Last day of Christmas in July!

& my JCS ornament is done for the monthly challenge. This is by Wildflower Stitchery & More, & it is finally an ornament small enough for a tree, unlike a couple of my others. It was a simple pattern really. Made an interesting job of the finishing though. Not sure about it yet but it is different & was quite fun. I used a silk ribbon for the bits hanging off it. The picture was an interesting colour combination for a Christmas design so it was tricky to find anything in that colour group. But it's ok I think. It is certainly unique! lol

We've been out & about today. Went to the doctors for Brandon again & he is getting better quickly thank goodness. He was really good. I wouldn't let him walk around in the waiting room & he was good though I was tired of playing with him, swinging him around etc, to keep him amused. Did you know that all those anti bacterial hand washes are about 60% alcohol? So you shouldn't use them on kids as they can get alcohol poisoning from them! That's something they don't tell you. I thought it would be good but only for big people it seems. So you learn something new everyday!

We did go to the park for a play too as he was so good. He really needed to burn some energy. Bells Parade is not a good park though with such a little one with the river running right by it. I didn't fancy a dip trying to catch him that is for sure, so we might keep clear of that park for a few years.

Mandy

You belong among the wildflowers

You belong in a boat out at sea

You belong with your love on your arm

You belong somewhere you feel free

Wildflowers - Tom Petty

Cross Stitched Birth Announcement

Finally got this one done! It is so hard to stitch much at the moment. As a result, this has taken a little while to be attempted & done. But here it is finally. It's for friends of ours that had a little girl a couple of weeks ago - obviously! Shows how slow I am.

It's been a little weird here. We are kind of in quarantine while Brandon has an infection on his skin. It took a little while to get treatment for it yesterday but it is getting better already! It doesn't bother him though. He is still his cheeky self.

Have a good day!

Mandy

Baby smile, baby smile

Baby laughing, baby crying

Don't cry baby, baby smile

all the babies in the world

They laugh & play

Why don't we all do just like them

Baby smile, baby smile, baby smile

Baby smile, baby smile, baby smile

Don't cry baby, baby smile

Baby Smile - The Kelly Family

Scarf has gone....

The scarf in the previous post is now living at my mum's house. I gave it to her yesterday. So at least I can still see it sometimes. lol It's very pretty.

I have just about got through the second sock so hopefully I will have the Kaffe Fassett wool socks to show soon. They are lovely & will be so warm I think.

So stay tuned - on another crappy wet day...

They call it stormy Monday

But Tuesdays just as bad.

They call it stormy Monday

But Tuesdays just as bad.

Gee, and Wednesdays worse

And Thursdays all so sad.

Stormy Monday - The Allman Brothers Band

Another scarf!

I love the colours of this wool. Better just check! Yes it is 100% wool so I can call it that. Phew. It is Cleckheaton Vintage Hues wool that I picked up at the wool shop when she had her stocktake sale. I just saw it & loved it so Ibbought some of course! The colours are varied from ball to ball even in the same dye lot so that was interesting. But it is pretty.

I haven't been blogging this week as I had no finished to show. Now the scarf is finally done. I also have finished one sock last night with the Kaffe Fassett wool. Maybe the next sock won't take quite as long as I am not doing the scarf too. I have also been cross stitching at times through the week, when Brandon has been asleep. I just can't stitch with him about at the moment as he wants to get into the needles, thread, chart - you name it. That has become nap time activity & evening activity if I feel like it!

Brandon had his first hair cut this morning too. He looks very different now without all that hair in his eyes! He wasn't happy about the cut though but only because he was given a clip to play with & he got it stuck on his finger.

The weather this week has been pretty wet & soggy though so we have been keeping in.

I did some baking yesterday - heaven in a biscuit. I did one of the biscuit recipes from the book Ladies, A Plate that I raved about last month. They are Spice cookies & so good! Ok, we better be off to a 1st birthday party. See you later...

Oh, it's raining again

Oh no, my love's at an end.

Oh no, it's raining again and you know it's hard to pretend.

Oh no, it's raining again Too bad I'm losing a friend.

Oh no, it's raining again

Oh, will my heart never mend.

It's Raining Again - Supertramp

Too many fish in the sea...

so I hung them up in Brandon's bedroom. These are felt fishes & things that I sewed, stuffed & stitched. I got some driftwood from the beach to hang them on & they look pretty cute. I wonder how long they will keep him entertained for hanging over his change table at the moment. When I get sick of it hanging I will take it down, cut out the fishing line & let him play with them. I made the patterns up which is probably obvious! My favourite is the seahorse. I thought he would be the worst but he came up quite cute I think.

Well, if the fish isn't on your line

Bait your hook and keep on trying

Don't let him get you down

There's other boys around, there's

Too many fish in the sea

Too Many Fish in the Sea - The Marvelettes

Christmas in July

Finally I have my June/July Choose your own ornament finished for the challenge. He's a cute one. But sewing on plastic really slows me down. I did virtually leave it to the last minute but it I do underestimate the time it will take me to do these things when they are on plastic or paper! But that is another kit done from out of my cupboard so I am happy about that. I think I bought this off someone once that was selling stash. No idea really anymore but I am happy to have something else done. I have another one of these hangers to go. I will see if I do that next month or not. Can't decide...

Have a good day.

He's making a list

He's checking it twice,

Gonna find out who's naughty & nice,

Santa Claus is coming to town,

Santa Claus is coming to town,

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Now I have a matching beanie!

