Weekend Happenings

Happy Monday everyone, and it's off to a chilly start here - we've woken to a very white, and crunchy, lol, frost this morning, the first of many to come for the winter I'm sure.

Firstly, many thanks for the book recommendations - there were some great ones suggested, some I've already enjoyed but several to add to my list for the coming months. I've pre-ordered another Kindle read over the weekend, The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani, as I've heard good reviews about it so I'm looking forward to being released on the 24th.

I spent the day at work on Saturday helping out with a gardening project so yesterday was a very low key day at home, just pottering around while DH tried to reinstall some outside spouting on the new extension of our house. Hannah was having a great time in the hole, digging around in the mud!

I was also able to catch up with one of my best friends over the weekend, who was in town with her family for a few days visiting her parents. My friend recently had a baby girl so I got to have my first cuddle with eight week old Louisa.

I knitted up a couple of pairs of booties recently for Louisa using snuggly double knit wool and a pattern I found here:

Another recent knitting finish is some new hand warmers for my cousin Donna, the pattern I found on Ravelry, Strappy Stella Gloves.

I stitched a little bit more on my Mystery Sampler:

The latest Mollie Makes magazine arrived from Sew Pretty, the little mice are so cute!  Love the teeny knitted jumper!

I also did a bit of stash diving. I was on the look out for a design to stitch for my Mum's 60th birthday in August so I've decided on Blackbird Design's Something Sweet. I'd bought this a few years ago with my Mum in mind.  I also came across Country Cottage Needlework's Garden Girl which I'm going to stitch as a birth sampler for baby Louisa sometime in the near future.

I'd completely forgotten about sharing a photo of this little bunny pincushion, a finish from way back in early April.  This cutie pie design was generously shared by Bronwyn Hayes from Red Brolly.

I'm now counting down the days until Thursday, when I start a week's long service leave. My Mum and I are heading away for a few days for a girls' weekend to stay with our relatives in Palmerston North. We both can't wait - lots of shopping, going out for dinner, etc.  I've got a bit of sewing planned for the rest of my break, some gardening if the weather co-operates and I'm looking forward to trying out some recipes in our new slow cooker.  There'll be plenty of stitching happening too :)

See you soon xx

Winter Reading

Hello friends

I hope all the Mums out there had a wonderful day on Sunday. My day was just lovely, starting with some little handmade gifts from Hannah (that had been hidden safely away under her bed for a few days, lol), a box of my favourite chocolate treats from DH, and ending with a roast lamb dinner cooked by DH for us and my MIL Heather. Glenn's Dad is out of town working at the moment so it was lovely to have Heather spend the evening with us.

A few weeks ago I went along to the annual Bookarama, which is put on by a local community group as a fundraiser. For only a few dollars I came away with a great selection for DH and I.  This should keep us going over the winter!

The great thing about the bookarama is that we can donate back the books we've read during the previous year. All for a good cause!

Speaking of books, I recently purchased my first Kindle ebook, The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley, as  it wasn't available in my local library.  Does anyone have any suggestions for some good reads - I'm looking forward to adding to my Kindle :)

See you soon xx

Christmas stitching from April & a new start

Good morning everyone,

The weekend is almost here, yay! I'm looking forward to just being at home with DH and Hannah as we've got no plans.  It's quite a miserable day out there today, raining and cold, so if it stays like this, it will be the perfect weekend for some baking and crafting, and probably some Littlest Pet Shop playing with Hannah :)

Today's finish to share has been a work in progress for quite some time!  The little pattern, threads and fabric had been in my stitching basket for absolutely ages, and every now and then I've put a stitch in here and there. I decided to go with another wall hanging type finish.

Three Blox Kit by Lizzie Kate

stitched on 27ct fabric  with recommended threads

Last weekend I started on this Little House Needleworks design, another project that has been on the "to do" list for quite some time.

Enjoy your weekend, happy stitching!  see you soon xx

A Knitting Finish: Legwarmers

Hannah's legwarmers are all finished and just in time as the weather has turned quite chilly here.

