Nesting....

Well I guess you could say that I sure am well and truly 'nesting'..... I just can't seem to stop playing around with wool at the moment, again... LOL!!!

Here's a little pink crochet top that I whipped up yesterday....It was so super easy didn't even take 2 hours!!! I played around a bit with the pattern that I found for free on Raverly and changed a few things but all in all I'm pretty happy with this cute little number...(back view)

I also whipped up these cute little panties to match out of some fabric that I had in my stash....

All I did to make up the panties was trace around an old pair of the little princess's from when she was just a wee little one and it all kinda fell into place from there... I'm thinking about doing up a tutorial they were that easy but you know what I'm like when it comes to tutorials so don't hold your breath... LOL!!!

Here's the little outfit all together.... Too cute don't you think????I've also made this little top in green with a matching bonnet. I'm going to make up some matching panties for that one too and will post about it later in the week....

Take Care... :)

Making the most if it.....

My first week of part time work went great!!! I can't believe just how much I've managed to get done....

First of all I got to knit up another little beanie for bub #2.....

I know that I don't know the sex of this bub yet but for some reason I was just drawn to this yarn and had to knit something with it. If it turns out that I actually have a little boy than that's o.k, he'll look dashing in pink now wont he... LOL!!!I've also started a matching pair of socks to go with this beanie... Here's my progress so far....

1 down 1 to go... (both of these patterns are free Raverly downloads for those interested)

The little princess and I got a chance to start building some garden beds around the base of the cedar trees that line the boundary of the homestead yard. The bricks that we're building them out of have been salvaged from the original homestead that burnt down in the early 70's, we have 100's of these bricks and don't you worry I have 100's of ideas to use them all up too... :)

Isn't she just the greatest little helper???? :)

I remember spotting an old cast iron bed up at our farm tip about 2 months ago and thought about dragging it back to the house one day and trying to restore it for the little princess. Well on Thursday morning I did just that, dragged it back from the tip... To my surprise there's nothing wrong with it..... (sorry about the bad pic)... After a bit of scrubbing to get rid of the surface rust, a wipe down with metho and a coat of primer I'm now ready to give this baby a lick of paint before she heads into the house for her second life.... You see the little princess is still in a cot so this bed will be her first official 'big girly' bed.... How exciting!!!!

If you look really close you should just be able to spot an old dressing table next to the bed in the pic..... I bought this old girl at a farm clearing sale about 12 months ago for $5. It has a gorgeous set of old beveled edged mirrors to go with it and I've decided that this will make the most perfect addition to the little princess's room along with the bed...

I've started a quilt like this one but in purple for the little princess for Xmas to go on her new 'big girly' bed. It's all cut out so now it's time for the fun part, sewing it all together...

Speaking of quilts I also managed to whip up a little pram/cot quilt for bub #2...

I just have to sew on some binding and it's done..... Each of the squares measure 5" so it's not really that big, just perfect for my little old antique cot... :)

I told you that I had a great week now didn't I??? I could really get used to this part-time/stay at home stuff and I'll definitely be making the most of my precious time before bub #2 comes along....

It's just satrted to rain here where I am. My house has a tin roof and I love the sound that the rain makes when it hits it... I hope you're getting some rain in your area too... Take Care.. :)

Where do I start?????

Well today is my first official day off..... As of Friday last week I've cut back my full-time working hours from 50+ a week to just 16. Instead of working Monday to Friday like I always have I'll now be only working on Tuesday and Wednesday for 8 hours each day until bub #2 comes along...

I have the BIGGEST list of things to do and I really don't know where I'm going to start.... I haven't even got bub #2's room ready yet, how sad is that... :( It's needing a coat of paint and new curtains hung before I even think about setting the cot up... At least I can say that it's up near the top of my BIG list....

I've been finding myself drawn back to the knitting needles over the past week. I managed to knit this little hat up over the weekend..... and this little pair of matching socks.... (Both of these patterns are free raverly downloads for those who might be interested)

Has anyone started on their Xmas pressy list yet??? I started sketching mine down last week, I'm hoping to go handmade again this year after last years success... I'd love to hear if you're doing the same.... Take Care :)

Ecostore

I got an email a couple of weeks back asking me if I wanted to try some 'Ecostore' samples for free, no strings attached. I'd never heard of 'Ecostore' before and thought what the heck, what have I got to loose??

I didn't think anymore of it until yesterday afternoon when I picked up my mail and there was a big parcel waiting for me with all of these goodies inside...

I haven't had a chance to trial any of the products as of yet but am very excited about them and can't wait to start... They all smell and look amazing!!!!
These products are plant/mineral based and are free of nasty chemicals so you've gotta love that. If you pop over to their website they have a free laundry powder offer available for NZ and Aust. residents at the moment...
Also, while I was in town yesterday afternoon I popped into the secondhand shop for a little look-see.... I found this old wooden bookcase for $10 so it just had to come home with me... What a bargain!!!!!
It will be just perfect in my sewing room filled up with fabric....

Take Care.. :)

Long Unexpected Absense....

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last month..... I haven't been feeling all that well but now things are slowly getting back on track and I'm starting to feel like my old self again, full of energy, lets just hope it stays that way....

I've started the drawstring bag tutorial and am hoping to have it finished and up on my blog by the end of this week. I'm trying something new and seeing if I can make it a PDF. If it works I'll be able to put it in my sidebar for people to use whenever they like.

I finally got around to hanging those gates that I got my Mum's engineering business to make me nearly 2 months ago.... Here's the 2 at the front of the house (sorry the car's in the way)...

