Generosity

Today I had a lovely surprise when I checked the letterbox. There was a parcel for me (always a good start!) and inside it was a replacement frame for one of my cherished Offhand Designs bags and ...

voila, two gorgeous needlecases!! Two lovely people from a Ravelry group I'm on have each gifted me a needlecase (one for fixed circulars and one for interchangeables) from the recent Offhand Designs sale on Etsy.  The photo really doesn't do these needlecases justice - they're beautifully made and are already filled with all my needles.

I also finished a dolly Darwinia dress test knit for designer Georgie Hallam (aka Tikki).  It's so cute and destined to make up part of Tessa's 4th birthday present in November. 

Eddie was slightly freaked out by the dolly!!

Tuesday Tally time again

Eek! It's been a whole week and I haven't posted about anything else, so it's back to Tuesday's Tally again.  After last week's tally I re-evaluated my blanket plan and decided to go with something a little bit more 'little girlie' as this is for my 3 year old, so I have started a whole new blanket! I have selected this pattern from Ravelry, by Solveig Grimstad, although there were several contenders. I'm so indecisive and have swung between three or four patterns, but finally decided on this one. Tess loves it, so hopefully it'll be good when it's done as this will be my first ever crochet blanket.

I now have 25 squares - all done over three four days! I got sidetracked by some dolly knitting yesterday and didn't get a chance to do any, but will be getting another few under my belt tonight.

In other news Oliver has been selected to play in the Wellington Federation District Team in their talent development programme. This is very exciting for him and has been a bit of a boost for his confidence. It does, however, mean that our summer will now be packed with soccer practices and games - so much for my reprieve from being a sports taxi driver!

Ok, must dash - have Izzy's parent/teacher/child conference this evening and I must get the washing out and dinner on. Until next week ....

Edited to add: I've completed another three squares tonight, so officially 28 squares for my Tuesday Tally!

Tuesday's Tally

Well, it's Tuesday, so it's tally time again! I have been good and have done at least one square per day - and two on Friday. Being part of this Ravelry group is definitely keeping me on the straight and narrow and I've decided I'd like to get this blanket done by Christmas so I can give it Tess as part of her Christmas present.

















ETA. I actually have done 17, not 16 - I forgot I had one hiding in my bag!!
I think I need to do a photography course though, because I can't seem to photograph these colours right at all and it's really frustrating me! They keep coming out too bright and make the colours look washed out. I've tried inside photos with and without the flash and outside photos with and without the flash. I give up!

Anyway, on other things - I have been testing a couple of patterns recently for tikki (Georgi Hallam) and here is the result of one. This is Jane, a gorgeous wee cardigan that will be perfect for the summer and also between seasons. I love it and so does Tess - so much so that I'm currently knitting another!

The other test knit I'm doing is for some wee doll clothes, which will be a present for Tess for her birthday in November. I'm going to wait until I've finished all of them before I do a big tah dah post :).

Oh, and after Izzy beiong so clever as to make her own cushion the other day, Tess also 'had' to have one so I whipped her up one in her choice of fabrics as well!

Izzy's first sewing project

A few months ago I picked up a really cute little sewing machine at a local thrift store. They sell electrical items as is and you can't test them, but for $10 I figured it was worth the risk! Well, I got it home, cleaned it up and after some fiddling with the tension dials I got it working beautifully. It's such a cute wee machine and just hums along - and has a pretty great stitch quality too. It's a wee Globe Cub 6 and I bought it with the intention of giving it to Izzy if she was interested.

Finally, yesterday, she actually asked if she could make something on it, so I immediately set it up for her and gave her some scrap fabric to play and practice on. She had a ball and then wanted to have a go at actually making something, so I suggested a simple envelope style cushion. She chose fabric from my stash and we watched a tutorial on Youtube so she could see what she needed to do and how it should be done. Simple.  And then my clever 9 year old set about making it. I helped with the iron and the cutting, but she did all of the sewing and I am so proud of her!  Here are the results:

Isn't she a clever cookie?!

One a Day - Tuesday Tally

I have joined a group on Ravelry to help motivate me to actually complete a crochet blanket! The object is to complete, you guessed it, one part of the project every day. Depending on what that project is, it could be one square, one row or whatever other part of the project counts as 'one a day'.  I have chosen to do a basic granny square blanket for Tess and if I manage to complete that, then I 'll do a different one for Izzy. I will check in every Tuesday and do a progress update (to keep me honest!).

I didn't start this project until the weekend, due to finishing other things and having quite a bit on recently, but so far I have made 8 squares (please excuse the appalling photo - I've been at work til late so didn't get a chance to do one in daylight) with another about to be finished:

I've also been following the progress of other group members as well here.

Help me win a knitting bag

This is a shameless begging post! I will be back later to update you all on our weekend away, but in the meantime I'd love it if you could vote for me on a Facebook knitting bag photo competition.

I have fallen in love with pretty much all of the Offhand Designs knitting bags that Larisa has designed and made. The quality is excellent, the bags are beautiful and the designs are perfect for knitting or everyday use. Here's the link to the competition (and my photo): http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=268212763202995&set=a.267351589955779.72755.115805075110432&type=1&theater.  If I am lucky enough to win, I will get a beautiful bag as the prize - and we can't get these bags here in New Zealand, so fingers crossed I win it!!

My husband took the photo when we stopped for lunch just south of Taihape on our way to Taupo for my 11 year old son's soccer tournament. Unfortunately the camera battery died before we got there, and I couldn't get any more photos on the good camera.  I will put some pics up later of the trip, but all of the photos in Taupo and of the tournament are from my iPhone, so the quality isn't good!

In the photo I am looking over to the hillside where there were several ewes with their wee lambs. I am wearing a scarf I knitted from some lovely New Zealand wool given to me by a friend, who had dyed it herself. The pattern for the scarf is the Garden City Scarf, by NZ designer Sheryl Greenfield, who designed it to commemorate all those who have been affected by the Christchurch earthquakes. The design is lovely and the scarf can be knitted in fingering (4 ply) or worsted (10 ply) weight yarn and is a really enjoyable, quick knit.

If you're on Facebook, please vote for me! Thanks - and back later with more about our mini getaway :)