My addiction continues ...

I know I already have plenty of tea cosies but as I love making them I decided that a few more would be made to sell.  Unfortunately by the time this one was finished I had well and truly fallen in love with it so it will have to be added to my personal collection!!  I haven't made a solid coloured cosy for ages so it felt fresh and new for me.  I spent a while looking for a new rose pattern as I was never that thrilled with others I'd tried over recent months.  I found this one here and I love it!!  It makes such a pretty flower with a gradual increase in petal size.  I used a 2.5mm hook and it still made a flower about 6cm across.  So pretty that I had to make an extra one to use as a brooch.  Gorgeous!

Nice and simple, but lovely from every angle!

I've had it sitting on my shelf for the last few days trying to decide if I could bear to pop it into my shop.  The answer is most definitely no!  I'll just have to make some more and be firm in my decision to sell them (yeah good luck with that I hear myself saying!!).  I'm just finishing off some red roses to add to another cosy that is almost identical to this which is for a friend as a housewarming pressie.  Such fun!

Easter treats were made for kindy and school teachers.  Any excuse for my small folk to 'taste test' the choccies!

I love these wee chicks.  I can remember keeping one for years and years when I was smaller because it was so cute.

I had a super exciting morning this week when I got home and spotted a parcel in my letterbox!  I got all squeely when I saw the stamp and couldn't wait to race inside and open it.  I was so lucky recently to win a fabulous giveaway at Karen's gorgeous blog!!  If you haven't discovered her beautiful blog you must whiz over there immediately!  Gorgeous crochet, gorgeous quilting and always full of colour and inspiration.

 Inside was another wrapped package ....

Wow, wow, wow - look at all these stunning treasures Karen sent!!!  A beautiful, beautiful cushion cover, a notebook with a gorgeous cover, a stunning heart to hang on my wall, and a pretty tissue holder!!  I could hardly believe my eyes.  I have admired her lovely quilting work, now I'm the lucky owner of some lovely pieces - yippee.

Thank you so much Karen - it truly made my week!  I am just in the process of painting and redecorating our spare room (my craft room) and this cushion cover is going to go perfectly in there (so is the heart for that matter)!

In recent posts I've mentioned how weird our weather has been, freezing one day and lovely the next.  We were forecast to have rotten weather over this long Easter weekend but now the sun has decided to come out and we're apparently in for some nice weather.  So no excuse not to weed my vege garden and get the winter plants in.  These pics were taken earlier in the week on a chilly but gorgeously still morning.  We were racing to swimming lessons but I had to pull the car over and get a few quick pics.  Too pretty to ignore.  This is just at the bottom our 'our hill'.  I love that wherever you live in Wellington, you're never very far from the water.

Remember a few weeks ago I showed you this picture of our monarch caterpillar and his progress to a cocoon?

Well the poor we fella didn't do so well in a recent storm and he got completely blown of his perch.  I found him amongst the grass and brought him inside to our laundry.  He's been lazing in a bowl on the windowsill for a few weeks now, then this morning I spotted that he had changed from green to see-through so I rushed him into the kitchen so I could keep an eye on him.  Within no time at all he had started to pop out of his little house.

The whole family took him outside, placed him on the table and sat and watched.  By whole family I mean Bella the cat too, but we soon realised that was not a good idea in case she decided to eat him so inside she went!  The poor wee guy was really struggling and we finally figured it was because he wasn't in his natural upright, hanging position.

So my husband played midwife, gently holding the top while Mr 7 had his hand ready to catch him if need be.

 Out he came ...

... straight up for a rest on hubby's hand.   We thought he should probably rest on something more leafy so we found him a new spot in the garden.

And here he is in all his glory - the very first time his wings opened.  I am chuffed to bits that we were here to see it all and that he didn't hatch in the laundry all on his own!

That's me for another week.   Have a wonderful Easter everyone!  It's the school holidays here now for the next two weeks but hopefully I'll see you again soon.

