The Beach

The weather in Albany has definitely warmed up now. Unfortunately we are back home. The girls didn't want to let a bit of wind, rain or cold to spoil their holiday so we still went to the beach. They built sand castles, collected shells, did a little swimming and then played at the playground.Once you build sand castles you have to knock them down.
We looked after my niece for the weekend. A little taste of what it is going to be like to have three.The holidays are nearly over. Chris is back to work next week - I can see the girls and I being a bit sad on Tuesday.

Hats

We are off to the beach tomorrow, well kind of - we are off to Albany so we'll be lucky if it doesn't rain and can get in the water without freezing. The girls are very excited and have packed their buckets and spades and are all ready to collect shells.
I thought I might need a new hat just in case it is sunny. This hat was based on the one in Lotta Jansdotter's book. It was a good thing I pinned it all together before sewing as it needed some major altering before it was wearable, But I love how it turned out.

I thought I would make the girls a hat too. Base on a couple of different hats they had with with a few adjustments.

A new chicken and a pig.

Summer Reading

I had big plans for summer reading, but as soon as I get comfortable in the afternoon with my book I need a little nap, but i am slowly getting through this pile.

A new pile thanks to The Book Depository. My new favourite place to get books. The shipping from Amazon was getting slower and slower. These books were here in just over a week adn they have free shipping all over the world. If you are a knitter The Knitter's Book of Yarn is a must have - great information and patterns. The Yarn Lover's Guide to Hand Dyeing is fantastic - something I will have to have a go at soon.
A few more giraffes as they always make me happy.

Apricot Jam

This is where I got up to when I snapped a needle on my Jitterbug socks. I'd just done my first short row heel and it wasn't that hard. Hopefully it will be in the mail today. Fingers crossed.
So I have been slowly working on my first magic loop socks. Charade socks.
There was more jam yesterday - apricot, dare I say it, even yummier than the plum.

Plum Jam

My sister came over yesterday and we went for a drive looking for fruit. I live near a few orchards and places that sell local vegetables. The best bargain was from the orchard right next to my house this box of plums.

A small amount of it is now my first attempt at jam. I don't think I even made a dent in the box so there will be more jams and stewed fruit this week.

Little Creature

A Little Creature that I sketched ages ago finally came to life last night, not sure what it is or what it is called. I found I had some time after I snapped a needle knitting my socks and now I have to wait for some new ones to appear in the mail - so annoying.

2008

My calendar for 2008 has arrived. There were so many fantastic ones to choose from on Etsy this year. This is the one I finally chose and I love it. From Wolfie and the Sneak.

More platypuses - I love choosing the fabrics and felt and making these.

Christmas

We are back home after trekking around the countryside after the hottest Christmas ever. Thanks goodness Chris' parents and sister both had pools so that's were we spent a lot of Christmas day. The girls had a great Christmas - far to busy with their presents to look at the camera.
Afternoons at my parents were spent sitting around and in the blow up pool.
Some of the great handmade presents I bought from Etsy
Stoneware Ram from Seaurchin
Hairclips from Cutecumber
Baby Singlet from Jiah
Earrings from ESDesigns
Pendant from OrangePeelEnamel (ok it was for me - not technically a present, but I really wanted it)

We have all spent the last 2 days with a vomiting bug - it seems to have gone now, but that has put a stop to all our New Years Plans ( not that they were doing lots, but we were leaving the house for a change). I hope you have a wonderful New Year where ever you are and a fantastic 2008.

Jitterbug Socks

What do you do when you are meant to be packing for the Christmas trek around the countryside? Have a go at knitting some toe up socks using some Jitterbug sock yarn.
Much more fun than packing and thinking about a week away. Every year Chris and I say we are staying home for Christmas and every year we trek around the countryside. Maybe next year.
I'm not really big on Christmas, especially one where I can't even have a drink, but I'm going to make an effort as the girls are getting very excited. I finally felt a bit Christmassy last night watching the Christmas special of Rockwiz. So I might put some music on and face the inevitable packing.

Christmas Presents Finished

The Christmas presents are finished and wrapped. I can post pictures as my Nan doesn't read. Here are her finished socks.

A bag for Mum's birthday. She chose the fabric so it's no surprise.

