A Kiwi Stitching

Weekend Crafting

2012-01-31T15:41:00.002+13:00

Hello friends, just sharing a pic or two of what I've been up too lately:

a crocheted mug cozy, using a pattern from Mollie Makes. This is going to be birthday gift for one of my aunties.

Guess what's seen the light of day out of my stitching basket, Sampler aux Bouquets :)

Its been a few months since any decent progress was made - you might be able to tell from this photo I had the heart all stitched but it was one little stitch out, nevermind.

I've also nearly finished my first ornament for 2012, one from last year's JCS magazine, hopefully I'll get it done tonight after my walk.

See you soon x

Summer House Pincushion

2012-01-30T14:37:00.000+13:00

Here's another of my holiday stitching projects all finished - the stitching part was actually finished a few weeks ago, I just needed to find some time to make it up :)

Summer House Pincushion

design by Blackbird Designs from Honeysuckle Manor book

stitched with recommended threads, 32ct linen

I now have a gigantic pincushion for my sewing box, lol. I really enjoyed stitching this design and have since been looking through some of my BD patterns to see what I might stitch one day soon.

Oh yes, Warhorse was an excellent movie - we all enjoyed it and we did have a few sniffles :) It was quite long but I was so engrossed in the story I didn't even realise the length of it. A lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

See you soon!

Treasures from a Friend

2012-01-29T12:14:00.001+13:00

Hello there, look at this lovely collection of threads a friend gave me recently.

They had belonged to her Nannie and as my friend wasn't going to be using them herself she thought I might be interested in them - you can say that again! What a treasure trove of all different colours and thread sizes!

Its Sunday lunchtime here and after a slow start this morning, thanks Hannah for sleeping in, hee hee, DH has been busy mowing lawns and other outside jobs, while I decided to have a sort out and see what I could find in my wardrobe to take to the local RSPCA shop. A few bags later that sure feels good! Later on I'm heading out for the afternoon to the movies with Mum and a friend. We're going to see Warhorse, which I've been told to take lots of tissues with me, lol.

A big thank you too for all the messages about the Holly & Ivy sampler, you are all wonderful!!

See you soon xx

The Holly & Ivy Sampler

2012-01-26T15:24:00.000+13:00

Earlier in the week I finished the last few stitches off on the Holly & Ivy Sampler by Shepherds Bush. This was one of my holiday stitching projects, started New Year's Eve, and Kath has been stitching it too.

Such a lovely design to stitch, the first Shepherds Bush design I've stitched in ages and I loved the pretty greens and burgundy coloured threads.

It's also been awhile since I did any over 1 thread stitching so that took me a bit of time to get used to but I got there in the end!

The Holly and Ivy Sampler

design by Shepherds Bush

stitched with supplied threads and fabric

I have another little finish to share but I'll leave that one for another day. I hope the week has been going well for you - I can't believe we're almost to the end of January already!

See you soon xx

Holiday Break Nearly Over

2012-01-13T12:05:00.000+13:00

Well, my summer holidays have nearly come to an end, its back to work on Monday for me. I can't believe how quickly this time off has whizzed on by, but it always does. Hannah and I have just returned home from a little time away staying with our relatives in Palmerston North. Its a little trip we take every year at this time. We spent our time catching up, visiting local parks and pools, and of course, shopping! Lots and lots of sales on at the moment. But of course it was nice to get home, and back to DH, after being away for five days.

During one of our visits to the park, I found Hannah hiding out in the flower garden, such vibrant colours :)

Glenn has been busy during his break and has been working on a new project, he's building us a green house on our back deck so we'll be able to grow our own vegetable and plant seedlings. I can't wait until its done to get some seedlings underway.

I mentionned in a previous post that I'd treated myself before Christmas to a few new goodies. I bought these JBW Design patterns to stitch this year:

Two new books, both of these I've read during my holidays - the Language of Flowers would be my favourite book that I read during 2012! Excellent! I've done alot of reading over the past few weeks - I'm onto my 5th book for the break.

I also picked up this crochet book, which I'm sure will come in handy this year as I'd like to extend my crocheting skills, lol.

I couldn't resist picking up this cute Cath Kidson tin, which came complete with some wool and a hook to make up a small granny square cushion.

I was very excited to find a NZ stockist for the Mollie Makes magazine recently - two issues arrived while I was away so I've been enjoying reading these over breakfast the past two mornings. Such fun projects to do!

That's the end of my catch up for this time. I'm off now to make a birthday cake for my Dad, who is 60 today. We're having a family bbq to celebrate tonight - can't wait!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by, see you soon x

Last Stitches for 2011

2012-01-03T14:24:00.000+13:00

Finished just a few hours before the end of 2011 - Christmas Rules by Lizzie Kate, from a SAL with Kath and Clare.

Christmas Rules

design by Lizzie Kate

stitched on 32 ct Mocha belfast linen with recommended threads

This would be one of my favourite projects stitched on during 2011 - such wonderful colours - I love the CC Ribbon Red and Beansprout.

Thanks for stopping by x

A Finish

2012-01-02T16:09:00.002+13:00

Happy 2012 everyone - I hope the year has started off well for you. We had a very quiet evening on New Year's Eve, didn't even see the new year in, and as its been raining non stop since Friday, our days have been very laid back - just perfect for stitching or reading, or playing Littlest Petsshop with Hannah all day, lol.

This was my Christmas week finish, I put the final stitches into it on Boxing Day :

Holiest of Nights

design by Homespun Elegance

stitched with mostly the recommended threads on 32ct Putty Belfast linen

I would have had it finished earlier in December but I had to put in a quick order for some more threads. This was a lovely design to stitch and I think I might make it into a wall hanging.

See you soon x

To & From

2011-12-30T13:00:00.000+13:00

We're enjoying a quiet afternoon at home after DH treated us out to lunch at one of our local restaurants. The weather has turned here and the rain has come - sadly its not looking good for seeing in the New Year around NZ at any of the beaches or other holiday spots. We don't have any particular plans this year except for a family get together on New Years day, so I'm planning to fit in lots of stitching :)

Now that all the presents have been unwrapped I can finally share a few of the gifts I made secretly over the past few months and also show the wonderful gifts I received from Clare and Kath :)

For Clare this year I stitched Deer in the Meadow by Blackbird Designs -

I also made Clare a Stitcher's wallet to hold all her stitching bits and pieces - front

and for the back I stitched a Prairie Fairie by the Prairie Schooler

From Clare, I was given this very cute Brittercup designs ornament, looks just like Miss Poppy :)

A felted bag

This Santa, which Clare cleverly made

and this wonderful cute little bag - she's very talented my friend Clare and I feel very lucky to be the recipient of her gorgeous sewing and stitchery work.

Now for dear Kath - as soon as I spotted this particular design by Danybrod I knew it would just perfect for Kath. I made it into a small wall hanging. It took alot of searching at the local fabric shops to find some suitable fabric to match, I wanted it to be just right. I just loved stitching this pretty design.

I also made Kath and Clare both a stitchery Christmas Bon bon, the pattern is by Hatched and Patched. I had actually done the stitched parts before Christmas last year, lol.

On the day after Boxing Day, we went to visit with Kath and the girls, and these are the lovely pressies Kath gave to me - this years ornie:

A thread catcher :

And ta da, a sewing machine cover - I couldn't tell you how excited I was to see this, Kath has known that I've been wanting to make one for simply ages. Its just perfect! Here's the front :

And the back :

My friend Wendy also gave me a set of all handmade cards for different occasions, what a neat idea, and a very sweet angel ornament.

So I was a very spoilt girl this Christmas. I also treated myself to a few other crafty pre Christmas pressies so I'll share them in my next post.

As this will be my last post for 2011, I just want to wish you a very Happy New Year and thank you for your visits here, and comments and most of all, your friendship. I'm looking forward to the new year and have lots of stitching, sewing, can't forget knitting and crocheting projects planned!

See you in 2012 xx

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T23:24:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone,

here's a few snippets from the past few days - we've had the most loveliest time during Christmas and Boxing Day with our family, despite Glenn and I both being under the weather. But now the rush of Christmas has passed on by we are both feeling much better for just relaxing and being around home, and enjoying our days off with no set plans for anything.

Christmas Eve baking

The beautiful lights at my aunty and uncles house

Santa's been!

One very excited little girl

Happy family times

Berry Punch - cranberry juice, lemonade, lime juice, frozen berries, lots of ice, it went down a treat

The gorgeous flowers given to me by my Mum

Girls in the kitchen

Christmas treats - rocky road, peppermint bark, expresso hazelnut ripple and marshmellow balls

A Kiwi Classic - pavlova

Homemade icecream - just divine!

This year we had brunch with my parents, my brother and niece, and then visited Glenn's parents so we could catch up with my BIL, SIL, and two nieces, and then it was back to our house for the rest of the day. We had a late afternoon Christmas meal of roast pork, glazed ham, new potatoes and lots of yummy salads. Dessert included the treats above and a few more delicious goodies :)

We've been making the most of our summery weather, we've had some of the nicest Christmas time weather in years, and since Boxing Day, most afternooons have been spent hanging out by our pool, and watching Hannah race around the lawn trying out her new sprinkler.

We were all thoroughly spoilt with gifts - Hannah received the little chair above from cousin Donna, which she just loves, and I'll share in another post some of the wonderful handmade pressies I was given.

A week of my holidays has been and gone already, I just hope the rest of my break doesn't go as quick. I've been reading alot, and a little bit of stitching has been getting done - I have a finish to share too, and another project is almost done. So I'll be back soon with another holiday update.

