How many days until …?

It’s really only about four weeks to go until Christmas!  I love Christmas, love the idea of it, love the traditions, love the thought of sharing it with a child old enough to appreciate the magic of it.  But like many people, I find it can be a daunting and stressful time, and alot of build-up to a bit of an anti-climax.  I find it’s really necessary to work hard enough at Christmas to keep the dream alive, but not so hard that it’s no fun.

So a pre-emptive strike is in order. 

First, the cards:  ideally quirkily handmade incorporating children’s artwork, yet still stylish, and enclosing a photo of the children ….. well, not this year.  I designed them online with the only decent cute photo featuring all three children and had them delivered.  They’re not too bad, and probably more economical than making a card and having photos printed to enclose.  And the relatives will love them.

Next, the wrapping paper.  I had bought up a few rolls of brown paper in the past when I’d seen it reduced, and decided that printing shapes on it would be a good activity for Rex and I.  I just used children’s acrylic paint and kitchen sponges cut into star and triangle shapes to stamp with.  It worked well, as you could get several impressions with one paint-covered sponge, and Rex really enjoyed it. (He was singing “I like yellow” as he stamped!).  We printed a whole roll in red, yellow,orange and browny colours.  I thought some dyed raffia would be good to trim the parcels, but I think I may try and use up all the red and yellow ribbon I have saved up to recycle in my overflowing ribbon box.  Though I really love Ali’s wrapping and link to these!

Of course, gifts are required.  Lists were made and there has been a bit of online shopping, mainly books and kid’s things, and of course the odd gift for me too….   It’s now necessary to not only provide gifts for three children, but also gifts from them to each other.  And Santa gifts, and creche Santa gifts …    I think that there will not be much in the way of hand-made gifts, too hard this year.  Except for another Shetland Triangle for my Mum.

Decorations.  Well, a case of make-do with what we have, with the addition of replacing non-functional fairy lights.  Last year, as illustrated rather poorly below, we made these, and may do so again (yellows again being the suggested colourway).  Though I am sorely tempted to make these, and these.  Crochet or knitted decorations really appeal to me.

And then there will be food, but as I’m not hosting any major meals, this can be kept simple, and thought about at a later date. 

Hope you get the chance to enjoy your festive preparations…

What’s Hot and What’s not, yet again…

For more Hot and Not guidance, visit Loobylu …

HOT		NOT
The weather		The weather (too hot)
Poppies for remembrance		To be totally obvious (but it goes with the poppies), War
Fresh peaches on my muesli and yoghurt, and breakfast outside in the cool of the morning		Not managing to buy a house on the weekend (sob)
Slipping back into work without too much drama.  Sadly, it’s like I’ve never been away in some ways.		Getting up at 6.30.  Driving in heavy traffic for an hour to get to work.
Getting a babysitter, leaving the house without children, eating Indian food and seeing a movie!		The children, unused to it, don’t like us getting a babysitter and leaving the house.  (But they survived)
If this keeps up, dinner here is on the cards!		Our good friends moving back to Sydney in a few weeks … sob
Thinking about Christmas and doing a bit of on-line shopping for gifts, and planning crafty activities		Thinking about Christmas … only how many days away?
Home-made icy poles, strawberries and watermelon		A proper breakfast (as far as young R is concerned)

Also really hot is the garage (literally), and drawing on the ground, and of course, Buzz Lightyear.

Show and Tell

I seem to be thinking of things to blog about faster than I can make time to blog, so there is a bit of a backlog of the trivial stuff of my life to share.

Some lovely gifts – well, I bought the dragonfly hair/shawl pins myself from Etsy.  I’ve found it hard to find shawl pins I like, and not being a button person, I’m keen on using them to fasten cardigans as well as shawls.  These are a good length (most hair sticks are too long generally to use as shawl pins), and will work with chunkier or holier knits.  As they are horn, they are nice and light.

The fabulous cuff is a gift from a friend just returned from New York, and is made from a vinyl record!  It’s by this maker and I love it, it fits so well.  Mr. Foxy wants to try a pin and paper cone to find out what record it was!

And I was lucky to receive more goodies from the Bendigo Woollen Mills Users Group Op Shop swap.  Despite moving house at the time, Kylie managed some great op shop finds.  The Bendigo yarn is a 4ply cotton in a lovely colour I’m unfamiliar with, orchid.  The vintage pillow cases will make great dresses for the girls. 

