Oh Dolly!

Unshared joy is

an unlighted candle.

-Spanish proverb

I have no idea where this week went to. I guess every now and then you get weeks like that, but the one good thing is that I am closer to our long weekend and that could spell sewing for me! I had a terrific week at work and with so many reading room books to be covered I decided to bring some home to cover - in my spare time! 

I found some lovely yellow material at an op shop and thought it could turn into the bottom part of a big doll pattern that I had. Do you like her?.....

I couldn't resist her. The mouth, hair and eyes are made from pieces of felt, the face from another off cut from the op shop. Dolly stands quite high and is the height of roughly a three year old. Along with my knitting this week, my time was also divided up into getting the clothes washed, going to a P & C meeting and a stack of other chores.

I did get to visit the library and pick up some more books that looked interesting, and have gone through each one with a fine tooth comb. 

My love of the colonial days and how women lived is once again evident in my selection. This book shows many aspects of women and their daily chores, so much so, that I have decided to like my life very much. It also tells of the lose of babies, clothes washing, daily life, making foods...it goes on. I also found two great knitting books...fancy that, and they have several patterns that I will have a go at over this winter.

 

I may need to still make one more trip to the library, as we have a long weekend coming up, and may need a bit more to keep me out of trouble.

I have been trying in vain to get a photo of a family of magpies that are nesting in our neighbour's tree. The tree is so big that I'm sure every bird in the countryside is nesting in there. Our neighbours are lovely folk that have even made a feed stand for any bird that swoops down in their yard. I will keep trying to get a snap for you all.

I said to my boys to look outside at the lovely sky, it looked amazing. Cory asked me if he should take a photo for you all to share with us, so I said that would be a great idea. 

 

 Now, it was Cory that took the photo, because I wasn't getting on the roof to take the shot. It was about 6pm, it had been a shockingly hot day, and at the end of the day we welcomed this lovely sky.

 Stunning colours....yes? We even wondered if there might be some rain, but no, still no rain.

Tomorrow I will be sharing part of my day with my niece Lisa and her two little darling boys, Mr. Thomas the tank engine man and Mr. Jungle boy and his bag of african animals. It will be a fun visit as always. Until next time, kind regards, Anita.

Sewing Saturday & Sleep in Sunday

There is no remedy for

love but to love more.

- Henry David Thoreau

I had a lovely sewing day yesterday. Two of my darlings went go karting and had a great time as they always do. Pixie is wagging his tail like mad as Cory has steadily made his mark in go karting. I did a fair bit of housework and peeled all the bedding off every bed in the house and washed them. So while they were happily flapping on the line to dry I made a start with my sewing project.

 Isn't she cute?

This girl is called Petal and the pattern was sent to me from Vickie during the week.  This is a lovely 'Angel in disguise' pattern and the instructions were easy to follow. I managed to get most of the cutting out done and then I had one of my dear friends, Heather, over for afternoon tea. We had a heart to heart session, as girls often do, topped off with lots of yummy tea. We traded our magazines, had our show and tell of what we have been up to and made some project plans.

In amongst all this Brandon came out of his bedroom!!! and asked to have a sleep over at his friends house. So after taking Brandon to his friends house and having a fit of the giggles together while we went there, I came home to a quiet house and continued to make my little Petal.

For Petal's body I used some material Heather had culled from her stash and as you can see it has a slight gingham effect to it. I thought that might be a bit different to use instead of calico. And those fat quarters given to me at Christmas and birthday time have indeed come in very handy. The dress was made in a lovely soft pink, and the shoes, nose and hair was done in a darker shade. I love the patterns running through both of those colours.

Once again thanks Vickie for sending me those patterns, I love them.

One thing I tried hard not to do was to go any where near my knitting, because my sewing would've come to a screaching halt. I was very good most of the day until tea time, and then .....

 I sat down at the kitchen table to eat tea and spotted my pattern had fallen out of my knitting bag, I went to pick it up and put it back in the bag......

 

spotted my knitting and that was the end of anything else!

 

 I kept knitting for the rest of the night. In the photo it is hard to see the pattern that is forming as the wool has mixed colours but it is coming out nicely. Part of the front is plain and then it goes to the pattern part that has a 'V' pattern forming. It is really lovely. As you can see by the photo it is a short sleeved little number and I plan to wear it for work with a black thick long sleeved top underneath it.

