Orange Jam....

My neighbours generously gave me a huge basket of freshly picked oranges today when we meet for lunch....

Mind you they gave me twice as many as this last week which I haven't done anything with as of yet... Feeling guilty about my over supply of oranges, when I got home this afternoon I set to work turning some of them into something other than just 'oranges'....

20 were tuned into Orange Jam. The recipe I used is from here and it's great!!! I doubled all ingredients but only added 1/2 a cup of the orange rind, I don't really go for that rindy marmalade taste....

40 were juiced and produced 4 litres of lovely yummy fresh o.j....

Now there's only about 160 left, waiting in the cool-room for me to do something with over the weekend... Any suggestions???? I was thinking maybe cordial, or there's always more o.j...???

I tried offering them to the neighbour but they don't like oranges or any products associated with them, funny that.... LOL!!! Take Care :)

Chill In The Air.....

This morning while there was still a chill in the air I sat patiently at my Janome and started to create a little something for My Millie....

Using a pattern from the latest ottobre design....

and this super effective hemming idea....

I was able to produce a cute little dress to fit my nearly 7 month old...

I made the smallest size on the pattern and it fits perfectly!!! This is a great little over the top number for the cooler months or a by yourself number for when it warms up.... I love the simplicity of it and the pattern notes were so easy to follow which made it a real pleassure to sew...

With it still too cool to take the 'model' outside this morning I made do with a mirror shot of the 2 of us inside.... Not a very good example but hopefully you get the picture... Take Care :)

Winter Kerchief...

I can't remember the last time that I knitted something for myself, pretty sad hey??? So armed with some more of this gorgeous yarn and a super simple pattern I got to work on rectifying this problem....

For the last 3 nights I've been click, click, clicking away in front of the T.V. working on my special project....
Now that it's finished I LOVE IT and just can't seem to take it off!!! It's a cross between a shawl and a scarf and you can wear it around your neck (which I prefer to do) or draped over your shoulders, either way it's absolutely DIVINE!!!!

I have plans for making another one of these for a friend using slightly chunkier yarn and adding a lace pattern to to outer edging just for a little fun, so stay tuned for the pattern notes.... Take Care :)

p.s. this pattern is a freebie avaliable from here....

Absolutely Beautiful

The weather was absolutely beautiful yesterday feeling much more like Spring than Winter...

The girls and I lapped it up with a lot of outside time, it was the perfect opportunity to grab a couple of pics of the new beanie I made for Miss Connie.... The pattern was from this super cute book that I borrowed from my local library last week. I used the most divine Alpaca yarn to make it up, a gift from the gorgeous Kate, thank you SO much Kate you truly are a gem!!!!!I made the biggest size (2+ years) and added an extra 8 stitches when I cast on. I did this as I was using 8ply yarn instead of the 12ply that the pattern called for and 4mm needles instead of 5.5mm....
I'm so happy with how the size turned out, it has a lot of give in it and fits both my girls heads which is a bonus.... :)
Here's hoping the Sun is shinning in your neck of the woods and you've had the chance to enjoy it, even if it was only for a little while.... Take Care :)

Celebration.....

Over the weekend my Grandma turned 70... To celebrate this occasion 50 semi-close family and friends got together for what turned out to be a lovely dinner...

It's a pity that we don't get together like this more often... Some of the family there I hadn't seen for nearly 10 years, can you believe that??? There really is no excuse now is there...
I made sure I grabbed loads of addresses and this time have vowed to make the effort to keep in touch, even if it is only the odd letter now and then...

For Grandma's B'Day pressy I made her a pair of arm chair covers. She LOVED them and told me boldly that they will definitely be taking pride of place on her favourite big chair.... There was no pattern for these cozies, I just made them up as I went along, having a picture of what I wanted the finished product to look like in my mind..... I'm so happy that they turned out just how I'd hoped they would.... They're reversible and match perfectly with Grandma's latte coloured lounge suite, thank goodness...

Here's hoping you've had a great start to your week after a wonderful relaxing weekend... Take Care :)

Millie's 'Abagail Rainbow'....

After knitting the Abagail sweater 3 times and LOVING the lace pattern worked into the design I was itching to try something new with it....

I've been eyeing off this Rainbow dress pattern for some time now but never really went much on how slimming it appeared to be. I like my girls dresses to have a little bit more room in them so that I can pile the spencers on underneath when the weather is chilly....

After a few tweaks here and another couple there I came up with 'Millie's Abagail Rainbow', named in honour of the 2 very clever ladies who inspired me to improvise this pattern...

I'm thinking of making it into a free pattern download on Ravelry for those that might be interested and am just working on the size range now... This one fits my 6 month old as a long top and I'm sure it would of fit her as a dress when she was 3 months old too... So I'm saying that this is the 3-6 month size...