'til then, bye for now, Katrina xx

Merry Christmas

2011-12-22T12:58:00.000+13:00

Merry Christmas - wishing you and your family all the jingly, jolly joys of Christmas. May the magic of Christmas twinkle in your life throughout the holidays and the upcoming new year.

Thank you for your friendship this year, and for stopping by here, all your comments really mean a lot to me and I look forward to sharing my stitching with you during 2012. Take care, and all the best for the festive season and I hope that Santa is very kind to you!

Merry Christmas!

Best wishes from Katrina

'Tis the Season

2011-12-21T13:37:00.002+13:00

Next year Kath, Clare and I are each planning to make a 'Tis the Season quilt. After admiring many recent finishes of this quilt on various blogs, like Nicky's wonderful one, I just couldn't help myself but stitch up a few of the blocks. Over the recent weekend, my little sewing machine got a good work out and this is what I came up with:

Three are for gifts and Hannah chose the reindeer one for us to keep. I can't wait to start on the quilt next year - I'm still deciding on my fabrics for it, but you know what, I'm pretty happy with the red and white polka dots!

A Few More

2011-12-20T15:27:00.001+13:00

Angels Sent

Still Stitching with Susan

JSC 2010

Here's a few more ornies that I recently made up. These were stitched earlier in the year. The top one is for my wonderful Mum - each year I ask her to pick an ornament from the JCS mag she likes and then set about making it for her. This was actually last year's pick, hee hee.

Several of these felt angels were made for Hannah to give her little friends at daycare -

This ornament I stitched for a friend of mine:

Christmas Eve Deer

by Prairie Schooler

2009 November Gift of Stitching

As of a few hours ago, I'm now holiday for three and a half weeks! Wahoo! I was meant to start my break yesterday afternoon but poor Hannah came down with a nasty tummy bug overnight Sunday, which meant I had to take the day off from work and return today for a few hours, just to get the last minute things cleared off my desk until 2012. Glenn starts his holidays a bit later in the week, and Hannah has a few more days left at daycare so I'm looking forward to spending a few days on my own. They'll be busy though, Christmas baking, grocery shopping, last minute shopping and present wrapping, you know how it goes!

I'm also so looking forward to spending some time with Glenn and Hannah at home over the next few weeks. This year we''ll be mostly at our house Christmas Day, with our family coming for our main meal later in the day. We're hoping that the day turns out lovely and fine so the children can go swimming -its actually been a mixed bag of weather here lately, and we've been having many thunderstorms. Over the past few days, because its been so cool we've even had our heat pump going, isn't it supposed to be summer, lol.

Thanks for stopping by xx

Baked Goods

2011-12-17T11:00:00.000+13:00

Baked Goods

by Little House Needleworks

stitched on 32ct linen using recommended threads

I finished this design back in October during my holiday week. Its one of my favourites from this year's LHN ornie series and I can't wait to see what next year's designs are going to be - although Kath and I have still quite a few from this year to stitch yet :)

Have a great weekend! See you soon xx

Christmas Cat Tree

2011-12-16T07:30:00.000+13:00

Christmas Cat Tree by Brittercup Designs

2011 Just Cross Stitch Ornie Mag

stitched with recommended threads

Here's another favourite from this year's ornie mag, chosen for my lovely MIL Heather. It was my first attempt at making a triangle shaped ornament and I found some pretty black and gold braiding for the trim. I really liked this design so might just have to restitch it next year :)

See you soon x

Santa's Flight

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000+13:00

This Mill Hill design has been a very long work in progress! I started it well over 4 years ago, might have even been longer, and since then its been in my "at work" project bag, to stitch on during lunch breaks, etc. I can't honestly remember when I last stitched on it but several weeks ago I decided that it was about time to get it completed and now I'm pleased I have, its so pretty and sparkly, aren't the buttons too cute?

Birthday Treats for a dear Friend

2011-12-14T14:01:00.000+13:00

I can finally reveal a little bit of stitching that I've been working on secretly over the past month - firstly, a gift for Kath's birthday last week.

This is Winter Lady by Primitive Hare, from the latest Gift of Stitching magazine, which I thought was a perfect choice for Kath.

stitched on 32ct platinum linen using recommended threads

For many years now, Kath and I have exchanged an ornament at Christmas time so I decided to give my one to Kath along with her other birthday pressies. This year I chose Rejoice by Mosey 'n Me from the 2009 Just Cross Stitch ornaments magazine.

stitched on 32ct dirty linen using recommended threads

For Kath's birthday dinner she had requested fish 'n chips, as she didn't want me to go to any trouble since we'd all had a busy few days and it was midweek, but I went ahead and jazzed up our meal with some fresh salads, and then individual sticky date puddings with butterscotch sauce for our dessert. Mum made the loveliest fresh fruit salad - talk about yum!! A few glasses of bubbly wine also went down a treat!

What a lovely time we had celebrating Kath's birthday and as its been awhile, so good to have a catch up during these busy pre Christmas days.

I've got several new ornament finishes to share over the next few days - I'm very pleased to say that the last of my 2011 ornaments and gift stitching are all finished. I also started on a new project on the 1st December, Holiest of Nights by Homespun Elegance, aiming to have it stitched by Christmas Eve! Kath and I have chosen our holiday project too, the Holly & Ivy Sampler by Shepherds Bush, which we'll both be starting sometime during Christmas week.

See you soon xx

Catching Up Part Two: Fa La La - Christmas Decorating Time

2011-12-09T07:30:00.000+13:00

Oh my goodness, the past week has flown by in one great big whirlwind! We've had the Christmas parade, a shopping trip, the annual Christmas party at my work, and a birthday dinner. Yesterday Hannah had her daycare Christmas party and today I'm going out with some friends for the day. On top of that I've been crazy busy at work, finishing off reports due in before the end of year and other projects.

But its all part of the fun of the Christmas season, which I just love, and from the 20th December I'll be starting a three and half week holiday break too, yippee!

It was time to decorate our tree on the weekend, Hannah is getting to be an expert at finding places to hang all our special ornaments.

I just love opening up the Christmas boxes and rediscovering the ornaments and other decorations that I've come to really treasure over the years, whether they are handmade, or have been given by a friend or family member, or that are new for the year.

This is Hannah's 2011 Hallmark ornament from Grannie and Poppa, what a little cutie.

On Wednesday my dear friend Kath celebrated her birthday so we invited her to join us for dinner and we had a lovely evening together. I'll be back tomorrow with some pics!

Thanks for stopping by!

Catching Up Part One: Santa Parade 2011

2011-12-08T14:00:00.001+13:00

Last Saturday, on a typical hot summer's day, it was the annual Santa parade in our little town. Hannah was asked if she'd like to go on the float that was being organised by her daycare provider and she looked forward to it for days.

This year's theme for the parade was Fairy Tales - there were some really cute floats!

There's Hannah waving, and the little girl in purple is her best friend

Here comes the float, they won their section too, $500.00, wahoo!

DH and I, he was roasting hot as he'd just come from stacking our firewood away, good man :)

Miss Zoe, enjoying herself as always.

My parents

Our local bagpipe band, they lead the parade with Amazing Grace, which always brings tears to my eyes

One of the local vintage cars

What a lovely parade put on by everyone involved, and of course, there were lots of lollies handed out!

See you soon x

The happenings around here

2011-11-29T13:57:00.001+13:00

Hello everyone

can I just say how lovely it was to read your comments on my last post - they sure do brighten my day, and I appreciate them so much :)

Another week has rolled on by and soon it will be the 1st December, amazing how fast Christmas is approaching this year. I've been trying to get all my little handmade gifts finished early this year so I can start some new projects before the year ends. I have a few stitched pieces finished but I can't share them just yet, all will be revealed in the next few weeks!

I came across this pattern for a cute crochet candy cane ornament recently so I just had to make some up as candy canes are Hannah's absolute favourite sweet treat.

I've also made up several crochet face wipes, which are to be a Christmas gift, I haven't actually tried these out myself yet but they feel lovely and soft. Pattern can be found here.

Look at this monkey in the bath the other night - too funny as she knew I was planning to wash her hair lol.

Hannah and I have been trying out some new recipes lately for our lunchboxes and these honey biscuits were a hit last week. The recipe came from here.

I'm already looking forward to the coming weekend - Hannah is going to be on a float in the local Christmas parade Saturday and then we're off to do some major Christmas shopping.

Enjoy the rest of the week, see you soon x

Fresh Fallen Snow

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000+13:00

The Little House Needleworks ornament in this year's JCS ornament magazine was one of my favourites. I didn't have the recommended Belle Soie threads so I went with Crescent Colours Toasted Marshmellow and Weeping Willow, which matched perfectly to some green felt I had in my stash.

What was I just saying about our lovely weather yesterday? Its pouring down out there this morning, typical spring!

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon x

Three More Done

2011-11-15T07:30:00.000+13:00

Hello friends, I hope the week is off to a good start for you - its a stunning day here today, sadly I won't get to see much of the sunshine as I have a late finish at work tonight.

I'm getting to the end of stitching my 2011 Christmas ornaments for my family and friends, only one or two to go now. I had a few hours spare on Friday afternoon while Hannah was at daycare so I got my sewing machine out and happily sewed away for the afternoon. Boy, did that feel good, its been awhile since I had a decent sewing session. My sewing machine must have thought so too as I'd only just started sewing when the needle broke!!