Yay! I finally finished Brandon's beanie. I was a bit worried cos I didn't have a pattern & really wasn't sure how to decrease the top bit in a K2, P2 & in the round on DPNs. (doesn't that sound impressive?) Anyway I picked it up yesterday & just winged it really & if I do say so myself, I did a darned fine job! hahahahaha... No really, I was expecting it to look horrible but it came up really good (even Stuart said so!) & it looks like I just might have used a pattern! The only thing is that it could have been a little longer but who cares, I have enough wool to knit another one if I want to.

So I am very impressed with another finish for the weekend. I have now started yet another scarf which I think will be the nicest one I have done yet. I have the wool out for the Kaffe Fassett socks, but the only problem there is I have to find the pattern to go with it, plus the needles I got for it. Easier said than done & could mean I have to tidy up some of the piles of accumulated stuff. I don't have time to put stuff away! Too many other things to do. I had better go & do them I suppose. It has turned out rather sunny today so I am trying to catch up on washing! How does one mini person create so many dirty clothes!

Mandy

If you're happy & you know it clap your hands.

If you're happy & you know it clap your hands.

If you're happy & you know it then you really ought to show it,

If you're happy & you know it clap your hands.

PS... Congratulations to Mark Webber on his first Grand Prix win! Yay!

More stripey socks!

Yay! I have finally finished my next pair of socks. More of the self patterning wool from Spotlight. It's pretty cool stuff really but interesting to get the second one starting in the same spot as the first! Even so they are almost the same but not quite. Though no one would really pick up the differences, but they are too minor to care about as far as I am concerned! lol They are fun & really quite easy as they are mostly all just basic knit stitches. Because they are stitch in the round, you are only working from the one side so you are only doing knit most of the time. A bit of purl in the cuff & a bit of purl when you turn the heel but that is all, so it is something you don't need to think about a great deal. This pair is much improved on my first pair as far as working with DPNs goes too. My joins are much better right from the start so I am quite pleased. I think the next pair of socks I do will be using the Kaffe Fassett wool I bought recently. I think they are going to be really interesting!

Happy Weekend,

Mandy

It's neat and it's sweet
It's a ding dong treat
Knittin' socks for little feet
Just sittin' with your knittin' all day long
You know knittin's friendly
And knittin's fun
Knittin's good for everyone

From the TV Show Fraggle Rock

Owl are you?

How do you like my little owl? & I mean little. He is about 60mm high. But very cute & he was quick to make too! Best thing about him though is that he was made using fabric I got at the op shops for a song! I was rapt with my purchases of my very great fabric finds. If you like Owl you can make your own following the tutorial here... Owls

I have also been playing around with some other felt animals but can't post those yet cos the day is just horrid & it really is to dull to get a decent picture. Owl is obviously quite photogenic as he showed up well. lol

Ok, stay dry!

There was an owl

who lived in an oak.

The more he heard,

the less he spoke;

the less he spoke,

the more he heard-

We all should be

like that wise old bird.

Child's song

Father

Help Your children

And don't let them fall

By the side of the road, mmm...mmm...

Jesus is Love -The Commodores

Get that Paparazzi out of my face!

"People are demanding pictures of me all the time! Darned Paparazzi.

Ok, just the one then. But I'm not very happy about it! "

This is Brandon's new scarf. I have been doing it in between lots of other things as it was an easy one to pick up & put down when I needed something that I didn't need to think about.
I've been pottering about with a few other things but haven't finished much lately at all. Very slack, or busy! One or the other. Well that's it for now. Not much I can say about a scarf really!

Mandy

When I take a picture of the city it disappears
It’s only a photograph the city is gone
The places I go are never there
Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be
I can only picture the disappearing world when you touch me
Taking Pictures - Sam Phillips

Kitty Litter

I've been busy sewing cats this week! The top 3 were my first ones. The middle cat is the one we are keeping. I liked the fabric on the belly - one of my Amy Butler scraps from my swing bag. The denim I made those out of I got from the op shop for $1.50. Not too bad huh? I bet I won't be that lucky again. The other cat by itself is made of corduroy. That one is a baby present & already gone to it's new home for a baby shower this afternoon. Not bad considering I only made it yesterday! I didn't stuff that nearly as much as the others as it is really soft & squishy for a baby to play with now. I really like the colour of him as well so I think I will have to make something in that cord for us.

The cat pattern was out of the book Meet Me at Mike's. I bought it this week! Yay! So the library got theirs back & now I can keep making things out of it when I want to.
It's a nice book & one I really, really, really had to have all for myself.

Ok, that's all for now,

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

The Cat Came Back - Harry S Miller

Monster!

How do you like my monster? Well actually it is Brandon's monster of course! He is from a new magazine called Australian Home Sewn, available now at newsagents. It's a great magazine really with some fun things in it that anyone could do. If you want to see more about it go to the blog list of blogs I follow & check out the one called Day to Day. That is Melissa's blog & she is the editor of the mag & she did a lot of the projects. Monster was really easy though. I put him together on Wednesday afternoon. He is made of some groovy colour changing fabric that I had so he looks pretty bright. It was quite nice today so he was playing in the garden. I think I will call him Boris as the song below is by Boris! Oh & he has more "Oma Buttons".

It was freezing this morning however. We were out early though making a trip to the airport to take Dad & Lyn. Then we went to Jungle Gym again with our mother's group friends. One of our friends is 1 today so they were going to play there so a few others of us did too. It was nice though, watching the kids. We had only been there one other time with Brandon & he wasn't walking then so it was quite different now that he could wander all over the place.

I have been busy with some knitting yesterday & today some more sewing again so stay tuned tomorrow for some more MSPCA animals of mine. I'm having fun!

Mandy

He did the mash

He did the monster mash

The monster mash

It was a graveyard smash

He did the mash

It caught on in a flash

He did the mash

He did the monster mash

Bobby "Boris" Picket