What size should I go up to??? Would there be anyone interested in testing the pattern for me before I release it??? Any feed back would be great... Take Care :)

3rd Time's A Charm.....

This is the 3rd time that I've made this little cardie and I must admit, I'd make it another 3 more times tomorrow... :) It is such a dream to knit and looks absolutely gorgeous on.... I've made 2 for Miss Connie (my almost 3 year old) and this 1 for my little niece Natalie for her 1st B'day....I've used 100% cotton in a gorgeous hot pink colour for this one.... Here's hoping it fits when the b'day girl gets it this Friday....

I'm now off to start on my washcloth for the Swap.... 9 lovely ladies have come on board and I can't wait too see what they create for their secret partners.... Check out my sidebar for a list of all the swappers.... Take Care :)

Eggcellent!!!!!

The Swap feedback from my last post was awesome, THANK YOU!!!! I can't wait to get started and for those that have joined in keep an eye on your email as there's one headed your way stating all the info needed to get you started....

Miss Connie has been selling her 'farm fresh chook eggs' to some people in town for a couple of months now. She sells them for $2 a dozen and makes just enough money to cover the cost of her chook feed.

I decided this week that she could do with a bag to help her carry the eggs when she takes them to town. So after a few sketches I came up with a design that should hopefully do the trick...

It neatly holds 2 cartons of eggs and even has a little pocket on the inside to put the money as she collects it.

Sometimes she loads it up with just eggs and that works a treat too, holding about 3 dozen, 12 more eggs than when they're in cartons....

I was thinking of making another one of these bags as her eggs have become quite popular over the last couple of weeks, with 4+ dozen being sold weekly. I was also thinking about posting a tutorial for this bag, would anybody be interested???

Take Care :)

A Little Swap....

This morning started off beautifully, the Sun was shining and there was only a slight breeze, it was a gorgeous day to be outside.... I harvested a heap of Italian parsley to add to my dry stocks....

And even managed to recycle an old rain water tank I found at our farm tip, turning it into 3 garden beds with the help of an angle grinder....With a little more soil and some mulch they'll be ready to house some lettuce, rocket and spring onions that I've been growing up in pots....

A day wouldn't be complete for me now would it without a little bit of knitting so here's another washcloth.....

This one's called 'Ears of Grain' and the pattern is a freebie from here.... I made it for a special blogger as a little thank-you for being such a sweetie, so Bec keep your eye on the mailbox as this one's headed your way.... *grin*......

With all of the washcloth making I've been doing of late it's made me think that maybe a little swap might be fun..... If anyone's interested here's what we'll do.... Swap 1 washcloth made any way you like. It can be knitted, crochet, quilted or sewn, the craft choice if purely up to you. Put a little bar of soap with your cloth or a treat costing no more than $5 and your swap parcel in complete.... Just leave a comment if you'd like to join in....

Take Care.... :)

New Arrival....

On Friday of last week one of DH's old uni mates welcomed a healthy baby girl into the world, Henrietta (Henry for short)... I have been saving a particular washcloth for an occasion such as this.....

It's called 'Baby Feet' and was such a sweet knit and I really love how the bobbles make the little tiny toes.... The pattern was a freebie from here and I used a gorgeous organic cotton from my stash in a crisp white...

I made one of these little hats for Henry too... After making one for Millie, not that long ago, and loving everything about it, I thought it would be the perfect gift to keep little baby Henry warm on this chilly weather....

The pattern was a freebie from here and the yarn I used was also another one from my stash, unlabeled but I do remember it being 100% cotton.

I've also been loving how fantastic these little bunnies are as gifts for babies.....

I made a heap of them up to gift at Easter time and after all of the great feed back on how super they were for little hands to hold on to I couldn't help but whip one up for Henry as well, not that she'll be doing much holding just yet....

Hers was in pink, of coarse, with a splash of polka dots thrown in for good measure.... *^_^*

So here's all of the Henry's treasures, ready to be wrapped and posted off tomorrow.....

Or should I say popped in my mail box for the mail man to collect some time tomorrow...

Here's hoping you had a great weekend... Take Care....

Winter Vegie's......

Before Xmas last year a new to me blogger generously gave me a little something for nothing... So as a way to say thank-you I finally got around to knitting her these 2 washcloths....

The first one is a 'baby star', pattern available from here.....

And the second one (my favourite out of all the washcloths I've made so far) is 'The Meadow', pattern available here....

Both these cloths used under 1x50g ball of cotton each and were just beautiful to knit....


In my garden seed progress is coming along well with onions and beetroot now up...
The snow peas are looking wonderful too and next week will be ready for planting in the ground...

These little jiffy pots are great!!! When it's time to plant you just put the plant, pot and all, in the ground and your done, no disturbing of the root system needed what so ever. The pot breaks down into the soil over time...

Have you planted any Winter vegie's this year???? What grows best where you are???

Take Care :)