The first ornament I made up, and for Becky's ornament challenge, is from the Prairie Schooler Santa Moon leaflet.

Next up were a couple of Christmas crackers, also for the ornament challenge, I haven't made up this type for ages :)

The pattern I stitched is from Stitches and Cats, Oh My blog, a lovely freebie from last year.

Soon these will be posted off to make their way around to the opposite side of the world to a few special stitching friends.

I'll be back tomorrow with my latest little finish, and what do you know, its another Christmas design.

See you soon xx

First Crochet Christmas Ornament

2011-11-10T07:39:00.000+13:00

This little Christmas angel didn't take too long to crochet but please don't look too closely as I think I may have muddled up some of my stitches! I think these will be perfect to tuck into a Christmas card.

Pattern found via Ravelry

Many thanks for your sweet comments on my recent posts. See you soon xx

Ornament from a Friend

2011-11-09T11:58:00.001+13:00

A little parcel arrived in the mail on Monday, all the way from the US, from my dear friend Carol.

I was very excited to receive this gorgeous ornament (the design is by Plum Street Samplers from the 2011 JCS Preview magazine) from Carol - she has stitched and finished it so beautifully. The funny thing is that I've not long stitched this same design myself, intending to give it to another stitching friend. As I liked it so much I was going to restitch it for myself sometime, well, now I don't need to! lol.

I can't wait to hang this on our Christmas tree in a few weeks time!

Our Weekend

2011-11-08T15:09:00.000+13:00

My favourite of our trees are out in their full splendor at the moment - we have two snowball trees lining our driveway. This year the snowballs seem to be bigger and a brighter white than previous years and they have just looked amazing.

I couldn't resist taking a few pics of Hannah, and Poppy too.

On Sunday this past weekend one of our local schools had their bi-annual gala and what a lot of fun it was - lots and lots of goodies on offer to be tempted with, and lots of games for the children to have a go at. Hannah loved the bouncy castle and for the first time, as a special treat, she got to try some candy floss, this big bundle she shared with Zoe.

I hope your weekend was just as enjoyable as ours :)
See you soon xx

Victoria Quaker's Update

2011-11-05T12:40:00.001+13:00

As well as some secret "hush hush" stitching, I was able to get quite a bit of progress made on my AMAP's Victoria Quaker over my holiday break . The bottom half of the chart is now completed.

Its Saturday lunch time here and not a very pleasant day, after all the lovely sunshine and warmth of the past few days, today its much cooler and with grey skies. There's been a few scattered rain showers too. Hannah is with her Nannie & Grandad today, she had an overnight stay with them last night as Glenn and I had a function to go to out to. It was a lovely evening spent with friends but a rather late night, or early morning should I say, lol.

Enjoy your weekend x

Holiday Snaps

2011-11-03T15:27:00.001+13:00

Wellington is a wonderful New Zealand city to visit and explore, and being only a few hours drive south of where we live, its the perfect place for a weekend get away as we like to do one or two times a year, or to spend a few more days taking in the sights.

The weather wasn't the best for the first day but by lunchtime the next day the rain and fog lingering around had disappeared so we got to enjoy the sunshine for the rest of our holiday.

Hannah was so excited to be going on holiday, she'd talked about it non stop for weeks before we went. She had a fabulous time. We had no set plans for what we were going to do but alot of our time was spent walking along the waterfront, at the parks and at the beach - Hannah's favourite place.

We also checked out Te Papa, the Wellington Zoo, the Cable Car and Botanical Gardens, took a trip on the ferry to Day's Bay, and went to a few of our favourite restaurants.

So in all an excellent family holiday, just what we needed. I came home feeling refreshed and relaxed after our break away, pleased with myself that even though I didn't manage to get any stitching done instead I finished two books and read several magazines that had been piling up on my bedside cabinet.

I'll be back again soon with some stitching pics :)

Thanks for stopping by xx

Home Again

2011-11-02T13:34:00.000+13:00

Hello dear friends

My little holiday break has now come to an end and it was back to work yesterday for DH and I, and back to daycare for Hannah. I had a wonderful week and half, a few days at home to stitch, read, and trying not to do any housework, and then it was time to take off for our family holiday. This time we headed south to our capital city, Wellington, and what a wonderful few days we had, doing the touristy thing taking in the city's sights, spending time at the beach, and in general, having a happy time together :)

I'll post some holiday pics soon, and a few other stitchey ones, but I'll leave you today with the felt Santas I've been working on for Hannah to give to her little friends at daycare at Christmas time.

I found the pattern for these cuties at this site.

Have a happy day x

Six Years Ago Today

2011-10-22T09:12:00.001+13:00

"This day I will marry my best friend, the one I laugh with, live for, love"

22nd October 2005

Recent Stitching

2011-10-19T07:10:00.000+13:00

Good morning friends, and what a nice sunny morning it is here too. I'm feeling a little better today, especially since there's a long weekend and my holiday break coming up in only two days!

Even though I've been stitching away on Christmas ornies and gifts lately (only a few to go now) I've been trying to get a bit of progress in on my own projects as I'd really like to have them done by the end of the year. Now that might be wishful thinking as I'm intending to start on one or two new things during my holiday week :)

So my focus piece over the past few days has been Sampler au Bouquet:

I'm thoroughly enjoying stitching this design, asides from having a few troubles getting the border stitches in the right place!

See you soon x

From the Weekend

2011-10-18T08:33:00.000+13:00

:A spot of baking with my special helper

:Our raised vege gardens with new spring seedlings

: oh la la, the latest Ginghers arrived in the mail, purchased from Carol's DH, such a pretty summery pattern.

I hope you had great weekend :)

Our Church Fair & Latest Ornie

2011-10-17T07:30:00.000+13:00

Hello dear stitching friends,

recently the girls and I went along to the annual Spring Fair held at our local church. This is something I look forward to every spring as I have fond memories of going when I was little with my Mum and Nannie, and now Hannah and Zoe love to go along too. We always come home with some delicious home baking, a few goodies found amongst the sales tables, and this time, Hannah got to have a ride on a donkey! She was in her element :)

Just a little finish to share today - this cute ornie

Freebie found here
DMC threads
32ct mocha belfast linen

I've been feeling a bit under the weather over the last couple of days - as usual for this time of the year, I've got bad hayfever. Only a few more days of work to get through then I'm on holiday until the 1st November, yippee! After enjoying a few days at home Glenn, Hannah and I head away on our annual family holiday. Can't wait!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more stitching progress pics. See you then x

Over the Weekend

2011-10-03T15:23:00.002+13:00

Hello dear friends

This past weekend I got to enjoy an extra day as I had taken Friday off work. After catching up on a few jobs around the house Hannah and I headed out for trip into town to visit the library, lunch at our favourite bakery and then it was onto our local park. We had the whole park to ourselves so Hannah had great fun racing around, going up and down the slides and then swinging in the big swings, not having to wait her turn as our park is usually pretty busy on the weekends. As you can see in the above photo, Hannah was wearing her new cardigan, as I finally got that button sewn on!

After spending Saturday morning with DH planting our new trees, I went off to Kath's for a few hours to meet up with Kath, Clare and Janet for a stitchey afternoon. Great fun as always!

Hannah came home from daycare the other day with this little bundle of spring goodness, such a beautiful smell.

Sunday we spent the day with Glenn's brother and his family as it was our niece's Alice 3rd birthday. Our newest niece Sally is now 5 months old, can you believe it and she is a gorgeous wee girl, reminds me so much of Hannah at the same age, just a little poppet.

Now that October is here I've been planning all my Christmas gift stitching and a few other craft items that I'd like to make, time permitting of course, lol. Some new stash arrived recently so I've also got some new projects lined up to get underway soon, probably during a week's holiday later in October.

See you soon x

Peace

2011-09-28T07:43:00.000+13:00

Peace by the Prairie Schooler

freebie design

stitched on 32ct white belfast using recommended threads

Good morning dear stitching friends, its a stunning spring morning here, not a cloud in the sky :) Our daylight savings hours started on Sunday so I'm finding it a bit hard to get up in the mornings this week, lol. Once the second coffee of the day kicks in I'm fine though!

Before I head out the door this morning I wanted to share my lastest finish, Peace, a freebie design by the Prairie Schooler. This is for one of my work friends so I'll definately have to restitch it again sometime for our tree.

Have a lovely day xx

Merry Merry Be

2011-09-26T15:16:00.000+13:00

Hello dear stitching friends, well Monday has rolled around again after a very productive weekend at our house. Glenn and I have been giving some of our gardens bit of an overhaul over the past few weeks, and after Saturday we're now we're up to the stage where we can plant some new trees - they've been ordered from one of the local garden centres for pick up next Saturday. We've also topped up our raised vegetable beds and got some vege seedlings all ready to plant when the warmer weather comes in October. Hannah and I are also going to pot up some petunias and lobelia in several pots, all reds and whites, hoping for a nice display by Christmas.

Yesterday was a quieter day, I had a few sore muscles after Saturday's marathon effort outside all day, hee hee, and Glenn was feeling underweather with a bit of hayfever/sinus so Hannah and I spent most of the day in kitchen baking up a few treats for lunchboxes this week. We tried out a couple of Annabel Langbein's recipes in the latest Australian Women's Weekly, an apricot and ginger slice and a fruit loaf, both of these are excerpts from her new book, Free Range in the City, not out yet but bound to be a hit as her last book the Free Range Cook is a best seller. Oh my, both were divine! We also made Glenn's favourite chocolate cake and chocolate chippie biscuits too. I made up a huge stock pot of our favourite vegetable and bacon soup, which I like to have in the freezer to pull out for Hannah's dinner when we're having something that she's not too keen on, or for a quick and easy meal during the week.