Here's a closer pic just in case you couldn't quite see them in detail... DH still has to cut the posts to make them level. He's leaving that little branch on the one on the left so I can hang a hose on it.....

Now we have to make a path to the front veranda. I was thinking of laying flat rocks down in a mosaic type pattern, what do you think??? Any other ideas would be great too!!!!

The knitting/crochet bug has slowed right down but before it did I got a chance to whip up this little smocked washcloth.... It was the easiest by far out of all the washcloths I've made recently. On the 'Growing Challenge' front my squash are coming along nicely, will show some pics later... I've also got some mortgage lifter tomatoes which I planted from seed just about ready to migrate to the vege patch. I had a go at planting some parsley from seed this year too, you never can have too much I say..... Man does it take FOREVER to come up. I planted my seeds about 8 weeks ago and they've only just decided to pop up and say hello... God only knows how long it'll take before I have an established plant....

Take Care... :)

What's Wrong With Me????

Thanks for all of the great feed back on the drawstring bag. I'll try and get the tutorial done and posted by sometime next week so stay tuned.... :)

I can't believe that this knitting/crochet bug is still going... There really must be something wrong with me at the moment... LOL!!! I usually get bored and move on after 1 or 2 projects but now I'm up to project number 5 with another 2 already in progress and due to be finished tonight, can you believe it??? Well I can't!!!!!

Here's some pics of the face washers I made for a friend who's b'day is this week. This one is knitted using a gorgeous cotton/acrylic yarn by Patons and this pattern.....

And this one is crochet using 100% cotton yarn by Sullivan's (the same stuff I used for the nappy cover) and this pattern. Even though both yarns were the same ply (thickness) this crochet cloth feels SO much chunkier....

I'm going to try and make some homemade soap to go with these cloths, only if I get the chance, and I have the fabric all cut out and ready to be sewn for a drawstring bag (same as the one in the last post) to put it all in.

Drawstring Pouch and some Mittens...

I whipped up this little reversible drawstring pouch on Sunday night using just over half a metre of fabric in an attemp to help my little sister learn to sew a bag of her very own....

It was so super easy and if anybody is wanting me to do a tutorial for one just leave a comment and if there's enough interest I'll try and get one up on my blog in the next couple of weeks.
I'm using this one to carry my latest knitting project around in, a washcloth which will be a pressy for a friends b'day that is coming up very soon. I can see many more of these little bags in my life, they're just fab and ever so handy to tote that latest project around in.

I've also managed to crochet a pair of these mittens for bub #2. They should match the little booties just nicely. Now all I need is to find a little singlet pattern, anybody know of a good one out there????
Take Care and happy crafting.... :)

Knitted Slippers

Not too many words today....... I got a chance to knit these slippers up for bub #2 last night though while watching a bit of T.V.

They were sooooo quick and easy that I think I might have to knit another pair up very, very soon... I used cleckheaton bamboo, what a gorgoeus yarn!!! Seen as though I've purchased 4 x 50gram balls of it and these little treasures only used about 1/4 of one I can't wait to use the rest of it up, maybe on a matching singlet and mittens... What do you think???Take Care.... :)

Knitted Nappy Cover....

Thanks for all of the lovely birthday wishes for my little princess Connie....

I've had a chance to do a bit more knitting of late and whipped up this little nappy cover.I used cloth nappies with Connie and intend on doing the same with bub #2. I always dreamed of having homemade nappy covers like these ones. Hopefully I'll get a heap more knitted up in several different colours before he/she comes along.

It's so hard to pick colours for 'baby stuff' trying to keep both sexes in mind... Yes that's right I still don't know what I'm having yet, don't get me wrong the surprise is going to be just lovely but DH and I had kinda talked ourselves into finding out the sex at the last scan but unfortunately the nurse was unable to see anything..

Hopefully this green cotton yarn isn't too dark... I used cotton yarn to try and make it as cool as possible as my little bub will be wearing this in the middle of summer.

With such beautiful Spring weather here over the weekend I got the urge to plant some more seeds....

Strawberries and Garlic Chives.... YUMMO!!!! I've always wanted to grow berries and don't know why I never have.... Any tips for great strawberry growing out there???

Take Care.... :)

Happy B'day Baby Girl......

I can't believe that my little princess turns 2 today....These pics were taken at the surprise party that Granny held for her last Friday night. She had the best time as you can see by the look on her face...I've loved every minute of our first 2 years together Connie, my little princess, and can't wait to see what adventures the next 2 bring.

A Bit of Sewing Time....

Over the weekend I got a chance to whip up a couple of skirts for my little princess......

All I did to make them was cut a 12' x 32' rectangle out of some fabric from my stash, stitched the 2 12' sides of the rectangle together to make a tube, hemmed the bottom, stitched on some cute trim then hemmed the top and inserted some elastic. Too easy!!!!

I'd say it's about a size 2-3... I got the super cute trims from Reprodepot about 6 months ago and am so happy with the quality that I can't wait to head on over there again to buy some more of their trims...

Seen as though my little girl is pretty obsessed with putting things in pockets at the moment I added a pocket to the one below...

Next on the sewing agenda is a couple more of these aprons and some light weight pants for Spring...

Thanks for all of the advice on the gates from my last post... After changing my mind several times I've finally come to a decision... I'm going with the less-fancy option of the gate in the first pic, with the added swirly bit on the top of coarse.. I can't wait to pick them up this weekend from Mum's and when I do I'll show you all some pics!!!

Take Care... :)