After coming home from go karts at almost midnight, Pixie and Cory were pretty tired. That meant a nice sleep in for everyone and Cory didn't wake up until 9.30am!!!! Record! Today will be a slow day for us all. Maybe a little bit of work around the yard and some sewing as well....I have to hide my knitting off myself so I don't get to it. How is your weekend going? Hope you're all having a fantastic time. Kind regards, Anita.

Look what arrived for me!

Everything nourishes

what is strong already.

- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.

I have indeed finished the knitting projects I set out to make using the pink cotton. Here it is...

 I'm just hunting around for some nice pink ribbon and we're set. I know someone special will get this, but I just don't know who that some one is just yet. Maybe a special niece of mine will be expecting some time in the near future...hmm? The cotton was lovely to knit with and I know paying $11.00 for 50 gm is a bit over board but I just knew I had to knit with it. It was as soft as I expected. Sometimes you feel a wool or cotton and think yes that will be lovely and it turns out all hard and stiff, well this is so soft.

In the mail yesterday I received a parcel filled with some goodies. I'm a spoilt little thing. Vicki sent me this wonderful stash of doll patterns and with the weekend coming up and two boys going to go karts....well. 

I can see what will happen!! Thanks very much Vicki, you are too kind Batwoman! I'm doing my washing today in readiness for a dentist visit in Perth tomorrow (yuk) and it should be smooth sailing on the weekend. I just hope I can put my knitting needles down. Talking about knitting, no sooner had I finished the bootees and bonnet, the wool from the other stash I had purchased, cast on to my knitting needles. I am going to make something for myself for the next winter season.

 This is the wool I purchased at a recent trip to a little town called Toodyay. It was a good price and feels lovely to the touch. Can't wait to see how it turns out. I will show you the pattern next time. I found it on a free knitting site. Well it is time to go and hang that washing up before I start cooking tea for my three darlings. Til next time....Kind regards, Anita.

Finished..thank goodness

After the clouds are swept aside,

brightness will appear.

- Philippine proverb.

I've been knitting away madly for what seems like ages now on a little blue number. You ever had a project that seems to take you forever, well this was one of them.

 I had some left over balls of Capricorn wool and decided to use it up buy knitting this short sleeved, hooded top. The Capricorn wool was not the right recommended wool but did the job anyway. I will be putting this top aside for the Guardian angel collection that comes around in about July every year.

 

 Oops! Bit bright!!

The top seemed to take forever to make and it is probably because I was itching to knit with the lovely pink wool I purchased over at Toodyay. It is actually an Italian cotton, not wool, but oh so lovely to knit with. I have a beanie pattern in an old book I saved from a book sale and I'm really enjoying myself.

 This photo doesn't actually show the pattern up very well, but there is a lovely diamond pattern happening here. The ball of cotton was only 50 gms, but I'm sure I have enough to make matching bootees. I still have the other  wool to find something to knit yet. I have 300 gms of that and I will be making that for someone special. I'm really going mad on knitting lately, even though the weather is incredibly hot still. My first love in the craft arena is knitting, but every now and then some other craft takes over. But it's back to the knitting for now.

This is my fourth week back at work and I had to laugh at my once square dice. Take a look....

 They are there for the kids so you can't expect anything else. I also took a photo of a couple of other bits I made as well. I had fun making the toys for the library and I have been checking out what else needs to be made. 

 

I love Mr Porcupine and the heart was fun to make as I love stitching. I have a big stash of threads, so I always find something to make. I am being surrounded by a beady pair of eyes, I think Cory is aching to tell me all about school and what happened today, better make a nice cup of tea and hear what happened.

Hope to catch up and chat with you in a few days time. Kind regards, Anita. 

 

What makes me laugh

Happiness is getting what you want.

Joy is knowing you are never alone.

What a start to the weekend, going down to the shops with Cory and getting a big dose of the giggles. I can't go anywhere with Cory and not come back without having had a good laugh. We spotted so many things that just triggered us both off and that is the end of that. We checked out a few shops that might have the best price for PS2 games, did some food shopping, checked out Toy world and just walked around for a while.