So there's not been much time for stitching lately but I did manage to finish the little Shepherds Bush kit, Merry Merry Be, in the above photo. A lovely stitch, which took me a lot longer than I thought it would with all the little colour changes. I found some pretty red Moda fabric for the backing and sewed it into a small pillow.

Another project finished off over the weekend is the cardigan I was knitting for Hannah, all it needs is a button sewn on, which is on tonight's agenda. I thought I might knit a matching hat from one of my latest Ravelry finds, this ebook, which has some very cute hats for children in it.

As always, thanks for visiting here and many thanks so much for the wonderful comments about the hexagon quilt - its always such a pleasure to read these comments :)

Well, thats my round up from this weekend's happenings, see you soon.

A big Ta Dah!

2011-09-22T12:20:00.002+12:00

I was jumping up and down with excitement earlier in the week - you guessed it, after two and a bit years Hannah's hexagon quilt is finally all finished!!

25 rows with alternate rows of 12 and 13 hexagons, so about 300 + in total. I haven't counted up exactly but there's at least 20 different coloured fabrics and I used the same white on white fabric for the backing.

The fabrics were collected from quilting shops all over the North island of New Zealand and I used at least 4 rolls of cotton to hand sew it all together. I tried really hard to keep the colours random but in the last few rows as the selection of colours was getting low, I did end up with a few close together.

Hannah is so thrilled with it and now she can't wait for it to go onto her bed this weekend!

See you soon xx

Spring Festival Part II

2011-09-14T07:00:00.000+12:00

Saturday afternoon we took a trip south out of town, only 10 minutes away, to a farm called Taniwha, where every year in September, the owners allow visitors to wander through paddocks, and paddocks, and more paddocks of beautiful daffodils. There's so many different varieties and every year more and more are planted. What a gorgeous spot for a Saturday afternoon stroll.

For only $3 you can pick a big bunch and all proceeds are donated to Plunket.

This year various sculptures of all types could be found around the paddocks and in the lake. I loved this one! We had such a happy time, out in the sunshine, Hannah and Zoe had so much fun.

I hope you've enjoyed a little taste of our spring festival. Thanks for stopping by :)

See you soon x

Spring Festival Part I

2011-09-13T13:49:00.000+12:00

On Saturday morning Hannah, Zoe, my Mum and I headed into our main street of town for the annual Great Chilli Cook off. For a small donation you could get a small sample and all funds raised went to the charity of the particular team's choice.

My friend's team won the people's choice vote, raising just over $400 for the local Foodbank, awesome (she's the one in the cow costume!)

After trying out a bit of chilli, and browsing a few stalls, it was icecream time of course!

We even took a ride on the old fire engine - this was so much fun!

I haven't seen the mainstreet of our town so busy with people in ages - everyone was out and about in the sunshine, it was great to see.

More photos to come soon of the rest of our day out!

Tiny Garden Fob

2011-09-12T13:41:00.000+12:00

Hello friends,
here's a little finished project to share today - Tiny Garden Fob by Shepherds Bush. This was a pleasure to stitch, using lots of my favourite colours.

The silk ribbon, included in the kit, is so pretty. I've already attached the fob to one of my favourite pairs of Gingher scissors.

We had a lot of fun over the weekend enjoying the local Spring festival - I'll be back with some pics soon! Also, I went along with my MIL yesterday afternoon to see The Help - what an excellent movie. I'd read the book quite some time ago so had forgotten a bit of the storyline. We laughed lots, and cried in a few places, and I enjoyed the best tasting chai latte I've had in ages. A lovely afternoon out, the perfect way to end a wonderful weekend.

See you soon xx

Spring is here

2011-09-09T08:01:00.000+12:00

Spring has well and truly arrived and we've been enjoying the lovely weather this week. We even had our first barbeque of the season last night!

Hannah is loving being outside as much as she can. We picked up one of my niece Zoe's old bikes the other day so she spent most of the weekend riding up and down the driveway - I tell you, she goes so fast!

She's pretty good at wearing her helmet too, this pic was taken before she put it on. We don't even have to remind her about it.

I hope this lovely weather stays around for the coming weekend - its the local spring festival here in town and this year there's lots of extra events planned to coincide with the Rugby world cup starting. You can read more about it here.

See you soon xz

Crochet: Ripple Blanket

2011-09-08T08:32:00.000+12:00

Using a pattern I found by Lucy at Attic 24, I've started on a ripple blanket for Hannah. I'm using the wool I bought last week at Skeinz.

I had a few practice goes to start off with but its a very easy pattern to follow and Lucy has great pics to show exactly what you're meant to be doing. This ripple blanket is 140 + 3 chain stitches to start off, so it should turn out plenty big enough for Hannah.

See you soon xx

Sampler Au Bouquet Part I

2011-09-07T13:39:00.001+12:00

I've been stitching mostly on my Sampler au Bouquet over the last week so Part I is now finished:

This has been a great design to stitch so far - I do keep having a few counting issues though!
Hope you're having a happy week :)
See you soon x

Happy Fathers Day to Three Wonderful Dads

2011-09-04T09:37:00.004+12:00

Hannah & DH

My wonderful Dad

Glenn's lovely Dad

A Day Out

2011-09-03T16:47:00.000+12:00

Earlier in the week a group of friends and myself headed up to spend the day in Napier. We had organised a tour of a local knitting wool factory, Skeinz, for our first stop. What an interesting tour this was and of course, we had to pay a visit to the shop - if you are ever in Napier, this is definately worth checking out. There's some great wool to choose from, and at very good prices. I came out there with this selection, which I'm planning to use for a crochet blanket for Hannah.

After lunch it was time to stop by one of my most favourite stitching shops, Heirlooms, which is owned by the lovely Sherelyn Whiteman. I had some discount vouchers to spend and had no trouble picking out a few goodies. Sherelyn showed us how she is storing her stitching in these lovely "books" so I couldn't resist purchasing one either :)

The latest JBW Designs had only just arrived in Sherelyn's mail box earlier on in the day so I picked out a selection of these, and a few other Christmas ones.

So a good day all round I think - time catching up with friends, and some new stash!

In the Mail

2011-08-29T14:45:00.001+12:00

A few new goodies have arrived at my house recently. I haven't spent any money on any craft stash for what seems like ages, except for wool, ha ha, so I couldn't resist the temptation to order this very cute felt book. Its filled with lots of very easy felt projects, several I'll be trying to make before Christmas this year - we'll see!

Next up is a Christmas stitchery pattern that I've been longing for quite some time, 'Tis the Season by Natalie Bird. A 2012 project I think!

With the kiwi dollar being so high against the US dollar over the past few weeks I took advantage of this and ordered some charts and kits on my wish list.

And there's more to come - once a parcel that appears to be taking the slow boat from the US turns up!

See you soon xx

Christmas ABCs progress

2011-08-27T08:35:00.001+12:00

Good morning folks, and what a lovely day it is so far.

Here's a little update on Christmas ABCs - its about 3/4 done now. I'm going to have to put this aside for a little while as I need to order some more of the CC English Ivy thread.

Have you seen the latest Lizzie Kate Christmas patterns - they are far too cute!

A small finish and a tiny start

2011-08-26T16:09:00.004+12:00

Hello friends, well, the end of another week is here already - this week has just zoomed on by! I'm happy to report that its looks like spring is finally making an appearance too, its been fine all week and today it even reached 20c - a nice and sunny day. Lets hope this good weather stays around for the weekend as I've got loads of outside jobs that I'd like to get a start on.

Now for some stitching, the latest of my LHN ornies is now finished:

Bringing Home the Tree -Little House Needleworks

stitched on 32ct mocha belfast

using recommended threads

This is one of my favourites in the series so far I think.

I had a little stash parcel arrive the other day from the US (more on that in another post) so I couldn't resist starting one of the kits, Shepherds Bush Tiny Garden Scissor fob

Only a few stitches so far but I hope to stitch on this over the weekend. This week I've also been putting together a few more rows on Hannah's hexagon quilt - will I ever get this finished? lol.

See you soon xx

From the Weekend

2011-08-16T17:17:00.000+12:00

The snow has gone here (its still coming down heavily in other parts of the country) but its left behind some very chilly weather, it was absolutely freezing today with gusty winds. You wouldn't think that spring is supposedly only a few weeks away!

Just sharing a few snaps from the recent weekend. It was a pretty good one - I spent a few hours on Saturday having a stall at one of the local Church halls, selling some of Hannah's clothes she's grown out of, and some baby toys and equipment. I did really well and pocketed a few $$$, just in time for a shopping trip coming up soon.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing the usual things - baking: some yummy hokey pokey chocolate button ('cause I didn't have any chocolate chips) muffins

- spending time with my two favourite girls

- a bit of stitching - more on my french sampler

and some crafting - another LHN ornie stitched earlier in the year finished into a hanging pillow ornament.

Well, I'd better go and check on our dinner - have a fun day. See you soon xx

Snow!

2011-08-15T15:30:00.001+12:00

When my MIL rang last night about 9.30pm and "look outside", we were amazed to see it was actully snowing! The weather service had been predicting snow to low levels all around New Zealand for the weekend and it finally arrived. In all my life it has never snowed in my little town, we've seen snow flurries but they've never lasted long enough to settle on the ground. It was quite magical :)

This morning Hannah was so surprised to see the little bit of snow still on the ground around our house

and on the car

And all the low foothills surrounding our town were completely covered. But not enough snow to stay home from work and daycare, oh dear,nevermind, I thought we going to have our first ever Snow day! lol.

