Poppy Doll!

Here is my Poppy doll which I finished about half an hour ago. I love her and if you have seen her on her designer's blog, Fiona Dalton of Hop Skip Jump then you know who I am talking about. Fiona recently released her first pattern of one of her dolls and I just had to buy one. After missing out several times trying to buy one I was so happy that she had put the pattern up for purchasing. Isabelle does own one of her wonderful pink bunnies which I bought her a few years ago now and still loves it to pieces. Fiona is planning on selling some of her other toy patterns too, a monkey and perhaps a giraffe or a cat. I love all of them so if you love her toys wont you pop on over and buy a pattern to make your very own. I used stash fabrics for her clothes which consisted of a spotty orange fabric fat quarter from Spotlight, some gray fabric courtesy of my lovely friend Gillian (before her move to England), and some Melton flannel from Spotlight for her hair and body. I went to Spotlight yesterday to see if they had any in brown and I was lucky enough to get some brown and some red too. It really is very nice for making toys and I used it also recently for the toy mousie I made. I can see myself needing some more of the cream as I make some more toys too. Now all my Poppy dolly needs is a nice warm scarf, just thinking whether it should be orange or a nice blue to match her apple button in her hair!

Jofas or Lally

Hi everyone! I have to say firstly to all of you how pleased I was when I saw all the people who had left a comment on Ice Baby for me, it was wonderful and really brightened my week. It is always so nice to hear from others about how much they like something I have completed. I guess that is part of the reason why I love blogging too, although I havent been very quick with the FO's this year. The knitting is still continuing and yes I am still doing some paid work for a lady although this weekend I didnt do any knitting (gasp)! I was sewing and Kellie will be very pleased with me about that since I was so lucky to have won something very special from her. She is determined to get me to start sewing and I cannot wait to find out what pattern it is when it arrives later in the week, ooh exciting!! So up above in the photo is a very special mousie designed by Jodie, and if you dont know who she is well you better pop on over and see her amazing work and wonderful stories too. I was lucky enough to meet her earlier this year at the craft show I went to and she is so lovely. Anyway back to the mousie. I dont know whether this one will be called Jofas or Lally but it is going to be going to a special little friend (and no I cant say who it is yet), but I do hope they like it as much as I do (and yes Isabelle wanted to keep it but I will make her another one later on). I left off the whiskers just in case. I have been knitting too, finished up 2 baby doll sets for the lady I am knitting for and I am onto the third one. I also finished two dishcloths but since my swap partner reads here I cant show anything to you until after they arrive at her house. I have also been knitting another little pressie for someone and hopefully tonight I will finish that off too so I can show you all tomorrow. Lots of good stuff and I have a very nice feeling about this week, dont know why but sometimes I do have intuitions about how the day is going to be, so lets hope it continues throughout the week!!

Happy knitting and sewing!

I shouldnt have said anything about it being a good day, the windscreen wipers have now stopped working and it is pouring rain, so no driving today! I knew once I said something I would mozz myself.

Sue

Swap Scarf

Lachlan was quite surprised this afternoon when I showed him the scarf I had sewn for my swap partner. He said to me "arent scarves knitted out of wool?". I had to laugh! It is the "No Sheep For You No. 5" swap. I had thought of making a lovely green scarf out of some pretty fabrics that I had in my stash and thought these were perfect. Isabelle was quite happy to model it too as you can tell by the photo. I think it turned out so nicely I may even make up some more as presents for Christmas which isnt that far away. I do hope my swap partner likes it.

Smocked Dress

Sometime last year a few bloggers mentioned about some fabric from Spotlight that was already smocked and how it made great dresses. Well on Friday I popped back to Spotlight (after looking for Lion Brand Cotton, only to be told we are a C store and dont stock it), and found some really cute fabrics that were already smocked. They had a much better range of fabrics to choose from this year so I decided to sew some for Isabelle. Here on the left is the ladybug dress. I only had to cut it out to the right width, make some straps, hem and stitch one side. How easy is that. The other blue dress with butterflies and ladybugs doesnt seem to want to load for some reason, believe me I have tried to load it all weekend. The fabric looks much cuter in real life as you cant really see the ladybugs in this photo very well. Isabelle has already worn both of them this weekend with the lovely weather that we had. Half an hour to make 2 dresses is definately worth the smiley face.