I dropped Cory off home as he is having his friend Corey over for the night and then went back to the Op shop. I found a few things, one being an all time favourite of mine.

 

This would truly have to be my most favourite baby knitting book in the world. My Mum had a copy of this and later gave it to me. I whipped it to death and then purchased another copy. Even looking after these books so well, I needed to get this copy as the other copy is ready to go to pattern book heaven. I found a packet of what I thought was ribbon from the op shop, great buy for $1 only to get it home and discover it was quill paper. 

 

All is not lost though, Heather does quilling and these lovely bits will go home with Heather today after our afternoon tea. Today we are going to exchange magazines with each other. Heather can go through my Australian Home spun magazines and I will have her Handmade. Actually lately I have been going mad and excited about knitting for the coming season. I have found a nice stash of Feathers wool that is always nice to knit scarves with.

 

 I have almost finished my little blue top I am knitting, and it feels like it's taken me forever to make it. It has put me in the knitting mood though, so that's a good thing. I went to the library to see if there was anything that might keep me knitting and I found one really nice book and had to have the other one.

The toy knitting looks like fun and it will be a good way to use up those little balls of wool left over from other things. All the toys will probably end up in the school library. The other book I found is called the Jane Austen's sewing box and what a treasure that is. There are craft projects and stories from Jane Austen's novels. There is a bit of history in there as well, such as, making bonnets and why women wore bonnets etc. It is really interesting.

 

Some things that make me laugh are the most simple things, like Cory's hat collection. He has a fascination with hats, masks and dress ups. I think it's because when Brandon and Cory were real little I started up a dress up box and made sure there was lots of interesting things in there. They both loved dress up so much that I even made fire man costumes, batman capes, the list is endless. I also realize now that most of the photo's of the boys, they are in dress up!

 
  I have to say, I couldn't get all the hats in the photo and all of them aren't hanging up. Do you love the punk mask? Well what can I say? Another thing that makes me laugh is the magnet on my fridge.

The boys ask me a question 'Can I ...' and then they look at the fridge. I'm hoping to get my blue knitted top finished today so I can show and tell on my next posting. Enjoy the weekend and catch up with you soon. Kind regards, Anita.

Flip it's been hot!

A good character is 

more valuable than gold.

- Philippine proverb

Wow! It has been so hot. Our summer is really dragging on and it seems that the best thing to do is to stay inside and do my crafts. I have had a great week at work and with tomorrow being my last work day for the week, I will continue to look for my next project. I have a few things on the go now, but I want something to get my teeth into, like a lovely table runner. I did find some left over materials from a heart quilt that I had made and decided to make a couple of small heart blocks.

 This won't be part of my challenge with Bev but as I am a heart girl, I am making something else. Will show and tell soon. I have been scratching around the cupboards again lately and have re-arranged things in different containers. I found this little house tin somewhere years ago and just can't part with it.

It has become a new home for some of my wooden bits. I love the little girl faces, and use them often on different things I make.

Some of the small bits I have here go well with the cloth dolls I make. I have found some fun shapes at times.

I have found a use for an old Ferrero Rocher box. My beads where just living in a plastic bag and I always worried if that plastic bag broke. Now they seem nice and safe.

While I was outside watering the garden, I couldn't help but take a snap of the night sky. Isn't it lovely?

Now with the colour of the sky, wouldn't you think it might be bringing us some rain.......

Nope. No rain. We did have a small patch of rain a couple of days before and it actually woke me up. I had forgotten what rain sounded like, it gave me a fright. I noticed on the news tonight that Northern Territory and Queensland were having storms and rain....we just want the rain please. Some one do a rain dance for us?

Pixie and Brandon have gone out for a while tonight and my petal Cory and I are having a relaxing night. Cory tells me all about his day at school and at the moment the news is very interesting. I'm off now to stir Cory up a bit and be a big lizard on the lounge with him. Have a great night to you all. Kind regards, Anita. 

Home safe and sound

Happiness is contagious! If allowed

to spread, it can infect

the whole universe with joy.

Pixie and Cory had a great weekend away doing what they love best - go karting. But to my relief they are home safe and sound. With the boys away go karting and Brandon away at a friend's house, that meant a very quiet sewing weekend for me. It was lovely to just plod around and sew and do things at my own pace but it is certainly much nicer to have everyone at home. I did manage to finish a few UFO's, I'm pleased about that, now I can start on some other things as there is no rest for the wicked.