Little Bits

2011-08-10T07:20:00.001+12:00

These two projects I've got on the go are ones that I tend to do "a little bit here and a little bit there" on every few days.

I absolutely love the colours used in Lizzie Kate's Christmas ABCs, my stitchalong with Kath and Clare.

and AMAP's Victoria's Quaker is coming along very slowly.

At long last the Just Cross Stitch ornament preview magazine finally made an appearance in our local book shop - several of the designs featured will be on my ornie to do list very soon.

Speaking of Just Cross Stitch , I was excited to spot the cover for this year's ornaments magazine at Anita Little Stitches, it looks like a goodie!

A Stitchey Saturday & New Starts

2011-08-09T14:44:00.008+12:00

This past Saturday afternoon I spent a few hours with my stitching buds,Clare, Janet and Kath (left to right in the photo). It had been awhile since our last get together and we had a wonderful time, as we usually do!

I've been working on a few new stitching projects this week :

Bringing Home the Tree - Little House Needleworks, which Kath and I chose for our next LHN Ornie of the month

I was able to find out from Clare on Saturday the size of the fabric needed for my latest start, Jardin Prive's Sampler au Bouquets. Clare had been stitching on hers during our winter retreat and I couldn't resist purchasing this one myself!

I'd actually got alot further along on this Saturday than what shows in the pic but I realised about 9pm Sat night that some of my first stitches were completely out of place!! ggggrrrrrr, so out came a few good hours of stitching!

I'm home from work this afternoon with Hannah as her caregiver was attending a funeral today. We've been making the most of a sunny day - Hannah's been playing around outside on her bike, and blowing bubbles, and our lawns are now freshly mowed. I think its time for a coffee and maybe some stitching :)

See you soon xx

On my needles

2011-08-03T07:29:00.004+12:00

Using some of the wool I bought on my weekend away back in June, I recently started this cardigan for Hannah.

Its knitting up pretty quickly so far, and I love the colour changes in the wool.

These are the pretty stitch markers one my clients made me for ages ago and I haven't had the chance to try them out until now.

See you soon xx

Two Ornies for July

2011-07-31T14:23:00.004+12:00

Hello friends :)

We've been enjoying a rare day of winter sunshine so as usual DH and I have been making the most of it getting some outside gardening jobs done. Later on we're having some of our family and Kath around for a pre birthday celebration for DH, its his birthday on Tuesday.

As everything I needed to cook is nearly ready for our family roast dinner, I thought I'd share two ornament finishes for July, and what do you know, they're completely finished! I tried out a new- to -me finish this month, and have to say, I quite like how they turned out :)

Winter

freebie by the Sisterhood

Last Minute December

by Lizzie Kate

I'd better go, our guests will soon be here - I hope you're enjoying the weekend.

See you soon xx

My Needle's Work

2011-07-29T07:08:00.001+12:00

One of my most favourite flowers is out at the moment, daphne. I wish I had some of my own to pick but I've never had any luck growing daphne, either in our garden or even in a pot, I tried many times.

Lucky for me, a friend does so she's been giving me little bundles - what a gorgeous scent in our office right now.

A few days ago I put the final stitches into My Needle's Work, a stitchalong piece I've been doing with my friend Clare.

My Needle's Work

Little House Needlework

stitched with recommended threads on coffee dyed 32ct

I really enjoyed this design and I've been thinking about making this into a wall hanging. Clare and I have already decided on our next stitchalong, Little House Needlework's The Sampler Lady, which we're planning to start in the next few weeks.

See you soon xx

A Few Finishes

2011-07-28T14:52:00.003+12:00

Last weekend some of the ladies from my work were involved with a local Art and Craft Exhibition, displaying knitting, embroidery and crochet. As most of these items were being sold to raise funds for our service, I donated a couple of pairs of knitted handwarmers and also a knitted beanie and dolly blanket.

Hannah quite liked the hat - I guess I'll just have to make another one.

Just a simple granny square blanket, using up some leftover pink wool from another project and edged with white.

We've had some bitter winter weather over the past week or two - I actually thought it was going to start snowing here the other day and it never does here! But there are signs that spring is on its way - its definately lighter in the morning when the alarm goes off and look what's made an appearance in our garden - my favourite spring bulb.

The scent in our kitchen is just heavenly.

I'll see you soon with a stitching update. Thanks for stopping by!

A Gift

2011-07-16T11:30:00.000+12:00

A good friend of mine celebrated her birthday this week so I decided to make a stitcher's wallet for all her stitching and crafting accessories. I chose a freebie pattern that I've wanted to stitch up for ages.

Black Needles

by Ravenelle, found here

stitched with Belle Soie Poison Apple

Thanks for the comments on my previous post - hugs to you all xx

I'm off to make a cuppa and stitch for a bit - I've got the house all to myself this morning as DH has taken Hannah out for a few hours. Have a happy weekend!
See you soon xx

Before the Weekend

2011-07-15T16:00:00.000+12:00

Before the weekend starts I thought I'd share an update on what I've been working on lately. These pics are actually from last week as the past few days have been all about knitting and reading!

My Needle and Thread - I'm so enjoying stitching on this and would like to have it finished in the next week or two. I must check up with my friend Clare and see how she's progressing.

Next is my first progress pic of My Lady's Quaker by AMAP, I've chosen my own colour combination for this.

I've also tried to fit in a bit of crocheting, this is going to be a small dolly blanket which I'm donating for a sales table at an up and coming local arts and crafts exhibition.

Remember the other day I mentionned one of my good friends gave me some knitting for Hannah? I finally got some decent pics of Hannah wearing her new hat and coat, without her monkeying around, lol. Isn't this set just gorgeous, I'd love this for myself, being in one of my favourite colours of course!

See you soon x

Hexagon Quilt Update

2011-07-10T14:03:00.000+12:00

Hannah's hexagon quilt has seen the light of day lately - I thought I'd better get a hurry on and try and have this finished by the end of July since I started it back in July 2009! There's only a few rows to go now.

Speaking of Hannah, one of DH's aunties recently sent a package for Hannah and in there was this pretty purple knitted hat - she thinks its so cool.

Hannah was also given recently a gorgeous knitted coat and hat by one of my friends and I finally managed to get a pic of her wearing them both yesterday so I share a pic next time.

Hope its been a fun filled weekend for you!

The rest of my June ornaments

2011-07-03T15:53:00.001+12:00

Talk about chalk and cheese the weather this weekend - we've enjoyed a beautiful winter's day here today so DH, Hannah and I have made the most of being able to get out in the sunshine. We spent a few hours pottering around the garden, pulling out weeds(!!) and making some plans for some pre-spring projects for a few areas in the gardens. Then this afternoon Hannah and I headed out for a walk to the one of the local fruit and vege shops, we haven't been out for a Sunday walk in quite a few weeks.

I have a few Christmas stitches to share today, I'm beginning to get quite a pile of ornaments that need to be finished so I really must do something about that, ha ha!

First up, is one of my favourite designs from last year's Just Cross Stitch ornaments magazine. I started this while I was away last weekend and after a few hours stitching realised I'd stitched the top words in the wrong colour! Oh dear nevermind :)

Love & Joy by Plum Street Samplers

stitched on 36ct linen with recommended DMC threads

Kath and I are continuing our Little House Needleworks ornie SAL and June's choice was Fa La La

Another quick ornament stitch for June was this cutie by the Sampler Girl, Dash Away All - I have stitched a couple of these for my work friends.

I've just realised after seeing this pic that the reindeer still needs to have a star or button sewn on.

Well, its time for me to get on with organising our Sunday dinner - enjoy the rest of your weekend!

A Midwinter Stitching Retreat

2011-07-02T13:30:00.001+12:00

Last weekend I spent a few days away with Kath, Wendy and our friends Clare and Rosie on the Kapiti Coast at a holiday house Kath had organised for us. It had been over a year since we'd had our previous stitching retreat so it was well and truly time for us to get away together for a wee stitching break.

We headed off first thing Friday morning and made our way to Masterton where we spent a few hours browsing several quilt, craft and knitting shops and having lunch. Then it was onto Upper Hutt for the next stop to check out Thimbles and Threads, a one stop shop for everything craft related. I was in an absolute awe at all the gorgeous knitting wool - I spent a small fortune on wool there, couldn't help myself. More about my stash purchases later!

Then it was onto the holiday house at Paraparaumu. I've stayed at this house before, and its the perfect spot for a getaway, with the beach only a few minutes away. After a lovely sleep in Saturday morning it was time to get into the day's plan of stitching, chatting and hanging out together. We were joined by Margaret for the day - we'd met Margaret many years ago through a yahoo stitching group so it was truly wonderful to finally meet in person.

I had taken with me a couple of my current projects and made really good progress on all of them. Here's where I'm at with My Needle and Thread, the SAL I'm doing with Clare:

Christmas ABCS, my Sunday SAL with Kath and Clare:

I also started an ornament by Plum Street Sampler, which I managed to finish last night so I'll share a pic of it in my next post.

Now for the new stash! I found these Christmas fat quarters and how could I resist this cute pair of polka dot scissors, lol.