Leah
xxxx

Ripple Picnic Blanket - Ta Da!

Yay - my ripple picnic blanket is all finished! I've been bursting to take it on our family fish and chip outing this week but the weather has just not been great. Warm and sunny - but unbelievably windy so not ideal. So when the sun came out today and the wind was minimal the small folk and I thought we should rush out and set up our pretend picnic in the back yard. I was allowed to use their flashest plastic tea set and we had to have flowers. Adorable.

It's a good size for the four of us to plonk down on when we're at the beach or at a picnic - 145cm x 125cm. It's going to look beyond cute folded up on the back seat of my wee car! I used acrylic to make this knowing full well that it was going to take a bit of a hammering with food spills and tomato sauce splodges. It can be thrown in the washing machine without too much fuss - hopefully.

Why not throw in another shot!

Oh look who turned up!! Good old Bella, always in amongst the photo session. My furry girl turned 13 this week so I now have a teenager in the house. This photo looks so strange because of the angle, Bella looks positively enormous!!! She is large, but not this large.

I am really keen to make another ripple in the future - it was such a relaxing pattern to work with. But in the meantime ...

Remember that Stylecraft yarn I treated myself to from the UK? It has been sitting, waiting to be used - so the other night I got it out and started my next project. Wow - I love working with this yarn! This is the first time I've worked on a join-as-you-go project and I'm loving it. More on this next time!

Did you see the lovely curry recipe over at Lucy's recently? I read it then had to dash to the supermarket immediately for one or two ingredients so I could make it for dinner. Delicious - I highly recommend it. I also made some gorgeous naan bread which was very hard to stop eating! I'm surprised any of it made it to the dinner table actually. Between me and the small folk having 'taste tests' - we got through quite a bit of it!!

Note to self - do not use brand new pastry brush to butter the frying pan! What a blonde. I wrecked the last brush doing the exact same thing. How did I forget that!! I'm thinking silicone is required in my next brush.

I couldn't pass up a sale at my local wool shop yesterday and treated myself to some lovely bright new wool. The tomato red colour hasn't been available for ages so I was so excited to see it again. I love using this colour in anything stripey - it goes to well with the pinks. And I had a $10 voucher to use so this little lot only cost $16 - that's less than $1.50 for pure wool - fabulous.

And when I was walking out of the shop I spotted these little sweeties. My oven glove had mysteriously disappeared so it was a good excuse to buy something pretty. Flowers and spots - what's not to like?

It is still the school holidays here until early February so we have been discovering lots of new playgrounds around town. I think hands down this has to be the most stunning view I've ever seen from a playground. It's our new favourite hangout and it's not too far from home. I can't believe we've never been here before - it's amazing.

There was an extra long slide which Miss 4 was a bit scared of but she managed it and then there was no stopping her. Mr 7 loved it because while he was playing, he could also see all the planes coming in over the harbour on their way to the airport nearby.

Now I have to apologise, I was meant to thank Barbina and Aurora Blythe for their lovely awards. But with all the Christmas/New Year things going on I completely left it off my last post. Thank you ladies - I was absolutely chuffed!!

Have a fabulous week - see you again soon.
Leah
xxxx

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

My Lovely Long Weekend

Yesterday was a public holiday to celebrate the Queen's Birthday so we had an extra long weekend which was fabulous. My husband took our small folk to Castlepoint for the night so I had 24 hours to fill, which I did with my gorgeous friend Ange. We managed to squeeze in an awful lot in one day too! In between shops and the local craft market, we had lunch at Nikau which is one of my most favourite spots in Wellington. The menu never disappoints and their kedgeree is so famous they now have a tea towel with the recipe on it!

Ah, the kedgeree! I am so utterly predictable, I always, always order it! It is absolutely gorgeous.

This fabulous Nikau Palm sculpture stands outside the restaurant - isn't it just amazing.