Most exciting of all for me are the vintage patterns.  A fabulous 1950’s New Idea knitting special and a rare 1940’s pattern book.  I especially love these patterns.  Thanks Kylie!

In knitting news I did finish the Shetland Triangle shawl in time for my aunt’s 80th birthday party (a preview features on my new header), and I have just started on a project for the girls, but I’ll save these for another post …

Sunshine, Cake and Party Frocks

On the weekend we had an afternoon tea party for the twins.  We delighted in sunshine, smiles, friends, bubbles, giggles, nibbles, chatter, cake and more cake.   And cruel and unusual treatment of 12 inch fashion dolls.

(Thanks, Michelle, for taking the doll/cake massacre photo!)

One

Today my little beauties turn one. 

How better to have spent a year than being totally wrapped up in, in thrall of, two such perfect beings?  It has been all-consuming, often seeming too hard, but just one look at those little faces, one snuggle into one of those soft, creased necks, one of those downy heads against your cheek, and nothing could seem more right. 

Happy Birthday little ones…

Another Swap

There has been an unprecedented frenzy of crafting of late that I can reveal now that my swapee has received her parcel.  As mentioned before, the theme of this most recent Bendigo Woollen Mills User Group swap was Op Shop Karma, everything in the package was to be sourced from an op shop with the exception of 100g of Bendigo yarn.

For the Bendigo yarn portion, I made the Stormcloud Shawlette in 5ply Classic in Raspberry.  I followed the directions for the larger version with a frilled edge, cast off with the EZ sewn bind-off, and discovered that the whole thing only took 80g of yarn.  Good in terms of yarn economy, but I couldn’t really send my swapee a scanty 20g yarn to make up the 100g …

… so I also made a Flourish bookmark.  What fun making some fine and fairly complex lace on a small scale!  It turned out a little on the large size, but could still be functional with larger hard cover books.

On the Op Shop front I had so many ideas that I may have gone a little overboard, but restrained myself to the following crafty diversions …

The top item on the left was a strange multi-stranded not-quite-scarf / not-quite-lap rug that I unravelled into a satisfyingly large ball.  As the yarn was a bit irregular and not soft, I figured a bag was the best option.  I improvised a rectangular base in double crochet, then did rows of filet crochet round and round until it was basket-sized.  I’m pretty happy with the size and (unplanned) placement of the colour change.

The pile of wool jumpers were gleefully thrown into the washing machine and subjected to heavy duty hot washes, then tossed in the also hot tumble dryer!  (I don’t know why I enjoyed maltreating wool so much – I also loved viciously steam-pressing the bookmark too).  The angora blend jumpers felted a treat, but the pale grey lambswool and ice blue wool and cashmere hardly changed at all despite this treatment!!  They just looked slightly pilled!  (Perhaps this is what the cockroaches will be wearing when every other species on earth dies out.)  Disappointing, as I was rather keen on these colours, but proceeded with what I had to make …

Now this long scarf is not at all original.  I was inspired by one a friend had bought (possibly by this maker) and noted later that Kirsty makes similar (and better-crafted than mine) ones.  I was relieved that this worked out and was quick and easy to make, as I loved the idea if it.

The reluctant sewing machine got more of a workout.  Something I have been wanting to make for ages …

Some remnants, cut-up clothing and a Ken Done doona cover became two sets of cheerful bunting for the room of two little girls.  And there’s enough fabric left over for more for another two little girls!

I loved that this swap gave me the excuse to make some different kinds of things that I’ve been wanting to try out, and probably wouldn’t have made the time for otherwise.  And the fact that the materials were recycled makes it even more satisfying.

Spring Weekend Scrapbook

This weekend I have been:

• in the thrall of the shawl … household chores and personal grooming remain unattended as the Shetland Triangle grows.  This is really an easy and addictive knit, just as others have said, even in the dreaded 4 ply.  I’m up to the 8th repeat and don’t even need to consult the chart any more.  I may just get it done in time for my aunt’s 80th birthday.  I just hope it blocks out bigger than it looks now.  I think I’ll aim for 10 or 11 repeats like Bells and Suse.