As I mentionned above, the variety of wool at Thimbles and Threads just blew me away, none of our shops here in Hawkes Bay have quite the same range so I decided to go crazy and get what I needed for a few up and coming projects. This is just a selection of what I got!

I don't know what to start first!!

So in all it was pretty fab weekend with my friends - just what I needed, a midwinter mini break, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After a relaxing time away, it was good to get home late Sunday afternoon to DH and Hannah, they'd had a jolly good time themselves while I was away! Out for dinner twice, and out and about visiting family.

Its a miserable day here so we're enjoying having a chilled out day at home after spending the morning in town at the library and grabbing a bite to eat at one of the local bakeries. I've been a bit under the weather this week, just a head cold which has mostly gone now, so I might go and make a cuppa and then find a comfy chair to sit and knit for a bit.

See you soon :)

First Ornie for June and Knitting

2011-06-19T13:21:00.003+12:00

Howdy folks, here's a little update on a chilly Sunday afternoon. The first of my Christmas ornaments for this month is Holly Noel by Mill Hill.

This was a quick stitch, or should I say bead as obviously it mostly beaded :) I've had a few of these little Mill Hill kits in my stash for several years now so I'm going to try and get a few more done over the next few months.

With the chilly weather we've been having there's nothing better than sitting down by the fire at night, once Hannah is tucked up in bed, with a nice hot coffee, my knitting and some of my favourite tv shows on. At the moment I'm making another cowl, this one is intended for a friend.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

On the go right now

2011-06-15T06:39:00.001+12:00

The other day I mentionned I had several new stitching starts - its the first time in awhile that I've quite a few different projects on the go, mostly because I've tended to focus on one larger design and maybe one or two small things, like Christmas ornies but its time for a change in tactics!

The first of my new projects is one I've had in mind to do for a long time - Victoria's Quaker by A Mon Ami Pierre. I made a tiny start on Thursday night and can already tell that I'm going to really enjoy working on this design.

Next up is two new stitchalongs - one with Kath & Clare for Lizzie Kate's Christmas ABCs. We've chosen to stitch on this on Sundays. I thought that I was going to be able to share a progress pic today but I had to spend most of this week's time unpicking stitches from last week's session so next time maybe :)

My second SAL is with Clare and we're going to be stitching My Needle's Work by Little House Needleworks once a week.

And as usual, there's one or two new knitting projects on my needles too!

Sarah Street Sampler

2011-06-13T07:55:00.002+12:00

Hello friends, what a beautiful winter's morning it is here - the sun's out, not a cloud in the sky, seems a shame that I'm going to be stuck inside my office at work all day.

I have a finish to share today:

Sarah Street - Little House Needleworks

stitched with mostly the recommended threads

32ct coffee dyed linen

This was a real pleasure to stitch and I loved every stitch :)

Since finishing this sampler I've picked out several new projects to get underway and Kath, Clare and I have began a few stitchalongs so I'll be back soon with more details of those!

Enjoy your day x

~Katrina~

Twilight Pearls Stitching

2011-06-02T07:32:00.000+12:00

Another little stitching update today, a few snaps of my Twilight Pearls wip :) Please excuse the wrinkles, next time I'll iron first I promise!

Asides from the beads, these pieces are now all done, just the green leaves to go to complete the ball but there's quite a few of them to do. Maybe I need to set myself a goal of two or three a week and then this might actually get finished during 2011 :)

Sarah Street Update

2011-05-31T07:30:00.000+12:00

I've neglected my Sarah Street sampler lately so I decided to get it out one night last week and now I can't seem to put it down!!

At the end of last night's stitching session, after several hours of enjoyable TV viewing, Coronation Street and the new series Downton Abbey, the house is nearly completed. I've got a few new stitching projects planned for June so I'd really like to get this finished soon.
~Katrina~

Crafting from the Weekend

2011-05-31T07:13:00.002+12:00

We had a very chilled out weekend around home so there was plenty of time for some sewing and stitching after all the usual Saturday/Sunday jobs were done :)

A new bag for Zoe:

The Little House Needleworks scissor pillow all made up. What a handy accessory to have since I'm forever losing my scissors down the side of the couch or knocking them onto the floor.

Just Nan's Holly Bows in its pretty frame. Far too nice to have out only at Christmas time so for now its sitting on the shelf alongside some of my blue and white china :)

I also made some decent progress on Sarah Street by LHN over the weekend so I'll be back soon with a progress pic.

~Katrina~

Peace

2011-05-27T07:32:00.000+12:00

This little Mill Hill ornament has been a very long work in progress - I started it when Hannah was only a few months old and then somehow it got "misplaced" in my craft/computer room :) Recently I was having a major sort through all my patterns and kits and what did you know, there it was. It only took a few hours stitching and beading to get it completed.

Peace by Mill Hill

threads and beads from kit

~Katrina~

Ornament Frenzy Catch Up -March, April & May

2011-05-25T08:05:00.000+12:00

Lately I've had the Christmas ornie stitching bug so I've managed to get a few done during May.

Peace on Earth -Little House Needleworks

misc. linen stitched with recommended threads

Noel by 123 Citrouille
freebie found here
stitched with DMC 115

Christmas Deer by the Prairie Schooler
from the November 2009 Gift of Stitching magazine
cream belfast linen & recommended DMC threads

Christmas Eve Flight
design by Tanya Marie Anderson/The Sampler Girl
freebie pattern found here

Milady's Needle, Just Cross Stitch Ornaments 2010

stitched with DMC 115

So now I need to organise a marathon finishing session!

~Katrina~

Winter Warmers

2011-05-24T06:27:00.001+12:00

Here's Hannah modelling my latest knitting finish, a Cowl, which I made for my cousin Donna's recent birthday. The pattern is from the Panda Amber Warmers booklet and I used the recommended knitting yarn. I might just have to make one for myself as its so snuggly and warm.

Another completed project from last week is this simple granny square dolly blanket that I've made for one of Hannah's friends who has a birthday coming up soon.

Hannah has already requested one the same, even though she has plenty of other dolly blankets to play with!

~Katrina~

New Goodies

2011-05-23T07:18:00.000+12:00

Hi friends, once again the past weekend flew by. DH has been away overseas for the past week, he's due back late Tuesday evening, so Hannah and I have been keeping ourselves busy as we've both been missing him terribly.

Hannah had an overnight stay with Nannie and Grandad on Saturday so I invited Kath, Clare and Janet around for a stitchey afternoon. What a lovely time we had, but then we always do at our get togethers. In between the chatting and snacking, hee hee, I finished off the stitching on my latest ornament, pic to come soon, so I decided to get out one of my 2010 wips to work on, Just Nan's Twilight Pearls, which if I remember correctly, I last stitched on in August 2010! A progress pic to also come soon :)

The rest of the weekend was spent doing the usual things around the house and then yesterday afternoon Hannah and I finally got to meet little Sally, our new niece. Oh, she is so sweet and very precious. Sally is now two weeks old and doing really well. My sister in law Jude loved the blanket I'd made, thought it was gorgeous and she couldn't believe it was one of my first crochet blankets. I think I'm going to have to make one for my niece Alice too as she was very fond of it :)

I've got some new goodies to share today. I received a birthday gift voucher from my staff at work to one of the local quilt shops and hadn't found time to visit the shop so last week I stopped by during one of my lunch breaks.

These aqua and red combinations caught my eye - I have no idea what I'll do with them but they are so pretty to look at in the meantime!

These two fat quarters came home with me too, once again, just to go into my stash, no project in mind for them.

Recently I received these two charts from my wish list from Doreen in the US after I sent Doreen one of my finished charts and leftover threads - hi Doreen and thanks again :) Both of these I'm itching to start as soon as I can.

With the cooler weather lately, I've been thinking about some winter knitting projects so I picked up these two newly released knitting books recently. The amber warmers has some great patterns in there, and I've already made one of the cowls from it as a birthday gift for my cousin Donna. I couldn't resist the baby pattern book and have already spotted a gorgeous cardigan in there to knit for Sally.

As always, many thanks for stopping by :)

~Katrina~

Friendship

2011-05-16T07:44:00.000+12:00

One of my very talented stitching friends Clare, recently gave me this absolutely gorgeous sewing caddy, or a "whatnot bag" as she calls it for a belated birthday gift. I'll let the picture do the talking as its simply amazing all the work Clare has put into this!

Its so beautifully made. Many thanks once again Clare, I'm a very lucky girl to receive this and I'll treasure it always.

Baby Blanket

2011-05-12T11:01:00.000+12:00

I have another completed crochet project to share today. For our new niece Sally, this simple granny crochet blanket, which I finished last week.

I chose a simple chain stitch edging to complete the blanket. This little blanket gave me a few headaches when I first started but once it was underway it was done in no time. Its soft and snuggly, just perfect for the winter months for a new baby.

Thanks for stopping by today :)

A Gift and a Couple of Finishes

2011-05-11T07:12:00.000+12:00

This morning I realised that I hadn't yet shared a photo of the sweet little pillow that I received from Kath in our annual Easter exchange. Isn't this lovely, and the yo yo's Kath added were just the perfect touch to the finishing - I just love it!

Despite all the crocheting that been's going on here lately, I'm still stitching too! Here's a couple of my recent finishes:

Needle and Thread by Little House Needleworks

stitched with provided kit threads

32ct natural belfast

Holly Bows, 2010 Christmas Ornament by Just Nan

stitched with recommended threads and fabric

Sorry for the poor quality of these pics today, this last couple of days have been very grey and dreary. I might get these made up this coming weekend since its going to be a low key weekend, well, thats what I'm hoping anyway :)

Bye for now!

