Granny Gold!

My mother's mother (Granny) has just moved from her residence of the last 25(?) years from a small coastal country town to live in a granny flat built for her at my Aunts country block. Granny flat sounds small doesn't it? It's not, bigger than our flat it is!

I wanted to visit the house and the town I hadn't seen since I was about 12 before the move, so Mum, Dad and I went down earlier in the year to help Granny start getting organised.

Granny prefers to chrochet these days, so I happily saved her the task of having to pack these pattern books and other goodies.

 [one of the transfers from the red Semco booklet in the first picture]

The patterns are all draft yourself instructions like this. I'll probably learn a thing or two about pattern making and hopefully have fun in the process.

Really Cute Jacket

Wardrobe Refashion continues to be a source of inspiration even though I decided not to re-pledge while being pregnant.

Just the other day I saw this gorgeous jacket posted by Carolyn and am totally tempted to go and find that pattern for myself. Heck knows when I would get around to sewing it, but look at those cute sleeves!

Click on over to Carolyn's blog to see more gorgeous detail.

Mx

My Creative Space

I've been knitting this slouchy beanie since Bali in January. Knitting in humidity felt more like an arm wrestle at times, so I didn't get very far.

It has sat virtually untouched since then, and I don't have high hopes for it to turn out like the pattern since I am not using the correct size needles and I have no idea what weight this home-spun wool by Granny is. I should have knit a gauge square I suppose, but I'm always too keen to get to the 'real' knitting. I've never knit a gauge square before but I can see their usefulness before starting a large project.

So this little project has been turned into practice for Continental Knitting. Knitters generally have a looser tension with the Continental style and you can see where I switched. It still feels more comfortable to knit the old way even though I tend to knit very tightly in the normal style and hold a lot of tension in my shoulders. I'm hoping with a bit more practice the Continental style will feel more natural and I'll be much quicker and less bunched up in the shoulders.

I do love the smaller movements and the more relaxed feel in my hands and shoulders. This is the best video on the Continental style I've found so far.



Head on over to check out other Creative Spacers.

Mx

Husby

 [image taken from Acronym Finder]

No D**k Heads here... or dunderheads, damn husbands or dumb husbands.

Darling Husband does not read my blog, but after I posted about our 4WD weekend below I suggested he have a look to see the photos. Not only did he look at the photos but he actually read the post.

Him: DH? what's that?
Moi: Darling Husband
Him: Oh, ok, not D**k Head then?
Moi: haha, ah no, maybe I better call you something different...

I'm pretty sure we've had that above conversation once before, so from now on I'll be referring to my DH on this blog as Husby, or some other nickname.

Mx

Cervantes to Lancelin

Disregarding the BOM and forcasts of awful weather, we went ahead with our plans for this weekend to 4WD from Cervantes to Lancelin on what Australian 4WD Action magazine has listed as one of the "20 Tracks You Must Drive!"

At 7 months pregnant I'm not sure if it was the new brand of chinotto I tried on Saturday night, the veg quiche from the bain marie (I keep forgetting about not eating pre-heated food) or the constant jostling from the drive upsetting my pregnancy reflux that had me throwing up for the first time this pregnancy. I never feel quite so sorry for myself as when I'm vomiting, so I hope that makes me remember the bain marie rule and I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to drink that brand of chinotto again.

It was however, all worth it to seeing how much fun DH had over the weekend. Such pleasure that men can derive from conquering some dunes and driving along the beach. I love to see him smile like that.

I hope you had a great weekend.

Mx

It's been a cold week

Not that it's perturbed me at all with my elevated core temperature, but with the cloudless nights we've been having this week and the subsequent chilly-ness, we've tossed the unfinished denim quilt on the bed, pins and all.

Must. finish. before. baby. arrives!
Enjoy your weekends.

Mx

Perth Upmarket

This Sunday

[Perth Upmarket]

The weather has been just glorious, what could be better than strolling through awesome handmade goodness on a beautiful winters day? One of my favourite blogger/makers Two Little Banshees will be there too, I hope I'm not too shy to say hello.

Mx

Lemon Squeezy Baby Quilt

Still haven't finished the quilt for our bump yet, but I did finish this quilt yesterday with an hour and a half to spare for a friends baby shower.

