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

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.

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.

Decision made

I finally decided on which rapeti I liked best. Hopefully Felix likes it too.

Lost pockets

Well I have completely lost the last few weeks - not sure what happened but time has just whizzed by.  I haven't really been doing much sewing or knitting - only a few little things including the cowl for which I just used one 50g ball of wool and came out fabulous.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it before packaging it up though - whoops.  I've also started a scarf for myself FIVE times as I couldn't decide on which style scarf to go with.  Ended up doing a lovely thick ribbed scarf which I tweaked a wee bit from a pattern that my lovely Laura sent from Australia.  It is just a simple knit one purl one with 25 stitches cast on to 12mm needles using two strands (double I suppose you might say) of yarn at a time.  Its coming along really nicely.


The thing that I have been pottering with is an Easter rapeti (rabbit) for Felix.  I'm onto my third one now as I've just not been happy with how they've come out.  The first one (which is in the middle) was too pointy, the second (on the far right) was too long and the third (on the left) is alright.  I'm definitely not going to make another so will think about fixing the first rabbits ears and then decide between the first and the third.  What do you think?

My sewing and knitting partner-in-crime and I went shopping last weekend and came home with a load of fabric so I really need to start sewing some larger things so that I start using up some of my hoard.

Trousers and cake

These are the trousers that I've been working on for Gus. The pattern is from Nina Bonita Designs. I learnt a few things when making these fabulous trousers (always a good thing) - like the importance of cutting the fabric properly to match up the pattern.  Such an amateur mistake! Not that anyone is going to notice it really as Gus won't give them a chance as he barrels past them, but I know so I'm a bit disappointed.  

I also learnt how to make cuffed hems which I think look absolutely fabulous and weren't that hard to do either.  I just had to take the time to think about what I was doing.  Gus was pretty happy about having pockets in his trousers as well - another new thing for me.  

I've also just started knitting a cowl for a present for a fellow crafty friend out of a beautiful grey merino yarn that has a fleck of black and white through it.  I've kind-of made up the pattern to suit my requirements as the patterns I found used different wool and needles to what I had.  I decided to use huge needles to give the cowl a lose knit look which I think makes it seem cosier.  I've used size 10 (metric) with Naturally Aran Tweed 10 ply 95% New Zealand merino 5% wool knops.  I cast on 30 stitches and will knit until it looks about right - maybe about 45 cm long.  Will see how it goes and update accordingly.  I'm going to wing it a bit as I want it to be just right so that while she's sitting up feeding her pepe in the middle of the night at least her neck is warm while the rest of her is exposed.

Yum - I can smell the delicious Plum Cake that's cooking away in the oven which will quickly be devoured at morena kai (morning tea).  I have to share this recipe as it is one of our absolute favourites and is so delicious and easy to make.

Dairy-Free Plum Cake
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
115 g Olivani
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 x 800 g tin plums (or whatever I have handy - either tinned or stewed fruit)
Icing sugar to dust

Sift flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Add egg and crumble through with a fork. Press just over half the mixture into a greased and line 20 cm round tin. Cover with fruit. Sprinkle over remaining crumbs. Bake at 180 C for 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve. Bon appetit!

For Felix, oops no actually for Gus

I finished another item this week while Grant was away.  The only good thing about him working in Auckland every other week is that I can sew without feeling bad about hiding away in our bedroom with the sewing machine while he sits by himself in lounge with only the company of the television.  


This is a great little hooded vest which I made from merino that my friend Annabel kindly donated.  It was supposed to have a pocket in the front but I used the wrong stitch and stretched the fabric so badly that I had to bin it and I didn't have enough fabric to cut another one, but I think that it looks fine without it.  It is a Red Thread Patterns design - the Playtime Popover which I thought would be perfect for playcentre as it keeps the arms free and dry (as they invariably end up sopping wet up to the elbows).  I had actually made the size 1-2 thinking that it would fit Felix but when I tried it on him, it was more like a tunic than a vest so Gus scored it instead.