Now 3

2011-05-10T07:37:00.002+12:00

Our little girl is growing up fast - on Saturday Hannah turned 3 years old! Amazing, I still can't believe that I'm now Mummy to a three year old!

We celebrated Hannah's birthday with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse morning tea for some of her little friends and our family. It was a fun filled morning, our house was bursting at the seams with kids and people as it was pouring down with rain all morning. Still, the kids had a ball with the games and playing around.

The birthday girl all dressed up for her party

Even Poppy was getting into unwrapping presents

Family snaps time

I hope all the Mums out there had a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday - I was treated to a special handmade card and present by Hannah and we spent the afternoon (which was fine and sunny, could have been like that on Saturday!) at the local park with friends. We also had a lovely meal Sunday night and I think I managed to fit in some quality stitching time.

The perfect ending to a wonderful weekend was getting news Sunday night that the latest addition to the Jamieson family had at long last arrived, Sally Beth, our new niece is the second daughter of Glenn's brother and his wife Jude, sister to Alice. We can't wait to meet her this weekend!

Have an excellent week!

Pretty Colours

2011-05-03T15:10:00.002+12:00

Last year when I was only dreaming about being able to crochet I came across Lucy's very inspiring blog. I ooohed and aahhed over her gorgeous crocheted bag thinking that I'd never be able to make one myself after all my previous attempts at crocheting had completely gone terribly wrong.

Well lookie here, I did it! After several "intense" sessions my bag is finally finished.

Complete with little flowers and leaves :)

I also learnt how to crochet a nice scallopped edging.

I'm very proud of my little bag, well, its not so little as it fits in every single crochet pattern and accesory that I currently own! Now my niece Zoe has seen it she's requested one too. Oh dear, lol.

~Katrina~

Saturday Afternoon Baking

2011-05-02T07:10:00.000+12:00

We have an abundance of feijoas at our house at the moment, one of my favourite fruits, so I did some searching for some new recipes to try out during our weekend baking session.

My number 1 assistant is a great help, she is always much more interested in the mixture than in the final product!

We made one lot of feijoa muffins, which were just scrummy with a cinnamon and sugar topping. You can find this recipe here

We also made a Fresh Apple and Feijoa cake for last night's dessert and it was very delish with passionfruit icecream. This recipe can be found on Deb's blog here.

~Katrina~

Bookarama Time

2011-05-01T13:41:00.000+12:00

One of my favourite local events is the annual Bookarama which is held every April in my town. During the year you can donate unwanted books, puzzles, magazines, etc to a local charity so come April there are 1000's to choose from and the proceeds from the sales go to other charity groups.

Both DH and I are big book lovers and it looks like Miss H is heading that way too. I've read to her every single night since she was only a few months old, I couldn't even begin to imagine how many times I've read the Hungry Caterpillar in the last three years! Towards the end of last year we started visiting the local library every Saturday morning to pick out a few stories.

So off I went a few Fridays ago, to queue up at the door of one of the local halls along with 100's of other book lovers. Come 9am it was all on! This year I only found a couple of books for myself but plenty to DH's tastes, which should see him through the winter months, lol.

I recently started reading Lee Child's Jack Reacher series so I was a little bit disappointed not to not find any of these but our library has the whole series. I also came away with a whole pile for Hannah, including a few Little Golden books, some of my childhood favourites, a lucky find.

~Katrina~

Some Easter Weekend Snaps

2011-04-28T13:30:00.004+12:00

Some random snaps from the long weekend:

Snuggly handwarmers made for Zoe

How many eggs did you find Hannah?

An "intense" colouring and sticker session, lol

Funny faces

~Katrina~

Sew a Bunny

2011-04-27T07:37:00.002+12:00

I can now share a little bit of secret stitching I did earlier this month for my annual Easter exchange with Kath:

Sew a Brown Bunny

design by iStitch Designs

32ct coffee dyed linen

Crescent colours Bella Rosa & Eve's Leaves

Many thanks for the comments on my recent posts - have a great rest of the week, and thanks for stopping by!

2011 Ornament for Hannah

2011-04-24T12:45:00.004+12:00

This cute ornament has been on the my to do list for ages, ever since it first came out, so I decided to make it for Hannah's 2011 Christmas ornament.

Not a Creature was Stirring....
Designed by Casey Buonaugurio,

Just Cross Stitch December 2008,recommended DMC threads,

28ct dusty green Wichelt Imports, Inc, linen.

Thanks for stopping by :)

~Katrina~

Happy Easter

2011-04-23T15:05:00.005+12:00

Happy Easter, wishing you a relaxing and enjoyable weekend, whatever you may be up to :)

We are just enjoying having some extra days at home, catching up on jobs around the house and in the gardens. DH has spent a bit of time working on our extension part, remember this, may we have some proper walls done by winter? umm, this has really been a work-in-progress!

Hannah appears to have had "round two" of what she had a few weeks ago over the past few days. Today, as she is much happier and perked up, we ventured down the local library for our usual Saturday morning visit and then into town to pick up a few things. Tonight our niece Zoe is coming for an overnight stay so I've prepared each of the girls an Easter basket filled with treats that they'll find at the end of their bed in the morning.

In Hannah's, I put a felt bunny finger puppet, pattern found here and in Zoe's is a pair of knitted handwarmers in a gorgeous purple wool.

I finished up these two small Easter patterns last night:

Sampling Easter Quick It by Lizzie Kate

stitched with recommended threads

32ct cream lugana

Bunny Freebie

pattern found here

stitched on 32ct natural belfast

DMC 761 & blanc

I have one more Easter stitched piece to share but will save that for another time.

Thank you for stopping by, wonderful to hear from you, enjoy your stitching :)

Some Birthday Goodness

2011-04-17T17:10:00.003+12:00

Last Saturday I celebrated another birthday and some of the wonderful gifts I was given included some crafty ones.
From my friend Shelley at work, she gave me these neat scissors. I'd been eyeing up these recently at the local quilting shop, aren't they cool. She also included some fabric, which might come in handy this week for my Easter stitching finishing, and a pack of garden themed charms.
From Kath, she totally spoilt me as always -

To hold my scissors, this chookie made out of the most gorgeous fabric, which Kath knew I would love!

and this lovely mug mat, once again, just perfect to my tastes.

I told you she thoroughly spoilt me, Kath also gave me this Little House Needleworks kit that I loved ever since it came out.

I'm going to start on this during the Easter break next weekend.

Its been a pretty quiet weekend at our house this weekend - we did get a visit from my BIL, SIL, and little niece Alice this afternoon which was great to catch up with them. My SIL is due to have her baby in two weeks so we're all very excited about it. I'd better get on with the blanket I'm crocheting for the baby, I'm on my third attempt at it, the first and second time I wasn't happy with the tension but now its back underway.

Nearly dinnertime here so I'd better get going, I'll be back soon with a stitchey update.

Sarah Street Update and some finishing

2011-04-13T06:55:00.001+12:00

Just a little Sarah Street update this morning - most of this was stitched when I was off work a few weeks ago looking after sick Miss H. I did pick it up the other night so the top band is now done and a bit of the viney part on the left hand side. Also, a little finishing to share - Christmas Magic sewn into a simple pillow hanging ornament. I used some sparkly silver fabric for the back. This is Zoe's 2011 Christmas ornament.

To go into my "pink" basket, C is for Cure, also made into a little pillow.

I'm quite excited this morning as later today I'm going to a "Meet the Author" event for Nicky Pellegrino, one of my most favourite Kiwi authors. My local library is hosting an Italian inspired afternoon tea and Nicky will be speaking about her latest book, The Villa Girls. I can't wait!

Easter Stitching

2011-04-12T07:51:00.002+12:00

I've got a few cute Easter projects picked out to stitch this month and this is the first one all done:

Chicks Rule by Lizzie Kate

stitched with recommended DMC threads

white 32ct belfast linen

These chickies are pretty cute don't you think?

~Katrina~

Christmas Rules Ta Daa!

2011-04-11T12:40:00.002+12:00

Hello stitching friends, as you may remember over the past few months Kath and I have both been stitching Christmas Rules by Lizzie Kate. I'm very happy to report that as of last week, its all finished. I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this design, the colours are so bright and cheery. I'm thinking that I might make this into a wall hanging rather than have it framed.

Christmas Rules by Lizzie Kate

stitched with recommended threads

32ct mocha belfast linen

No matter how I tried I just couldn't seem to get a decent snap of the whole piece. I was very lucky not to run out of fabric at the bottom - for some reason I began my stitching alot further down that I'd planned so there was just enough room left at the bottom. I wouldn't have wanted to miss any of the snippets. Now I'll patiently wait to see what Lizzie Kate has on offer for this year's Christmas designs :)

Pumpkin Soup Anyone?

2011-04-03T11:54:00.003+12:00

This weekend one of the local garden centres had the weighing in for their annual pumpkin growing competition. I went along with the girls and my parents to check out how the two pumpkins we'd grown in the vegetable garden at work compared to others. One of ours came in at a whopping 69 kilos! Thats alot of pumkin soup isn't it Zoe!

Unfortunately ours was pipped at the post by another "whopper" weighing in at 73.5 kgs. Our 2nd pumkpin came in at a mere 29kgs, but it was definately the cutest of the lot, lol.

