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

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???

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

Crochet in the Caravan

Camping, well caravanning went well. Towbee was a star - no leaks (mind you there was no rain luckily), the bed was comfy and the girls didn't mind sleeping in the awning. Only thing we really need is to buy some outside sun shelter as it gets a bit hot inside during the day.

The beach was stunning, loads of fun outside activities - swimming, fishing, kayaking, shellfish gathering (Tuatuas), walking, shell collecting, and of course sand creations. The girls had a blast but they were so tired (and a wee bit tetchy) by the end of it that it was good to come home - with beach souvenirs of course!

I got a little crochet done, making good progress on the slow going Claudia Scarf (4ply with a 3mm hook). I think next time (although this will look fabulous I'm sure) I would do in 8ply with less repeats. I'm all about quick gratification at the moment.

I haven't done very much on the Ripple blanket lately, it's calling me back though as the colours are too lovely to resist.

I came home to a bunch of bananas that we'd left here and they were well past their best, so banana cakes were straight on the go. One for work morning tea and one for us. Of course they had the obligitory Chocolate Icing on them. Mmmmm delicious.

A quiet weekend is on the cards this weekend, a quick catchup with some family and then pottering around the garden and home.



Oh, before I go I want to thank the lovely Sandra at Chaos, Kids, Crochet and Cake for the Leibster blogger award she gave to me. The Leibster award is to be given to Bloggers with less than 200 followers, "Leibster" meaning 'Dearest', 'Beloved' or 'Favourite'. All the blogs I read have a lot of followers so I don't really have any to pass onto but I really would love to pass one onto the following (not sure if she is quite to 200 yet).

Becs at bornagain-creations

I hope you are all having a lovely week.

Kylie x

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

The rain has stayed away, my anti-rain dance must have worked. It looks like it'll stay clear for another week or so at least. Finally it's Summer. So in preparation we have been packing the caravan for our upcoming holiday. Don't you love how there are little compartments for every item in the cupboards.

I got a couple of little gems at the op shop the other day. A brand new set of Cath Kidston handcreams was a must have. I don't use fragranced handcreams usually (I make my own as I react to shop brought ones) but these were to cute to pass by. Must have been discarded by someone who hasn't found the Kidston love yet.

The other gem was a vintage crochet magazine. Love it!

There are a few patterns that I would use....

And a few that I think the other half probably wouldn't appreciate too much....

Don't you love the look of this one ;)

And this one cracked me up, written in a different time with saying that it will look "gay in blue and white stripes".

I bottled the monster beetroot this weekend. We have tons and tons of jars but I'm the only one who eats it. I think I will have to take much of it into work and see if they want some.

I also need some marrow recipes if you have any - we have a few of those too!

Have a great week all. x Kylie

Rain, Rain Go Away......

We are experiencing a very unusual Summer. Since the week before Christmas it has done little but rain, and the temperatures are lower than normal. Great for the Garden (I've never seen it look so lush) but not so good for people who desperately want to be at the beach!

But the garden, oh my garden, is amazing.  It's humid and wet here so we have huge plant growth, but big weeds also.

So to keep the little and big people amused, there has been a LOT of baking. Not so great for the post-Xmas waistline mind you.

The good part of the bad weather is that I've had plenty of time with the Hooks out. Not much to show for it though as they are mostly on going projects but I love the wee cotton facecloths (Ravelry link here) I made over the New Year.

Just before I go, don't you just love these beautiful Calla Lillies that grow in my garden at this time of year?

Keep your fingers crossed for us that we get a few fine days soon so we can make the most of the school holidays.

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas

It's finally the end of the week. A long busy week and one where I feel like I have achieved very little. Usually I have no problems with being a working Mum but this time of year (School and Creche events/trips/requests) and the busy time at work it's a weeny bit stressful. But it's nothing that won't feel better in two weeks :)

 
So some craftiness is my therapy. Loads of yummy bright yarns from far away (Stylecraft DK multi colour pack is the majority of the yarn in these photos)

and a cute vintage pattern that I dream of making but I know my little one would never wear it.

Homemade play-doh is always a great stress release for myself and the girls.

Yesterday was the first beach trip of the summer, pity the little ones missed out as it was a school trip, we sure had some fun that day. Treasure Hunts, kids laughing at the adults gingerly heading into the sea (it was a little cold for my liking!), a great group of kids and a fabulous bunch of parent helpers to share the day with. We are lucky at our country school to being able to share these experiences with a great crowd.

 I belong to a small very casual book group (a group of mums from the school) where we love to chat about a few books, eat some yummy treats, have the odd glass of wine and loads of cups of tea. We had our end of year do in my caravan on Wednesday. Towbe sure looked pretty all decked out. Yummy cake that one of the girls brought along too.

Have a great weekend, I hope you all have a nice fun filled one. I'm hopefully going to get the Christmas shopping finished. Fingers crossed!

xxxx Kylie