day in quite a few days. I love Mondays! It's my "day off". No kids, no work (well, not in the office anyway) and I can turn up the radio and enjoy the relative peace.

Have a lovely day everyone xxxx Kylie

What I've been up to...

I've been busy, so haven't been around blogland much.

I have a new toy - my Kobo has had much of my downtime attention, so dangerously easy to buy more and more books. I haven't given up on the traditional book format though, in fact there is a paperback calling my name now.

I've been making loads of hats, some to sell, some to give to friends, and some to keep my own little people's heads warm.

It doesn't look quite so "nippleish" once its on a bubba's head I promise!

Becs, here's a sneak peak for you ;)

I've also been busy making lots of fun jewellery - I even have some going in a charity auction (with proceeds going to Project Promise to build a new Cancer treatment Hospital here in Whangarei) in a few weeks. Very exciting!!

Project Promise Auction Donation

All jewellery will be available on my Felt shop (link is on the right) ;)

I did unfortunately find out what happens to a pure wool hat of my husbands that sneaked into the washing machine.... 40 degrees C makes it shrink (and felt) to a teeny tiny size. Gutted as it was a rib knitted one (remember here?) that took me a little while - and it was beautiful 100% merino wool. I'll have to start on another one very soon for him.



I hope you all have a lovely week xxxx Kylie

Calorie overload

Warning, this post may add calories just by looking at it!!!

Feijoa Shortcake

It's started to chill down slightly, not too bad yet - we are still have 18-20 degree C days but slightly cooler overnight. We've had the fire going a couple of times, and as much as I loathe cold weather there is something lovely about the warm fire and winter dinners.

Roast Beef with perfect Yorkshire Pudding was the first winter meal request.

My Yorkshire Puds are pretty tasty!

and Pies, lovely homemade meat pies

The other half had a birthday, chocolate cake was the request from the children (although I knew he'd secretly prefer Carrot Cake - but to keep the girls happy Chocolate it was).

We went away for a lovely family weekend just an hour north of here in Waitangi. The girls loved the hotel - especially the swimming, and I just loved the chance to have a wee change of scenery for 24 hours.

No crochet to show sorry, I've just bought an e-reader so I've been spending my spare time reading a few ebooks - loving it! Love that I can now take all my patterns with me on the Kobo though without having to print out paper. So handy.


Head on over to my lovely friends Becs' blog "Born Again Creations" to check out her gorgeous giveaway - she is so super talented!

Have a lovely week xxx Kylie

Long time no talk

I admit it, I've been slack. So so slack. No posts in nearly a month, hardly any reading of other blogs either. Where have I been - well, nowhere exciting but have been in the midst of a huge work project, including creating a new website for the company I work for. I hired website designers, yet still so much input has had to come from me that I've been a little snowed under. Fingers crossed the launch all goes well next week!!

I've not let the craftiness completely slide by though, that's been very much my downtime relaxation. I sold a wee hat on felt - love the colour combination don't you?

And I've been knitting again. It's been so long since I picked up needles, but I've tried something different - socks.... Such Fun!

And I've been making loads of jewellery. Only a few items ever made it into my felt shop as I tend to carry my box of goodies in my car, so it's come with me to a party, to book group, to work and so on and I've really done well selling it to friends. I've not even had to push it - it sells very easily. Lovely little earner for me!

And of course much of it has made it's way into my jewellery box too, I get so many positive comments that it's been very rewarding.

Since I've last blogged I've celebrated a birthday, must say it was one of the nicest birthdays ever. The other half sent me out shopping for the day and I came home to a beautifully tidy house, a yummy birthday cake and then some very good friends came around for dinner. 

I also found the cutest vintage pyrex dish and lid set at the op shop so I was rapt with that too!

 

My sister sent me the most fantastic cookbook, it's a NZ one - based on recipes from an Auckland Cafe. Real treat food, and we've made a fair few goodies from it already.

