A Bit of History

My mum was visiting recently and asked if I'd be interested in her bringing me this lovely wee outfit to photograph and pop on my blog.  The answer of course was yes please!  You see, my mum made this for me - and all this time I had never known.  Or more than likely I was told when I was younger but it never really sank in.  Sorry Mum!  But now that I'm totally addicted to crochet, I have realised that it was all around me as I grew up and I was pretty much destined to love it.  So yes, that's me in all my chubby cheeked cuteness wearing this beautifully made dress.  

We were hoping that Miss 4 could have worn this when she was tiny, but unfortunately she was such a reflux-y baby and constantly vomitting, I didn't want to risk it getting damaged.  I wish now that I'd at least tried it on her quickly and got a picture to compare to mine as a baby.  Darn it.  It's the sweetest pattern and considering it's 40 years old, it's aged so well.  Clever Mum!

Of course no photo session would be complete without my resident gatecrasher!  Seriously, how can Bella go from sound asleep on the bed to plonked on top of my photo subject in 5 seconds?  Funny.

So thinking about crochet and general craftiness, I thought it would be nice to have some crochet appreciation from across the decades.

My mum's mum, Nana S, made loads of giant granny square blankets which I am lucky to have three of.  Miss 4 likes this one to stay on the end of her bed.  She never got to meet either of her grandmothers so it's lovely when she calls this her Nana S's blanket, and talks about her as if they were best of friends.  Nana S also made lovely mini versions for my dolls bed which I still have too.  She also made the most gorgeous knitted teddy bears which I saved until I had children.  She also made me the most amazing reversible doll when I was younger but I don't have her anymore.  With a full circle skirt you couldn't see that there was another doll on the other side.  I can remember that one of the dolls had fabulous look earrings made of curtain hooks.  Boy my Nana was a clever lady.  I wish desperately that I could sit with both my Nanas now and have a craft session.  

Then there was my dad's mum, Nana M.  She taught me to crochet when I was about 7.  She made all her grand-daughters the most fantastic ponchos.  Mine was red with a white stripe and I absolutely adored it.  She also made a mini version for my teddy bear Marie.  Marie has worn that poncho as a skirt for the last 30 odd years.  You can see she has been very well loved and is looking more than a little worse for wear.  I can't part with her though.  My other nana, Nana S, actually sewed a red bodysuit onto Marie as I'd loved the stuffing right out of her!!

Soon after learning to crochet, I won a peggy square competition at the local wool shop, with my winning granny square!  I was beyond excited and took home a big bag of blue wool that I got to choose all by myself, and a latch hook set with a huge frog picture.  I can still remember how proud I was.

But somewhere around 10 years old I'm guessing, I didn't want to do any of that crafty stuff anymore and promptly forgot all about it until a few years ago when suddenly I had the urge to re-learn.  So off I trotted to the shops and bought a 'how-to' book and a crochet hook.  It took a few days to get back into it and the stitch names confused me terribly (I still have them all written in a notebook in step-by-step directions!).  It's all history now though - I can't imagine ever wanting to stop.

So while I was thinking about all of this childhood stuff, it reminded me of my Nana S's pikelets.  Hers were just the best.  My mum makes them now and has given me the recipe.  They are amazing and really easy to whip up.  Perfect with jam and cream.  Mmmmmm.  My memories of pikelets being made when I was small are still fresh in my mind - the smell filled the house.  I was always allowed to help with the sifting, but my main job was to be in charge of the tea towel.  That meant lying it across the cake rake, then lifting it up to receive the cooked pikelets, gently placing the tea towel back down to cover them, and waiting patiently for the next lot.  The last of the mixture was always used to make an L and an S shaped pikelet for my brother and I.

Mmmm bubbly goodness.  Lots of bubbles means they're ready to flip.  I even cooked them in Nana S's old skillet pan. 

 Here they are all tucked up under their tea towel cover.  I'm getting hungry just looking at this picture!

Blanket progress is coming along beautifully.  It's getting to the point that a photo each week is looking not a lot different from the week before so I won't bore you.  I have been making more earrings and the best news of all - I've sold my first pendant!  That totally motivated me to set up a wee online shop at Felt which is a gorgeous website for handmade products.  I've popped a button on my sidebar but you can find me here.  I will list some more crochet items soon and keep my fingers crossed that someone actually wants to buy something!! It's all good fun in the meantime.