My first project to complete was this lovely little piece called Charli Anne.

 

This little girl was designed by Cath and she is great fun to make. The material I used for the dress, frill, collar and headband was from the fat quarters I was given as a birthday present from my sister-in-law Lee. I still have alot of colours to choose from to make other things, so I will have to get a wriggle on.

My other project was to finish a skirt I had started and gladly that was sewn up in no time and very easy to make.

 

This is such a lovely light material and I just adore the colours and print. With more hot weather coming on, I'm sure I will be happy in this light skirt. Those two projects kept me busy in the day time and then at night, I did some knitting. For tea I had a nice mince and noodle dish that I froze knowing this weekend was coming up. So that meant no cooking, hardly any dishes and lots of time to sew.

I decided to make a nice tea cosy and as I am trying to use my wool stash, I thought I'd use the white and blue wool. I haven't been using my teapots for a while, mainly because things are just at a rushed pace lately, so maybe this will encourage me again. This morning I found some bits of material and decided to make a couple of little things out of it.

A cute little bag for a girl. A very fun bag to make, as I have made some of these little gems before. This bag will get packed away for a special little girl I  know and she might even find a Charli Anne in there too. Some beautiful material, that I only had a fraction of but couldn't bring myself to get rid of, became....

I found a pattern for a page stopper so I thought I'd make one and had a lovely gold tassel floating around that finished it off nicely. I thought this might come in handy when I need to keep that recipe page open on the right page. With still a bit of time to spend, I even replaced a zipper on Brandon's school shorts. How is that for scary? 

Have to be honest with you all. Not one of my favourite tasks but I do it when the time calls. I'm hoping this week will be at a slower pace than the last as I am really wanting to do more knitting this week. Last week I ended up working everyday, something I wouldn't have been interested to do in my last job. Seeing as this new job is the bee's knees I just couldn't help myself. It is really a lovely work place. On Friday at morning tea, I was presented with a birthday cake, as my birthday falls in the school holidays, I had missed out on a cake. That's how lovely the people are in this new work place.

I'm buzzing off now to sort out my next project and I need to spread out my magazines to find the right one. Cory is wanting to see how many eggs might be in the chook house, so we'll have to go and do that in a second. Hope everyone has had a relaxing weekend and I will chat with you some day soon. Kind regards, Anita.

A Woman's work is never done

Animals are such agreeable friends -

they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms

-George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life

When the computer and the camera decide not to do the right thing, someone can't get their blog posted. I have been tormented by both the last few days and hopefully now, they will both be good. In my last posting I wanted to show you some wool that I had purchased and here it is...

To be honest the photo doesn't do the colours justice. The baby wool is close to the right shade and very soft, but the multi coloured wool has a lovely pink through it and is just yum. I have managed to build up too many UFO's just lately and I need to get stuck into things to complete them. A bit of stitchery below..

This little stitchery is to be added to an ongoing project and I have just about finished it. The challenge of the month between Bev and I was to make something with black and white. I decided on a bag, because I always need one more. I had lots of bits left over from lots of other projects so I had no trouble rustling up these colours.

I'm getting better with using the camera, but you know I have spotted my bible story books poking out from under the bag here. I'll get the knack soon.

I made the bag a good size, I'll be able to stash lots of wool or stitching in there! And yo-yo's...I just love them.

The other project almost finished is my dress and strange is that it is black and white also. Must have been the month for that colour.

 

Buttons still need to be stitched on and also buttonholes, and I really like the pattern on the material. I have a skirt that needs sewing up as well, so I will still be sewing like mad.

It's time to dash off and get ready for work. It is just a small posting today but if it wasn't for my husband who sat down and made the camera download, I wouldn't have been able to share these photo's with you. So I'm glad for his manpower and ability to make the camera work. The last few days have been so busy my head is spinning. I had the washing, watering, ironing and trying to get the computer to work all at the same time as well as listen to Cory telling me all about his day at school. It is very important to listen to what he has to say and even Brandon had a fair bit to say about school as well, so I'm always ready to hear them.

Have the best day. Kind regards, Anita.