My garden is coming to the end of the summer goodness, the autumn fruits are in full harvest - apples, feijoas, jerusalem artichokes and I've been busy sowing seeds for some lovely Stock plants to add beautiful colour to dull winter days. The vege garden has been planted for winter so we're on track for a plentiful garden.

Anyway it's 7:30 Friday night and I have some more work to do. Sad isn't it. Kids are slowing drifting off to sleep so it's the most productive time for me to get through the list of "to-dos".

Have a great week xxx Kylie

Ripple Love

It's finished! My cheerful Rippley Ripple blanket for my big girl's bed. I absolutely adore it and I wish it was for me, but I've made a certain smaller person very happy.

It's in acrylic so it can be easily washed, and she's a really 'hot' kid so doesn't get too cold even in winter.

I took it into work to show off to the ladies there, the bunch of blokes we work with didn't quite get what they were oooing and ahhing over.

It was a bit of a fill-in project, and I made very slow progress over summer, but in the last few weeks it's been growing really quickly. It's 122cm x 105cm - not quite full length on the single bed, but plenty long enough to keep my girl snug.

Lucy from attic24 gave the clearest instructions in her tutorial for her Neat Ripple Pattern, which made it an absolute pleasure to make.

 Hmmmm what to make now???

Ripple & Recreation

I'm finally making progress on the Ripple Blanket. It's growing quickly now that I'm over halfway (I put it away over the summer and have just pulled it out again). My big girl is happy to see that she may actually get it on her bed this winter. I've just started getting a couple of requests for hats though, and since I get paid for them the Ripple will have to be put aside for a few days.

  A couple of weeks ago I went on a most gorgeous garden tour, ending in a Sculpture Display at the Whangarei Quarry Gardens. If you've never been to the gardens it's well worth a visit if you are ever in my neck of the woods - a tropical oasis hidden away at the side of town. The girls loved the sculptures too! Aren't the gardens amazing?

My girls loved this table!

Loved this one!

Coolest Poached Eggs and Salt & Pepper sculptures

 

We had a warning of a big storm coming just over a week ago, so I made a mad dash to collect loads of seeds, fruit and flowers from my garden before the bad weather destroyed them. The weather ended up being a bit of a non-event, but at least it go me motivated to collect flower seeds for next year.

Scabosia seed pods

Cleome Seeds

Pretty Dahlias

 I also picked Elderberries - as I only had a couple of bunches I made a small amount of Elderberry Tonic. This tonic, diluted with Hot Water, is an excellent winter tonic for colds and sore throats.

Elderberry Tonic

Pick fruit on a dry day, rinse well and drain. Pull fruit from stems and put in pan, adding just enough water to cover. Simmer for around 30 mins, strain and measure juice. Add 450g sugar to each pint of juice (you could also add 10 cloves for each pint). Heat gently stirring in sugar gradually until dissolved. Boil 10 mins and leave to cool. Pour into sterilised jars or freeze in small portions (ice cube trays would work). Dilute 2 Tablespoons to a cup of hot water (and a squeeze of lemon) for the sniffles.







 We spent this weekend away in our Caravan Towbee, and despite the little bit of rain, we had a wonderful time. Quality family time, just enjoying the moment.

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Towbee is in the distance, the campground was fairly empty so it was incredibly peaceful. Loved the 1967 Zephyr Caravan at the front of this pic - it was being towed by the teeniest car - adorable!

What else can you do on a wet afternoon in the caravan?

Well that's about all for now, busy week at work ahead so must get organised now.

Have a great week - Kylie xxx

Time to show-off

I decided to get a head start to get a few winter objects done well before the cold weather arrives in NZ again (keep in mind its mid summer here). This scarf  (The Claudia Scarf) was a lovely pattern to make, but it did take me a fair while as it was in 4ply with a 3mm hook!  I really do prefer making with DK/8 ply and bigger hooks for sure.

But if you want to make a very pretty scarf, this is perfect. I think I may try it again with DK and less repeats and see how that turns out too.

That's all for me tonight, I have a terrible allergic reaction to something and have Hives all over me. Not feeling the best so I'm going to watch some trash telly.

xxx Kylie