I'm off now to finish this little project.  I bought this yesterday at Spotlight.  Then I spent about half an hour working out how to put it together as there were no instructions.

With the help of a lot of glue, it's complete and just needs to be prettied up.  Scrapbook paper here I come! It will be perfect to house all my little jewellery making bits and pieces.  I'll show you the finished look next week.

Have a fabulous week!  See you soon.

Leah
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The house is quiet ....

School went back yesterday after the summer holidays.  So after 8 weeks or so of kids running around and lots of noise, the house seems very quiet today!  Amongst all the chaos of getting ready for school, I've managed a few makes this week.  I made this wee tea cosy on Sunday night and stayed up too late finishing in - but thankfully Monday was a public holiday so being a bit tired was ok!

It was inspired by a visit to my in-laws on Sunday as their garden is amazing just now and full of colour.  So a flowery tea cosy it had to be!

It's a cutie from all angles.  I even found the perfect coloured flower button to use too. 

Darling Bella decided that while it was being blocked on a folded up towel, that it would make a perfect place to snooze.  It looked so funny - as if she was minding the cosy!!  My very own crochet bodyguard.

I came across the most amazing recipe during the week that intrigued me so I had to give it a go.  It was on a very random blog hop that I stumbled across it but I can't remember where the initial link came from!  This recipe is fairly easy to make - it just required time really, not a lot of effort.  But boy oh boy it was worth it.  I couldn't wait to have a good old taste test.

So scones were made, dear friends were invited and pear butter was sampled.  The smell was amazing even before it was tasted.  I love this scone picture - it looks as if it has a wee face and is smiling!!!  Or is it just me going mad?

I also had a go at making some earrings with some new jewellery bits and pieces I bought here.  I am absolutely thrilled with these and talk about easy to make.  The hardest bit it deciding on what image you want to pop in the middle.  I have a pile of little snips from magazines that I have started to keep.  These were from a picture of some china I love.  I lost one of my favourite pairs of earrings outside the hairdressers last week, so I'm pleased to have some new favourites to replace them.

These are another pair - using a less matchy but same style image.  Love them!  I have a few to make for friends now but once they are done I'm thinking about starting a little shop on Felt which is a gorgeous website for handmade goods.  Perhaps tea cosies and jewellery?  I love making things and it would be fabulous to sell some instead of keeping everything for myself!

Yesterday was my treasure shopping morning with Miss 4 and I was lucky to come across this stunning book.  It's a children's book written about historic periods but the story is told through 4 different dolls houses.  It is beautiful!  Each dolls house is a pop-up so you can see inside.  Then it has pages and pages of lift up secret flaps or letters in envelopes to unfold.  I can't wait to sit down and read it with my children - it's truly gorgeous and only $6.  I can't believe what a bargain this was and I'll treasure it forever.

 The front doors open and you can peek in all the windows.

 Secret notes are dotted throughout.  The images are beautiful.

Lots of tactile treats to discover.

Before I go, I just wanted to say a big welcome to my new followers!  It's great to have you here and it absolutely makes my day whenever I get a new comment.  All the lovely birthday wishes I received last week were just amazing - thank you.

Also - I have received some lovely blog awards this week from Rebecca, Barbina and Shelley.  Thank you so much ladies - they absolutely made my day!!

Have a fabulous week.  See you again soon.  I'm hoping to have some really special pics to share with you next week.

Leah
xxxx

Phew - Nearly There!!

Wow, I can't believe it's almost mid-January already! I hope the New Year is treating you all well. It has been so busy here, I've had hardly any time to sit down at the computer so I was determined to do it today. I'm looking forward to visiting all my fave blogs really soon for some new year inspiration. My ripple picnic blanket is almost done - yippee! I think another two colours and we'll call it a day. My small folk are bursting to take it on its inaugural picnic outing. So I'm thinking that the next sunny evening we have, we'll pack up my tiny Fiat, grab some fish and chips and slowly tootle to the top of our local 'mountain' for dinner. Dinner with a view over Wellington city - gorgeous!

Oh and of course no photo session would be complete without Bella! I don't know how she does it but she always miraculously appears as soon as I put my crochet on the floor. Don't you love the attitude in this pic!!