Polly Dolly!

I decided to finally sew up the polly doll from the Softies book today. This is for my friend's daughter for Christmas so I really hope she likes it. Thank you too for all the lovely comments on the beetle bugs, I am so glad that you liked them that I hope the girls who receive them like them too. This pattern was another easy one to do.

I also have to have a little vent as the last 2 days have worn me down quite a bit, so if you wish to stop reading do so now.

• Lachlan is suspended from school after being in a nasty fight with 2 boys, luckily nothing broken.
• A bill from Centrelink advising that I need to pay back over $5,000 to them because Paul hasnt done his bloody tax return for that year. We can guess where Paul will be next week and what he will be doing. Hopefully that will clear the matter up.
• Paul rang me at 8:00 this morning to say that one of our friends, Mal, (who we didnt get to see much lately) passed away this week. He was only in his 50's. We have no idea what happened and we will find out tomorrow at the service. My mum will have Lachlan for the morning and Isabelle will be at school so I can go and attend the service. I really dont like taking children to funerals if I can help it, although my children have attended them and understand what they are about. I always feel so much for the family members that are left behind. He has 2 children and this year a new granddaughter which makes me sad knowing that she wont really get to know him as a person.

I apologise now for whining about everything, but sometimes things just pop up out of nowhere and then they seem to escalate all into the one week. I already suffer from anxiety and take medication for it, so this week is a bit testing for me. I think I need to take a big deep breath and a stiff drink (only joking) but it would be nice. I try and not talk about the anxiety too much as it is overwhelming at times, and some people dont understand unless they suffer with it themselves. Well I best go and get dinner prepared and I hope I havent scared any of you off with me talking about my little insecurities. Talk to you all later in the week

Christmas Presents!

I have been making Christmas presents for some little friends of ours from the Softies book. This design is by Carly Schwerdt called the Beetle Bug. I used some fat quarters that I had bought from Spotlight a while ago, and I have to say that their selection is improving. I hope the girls like these little bugs. I really love the blue one as it has some of my favourite fabrics in it. Now I just need to finish up some Polly dolls from the same book for a few other little girls.

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing

Good morning everyone! Thank you for the lovely comments on dad's meat safe, I really loved reading them. Well the school holidays are upon us once again, and with friends to keep them occupied for a couple of hours I was able to whip up some little bags for Isabelle and her friend Olivia. I had bought some Hello Kitty fabric from Corrie a while back now, and thought it was great to use them for this project. I think they turned out quite cute, and the girls seemed to really like them, quickly filling them with their little books and knicks knacks to carry around. This project didnt take too long. I just cut out some squares, sewed them up and added the handled before sewing around the tops of the bags. I think it only took about 40 minutes all up.

I also attempted to make Isabelle a jacket. I had bought the pattern at my sister's Quilt In in July. I had purchased the flower fabric and only needed to buy some polar fleece for the lining. I found some at the yarn/fabric shop about 4 weeks ago and decided whilst Isabelle was sick with chickenpox (a nap on the couch) that I could start on it. Well 2 hours later and I had finished it, with the zipper installed and everything. I had to buy a dark purple zipper to install as they didnt have a light colored ones at my local store. She has been wearing it when it gets quite chilly and it is so thick and lovely and warm too, perhaps like having a big warm blanket wrapped around you. The pattern starts at 4-5 years and goes up to a size 12 I think. This is the 7-8 years size and fits her perfectly. I cant wait to make another one, but perhaps in a totally different fabric rather than floral, so she can wear it with more of her clothing. I have nearly finished the knitting on her skirt too, and the Bamboo cotton by Cleckheaton is just so beautiful to knit with. I am hoping I can finish it off today and then I will be able to show you all. Happy knitting and sewing!

