Gifts, Gifts, Gifts!!!!!

Happy mail day today! First parcel from the postman included these gorgeous Babushka softies from Adds (The Humming Cat) which were part of the EB Softie swap. Thanks so much Adds, they are really gorgeous and so well made. Kate already has one sleeping in her doll's cot.

The second parcel was from the very lovely Florence (Flossie Teacakes), as I was one of the lucky winners of her dishcloth giveaway, and it included a pack of delicious dishcloths, and a sweet little cylinder filled with mini-sparklers, for the kids.


I think that our Customs officers must have felt the cylinder to be a little suspicious, as they had opened the package to check through it. I must admit though, I was quite impressed with the way they re-wrapped the present quite nicely. Thank-you so much Florence - it was such a lovely package.


Even Matt thought the cloths were pretty cool - especially as they were excellent for wiping down our induction cooktop (and he's quite anal about the keeping this shiny black reflective surface gleaming at all times!!)

And on the subject of gifts, I have not only been the receiver of gifts lately, I have also been doing some giving myself.


Yesterday was Mum's birthday, and my sister and I got her an iPod. So of course I had to also knit her an iPod holder. This is a great example of my terrible knitting skills, and I really didn't know what I was doing - but I am actually quite drawn to the idea of a slick, perfect, cutting edge piece of technology being housed in something rustic, imperfect and a bit old-fashioned. I guess I find it somewhat amusing!


I also recently gave this baby quilt/playmat to my sister for her new baby Jett. In fact, it was a few weeks ago that I finished it, but I forgot to take a photo before I gave it to her. So here it is.


Another imperfect object, but made with love, and also with gorgeous japanese fabric purchased from Retro Mummy (Little French Kids fabric on the front and Wizard of Oz, and Gingerbread Man on the back). I have actually also given my mum another bag lately, but again I forgot to take a photo of it before I gave it to her. So I will get around to it...sometime...but until then.....yay for gifts!!!!

Bon voyage, Snoozy Woo

This little doll was sent off last week for a surprise softie swap. Now that she has been received I can introduce you to her.

A long time ago I had an idea for a basic design for a doll, based on my daughter Kate. Kate is almost two, and since she was only a few months old, she has had very little hair, except for a long snow white tuft in the middle of her head that curls straight up. So when the opportunity came to take part in the EB softie swap, I figured I would try to bring the idea to life.

And so Snoozy Woo was born, amidst a lot of swearing, unpicking, and finger-pricking. Previous to this I have made a couple of Moopies (after buying the pattern from Nest Studio), and have also made a very sorry looking sock elephant. So perhaps a little more softie-making experience would have made the construction process a lot easier. But hey, I got there in the end.

Her name is Snoozy Woo, and she is a girl who likes to take time to smell the roses. She is daydreamy, enjoys poetry by the Romantics, and knows the value of a nice midday nap!


And so she was shipped off last week, with a little flower clip in her hair (which is actually a detachable brooch) and her little handbag, in which she is carrying a handwritten note of her favourite poem - (and amazingly, it is also one of MY favourite poems :P)

The lovely Adds (aka The Humming Cat) has already taken a photo of Snoozy Woo in her new home, having a nice kip while leaning up against a tree!

Hhhhhmmmmm, an outside snooze in the shade of a tree - how perfect xxx

A little less conversation...

... a little more action". Aaahhh, the wisdom of Elvis. These words will be my motto this week.


I know that when you hear the words 'action' you might not automatically think 'knitting'. BUT....I feel a bit blogged out after doing the week of children's vintage illustrations. It was great fun, and I loved looking at everyone's books, but now I have the urge to get away from the computer for a bit. Posting every day is way more time consuming than I would have imagined, even when it is just little short posts. So I'm going to have a blogging rest for a week (well, until next Sunday anyway) and concentrate on actually MAKING stuff, which after all is mostly what this blog is about.


And I have finally done it! After ages of whining about wishing I knew how to knit, I finally bit the bullet and decided to learn. I convinced my sister to learn with me, so we both got our Aunty to show us. This in turn inspired my Aunty to start knitting again, and then my Mum (whom I have NEVER seen knit) decided to get in on the action too! So inspired were we, that we decided to start creating some clothing for the kids' favourite soft toy - Jemima. Who herself was knitted by my incredibly talented Mother-In-Law.


Isn't she gorgeous? A whole family creation. Doll by Matt's Mum, dress by my Mum, hat by my Aunty, and that piddly little scarf was by....me! Bit embarrassing really, but hey, it was a start! And I am now onto a proper adult-sized scarf (the green thing above), and a scarflette (the black thing further above), which was inspired by the gorgeously tactile scarflette created by Vanessa from Knit too! I also need to say a huge thank-you to Corrie from Retro Mummy, who has been so encouraging of my foray into the world of knitting, and even managed to trouble-shoot my purling problem via email. Thanks so much!!!! Matt thinks it's hilarious watching myself, my sister, my mum and my aunty, sitting around our lounge room knitting, drinking tea and chatting like a bunch of old dears, but hey, that's what I find so appealing about knitting. You can't sit comfortably and chat while at a sewing machine. Not that I will be swapping my sewing addiction for knitting any time soon, but it's a very fun addition to my crafty repertoire.

Anyway, moving back onto more solid ground for me, I decided to experiment with some bib making for my sister. Well, not for my sister exactly, but for her baby which should be arriving sometime in the next few weeks. I decided to go with the Playschool Window theme, and do four different shapes. They were really fun to make!


I also organised a little 'sort of' baby shower for her. Just a lunch at our favourite restaurant really, with a small select group of friends and family, although I did do some little goodie boxes for the guests (with signature packaging of course :P)


And then a lovely little parcel arrived in the mail for the kids, just before Easter.


My lovely mother-in-law (the same one who knitted Jemima) made these gorgeous little easter bags for Lee and Kate to collect their eggs in. How cute are they???


The kids loved filling them up with eggs when we did the egg hunt on Sunday morning. Is there any better magic than searching the bushes for colourful treasure that tastes every bit as good as it looks?


I think not!!!! We did it at my parents' place, and everyone came over for a BBQ breakfast of bacon and eggs, and fresh orange juice (followed by mountains and mountains of chocolate).

It just doesn't get better than that. See you in a week!!!!!