The yarn is Patons Jet, which I was lucky to find in the local knitting shop for only $3.50 a ball.  I used the pattern from the Farmyard Girls and Tractor Boys pattern booklet.

As you can tell, Hannah is pretty pleased with them!

See you soon x

More Birthday Celebrations

Today it's our cutie pie niece Sally's first birthday and I was able to finish the stitching and making up of Sally's birth sampler last Friday night.  I'm really happy with how it turned out, and of course, I just had to use some of my favourite polka dot fabrics for the finishing. 

Ballade aux Fraises by Anne Reginier of Tournicoton

Gift of Stitching Issue 32 September 2008

stitched on 32c light mocha belfast and mostly recommended threads.

Many thanks for the birthday wishes for Hannah! She had a truly wonderful day and we all thoroughly enjoyed our dinner out last night - no cooking and dishes to do, hee hee!  

See you soon xx

Birthday Girl

Look who is now 4!  How did that happen? lol.  I can't quite believe that I'm Mum now to a four year old -a beautiful, clever and not forgetting incredibly funny little girl who is pure sunshine in our lives.

Yesterday we had tonnes of fun celebrating with a few of Hannah's friends and cousins, with lots of yummy party food and a cake.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect so the kids had a great time racing around in our garden, in between games and more food :)

Today is Hannah's actual birthday so we're taking our little girl out for dinner tonight, she has all ready put her order in for a hamburger, lol.

See you soon xx

Starry Night Ornament

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 :)

This little pattern has been in my "to stitch one day soon" ornaments folder for absolutely ages, and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

Starry Night Ornament

by Helga Mandl

from the Gift of Stitching Issue 47, December 2009

This is my lovely snowball tree, covered in its autumn leaves, so pretty :)

Have a wonderful day :)

Forget Me Not

Hello friends, 

here's little pillow finish to share today. This was a birthday gift for my dear friend Petra, who lives all the way over in Sweden.

Forget Me Not

by Beth Twist - Heartstring Samplery

Issue 71 March/April Gift of Stitching 

stitched on 32ct linen with recommended threads

Have a wonderful day x

On the Go

Today it's ANZAC Day here in New Zealand and Australia, a national day of remembrance, to acknowledge the contribution and sacrifice of all those who have served for our country. 

For the first time in many years I didn't attend the local dawn service, as I've been a bit under the weather this week with another cold and sore throat, but all around the country thousands and thousands went along to services to pay tribute to our service men and women. My dear Grandad served during World War II in Italy and the Pacific. He passed away over ten years ago, and as always, today he has been very much in my thoughts.  Lest we forget.

Its been awhile since I shared any progress pics of my stitching and knitting. Right now I have several new projects that I'm working on.

First up, is the Mystery Sampler by With Thy Needle. It has been a slow start as I get used to stitching on the 35ct linen :)

I'm also stitching away on what is going to be a birth sampler for our littlest niece Sally, who is turning one year old in a few weeks time.  This design, by Anne Regnier of Tournicoton,  is from Issue 32 September 2008 of the Gift of Stitching magazine.

Next up is a pair of leg warmers for Hannah, pattern found in this knitting booklet. The Jet wool is lovely to knit with.

My other knitting on the go is this jumper for Hannah - this wool knits up very quickly.

I'm going to spend a few hours this afternoon having a good sort through my card making and paper craft supplies. I had a major sort out last weekend with all my other sewing, knitting and craft supplies and was able to find a new home for 6 bags of all sorts of odds and ends that I no longer want - that sure felt good!

See you soon xx

Sew Pretty Mollie Makes Giveaway WINNER

Thanks to everyone that entered the generous giveaway from Kirsty at Sew Pretty.

Hannah helped to pick out a lucky person last night and the winner is:

Congratulations Michy, please let me know your mailing information.  Thanks to all for joining in, and many thanks to Kirsty for offering the prize!