As much as I don't particularly like the colours I had left in this wool, it has been a really lovely easy pattern to work on. It does make me laugh though - this project was started with the intention of using up all these colours and clearing out one wool basket . So why is it that I'm nearly finished and the wool doesn't look like it's diminished much at all. Darn it.

The sun came out this morning so I whizzed the small folk off to a central city playground. I've never been there before and it was gorgeous. Our own little Central Park! Unfortunately the rain that was forecast for later tonight decided to come way too soon and we all got totally drenched. I'm kind of glad really because it meant we got to visit a nearby cafe instead which was just lovely.

I think the staff thought I was mad, wandering around taking photos of their chairs! How could I not take pictures, they were soooooo pretty.

Mmmmm flowers or stripes ...... where to sit?

I loved the decorative dangly curtain thingamee. What a brilliant way to use up lots of trinkets. Miss 4 would love this in her room.

Even the lampshades were fabulous. These ones were in the ladies loo!

This was my fave - there were a few of them above the front door. I couldn't take my eyes off them.

I know this isn't nearly as groovy as the ones at the cafe but I'm loving them. I re-covered our dining chairs last week using some very summery, beachy fabric and they look fabulous. A very welcome splash of colour - every bit helps.

The holiday break gave us a chance to have a bit of a change around at home. Out with some old furniture and in with some new 'old' furniture. I bought this gorgeous old oak tea trolley ages ago for only $20 and it has been hidden away in our spare room for too long. It is now in the lounge and I adore it. I love that this really old piece now houses some lovely nana-y flowers in an old jar (and sitting on a doily!!!), while underneath is a more modern gadget. Loving it.

We were also really lucky to find this amazing old, solid Rimu hutch dresser. It is in amazing condition and will be well loved in its new home. We used to have something like this in our last home but it was built in, so we couldn't bring it with us. This cabinet was an absolute nightmare to get into our front door (we managed to smash through the porch floorboards in the process - eeek) but once it was in, it was as if it was made for our room. So this week it has been so much fun sorting through all our op shop treasures and trinkets to start popping on the shelves. I find myself staring at it in the evening - I'm so thrilled that we found it.

I found a recipe recently for this fantastic quiche. This was a total hit at a family picnic last week. The most perfect thing to make when you want to use up any manner of things in your fridge. And any recipe that is made in one bowl and takes 5 minutes has got to be good doesn't it? Even my husband loved it and he's not really into eggy things. Just looking at it now is making me hungry!! Oooh, maybe we need one for dinner ...

Have a fab week everyone. See you again soon.

Leah
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Happy Last Day of 2011!

Wow - it's hard to believe it's almost a week since Christmas! We woke up to a stunning day - the sun was out, the birds were singing and Father Christmas had paid a visit. The small folk were beside themselves with excitement and both of them were absolutely certain that they had heard him on the roof during the night! He had snacked on the milk and biscuits and the carrots for the reindeer had gone. We have a tradition, that only started last Christmas, that the children can have icecream for breakfast on Christmas Day. Completely unhealthy but I figure once a year can't be too bad - and boy do they look forward to it. I would have absolutely loved that when I was a kid!! We then packed up the remaining pressies under the tree for the rest of the family and headed off in the car. We spent the morning with my parents, then headed another 30 mins north to visit my in-laws for lunch, then back to our place for a BBQ that night.

It was the most beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. I managed to grab a few pictures but they're not the best, as they were taken while I was leaning out the passenger window while the car was moving! This is a lovely little inlet near my parents place. I love it when the water is this calm.

And here's the other end of the inlet - it's so pretty.

The trip home in the afternoon was amazing. Oriental Parade was full of people out walking off their Christmas lunch. The beach was full of people sunbathing and swimming - it didn't seem very Christmassy but boy it looked fantastic.

You really can't beat Wellington on a good day! We were so lucky to have such wonderful weather. We sat outside and enjoyed a lovely BBQ dinner but we were all too full to manage any dessert. So on Boxing Day we had friends around for another BBQ and this time we devoured the pavlova and brandy snaps! Mmm pavlova - delish. New Year's resolution - eat less dessert!!

We have had a lovely last day of the year today, starting with a 2nd birthday party for my dear friends wee girl. Miss B is mad about Elmo so I offered to make her an Elmo cake. I think he turned out quite well - and she loved him which is the main thing. I have a wonderful video of her seeing it for the first time and leaning over him saying "cuddle"!! Talk about melt-your-heart cute!!

