Santa Claus

This was a lovely stitch, all of my favourite Christmas colours.  I used the recommended threads on 32 count vintage mocha belfast linen.

As I'm making my way through the last of my gift stitching and finishing, I've added this to the pile but I'm not sure yet as to how I'll finish it.  I have the second design on this chart ready to stitch too.

See you soon xx

Mini Break in Rotorua

Last week I  headed away for a couple of days on a work trip to Rotorua. 

The weather was sunny and warm, and it was gorgeous day when we stopped for an hour or two in Taupo on our way to Rotorua.

Later in the afternoon I got to visit one of my favourite shops, Cottage Flair. This shop is filled with lovely fabrics, stitchery patterns, knitting supplies and much more.

The purpose for our trip was to take in some of the sights and have a fun time with some of the people from the community service I work for.

We spent a wonderful morning at the Redwoods Forest, participating in the Tree walk. We only missed Prince Harry and Megan by a week! We had a lovely chat with the guide from the tree walk all about their visit here recently.

The tree walk has been on my bucket list for a long time so I was so pleased to have finally visited this gorgeous place in Rotorua.

Such a fun activity to do and I can't wait to go again some time with Glenn and Hannah, and maybe visit in the evening when all the lanterns in the trees and lights are twinkling, I think it would be magical.

Another fun thing to do in Rotorua is take a ride on the Skyline Gondola.

On a nice day you can see for miles and once you are up the top you can take the luge back down, check out the nature trails, shop at the Jelly Belly store or enjoy something to eat and drink at the restaurant.

The rest of our stay was easy filled with shopping, swimming in the heated pool at our motel and enjoying some nice meals out.

Soon it was time to hit the road back home but not before taking a walk around Kuirau Park, where you can check out some geothermal activity including bubbling mud pools and very stinky and steamy geothermal vents.

See you soon x

Noel Birds

This little ornament had been in my stitching bag half stitched for several months so it was time for a finish.

Noel Birds  by Homespun Elegance from the 2014 Just Cross Stitch Ornaments magazine.
I trimmed it with some Lady Dot Creates Chianti pom pom trim.

See you soon xx

Chalkboard Ornaments

I absolutely loved stitching these chalkboard ornaments by Hands on Design. I had originally intended to stitch the whole series this year but the rest will have to wait for 2019 now :)

I mostly used the recommended threads, substituting Chalk gentle art sampler thread with DMC 3685, on 32ct black belfast linen.

See you soon xx

Sampler Claus

I was so happy to see that I was still going to be able to get my annual Lizzie Kate Santa fix when this cute design was released by Lizzie Kate a few weeks ago. It's available exclusively from 123 Stitch, one of my favourite online shops. I love that I can keep a "wish list" on their site and add charts, threads, etc until I'm ready to order. I have a few on my list at present, just waiting for the latest With Thy Needle charts to be listed. It's quick service to NZ too, so I don't have to wait too long before new charts arrive.

See you soon x

Two Shawls

Sorting through my photos recently, I came across the photos of two shawls I knitted during our winter.  This blue one was the very first shawl I knitted and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is the Settler Shawl by Libby Johnson of Truly Myrtle and the yarn I used was New Denim by Catrien of Yarnfloozy.

A bit hard to tell from the light in these photos but the yarn has a sparkle to it.

My second shawl is Spindrift by Helen from Curioushandmade, and this was also a lovely design to knit. 

My yarn choice for this was a silk merino mix by Bonnie from Union Fibre called Not Quite Pink.
It was dream to knit with, so lovely and soft.

See you soon xx

All things stitching

Over the weekend I finished the very last part of the Farmhouse Christmas series, Ba Ba Black Sheep.

I hope to make a start on turning my stitching into individual ornaments later this week.

I "think" I've finally finished stitching the last of my 2018 ornaments for family and friends - I need to do a count up to check, and of course, there are several that I won't be able to show until after they have been given to the recipients :) This one is from Hands on Designs Chalkboard ornament series.

Started back in May, while Hannah and I were watching the Royal Wedding of Megan and Harry, I have been slowly stitching away on Cross Stitch Nation by Heartstring Samplery.

I couldn't resist ordering the new Lizzie Kate Christmas Santa pattern (available from 123 Stitch) and it arrived in the post yesterday. Last night I sorted the threads and some fabric so I'll making a start on it tonight.  It looks a cute stitch.

See you soon x

Holiday Reading & Happy Mail

I always have plenty of books sorted to take away with me on holiday and I was really pleased that this one arrived in at my local library just in time.  

Scrublands by Chris Hammer is a crime mystery set in a fictional Australian country town during a severe drought. Don't let the length of it put you off, a must read for crime lovers. 

I actually started reading Crazy Rich Asians a few months ago, once I'd seen the trailer for the movie but I didn't quite finish it in time. The movie was great - a light, fun and romantic comedy. I'm pleased I continued with the book, very entertaining but with some different story lines to the movie, as always.

Several lovely things arrived just before we headed away on holiday, in fact, they turned up the day we were leaving :) 

I love getting the annual Just Cross Stitch ornaments magazine each year - I have back to the1997 issue in my collection.  Even though I'm saddened to see some of my favourite designers no longer submit ornaments, there's always several that catch my eye each year.

This year my favourite choices are by Rovaris, JBW Designs, Knotted Tree Needleart, MTV Designs and who can resist the cute little sheepie by Nikycreations.

Some woolly goodies also arrived, all the way from Suffolk Socks in the UK. Bit of a splurge but I couldn't resist. Julie from Suffolk Socks dyes her own yarn, The Yarn Tart, and also has project bags. I bought one of Julie's Christmas kits, never too early for Christmas knitting - not that we'll need socks for Christmas here in NZ!  I love the little knitted sock glass ornament included in the kit and I also purchased a Suffolk Socks pin.

Also, in my order, several balls of this gorgeous Mondim yarn, which I've seen popping up on IG a bit lately.

Mondim Yarn is all the way from Portugal.

I'm looking forward to trying out these fab colours, especially the minty pink and brown one.

See you soon xx

Farmhouse Christmas Part 8

Part 8 of the Farmhouse Christmas series is now done :)

Only one part to go of this lovely series - I have really enjoyed stitching this project over the last few months. I'm looking forward to making up these little pieces into ornaments as soon as I have received and stitched the last part, which should be here any day now.

See you soon x

Bula Vinaka Fiji!

Last week we arrived home from a wonderful holiday in Fiji.  We left Auckland at 10 am, 12 c, and arrived three hours later in Nadi, Fiji to temperatures most days in the mid to high 20's, which was just lovely. Some days were overcast and rainy but we were still able to get about and do a lot of what our resort had to offer. 

We stayed at the Naviti Resort, which is situated on the Coral Coast, and is nearly a two hour drive from the air port.

The first morning saw us take a walk to one of the huts at the nearest village where Hannah spent the next few hours having her hair braided.

The rest of our holiday was filled with water sports (kayaking, paddle boarding, etc) when possible in the lagoon, plenty of pool time - there is an awesome pool, reading, chilling out, archery lessons, petanque, volley ball and the list goes on.

We also took a bus one day into the closest town, Sigatoka, for some souvenir shopping, and a look around.

The gardens at the resort were just lovely and so well maintained.

We had planned to take a snorkeling boat trip one day but due to the wind that came up, these were cancelled - something to put on the list for next time. All our meals and drinks were at the resort as we'd chosen the all in exclusive deal and there were lots of choices each day. 

An awesome holiday, very relaxing and Fiji, is a wonderful island to visit. We'll be back some time that's for sure.

See you soon xx