Mabel the Monkey

Pattern: Mabel the Monkey from the Softies book

Designer: Louise of prairiemouse.typepad.com

I really liked making this little softie, although she took a lot of stuffing. I think the hardest part was attaching the tail on, but I like to think that she turned out okay. She is sitting on Isabelle's bed waiting for her to return home. Isabelle seemed to like the purple fabric instead of the blue and I could match this color much easier. Next on the list is Albert Monkey which is designed by Fiona of Hop Skip and Jump. I bought one of her bunnies last year and Isabelle and I still love it. I am hoping that my monkey will at least turn out half as good as Fiona's creations. Tomorrow I have a nice book to show you which I think I am going to love knitting out of. See you all then!

New Books!

The mailman arrived this morning, with 3 packages. One was for Isabelle, a birthday present from her cousins filled with lots of lovely books. The other 2 were for me. The one on the left is by Lotta Jandsotter, and is a very cute book with nice projects in it and it describes how to print your own fabrics too. I ordered mine from Corrie and she sent it out so fast. Thanks Corrie.
Now the book on the right is the one that I have been so excited about. The Softies book is a book of soft toy patterns by some very talented women, and whose blogs I do read. I think there was only 2 that I hadnt come across before. I really do love all of the wonderful patterns in this book, and the photos of the toys are fantastic. I have already marked out 3 that I am going to try and make before the end of the week. Isabelle has been reading it this morning too, and pointing out all the toys that she loves in the book, and the ones we can make for her boy cousins. The monster was a hit with that one. Isabelle seems to absolutely love the giraffe by Kate, so that will be on the list to make too. I will take some photos once I finish one of them. I bought my copy through Sooz' blog since she had a lead to who was supplying them. I received mine in 2 days so that was excellent.

Oh and look who I spied whilst taking pictures of the books this morning. Bella snuggled up amongst the handmade dolls. I think I must have woken her up, and she is feeling much better now too, thank goodness. She must be tired though as she fell asleep in my bedroom on the rocking chair yesterday. She looked so cute snuggled up there too. Well that is all for now as I must go and do some organizing and look after Isabelle too. She still is not well, but does seem to be getting better day by day. Plenty of rest I say!

Rosie the doll

Pattern: Yuletide Rosie designed by Rosalie Quinlan
Book: Vol 7 No 5 Christmas In July Special Edition of Country Threads

I chose to make my doll a lovely green instead of the red one in the book, although I do love the original one very much. I finished knitting up the scarf and hat last week, but with all the birthday party celebrations I only just managed to sneak a photo this afternoon. I think she turned out quite nicely too, so thank you Rosalie for the lovely pattern.

P.S. Thank you all so so much for the wonderful birthday comments for Isabelle. I am going to read them all to her tomorrow as she is busy at the moment playing with her Bindeez kit. I will show you the results when they have dried. Now I must go and make some egg and bacon pie for dinner, yummy! See you all later.

Scrappy Quilt!

This quilt is from a kit that I bought about 2 years ago now, or it could have been longer than that. I bought it from a wonderful little shop off Pakington Street in Geelong, called A Little Different. About 3 weeks ago now, I decided that I needed to start it so I pulled it out, washed the fabrics and cut out the squares. Stitching them whilst I was sick took quite a bit longer than I thought it would, but now that I am fully recovered I have been able to do lots of sewing and knitting too. I love all the muted autumn colors of this quilt, and I only used a thick fleece on the back of it, no wadding in between. Blue Willow Cottage made a similar one in an issue of Handmade, so that is where the idea came from, and I thought it would be much easier than sewing 3 layers together. This quilt will be used on our bed for those extra chilly nights, which we have been having lately, along with some wonderful rain too which is always good for the garden.

