Lizzie Kate Be Merry

Inspired by a finish by Alissa from the Inside Starry Nights Blog, my other ornament finish during February was Be Merry by Lizzie Kate. 

This chart is from Tiny Tidings XVI. 

Another simple flat ornament using red pom pom trim.

See you soon x

New Yarn and the National Aquarium

When Libby from Truly Myrtle Designs released a new shawl pattern, Nessa, a couple of weeks ago, I jumped straight away on to Ravelry to purchase! 

Catrien from Yarn Floozy had knitted the shawl in some of her gorgeous silk merino so I decided to purchase a couple of skeins of the colour Sodalite, love it.

I also purchased a skein of Smashed Gemstones for a special project later this year.

So looking forward to getting this shawl underway, I just need to finish my Washed out shawl first.

A couple of weeks ago, we spent an enjoyable day in Napier with the clients from work.  We started off with a visit to the top of Bluff Hill, where there are amazing views over the Napier Port of the bay.

The ladies and I stopped by Starbucks at the top of Marine Parade for a coffee and had a quick stroll along the top of the Marine Parade.

After lunch, it was off to the National Aquarium for a visit, we haven't been there in a few years.

The water dragons were having a spot of lunch.

Not a very good close up but I did spot this tuatara coming out from it's hidey place. Tuataras are rare reptiles only found here in New Zealand.

We also got to see the little blue penguins being feed by the Aquarium staff and watch them racing around in the water, ducking and diving and showing off.

I tried to snap a few pics of the fantastic murals painted on the outside of the Aquarium walls:

Well worth a visit if you have the time  - there's also a gift shop and cafe. 

See you soon x

2018 Heart in Hand Santa

One of my February #merrymondayxs finishes was this lovely stitch by Heart in Hand Needlearts, the 2018 Santa.

Stitched on 32 ct vintage mocha Belfast linen using most of the recommended threads.

I finished it into a small flat ornament finish with a white pom pom trim.  For the backing fabric I chose a lovely green to match the colour of the stitched December 25.

See you soon x

Star Light, Star Bright

This cute little stitchery pattern is by an Australian designer, Marg Low. Mostly stitched last year, I had only a night's stitching left on it when I finished it recently.  The cute button is by Theodora Cleave and came with the pattern. I used my favourite thread for red work stitching, DMC 115.

The perfect frame was found in my craft cupboard and I laced the stitching to a piece of non acidic foam board.  

See you soon xx

All the Projects Round Up

How did it get to be the 1st March so quickly! February certainly well and truly whizzed on by. Already there's an autumn change in the air here, earlier this week we had a major drop in temperature and we went from using the cooling fan to having the heater on lol.  The mornings are much crisper now too but the days are lovely and sunny, I love this time of the year.

This weekend we are off to the beach for our last stay before next summer, that always makes me feel sad. We've had some happy times there this summer, with our family and friends.  

With the cooler weather, I've been stitching and knitting a lot more this week than previous weeks. I decided to get a few stitches done on the Merrily Merrily We Welcome Spring sampler by Blackbird Designs. I hadn't touched this since before Christmas. 

I'm using the recommended fabric and threads. This might take me awhile!

I also finally finished knitting the first sock of my Cha Cha Chevron socks. Started way back in September when I went on holiday to Fiji, these also haven't been worked on in awhile. 

Last weekend I also started a new baby blanket for one of my cousins having her first baby in a few months.

This is the Jasper Blanket by Linda Whaley, and the yarn I'm using is by the Wool Company, a 100% NZ wool, double knit.

I also helped my sewing buddies make some vinyl project bags. 

We followed the Floss Tube tutorial by Calico's Cross stitching, and had so many laughs together, especially when two of us cut our fabric wrong - using directional fabric can be a bit tricky lol. 

See you soon xx

Peppermint Twist and a yummy slice

I have stitched several Christmas ornaments so far this year but this one is the first to be actually finished!

Peppermint Twist by Little House Needleworks

stitched on 30 count natural linen, with the recommended threads

That little candy cane stick looks good enough to eat don't you think?

It cooled down enough on the weekend so I actually felt like spending some time in the kitchen. As well as some blueberry muffins, I decided to make this yummy slice which I hadn't made in ages.

Oaty ginger slice by Chelsea Winter and you can find the recipe here. It's so delicious!

See you soon x

What I've Been Reading Lately

Here's some of the books I've been reading over summer. A real mixture of genres, some from the library, some on my Kindle and some gifted at Christmas.

What have you been reading lately?

Stocking Underway

Just a tiny start on the first of the Shepherd's Bush stockings I've got planned to stitch this year. This is Thomas - how cute is the sheepie with antlers!  The fabric I'm using is a 20 count natural coloured Cork linen and I'm using mostly DMC pearl threads with a few of the hand dyed colours too.

See you soon x

A Weekend Away

This past weekend, Glenn and I spent a few days in Auckland. The original plans were for Glenn to go to a concert on Friday evening with a couple of friends, while the girls went out for dinner together. Then one lot of our friends had to change their plans due to a family wedding, and then a few weeks ago the concert got cancelled, so we decided to go anyway, still meeting up with our friends that live north of Auckland.

We left Napier airport mid morning and after an hour's flight, followed by a bus into the city, we checked into our motel and were soon on our way to find a spot for lunch.

Dr Rudi's Rooftop Brewery was the perfect spot to spend a few hours, while we waited for our friends to arrive.

The next morning, we were up bright and early to enjoy breakfast at the Coffee Club, right beside our motel, and then we all headed to Sylvia Park, for a few hours of shopping.

Our motel was right in the CBD, so we also browsed through a few shops along Queen St.

Early evening we were back out along the waterfront, enjoying a lovely summer evening, with all the masses of people doing the same. There were two huge cruise ships in as well so there were people everywhere!

Lovely harbour views around the Viaduct Basin, and after checking out all the super yachts berthed, we had a lovely dinner at Jack Tar, before walking back into town to Sky City.  The base of the Sky Tower was decorated in gorgeous lanterns and lights for Chinese New Year Celebrations.

Our flight home wasn't until lunchtime so once our friends dropped us off at the airport, we filled in the waiting having a late breakfast.

We had great views on the flight back to Hawkes Bay, Glenn took this photo over Lake Taupo.

Then coming into Napier, the coast line.

What a fun weekend getaway!

See you soon xx