And with all that time to spare I even managed a matching card (though there were no suitable wrapping supplies on hand, and it was gifted sans wrapping).

The quilt is actually 5 layers of fabric, no batting, sewn together with parallel channels. The top layers were then sliced through with a special cutter, leaving the bottom layer intact.

This is the magic tool and it was a first time date for us (I love gadgets!). The blade needed to be rotated about 5 or 6 times as it blunted quickly. I suppose it had a lot of cutting to do.

Hand basting was also done for the first time, and though it was a slow process it worked really well. There was no puckering, and with all those parallel lines of stitching it was great not to have to stop and remove pins as I went.

Looking out for somewhere more suitable to try and get full sized photos of my finished quilts now, our little balcony is not quite cutting it.

Mx

Sunday Market

Here's what I picked up at the Baby and Kids Market at South Fremantle Senior High School this morning.

30 organic cotton nappies, never used, for $100. I haven't done too much research into the cost of nappies but I think I got a bargain. How many weeks would it take to spend $100 on disposables? A quick check online has huggies newborns for $41.95 for 108 nappies, which would last about 2 to 3 weeks using approx 7 a day. Plus it would have cost me $250 to buy these new.

These nappies will be back up, for when we go out, and when DH wants to hold the baby without worry of getting messed on as we are planning to practice EC (Elimination Communication). Well, I am anyway, DH would really like it if I dropped the idea. And with EC it is always handy to have lots of cloths on hand even when they're not being used as nappies to place under baby as they sleep or for random messy mop up jobs etc, and they can also be used for burp clothes.

Today was my first time at the Baby and Kids Market, they are held regularly and there are also boy only markets too. Thanks Connie for putting me on to the markets. They'll be great after bubs arrives and we know the gender, to shop for clothes.

Actually, I think the markets are all over the country.

Hope you've had a great weekend.
Mx

Foundation Day Long Weekend

Just a couple of snaps from our super-long long weekend (DH took the Friday before and the Tuesday after off as time in lieu - he worked the last three weeks straight!).

We drove about 2000 km's around WA through the wheatbelt and the goldfields and had a great time. Move-about camping is not our usual style of camping - normally we park up and barely move, and I was excited about actually seeing stuff this time. I especially wanted to see the Antony Gormley sculptures at Lake Ballard. We didn't do the approx 2hr walk around the lake and see them all (there was quite a chill wind picking up speed over the lake) but I was satisfied.

-The pressed tin is from the shacks at the ghost town of Gwalia.
-Sandstone was a lovely tidy town.
-The main street of Leonora was blocked off for the Golden Gift - apparently some national running event.
-We enjoyed a beer at Broad Arrow (I had a lemon lime and bitters).
-Saw Ora Banda, Agnew, Mount Magnet.
-Camped at the Brewery - a man made cave in the middle of nowhere (well, it's near  Sandstone).
-Had our photo taken at London Bridge.
-And I can't forget the terror of almost getting caught with my pants down by a prospector who wandered out of the bush (really in the middle of nowhere!). I thanked whatever saint is responsible for bush squatting that I had pants up from my first location and moved!
-Plus we were very Australian and had damper from the fire. Delicious.

Hope you had a lovely long weekend.
Mx

Sunday Quote

I haven't done one of these for a while, but I took a nice picture the other day and found this quote by Ghandi in one of my notebooks.

There is no path to peace. Peace is the path - Ghandi

Hope you're having a great weekend
Mx

My Creative Space

I'm currently working on finishing this candlewick embroidery that I started, oh, about 15 years ago after taking a candlewick embroidery class, this may just be the oldest WIP in my pile! I don't know how it could possibly have hidden in there for so long and I am really looking forward to having it out of my to do pile, finally! I am trying to finish things before the baby arrives, or at least realize what I will never finish/have no desire to finish, and get rid of them.

I have another square exactly the same already finished, originally going to be cushion covers I now have plans to make them up in to a baby quilt top. I have a first time mumma due in 8 weeks in mind as the recipient, however I'm not making any promises just in case I love it too much to give away after all these years.

Pop on over to Kootoyoo to check out the other Creative Space'rs.

