About the Boy

At nearly 9 months old this boy's cheeky grin makes us all smile.

He is doing push ups and pulling himself onto his knees and rocking back and forth.

Crawling won't be far away...

His baby blues will break hearts one day, and already do around here.

His chubby arms and legs are perfect, we think he is going to be a tall and strapping young gent, we may be biased...

A quiet and happy baby.

He is perfect.

My Creative Space

I seem to be ALL about the knitting lately!  This is a Milo Vest by Aussie pattern writer Georgie Hallam, she can be found at Ozebaby too if your not on Ravelry.  Very clever and simple design and easy to personalise with different cable options.

I am nearly finished another Georgie pattern, Eden's Adam.   I love that this pattern is an Adam and Eve style set both a dress and vest catered for in the one pattern.  I can't wait to cast off so I can show this one off too!

Today (after I cast off!) I am determined to dust off the sewing machine and sew a few blocks for the Around the Block quilting bee.  It is nearly my turn to send out fabric too so I have to start thinking about that, which is both scarey and exciting!

To visit more creative spaces visit Kirsty.

Finally!

The contract is signed! 

We have to wait for some of the requested reports to come in before exchanging but our solicitor said there is nothing that will stop the sale from going ahead so we should be moving in about 8 weeks by the time it all goes through.

We are excited!!

Catching up

I am behind, I feel like everything has been put on hold while we wait... 

We have been looking at a 30 acre block with a colonial home, sheep and a few cows, fruit trees, a creek and a well, even a resident possum who likes to raid the grape vines on the front verandah.

It feels like it would be just right to have us living there.  We have had the building and pest reports done and are seeing the solicitor on Tuesday.  I hope everything is ok with the contract because I would really like to be able to breath properly again.

I have been knitting away over the last month.  The sewing machine had a brief outing while I did the Free Motion Quilting on a single bed quilt Mum made for Dad's swag.  I didn't take a photo which was a bit silly of me because I did a really good job :)

I have been using my Bendigo cotton to knit up some more Dish Cloths.  The kids have been using these in the bath and really like them.  I have not used them in the kitchen, maybe one day just to see how they hold up in there...

I have turned some of my Handspun into a tea cosy which I think looks pretty good.  I have had a few compliments too which always makes you feel good.

I have been knititng a jumper for Baby Blue, and after running out of wool, and being gifted enough to finish it by a kind fellow Raveler I thought my dramas were over.

Alas!  It does NOT fit :(  I cried, real on the bed sobbing stuff too! 

Mum is going to come over and help me modify the neck band to include a tab and a couple of buttons because it is his big head that is the problem, the rest is good.

I picked a V Neck pattern so this would not happen but the opening is just so tiny.  Baby blue is 8.5 months old the the pattern size was for a 1-2years.  Go figure...

I made a felted bag too.  It ended up at just the right size to slip in 4 Vacola #20 jars and I have all my metric knititng needles sorted and on display.  It has me organised and looks great!  I am going to make another one for my metric needles too.  I have a lot of knitting needles with some from the Mr's Nan and Aunty Betty as well as my Grandmother's.  One day I will get Mum's* and it will be like hitting the pay load.  Maybe I should make two new bags?

I am only 4 rows off finishing a Milo Vest in a size 2 for Possum, then Baby Blue to grow into, which wont take him long, so there will be another knitting related post soon.  One of these days I will unpack the sewing machine again, even if all I manage to do is the quilting bee blocks that I am almost behind with...

* Mum, I know you are not ready to be bumped off the perch for a good while yet.  I was just kidding!

A package landed.

I got a parcel today from Jane.  It included this FANTASTIC pincushion which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

I really wish I could crochet, but I don't seem to have much talent for it...

As if the wonderful pincushion wasn't enough, there were other goodies too!  I love the cotton twine and the spoons remade into garden markers.  I think I will have to knit a couple more beanies for Possum so I can use the cute flowers too.

In action with my mint.

