Monday 26 March 2012

Hey Bert, that's Captain Bert to you....

I just love, love, love this softie and so does Felix who keeps stealing him from me. Grant doesn't share my enthusiasm so I had to take Bert/Henry (see below) to playcentre today to share my new friend with people who would appreciate him.  Needless to say there were lots of oohs and aahs.




Gus seems equally taken with our friend and decided that the name Captain Bert didn't suit him, so he decided to rename him Henry (like "my Dus Henry") so we renamed him - Sir Henry. I found the medal on Trademe for a few dollars and the ribbon is from our local Evans fabric etc store, and the fabric was just something I found in my collection.  Its just perfect.  The pattern is from a fabulous book called State of Craft edited by Victoria Woodcock. The book is packed with beautiful projects and as usual I stumbled across it at our incredibly well stocked Hutt Library.  We are so luck in the Hutt as the library has a huge collection of craft books. Love it!  The link is below for the book.


http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/State-Craft-Victoria-Woodcock/9780956205346

Friday 9 March 2012

My first......

Yay! I've just finished knitting up the first pattern that I deigned - a hot water bottle cover for my Felix. Granted it is a very simple one, but best to start small and work my way up I reckon. I've already made some alterations to the pattern for next time but overall I'm very happy with how it came out. I will make another with the adjustments and share the pattern if it all works out. Now I really should go to sleep otherwise the poor boys will have a really cranky Mummy in the morning but I was so excited I just had to share.



Next time I might try it with stripes so that you get see the effect of the three colours together.



Monday 5 March 2012

A hard week

I've really struggled this last week with Grant being away, having no time for doing anything remotely like crafting, let alone time to sleep or function as a normal person.  But we made it through the week in one piece - managing to bathe most days (thank goodness), mostly keeping on top of the washing, and having breakfast, lunch and hot dinners each day.  So a successful week on some level!


The previous week though I did manage to complete a few little things that I'd been working on - two pairs of 100% wool pants for Felix for winter (one of which are a bit big even though they're size 1 so I made the second pair in the 6 months size!), a gorgeous Princess and the Pea for a beautiful little poppet, and (after months of knitting - during which time I kept getting side-tracked by other projects) Gus' Hotshot Hoodie.  




These pants look so warm and toasty. They look like denim but are thick wool - great for little knees crawling along the cold ground.



I love making this softie.  It is so sweet and so easy too!




Not quite sure why Gus pulled this funny face - I think he was in a bit of a silly mood.  Grant put it on him on Sunday morning and Gus came to wake me (I was having an extremely rare sleep in) to thank me for knitting his new jersey.  Ooooooh!


The ribbed scarf that I'm knitting is looking fabulous.  Will post a photo and my pattern once I've finished it.  I've also started knitting a hotwater bottle cover for Felix which is something else that I've created my own pattern for.  I couldn't find anything that I loved that was in 8ply (DK) so I made up my own easy and hopefully gorgeous pattern.  All shall be revealed.  Will also share this pattern if it works out.


I'm thinking organising a craft group in our local area - either Alicetown or Petone.  I was imagining a monthly meet at a warm hall (remembering we live in Wellington) with comfy couches and big tables so that people can knit, crochet, sew or craft as they feel inclined.  I've chatted to a few of the mums at playcentre and there certainly seems to be a lot of crafty people out there who don't have the time to craft at home.  If anyone is interested please let me know and I'll also send out an email through playcentre to get a feel for peoples interest.