• In preparation for the looming return to work, a haircut and colour, and shopping for some basic wardrobe pieces here. (Still in denial about the work thing)
• Enjoying the garden after lots of rain and sunshine.  (The mystery flowers are starting to bud and indeed look like poppies)
• Coping with thrills and spills as increasingly active and daring babies attempt new feats.  Cutest one was when both were walking along pushing chairs.
• Baking Jennifer’s breakfast biscuits.  What a great idea this is for the time poor!  Second time with this recipe, this time substituting mashed banana for peanut butter, almond meal for bran and sultanas for chocolate.  (Strangely I used powdered milk instead of protein powder because I was improvising).  They really are satisfying, yummier with the chocolate of course, but still a good fast breakfast option.
• Drawing, cutting and pasting with Rex … inspired by Amy’s idea, I just drew these quickly.  It was fun to make the faces and talk about if they were scary or friendly or sad or whatever.  Rex enjoyed cutting, choosing and sticking down the features and kept saying “Let’s make another one!”.  He knows about Halloween from watching Yo Gabba Gabba, but I guess this was more in the spirit of Mr Potato Head for us non-Halloween-celebrating types.

• Enjoying re-reading after many years my deluxe copy of The Little White Horse.  So charming to revisit a childhood fantasy world.  I’m really enjoying the descriptions of domestic detail and can understand why I loved it as a child.  I’ve always preferred pretty pictures to action and adventure.
• Thinking about the impending first birthday of my beauties.  I have bought a gorgeous book for each, but would  love to come up with another gift.  If time allowed, I would make dolls based on these characters (such is my obsession).  Any ideas for a nice gift for one year old twin girls?

Hope your weekend was full of delights …

Colonnade

Like most people (everyone?) I always thought I had a unique vision and sense of style, usually shunning the overly popular and seeking out something a bit different, or even quirky or edgy if you will.  So soon after the most recent Knitty came out, I seized upon a pattern that impressed with its strong lines and multiple ways of wearing.  Something with roots in a traditional shape, but utterly contemporary.  I had to knit it at once! 

Seems like most of the knitting community thought the same way … the Colonnade shawl is currently the most popular recently published pattern on Ravelry, with hundreds of projects completed or in progress.  Seems like I’m a non-conformist, just like everybody else.

I also loved the name, evocative of classical ruins and european cathedrals, shady arcades in Bologna and the cloister of Monreale in Sicily.  (Photo at top left is me at Herculaneum in 2004.)

Back to the knitting… I knit this from two skeins  (with some to spare) of unidentified wool purchased from an Op Shop.  It is a loosely spun thick and thin yarn in dark reds with a kettle-dyed appearance, not terribly soft in the skein, but it knit up into a nice fabric.  I added one extra repeat, as I felt compelled to, and decided a bit of extra length would be good on me.

I am very pleased with the result.  It was a relatively quick knit, and not at all difficult once you get used to dealing with the double yarn-overs.  The shape of the shawl means it wraps around generously and stays on the shoulders.  And I have learnt the basics of shawl construction.  Now for the Shetland Triangle …

More what’s hot and what’s not

Joining in with Loobylu, see here for more reliable hot and not lists than the following …

 

HOT		NOT
Flowers appearing in the garden to be picked by little hands and given proudly to mummy		Babies waking constantly at night
Picking a rose bud to put in a vase in the kitchen so I can look at while doing the dishes		Having to do the dishes.  A lot.  (We do have a dishwasher now, but it’s still hard to keep on top of it.  And don’t get me started on the laundry …)
Trips to the market for mangoes, strawberries, basil and Mr Pitta pitta bread		Having to go back to work in three weeks!  This means having to get up at 6.30am to have any hope of arriving there on time, made more difficult by the interrupted nights mentioned above.
Japanese biscuits and edamame		Almost any other food that four-year-olds liked last week
Origami (well, isn’t it?)		A distinct lack of household organisation
Rediscovering childhood favourite books … like The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Gouge.  Obscure even when I first borrowed it from the library in the early 1970’s, but now made into a (less subtle) film so back in print		Being sprayed with baby food as babies decide that it’s good to practice blowing raspberries during mealtimes
Being set to embark on a new knitting project, maybe this or this …		A self-imposed deadline to complete a shawl before my aunt’s 80th birthday
Dottie Angel’s challenge		Probably having to spend money on (larger) clothes for afore-mentioned return to the workplace

 

 

11 Month Update

I haven’t posted any baby photos for a while, and it has been remarked upon.  To remedy the situation, here is an update as of 11 months.  Not much in the way of hair or teeth yet …

… but recent accomplishments include standing up and proficiency in the fibre arts.