Isabelle is going to be performing in her first school play today. She is in a little play called The Very Hungry Caterpillar. There are 2 preppies, and 2 Grade 5 students doing it together. She has been practising for weeks now. I wish that I could see her do it, but unfortunately I am not allowed to. Her role is as a fruit in the play. They go and visit the children at the kindergartens and do the play for them. I was told that they take photos too, so hopefully I will get some and be able to show you all. I am so proud of her since she is very shy in public, although not at home. She has been feeling unwell for a while now, and a checkup at the doctors didnt reveal anything, although this morning she had a horrible cough and did not want to stay home. She is such a little trouper, nothing keeps her away from school. I hope she will feel better soon. There have been so many kids with different bugs lately in her class, that I am surprised she hasnt caught one, but fingers crossed her throat gets better. Lachlan has also started going to the gym which is just around the corner from our house doing a general exercise program through his school which is run by the local police. They do it to raise kids' self esteem, and also to encourage them to work out their frustrations another way. He is enjoying it which is great. He has been going twice a week, so hopefully in a few months his attitude will change and he will feel better about himself and not get so frustrated and angry all the time. Well that is it for now, I am off to take some photos of all my new knitting projects, which seem to be a lot at the moment, and finally sew some buttons on another finished knit too. See you all tomorrow!

Twirly Skirt

Here is the wonderful twirly skirt. I know the picture is a bit blurry, but we have been having lots of rain and thunderstorms so this is about the best I can do for the moment. It only took me about half an hour last night to make this for Isabelle, and she tried it on right away and tested it out. I did not make the ties at the waistband, instead only threading the elastic through the top of it.
The pattern can be found at http://houseonhillroad.typepad.com and is so easy to do. I made the borders in some blue spotty fabric, and the main has little leaves all over it. This at least reduces my stash as I did not have to buy anything for it at all. I do plan on making her some others for when the weather warms up in September.






I also started the Striped Cardigan from Special Family Knits last week but have not photographed it as yet. I think this will be a bit wide on Isabelle, but the girl in the picture looks like it is wide on her too. I am using Cara cotton from Spotlight, which I bought a few weeks ago, and they had all the same colors, so I thought why not use that. It knits up nicely, although the blue is a lot brighter, not a duck egg blue like in the book. I am going to try and knit some more on this once I have finished up a baby knit from the same book. It needs to be sent off soon as the new baby is arriving in a few weeks, and I want to make sure she receives my pressie in time. Thank you again too for all the nice comments about the guernsey too. I will be posting them off tomorrow, and shall wait to hear if she likes them. I must be going now as I need to pick Isabelle up from school, and this time I am taking the umbrella. Happy knitting and sewing!

Stitching Away!

I have been sewing and knitting, trying to catch up with a few UFO's too, as last week I had gastro again. Third time in 3 weeks which is becoming a pain in the butt. I am sick of being sick so now I am hoping that the worse is over and I wont get it back again. Now onto the sewing - up above is a mini quilt that I stitched together this afternoon. I had 20 6" squares which I had purchased on a bus trip, ooh about 2 yrs ago now, and I decided to use them up and create a bit of room in the fabric stash too. I found some bird fabric for the back of the quilt which I turned over on the edges and stitched down. I am by no means great at making these, but it is okay for Isabelle to use for her dolls or herself in the cooler nights. I love the colors in this quilt, so I am hoping she will like it too. I am going to give it to her after school this afternoon. Maybe later on I will actually "quilt it" when I have some more time to do so.

Also I started a new baby knit (you should all know by now how much I love knitting them), and this one is called Jill from Classic Babies. It has some really gorgeous patterns in it. I pulled some yarn out of my stash (yay twice in one week), and knit the back up last night. Now seeing as though this is going to knit up quite quickly, fingers crossed, I might have it finished by the end of next week. This color is like a burnt red/orange which I am loving at the moment. I am going to make the flower baskets out of some nice yellow, but progress shots will be updated throughout the week. I also finished knitting the pieces for Isabelle's cardigan, so hopefully tomorrow I can get a photo.

It is Anzac Day tomorrow, so it is a public holiday. For all of us who have had people die in the war, may you never forget what they gave their lives up for. My grandfather's two brothers died in the war, and my uncle served in the Vietnam war, and is sadly still suffering from it today. I think the soldiers are so very brave but I do hope that my son never has to fight in one. I hear what my uncle has gone through in the past few years and I do wish that he never had gone to fight in the war, but you cannot rewind to the past can you. May you all have a wonderful Anzac Day fellow aussie bloggers, and everyone else have a beautiful day too!