Now I have two whole days to relax and get organised for our Christmas trek around the countryside.
I hope you all have a wonderful enjoyable Christmas wherever you are!

Girls, girls, girls

I have had a few days without a computer - I'm not sure what happened but it wouldn't turn on. Luckily it is all fixed now. This gave me lots of time to finish my Christmas sewing. Skirts and pants for the girls and my niece in lots of girly colours.

And our house is getting even more girly. One good thing about having an amnio was finding out for sure we are having another girl. I am so excited! I have two sisters and we all get on so well. I love to see Grace and Amelia playing together and so excited that they will have a little sister. The one good thing about not having a straight forward pregnancy is the extra ultrasounds and getting to see her more often.

Thanks to Shannon at Minifashionista some of my little curly haired girls are in Junior magazine this month.
I have just a few more Christmas presents to finish - I love the idea of handmade for Christmas I just wish I had of planned for it through the year.

Change Mat

I think posting pictures of things I need to do is a good idea - it make me get stuff done. I managed to turn the pile into a change mat for Madison. I haven't used chenille for backing before, but I definitely will be again and I think I need to try some bibs with it too.

Madison

The girls have a new cousin! Chris' sister Carolyn had a baby girl called Madison last Sunday. the girls are very excited about meeting her at Christmas time. In the absence of pictures of her here is a picture of one of the piles on the floor which could become something for her.

Socks for Noma

My Nan Noma loved the socks I made her last year, so I thought I'd knit some more for Christmas for her. I know I've said it before but Lorna's Laces Worsted makes the best bed and boot socks. I have 12 days, I'm pretty sure I can get the second one finished.
A new challenge for next year. I bought some Addi Turbos from Yarns Galore and this arrived in the mail yesterday.

Easy Skirt Tutorial

I have made a few skirts for the girls recently. They are so quick and easy to make so I thought I'd write a tutorial for the easiest two year old skirt. I have made a few that are all one fabric and some that have two different fabrics. This skirt fits about a 48cm (19") waist and the girls are about 86cm (33 1/2") tall.

1. Cut two fabric pieces - the top one is about 28" by 9" (sorry all my measurements are in inches as I use my quilting board and rulers to cut)
- the bottom is 34" by 5.25"

2. Sew the hems to make two circles and overlock or zigzag stitch the edges.
3. Increase your stitch length on your machine (I turn mine to 4) and with a long tail of cotton sew around the top of the bottom piece. leave a long tail at the end as well. Pull the top tail of cotton at each end gently to gather.
4. Pin to the top piece, matching seams and easing to fit.
5. Sew and then overlock or zigzag. I iron towards the top and then topstitch.
6. Overlock the hem and fold up and sew.
7. Overlock the top and sew down leaving enough width to thread through elastic and a small opening to thread it through. I like to top stitch as well - I think it stops the elastic twisting.

8. Thread the elastic through - I use big safety pins and sew it up. Then sew up the opening. The only elastic I use now is non roll ribbed elastic and for children's clothes I use 3/4" (20mm).

9. Finished!

Sunday

This gorgeous little rabbit arrived in the mail this week from Maggie of Maggierama. I sent her a curly haired doll a while ago and in return I got this gorgeous rabbit (which for some reason the girls think is a puppy dog).

The girls love their art wall - maybe a little too much. Anything that goes up with glitter, feathers, anything glued on gradually gets picked and torn apart until there is bits of it all over the house, but they love sticking their work up there.

A trip to the Wiggles

It seemed like a great idea 6 months ago. Tickets to the Wiggles in Perth - the actual concert was not too bad and the girls loved it. I just don't think I thought about the rest. I'm soooo glad I got Mum to come and help me get there and back. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I planned to do the rest of the Christmas shopping in Perth I hadn't done on the internet or made. The big shops were just too much for the girls especially combined with the chocolate milk we kept feeding them so they wouldn't scream at us constantly. Even a short trip to get more vegetable seedlings didn't end well. But we are home and they were so tired today they had a big nap which meant I could watch the end of this and not think for a couple of hours.

A couple of pretty packages from Aunty Cookie and Kirinco made me feel better too.

Thimble

I can't believe I only just discovered these little stick on thimbles this week. My fingertips are very grateful.