Mx

My Creative Space

One finished Oliver + S Bubble Dress! Technically I suppose this dress is no longer in my creative space today, but with its new owner, my adorable niece.

[Oliver + S]

I bought the pattern a while ago and this is my first go at it. I thrifted the fabric from the op-shop, I think it may have been a table cloth, just a rectangle of fabric with hemmed edges.

Ignore the wetness on the sleeves (I had just washed off the fabric pen) and hopefully you didn't notice, but there are a couple of little holes in the fabric I didn't see till after I had cut out the pattern. It was really a test run anyway to see if the size was right, and the happy little recipient hasn't picked them up. This is the size 5, little miss is six but she is a petite kid. Next time I might try the size 4 for her, maybe just the bodice, you can see it is big at the arm hole and through the chest, though this should work well for the winter so she can wear it with a skivvy and tights.

Little miss picked out the perfect buttons from Granma's (my Mum) button tin, I love them, and I learned to use the auto button hole stitch on Granma's machine. So cool! Oh, and I was run all over the street in our little modeling session, someone enjoyed it very much.

Quite a few of my favourite blogs (like Rummage, Myrtle and Eunice, Raglan Guld, thrift. nest. sew., julie kundhi, dearfii and clutterpunk) join in the Creative Spaces fun over at Kootoyoo (another favourite) regularly, this is my first 'Creative Space' pop on over and check out the players this week.

Mx

baby booties

After a bit of a rough weekend I allowed myself to stay in bed this monday morning. After completely clearing out my blogreader, I had a trawl through Ravelry looking for baby knitting patterns. Look what I found, something quick and easy, just what I needed.

I made these in no time flat. How cute are they? you should see how tiny they are. I haven't been up close and personal with too many new-borns, but I suspect these will fit for about a week. You can find the pattern on Ravelry here.

Mx

Doily Roundup

I've been collecting images of things made with doilies, and after finding this striking t-shirt today on Tiny Happy, one of the sweet blogs I read, I thought perhaps I might have enough for a small doily roundup.

 [image]

1. And the doilies ate my sofa.. 2. DOILY DRESS cards 3. Doily clock on etsy 4. A Doily-Wrapped Vase and Flower from Country Living 5. Doily speaker on Elle Interiors 6. Vintage doily needlebooks on etsy 7. How-to doily bowl on Design Sponge 8. DIY doily bag 9. Desire Doily Clutch on etsy

[image]

There is also a tutorial for this sweet cushion update over at Smile and Wave and plenty of free crochet patterns for doilies to be had on the net.

And finally there's this cute little girls dress from Wardrobe Refashion a while back, naturally died and all.

 [image]

I have been diligently collecting doilies from the op-shop and have plans to put them on a quilt. I've I ever get around to realizing this quilt, I will be sure to post it here.

Mx

Extending your normal wardrobe for maternity

I am 17 weeks along now and although not protruding in the belly area much just yet, my pants are not comfortable any more. A friend of mine showed me this trick of using a normal rubber band to extend the use of my normal jeans before having to buy maternity jeans.

 I was pretty excited to learn that I have good tummy muscles according to my chiropractor, based on the theory I haven't popped out much yet. He guessed I was 11 weeks. I am looking forward to a magnificent, obviously pregnant belly though.

Good news for pregnant mums in Oz, I've found that JeansWest now have maternity jeans, and they are only $65 (instead of $150 from maternity stores). They even had 3 varieties, boot cut, straight leg and skinny.

Mx

Another Apron

My Mexican SIL loved the apron I made for a friend at Christmas from the Pretty Ditty pattern and also the sugar skulls embroidery from Sublime Stitching in Embroidered Effects.

So... I made her an apron with the sugar skulls embroidery. She loved it. And as you can see from the meat juice on it in the next picture, it got plenty of use at her birthday bbq.

Of course I don't have a better full length shot of it because I only finished it as I was supposed to be arriving at the party, as usual it was finish the item, take a couple of close ups and jump in the shower! And if the scale of the finished item doesn't look right, I made the small size and it is not being modeled by the recipient, rather a much taller in stature person.

I made the non-reversible option this time and got my base material from a linen skirt from the op-shop.

I'm still hoping to make myself one of these aprons some day.
Mx