Good afternoon! I would like to thank everyone who wished me to recover sooner, I think it worked as yesterday I finally decided to do some sewing and knitting. The pattern for the teddy that I bought on Saturday got opened, and I sat and sewed her yesterday. I think she looks quite cute in an unusual way, but Isabelle likes her so that is a good thing since it is for her. I decided to use an apricot color for the hearts on her, I was going to originally do a light green but changed my mind at the last minute. I changed the buttons too, from circles to hearts which I think match perfectly.
Now onto something else I have been waiting for. A mini pup from Manda. For some strange reason the postal service returned him to her last week, but he has now made the trip safely to our house. We have named him Ruff and he fits in my hand. Isabelle was so excited when I told her the envelope was from Manda, as she has been looking at all the pups she has been making too, and loving them all. I seem to get the idea that Isabelle thinks that when our parcel guy comes to the

door that it is automatically something for her. It is nearly always my orders that she seems to love. This was the conversation we had whilst I was checking my emails before school drop off.
Isabelle "Mum, look how cute and tiny he is"
Me "Yes, his gorgeous isnt he".
Isabelle "Look he even has a little tshirt on too", and "Look at his little ears, and his eyes, and his little tail".
Me "Yes, he is just like the picture isnt he"
Isabelle "Yes, but he looks much smaller than the picture on the computer mum, so maybe I should look after him in my room. Wish I could take him to school, everyone would love him"
Me: "yes, but then everyone else would want him too, and his not big enough to go all the other kid's houses".
Isabelle: "Oh yeah, okay he can stay on your bed until I get home from school and then I can look after him in my room"
Well it seems as though I only got to own him for a few short minutes and that was it. He is still sitting on my bed, and the kittens have given him the sniff test too. Luckily for them he did not have to go through the clawing and chewing test too, otherwise they would be banned from the bed. I know where Ruff will be sleeping tonight, having lots of cuddles and kisses I'm sure! Hope you all have a wonderful and lovely week too.

Sewing - FO No 1

Here is my first finished sewing project of the year. I sat and stitched the binding on last night so it would be off my "to do" list.
Pattern: Keeping Them All Together bag
Source: Australian Country Threads, Vol 6 No 12

I used little dragonfly buttons as the top of the letter "T" as they had been in my stash for quite a while and I thought what a great way to use them up. I bought most of the fabric from a patchwork store in Melton, and the yellow gingham I bought at a shop in Williamstown. My sister made this same bag for my mum for her birthday, but in different colors, and I really think hers look much better than mine, but I shall use mine a lot as it has a zipper inserted on the inside so nothing falls out of it. Australian Country Threads has a lot of great things in it, and I have been buying ever since it came out, which was when I working full time so it has probably been about 10 years now. I have every issue and they are stored in the box in my front room, which is where I take my most of my FO's pictures. Paul made me that box when Lachlan was about 3 years of age, and I love it. Although if we had to move it anywhere I would be worried because I would have to empty it out, and it is still quite heavy to move. So now that I have finished up this one, I will have to have a look back through some issues from later years and see if there is anything else I can make to use up some of my fabric stash. I dont know which is worse, hoarding fabric or yarn (but secretly I love both of them), even though Paul said he would like his half of the wardrobe back sometime soon. Tomorrow I shall show you the new Rowan knitting books that I received today. They only took a week to arrive so it was nice and quick. There are some really beautiful patterns in them, and I will show some of my favourites too. Happy Knitting!

Matilda

I would like you all to meet Matilda. She is trying to get a bit of sunshine whilst relaxing in the garden. I hope she doesnt get too burnt out in the garden, as I think she may need some sunscreen to keep her lovely white skin from turning the same color as her dress.