~Katrina~

A Gift - Handwarmers

2011-03-29T15:29:00.000+13:00

One of my friends recently celebrated her birthday so as its now autumn here in NZ, I thought she might like a pair of snuggly Merino wool handwarmers. This pattern was very easy and so pretty, I'll definately be making myself a pair.

Handwarmers by creativeyarn

pattern found here

Double knit Patons Merino wool, 4.00mm needles

~Katrina~

A New Start

2011-03-28T11:10:00.002+13:00

While I was at Kath's house on Saturday afternoon, I started a new sampler, Sarah Street -Faithfulness by Little House Needleworks.

I chose a piece of coffee dyed linen and I'm using mostly the recommended threads. I've been wanting to start this one for ages. I'm at home with Hannah today as she's not too well, a bad cold and she is quite miserable so I might just get in some extra stitching time this afternoon while she is resting. I'll be back soon with a progress pic.
Bye for now, ~Katrina~

Ta Daa - A Dolly Blanket

2011-03-27T13:41:00.003+13:00

My first ever crochet granny square blanket is all done - and what a lot of fun it was :) I had a few problems putting the squares together (tension too tight, and putting the squares in the wrong combinations) but I got there in the end.

Hannah's very happy with it, and its already had lots of use keeping her Molly doll all snuggled up in her bed.

I hope you're having a great weekend!

~Katrina~

A "Pink Stitch" Finish

2011-03-25T09:49:00.003+13:00

Here's another little piece I finished stitching a couple of evenings ago. This is for my Pink Basket.

C is for Cure by Lizzie Kate

stitched with recommended threads, 32ct white belfast linen

pattern can be found here

The weekend is almost here and I'm looking forward to a stitching afternoon with Kath and our friends tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping to get a couple of new projects underway so I'll be back soon with my progress report!

~Katrina~

Look What's Arrived

2011-03-23T07:59:00.000+13:00

A few goodies have arrived in the mail lately and I've been meaning to share some pics.

Firstly, its been awhile since I had any new stitching stash so I was so excited when my latest order arrived from Amy . I'd been reading lots of great things about the latest Blackbird Designs book, and it didn't disappoint me at all :)

I also ordered the latest Just Cross Stitch magazine, which has the cutest Country Cottage Needlework chart, G is for Girl, in it, and as well, CCN's Sheep in the Meadow, which I'm planning to stitch for Hannah's 3rd birthday in May.

Also turning up recently, another addition to my craft book library - what else but a crochet book filled with lots of lovely, lovely projects.

I'm definately going to make one of these :)

And finally from Tessa in Australia, some Just Nan charts that I was lucky enough to be chosen to receive from a recent giveaway. Tessa also sent some Australian chocolate treats for us, so yummy they were devoured very quickly!!

Thanks again Tessa for the wonderful parcel :)

well, I'd better get going and get out the door to drop Hannah at daycare and then onto work. Have a fun filled day xx

~Katrina~

First Ornies for 2011

2011-03-22T13:05:00.005+13:00

I decided to get my 2011 Christmas ornament stitching underway with a couple of my favourite ornaments from last year's JCS ornaments magazine -

Angels Sent- Still Stitching with Susan, JSC 2010

DMC 815 on white belfast linen

Christmas Magic - Charlotte's Web Needlework, JCS 2010
recommended DMC threads, white belfast linen

Kath and I are stitching last year's Little House Needleworks ornaments, and we're taking a turn each month to decide on the pattern. Last month I chose Joy to the World for us to begin with -

Joy to the World, ornament 12 2010, by Little House Needleworks
stitched with recommended threads on coffee dyed linen

Kath's choice for this month is Peace on Earth, the cute sheepie, which I hope to start on this coming weekend.

For now, I've tucked these away for a rainy day's finishing session.

~Katrina~

Four on the Go

2011-03-21T07:13:00.000+13:00

Hello friends :)

I have well and truly caught the crocheting "bug"!! Here's what I've got on the go at the moment:

A dolly blanket for one of Hannah's friends, using up assortments of wool from my stash

A dolly blanket for Hannah -almost finished

A natural blanket for my sister in law's baby due next month

And this colourful circle will eventually become a bag to store all these lovely projects.
Pattern by Attic 24

I'm having so much fun! Don't worry I'm still stitching and have a few small finishes to share in my next post.

I'll be back soon!

~Katrina~

Ten Today :)

2011-03-07T06:40:00.001+13:00

Today my beautiful niece Zoe turns 10, I can't quite believe it - it just seems like yesterday she was born. I was so excited to become an aunty for the first time.

I decided to have a go at making a crochet headband for Zoe - and surprised myself how quick and easy it was, considering it was the first time EVER I'd followed a crochet pattern.

Grannystripe Headband/Earwarmer

by Tangled Happy

DK wool, 4mm hook

Zoe thought it was pretty cool - as you can tell from the next photo she has a "thing" for headwear, lol.

We had a family dinner last night so Hannah and I made Zoe a birthday cake, a simple chocolate cake with raspberry icing.

Happy birthday Sweet Pea!

~Katrina~

Just Nan Anniversary Biscornu

2011-03-03T15:37:00.002+13:00

Here's another little finish for the week - I first started stitching this design way back in July 2009 but for some reason or another it got put aside until just recently. I'm pleased I decided to finish it off, such a pretty, sparkly biscornu to have on display.

Anniversary Biscornu

by Just Nan, Limited Edition design exclusive for Country Crafts

fabric and beads supplied with pattern

stitched with DMC threads

I took my camera to work with me today so I could take some snaps of the sunflowers in our garden - they look wonderful at the moment but the heat has got to alot of them this week.

~Katrina~

A Gift for a Friend

2011-03-02T15:07:00.004+13:00

It was my stitching friend Clare's birthday recently and when I spotted the design for this needleroll in February's issue of the Gift of Stitching magazine I knew it would be the perfect gift for Clare.

My Heart's Desire Needleroll

by Karen Kluba of Rosewood Manor

Gift of Stitching Magazine, February 2011

stitched with mostly the recommended threads

28ct Rue Green Quaker linen

I had a lot of fun working on this design with some speciality stitches and beading. Its the first needleroll I've made up in a very long while so I had to think for a bit on how to do the hem stitch, lol!

~Katrina~

Getting Together with Friends

2011-03-01T15:25:00.001+13:00

Thank you for your comments on my last post - you are the best. Its been heartbreaking watching the effects of the earthquake unfold on the tv - to see the destruction of buildings, as people wait to hear for news about loved ones, and so many, many homes destroyed. The way people from all around the country, and the world too, have rallied together to help the people of Christchurch and Canterbury, it makes me so proud to be a kiwi and call New Zealand home. So thanks again for your messages of support and sympathy, they are very much appreciated.

On the recent weekend I invited a few friends around for the afternoon - Hannah was with her Nannie & Grandad, and Glenn decided to vacate the house, hee hee, so Kath, Clare, another friend Janet and I had a few hours of stitching, chatting, laughing, and snacking(!!) together. I just love these afternoons and I'm so pleased we decided to make them a regular event this year - I do really miss my monthly stitching group that folded a few years ago.

Kath and Janet

Clare and Kath

Clare's beautiful stitching, a With My Needle design

Janet's yo yo's - which Janet is making with one of those fancy yo yo makers :)

I didn't get a decent snap of what Kath and I were both stitching on. We decided to get going on the first design in our new stitchalong together. Over the next few months we are going to be stitching the Little House Needleworks ornament series from last year and perhaps one or two of this year's as well. Our first choice is Joy to the World :)

I'll be back tomorrow to share a small finish. Until then, take care,

~Katrina~

Devastation

2011-02-24T07:00:00.001+13:00

As you would have heard by now one of our beautiful cities, Christchurch, has been devastated by a major earthquake, less than six months after experiencing another major one.

Photo by Getty Images

So far there have been 71 deaths confirmed, and hundreds are still trapped in collapsed buildings or are missing.

Photo by Reuters

Our country has declared a national emergency, and the nation is in shock. Offers for help have come in from around the world with several hundred Urban rescuers from many countries helping with the search and recovery.

My family and I live many miles from Christchurch, up in the North Island, so we didn't even feel the earthquake. My parents have friends who were holidaying in the city and went through the horrible ordeal but we are blessed that they are now home safe.

Our hearts and prayers are with everyone.

Christmas Rules Update

2011-02-22T06:12:00.001+13:00

Its been awhile since I shared an update on Lizzie Kate Christmas Rules, from my stitchalong I've been doing with Kath. Here's my latest stitching on it:

The whole piece so far :

Only three snippets to go now and then I'll go back and attach all the little buttons. I've just loved stitching this design :)

~Katrina~

Random Snaps

2011-02-21T06:25:00.000+13:00

One contented cat, rolling around in the sunshine

Yum Hannah, does that chocolate cake mixture taste good?

Rest time with all the dollies

Sunset one night last week

Crochet Love

2011-02-20T13:58:00.003+13:00

As I mentionned a few posts ago, a group of us at work are currently learning how to crochet. This is one craft that I've been wanting try for ages, an attempt last year never got me anywhere so this time I was determined I was going to master the technique, lol.

Several hours of concentration later, I got it!

I'm having so much fun with my first project, some granny squares to turn into a dolly's blanket.

Only I've had a bit of a hiccup - on Friday night I broke my crochet hook! It was just a plastic one. After visting both the local wool shops yesterday to find another 4.5mm, neither had them in stock so what's a girl to do - start another project using a different sized hook! I'll check out with my co-workers on Monday to see if any of them have the size I'm after.

Thanks for stopping by :)

~Katrina~