My sent pincushion has landed with Kristi.  She has such a beautiful blog which I find both relaxing and inspiring, her photography is wonderful.  Go and have a look and say hello, I bet you stay awhile :)

~~~

It was a great week for mail here, I received another package which was a surprise that I will have to blog later in the week.  I have been such a slack blogger of late I had best spread the posts out rather than cover everything tonight :)

Wordless Weekend

27 Months

I know that 27 months is not a typical milestone moment to record, but the small girl is growing up so quickly and small things are forgotten when not recorded.

You love dressing up and have a big imagination. 

You will wrap your pink blanket around yourself and call it a dress, then say you are a princess.  The same blanket bunched under your chin makes you Santa with a big beard.  You still love that blanket and sleep with it ALL the time.

You love Play School and Charlie and Lola.  If Grandpa in My Pocket comes on you will cry and ask me to turn the T.V off.  I don't blame you ;) 

You sleep with a pile of books which you read to yourself  before bed.  We know what book you are reading because we can hear it throughout the house, for example,  'Cat in Hat waaa waaa waaa waaa waaaaaa!'  It always ends with the waa waa portion.

You chatter all day and mostly we understand you very well.  You can't say your name quite right and call yourself Boffer,  you call your brother Ee-argh.

You don't like things that are 'Moisey'. 

You love the park and shopping. 

You are 'Meshy' and tell me 'Mum clean it up'.

You have discovered the word 'Later'.  If we say no to something you always reply with 'later?'.

Some cute words are:

Hossis = Office

Bishkits = Biscuits

Octpoof = Octopus

We love you.

Second

Another Dishcloth which was my first attempt at knitting from a chart, and my first go at knitting lace too.

Thanks to Ellie for getting me started on reading the chart, and thanks Mum for helping with the lace portion.

There are plenty of mistakes, but by the third repeat I was getting the hang of it.  I don't think I am ready for a large scale lace project, or a large scale chart either but I had fun doing this and it is always nice to try new things and learn as you go.

The pattern is free on Ravelry and is called Elfin Lace.
Project Details found here.

First

My first knitted Dishcloth. 

Still damp and blocking but oh-so-soft and quick to knit. 

I started this last night with left over Bendigo cotton.

There are more details on my Ravelry projects page.

My Creative Space

Eye Spy with my little eye...

I bought an Eye Spy charm pack some time ago and with the cooler weather starting to settle in I thought I had best turn it into a snuggly cot quilt for Little Blue.

I backed it with a woolen blanket so it would be warm enough and I made it a little wider, and longer than an average cot blanket so it could be tucked in.   The slightly larger size will be good when we need to convert the cot into a toddler bed too.

I love his chubby little wrists!

This is the second quilt I have had a go at Free Motion Quilting myself and I am almost getting good enough at it that I am ready to get brave and tackle my much larger 9 Patch quilt top...

Thanks also for all the lovely comments about the Mr's corn. 

I am happy to report that it tasted as good as it looked!

For more Creative Spaces visit Kirtsy :)

Special Announcement

The Mr proudly strutted out of the veggie patch wielding 7 ears of corn.  He turned the golden loot this way, then that way, and proudly proclaimed that it was good enough to blog, then proceeded to try to give me photographic advice*...

Given that the first two corn crops the Mr and I planted both failed due to my somewhat fat and spoilt horse getting into the garden and eating them (twice!), I thought I probably owed him his fifteen minutes of fame...

Go on, leave him a comment.  He responds well to praise, and to be fair, it really is wonderful looking corn :)  I hope it tastes just as good!

Normal blog programming will resume shortly.

* I didn't really listen to any advice so claim photo credit as my own.  I mean really, the guy grew corn, it does not make him an expert on my camera!

My Creative Space

My creative space is in the kitchen at the moment. 

This is encouraged by the small girl in the house who always wants to 'bake a cake' and loves stiring, sifting and making a mess!  Bananas are a good price at the moment so Banana Cake is a winner on both taste and price.

1 3/4 cups SR flour

1/4 cup plain flour

2/3 firm packed brown sugar

3 bananas

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

50g melted cool butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

50grams crushed walnuts

1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Sift butter, add sugar and mix.

Combine wet ingredients in seperate bowl.

Add together and mix in walnuts.

Bake 40-45 minutes.

Remove and cover with foil & bake for an extra 15-20 minutes.

This recipe is a adapted from one seen here and here.
For more creative spaces visit Kirsty