I think she turned out quite cute, and me being lazy just sewed up an easy dress instead of making the same clothes as in the book. I glued on her hair, which I purchased from Spotlight, and was much easier than trying to sew wool into place for her hair. Isabelle said that she would like her to play with, but I have told her that this one is for myself. Now having said that I have to make another one for her, although she wont be the same, as in the color of her hair or clothes, but it might be some time before you see her on the blog. Lachlan made the nose for Matilda, out of the modelling clay that you bake in the oven. It is not quite round enough, but adds character I think. I hope the next one will turn out even better, but it will have to wait a while because I have quite a few things on my agenda starting Thursday. The kids start school on that day, so I will have a free morning, as Isabelle only has half a day for the month of February.

Onto the knitting, and I have finished one front of the same jacket as the one I just finished for my nephew. This one is a deep orange with a light orange stripe. I just finished up the band for the right front too, so not much more to knit on that one. I also paid a visit to one of my favourite yarn stores on Saturday, Stitchery Blue in Williamstown. They have a shop in Geelong too, and sell Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Noro and other wonderful yarns that a lot of yarn shops over this side do not generally sell. I bought a pattern book which is by Sirdar to knit a baby hooded cardigan, and I have already started on this too, nearly finishing up the back. I will post a picture of the book as it has some gorgeous patterns in it. I am knitting it in a chocoloate brown color which does not fit in with the month of Feb/March for PS, but I have also been knitting on another baby hooded jacket which is in blue so I will try and finish up that one first, along with the cardigan for Isabelle. I still have not decided what socks to knit next, but I will let you know before Thursday. It seems I am going to be busy busy busy knitting and sewing, but that is how I love to spend my time. Alas the housework will have to be done too, so that is the job for the mornings along with an hour of walking too. By the way, speaking of losing weight, we have just found out that our old friend will be a contestant on the next Australian version of the Biggest Loser. Damien is his name, and my sister went to school with him. He is a fantastic singer, and I hope he goes well in losing some weight. I think he might be one of the biggest contestants, so I hope he can hang in there and manage to do well for his sake, and for his mum's as she has always been worried about his health. Well that is about it, I have babbled on long enough, so now I will give you a rest and hope to see you by Thursday with the plan for the next pair of socks, and some pictures of the Sirdar baby book too!

Sewing In Progress

Sorry to be away for a while, but the kids have been busy on the holidays with their friends, which in turn makes it hard for me to do any crafting. I have been trying to keep up with my knitting on my nephew's jacket, so now I only have 3/4 of a sleeve to go, and a zipper to install and its done. I have also knit up the back and front of a baby jumper which I completed in 1 day. I just have to finish off the 2 sleeves and it will be completed.

I also found a cute doll pattern calling my name to make her. I traced out the pattern some time ago, but only today found the time to sew her up on the sewing machine. It is so hard sometimes trying to stitch around the curves of arms and feet but I think I did a lot better than I usually do. I am using a linen fabric which Paul's grandmother gave to me after Christmas. She was having a big cleanout of fabric so I grabbed what I liked, and gave the rest to my mum to go through, otherwise it would have ended up in the Salvo bin. The red spotty fabric is going to be her dress, which I bought a few weeks ago from In Stitches, which is located in Melbourne Road, Williamstown. The shop owner really does have some lovely patchwork fabrics and patterrns, and I am glad I no longer have a credit card or otherwise I would spend it all on fabric and patterns in that shop. I am off to paint her shoes on and stitch some little black beads for her eyes, and then I have to decide what to do about her hair. I hopefully will be motivated to finish her up by the end of the week so that will be another 3 projects finished up. I have also decided to get ready for Project Spectrum too, in which I plan to finish a cardigan for Isabelle that I started before Christmas. It is in a white color so it fits in perfectly. I am also going to knit a pair of socks finally, and finish them this time, in the blue colorway that Katt dyed up for me. I have not decided what pattern yet but I will have fun deciding. So back to the sewing I go, and knitting too, and I hope you all have a lovely weekend. We have a long weekend this weekend with Friday being Australia Day, and my cousin's birthday too. Have a good one!