Earlier in the day I was having my morning cuppa when I came across this article in the paper. It was called "Wrapped in love" and it was about knitting and also crochet - and the fact that when you give someone a gift that you have created, it is always made and given with love. The final paragraph is about a blanket the author made for her small son and it says "I finished it just as the first cold southerlies of autumn came to town, and now when I tuck my little boy in at night, I pull this blanket up around his chin. I might leave the room then, but my love stays wrapped around him". Isn't that just so lovely! I think anyone who has ever made something like this will feel exactly the same way.There was a little bit of time left to crochet, so I made another gorgeous wee hat for a birthday gift for another little 4 year old friend. Then I made a start on some hexagons ... but I'm not sure they look good enough to make a few hundred of them! Maybe it's just the fact that I have never used white yarn before? It certainly is a very different look for me. I will carry on with a few more and join them up before I decide what to do. I really, really want to make a bed cover so hopefully I can get into the groove a bit more with them.This made me giggle so I had to grab a quick pic ... while I was at the petrol station this scooter pulled in and parked. When the rider got off, I spotted his wee dog sitting inside a fabric shopping bag which was connected somehow to the scooter. The dog was totally happy in his little bag too! The owner told me he wants to get him some goggles which was hilarious. Very cute. And speaking of giggles ... during the week I received a parcel and in it was this very, um, fetching royal wedding souvenir tea towel! I had won it in a magazine subscription draw - what a hoot. I'm sure William and Kate won't mind if I use them to cover my pikelets while I'm cooking. And last but by no means least, thank you so much to Saritha for giving me this lovely award! You have made my day. If you haven't visited her blog, you really should. It is full of lovely, bright, cheerful crochet goodness.
Have a fabulous week all!
Leah

Crochet and some vintage loveliness

The books I treated myself to for my birthday earlier in the year have been used a lot this week! I have been making lots of little leaves and flowers for another tea cosy I am working on. This one is for a friend and I can't wait to get it finished! I absolutely love having a little pile of flowers slowly growing each evening when I get a chance to crochet. I've always admired the crochet roses I've seen on other blogs but I've never tried to make them before. By my second attempt I thought they were starting to look like they should!! I'm going to make a few more tonight and then get cracking stitching them onto the cosy.

My scarf is coming along nicely. All the squares are finished now but I still can't decide how to join them. I've had a few practice runs at it but nothing has appealed. So I think I will just sit it to one side while I stew a bit longer! Today's temperature is quite inspiring that's for sure - I could do with a cute woolly scarf right about now!!!

Mr 6 asked if I could please make him a hat "like the skateboarders wear Mum". I made this one last night and surprised him this morning. He loves it because it has a bit of a camouflage feel about it. It seems so strange to make a hat that doesn't have a big old flower plonked on the front though!

I spotted this gorgeous wee booklet as I was walking out of an op shop earlier this week. It was only 50 cents and is full of beautiful vintage crochet work. I love that the booklet itself was printed in 1967 so it's even more vintage than me!!!

And on the subject of vintage ... I visited the Museum of City and Sea yesterday with Miss 3, here in Wellington. It was so amazing, I can't wait to go back and see all the things I'm sure I missed first time around. I spotted this piece on the wall and couldn't wait to get up close to have a good look. It is a knee rug that is approximately 80-100 years old from memory. It was cobbled together with all sorts of different yarn and was quite remarkable to look at. It had been framed so beautifully and then framed again by a packing box making it look quite stunning. It has really made me stop and think how lucky I am that I can make things because I like them, whereas the maker of this knee rug made it for function.

Seeing that artwork reminded me of something, so when I got home I had to get these pretty gloves out of storage. I have had these for years and years, I think they belonged to my great grandmother, but up until now I hadn't really appreciated them. Now that I am doing crochet, I can totally understand the work that has gone in to making them. They are tiny! I thought I had little hands but there is no way I can get my hand in them. Very dainty and lovely to have tucked away as a part of my history.

Hope you're all having a lovely week!