I have totally jinxed myself, commenting on a few blogs recently about their lovely cosy fire photos ... because now our burst of fabulous weather has changed and it's chilly, rainy and more than just a bit miserable. Perfect weather for catching up with lovely friends though, drinking tea and eating cake. Not so great for everyone who had New Year's Eve BBQs planned - oh darn. I'm more than happy to end my year watching re-runs of Miranda, finishing my ripple blanket and having a sneaky takeaway gourmet burger for dinner. It sounds perfect to me - but I think it shows that I'm getting old!!!

So roll on 2012 - I'm ready for you and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a good one.

Happy New Year to you all. Take care and I'll see you again soon.

Leah
xxxx

T'is the Season!

I'm a bit late doing my weekly post so it's really lovely to sit down now while the children have gone to the playground with dad. All I can hear is the birds in the garden and it's wonderful! Having two unwell small folk this week has been full on, we're all feeling a bit flat. But the sun has come out today and it's just gorgeous. Amazing how it can lift flagging energy levels!! Still, I did manage to get my hook out for a few little projects I wanted to try. The first was just a little jar decoration because I had this cute silver thread. So out came the hook and I had a little play and this is how it came out. Having looked at the photo now I think I need to put it on a prettier jar!! Then again, recycling of any type is pretty cool and my littlies think it's just lovely!

It's a good use of all the jam jars I've got stashed in the back of my cupboard! Will definitely make a few more and line them up along our fireplace.

Now that we are coming to the end of the year and it's time to think about little gifts for friends, teachers and neighbours - I couldn't wait to whip up my first batch of this delicious Christmas Rocky Road. I made it last year for the first time and it was dangerously good.Best of all it's easy peasy. Melt white chocolate, then to the bowl add chopped pistachios, dried cranberries, white marshmallows and coconut. Mix it all up, pop it onto a lined tray and press down slightly and then it's into the fridge to set. Once it's cut up and put into a pretty wee box it makes for a lovely homemade pressie. I'd certainly be pleased to receive it!!!

Although I have to say it's a very bad time of the year to be nibbling at this when you live at my end of the world. It's Summer which means shorts, sun tops and swimming togs - eeeeek. I had two Christmases on the other side of the world and I loved being able to disguise any Christmas weight gain under layers of lovely Winter clothes!I almost forgot, I also made some of these cute little bauble covers that I spied in the latest AWW magazine. It's a cute pattern by Pip Lincolne and they look really sweet - well Santa here looks happy to be on a neighbouring branch anyway!It was so nice to get these wee cuties out of the attic last week. I posted about these last year when I'd only just started doing my blog and at the time, I didn't want to take them down after Christmas! Tiny wee stockings - what's not to like? And while I'm in the festive spirit - it seemed only right to get myself an early pressie. This arrived yesterday in the post - a new cover for my phone and I absolutely adore it. How utterly girly. I couldn't decide which one I loved most so I got a blue one too!! Naughty! I'm loving this warmer weather, the garden is bursting with new veges and berries appearing every day and you have to be very quick to nab a raspberry before Miss 4 spots them. These pretty roses are neglected every year but constantly reward us with a huge amount of buds. I'd like to think that there is something in that - but I'm guessing it's a fluke and it won't get me out of neglecting the rest of the garden! Darn it. We also got our very first strawberry this week! Small but delicious. I adore strawberry season soooooo much. It's one of my fave foods ever. So it was a total shock to the system during the week to have some wild Wintery weather hit us that meant we needed to dust off our gumboots to do the school run. Miss 4 and I looked perfectly ready to deal with the puddles on the way to collect Mr 7! We even needed to have the fire on which is crazy considering today we can't cool down enough and have every window and door open. That cold snap meant it was perfect to work on my blanket. Bella had the same idea and quickly made herself at home amongst it.

Now as I keep this blog as a kind of diary for myself, I needed to write this as it has been such an emotional week. Amongst all the Christmas preparations there has been a lot of sadness. Yesterday I attended a funeral for a wonderful man I used to work with. He died in a tragic diving accident last weekend and it has absolutely shocked everyone who knew him. Eric, you were a gentle man and a true gentleman and I'm so glad I had the chance to meet you - you will be missed so very much. xx

Have a lovely week all. See you again soon.
Leah
xxxx