My Lovely Blog Friend

Today was a special day for me. BJ & I got to meet a blog friend! Angelina at Norwood Walkabouts lives not far from me as it turned out! How about that then! A bloggy friend unexpectedly on your own doorstep. I got to meet her & her gorgeous boys! I got to see her blanket that she is currently crocheting using some divine Debbie Bliss yarn that I had never seen or felt before & it really does feel lovely. So soft & luxurious! I also got to browse her beautiful book that she blogged about recently, Fa La La La Felt & saw the huge stack of wool felt she won in bloggy land. Also got to see the fuzzybead garland that her little boy made last week. Angelina was right when she said it looks great hanging up!

I also got to see this... ( I pinched your picture Ange lol).

Angelina had a draw for this on her blog a couple of weeks ago. I won it! So I was very excited to be able to take it home. It really is pretty & very clever! It is knitted in the Debbie Bliss yarn too, so I am now the lucky owner of something with that! Woohoo!

It was lovely to be able to meet up with Angelina after chatting with her on line for a while now. We will definitely get together again for some fun with the boys. Thanks heaps Angelina for having us over for a cuppa!

My Alphabet book

My alphabet book/quilted flash cards were done as a tutorial over at Be & Home. I was invited to be a guest blogger so you can check out the rest of it there. Have a browse around their site. It is packed full of stuff. There are so many different areas to check out there you will need a cuppa while you browse so go grab one & sit down for a bit of a surf!

My Creative Space

Here's a sneak peak at a couple of letters today! This has been my creative space this week, trying to get this done for a deadline. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet! Usually A is for Apples, but the apple trees are bare. A is for Ants is rather appropriate around here right now as they are all heading inside through any tiny hole they can find! Can't beat cute little cows like that one either!

For other creative folk around the world check out Kirsty's list!

This Crochet Book is a must

I have had a number of crochet books from the library over the last few months. I just got this one the other day. This is one of the best I have seen. For a bit of a novice in the crochet department this has really good info in the start on joining new yarns, starting new rounds, joining up shapes when complete, problem solving things like flatness in your motifs & different edges. The instruction for the different stitches are really clear, if you want to learn how to read a diagram crochet pattern it shows that too & wow, there are so many different types of grannys & the like you will want to make them all! I know I do. The triangles look cool! There are even rectangles, stars & all sorts. Even the circles look cool! I definitely recommend it anyway. I guess I had better give the library their back soon, but I will put this on my wish list at fishpond.com.au for sure!

I had better go & make the most of this book while I have it then!

One Plum Sock

Plum Sock

Done Sock

once again

to make a pair

of socks

I think I nearly got it right on this sock! lol
Bad luck if not sock! But now I have to make a matching sock!

Plum Socks

Earlier in the week I started the next socks. This is the plum yarn that was a draw in the poll I held last week. I decided on this one since it was in front for most of the poll. Also it was the one that I was least likely to make at all as it wasn't my favourite! So I thought I would use it first & I won't have to procrastinate over it ever again! So I started. Lucky for me, after yet another forced rest again this week I did get quite a bit of time to sit & do a little more of the first sock. The knitting down the leg is easy! Now I am once again at the heel. Ekkkk...

If anyone bought any sock yarn from Spotlight last year don't do the pattern on the label or on the leaflet they had instore! Don't! It sucks. After doing the Regia yarn pattern that was so well written, I am once again getting so confused with this darned pattern from Spotlight. I then investigated the yarn from Spotlight from this year. Hmmm... it has a whole new pattern on the label! Not a surprise at all. Next time I will give that a whirl. In the meantime I am giving myself a headache. I just need to put it down for a bit & then I will go back to it & do the heel in the Regia yarn pattern method. I know last year I really preferred that method & now I remember why! The Spotlight pattern just seems to be missing a chunk of important information out of it! I will be interested to try the newer pattern from their 2010 yarn another time.

Anyway, although I am not really a plum person or as the label actually says, "Merlot", this sock is quite growing on me. You can see the pattern & colours quite clearly! Rather fun really! First sock isn't so bad. It is starting the second sock in the same spot that is the challenge!

Have a fun day & happy voting if you are in Oz!

My Mini Chef

BJ got it in his head that we had to make cake again for Teddy Bear. Apparently it's his birthday today. He has quite a thing for birthdays & cake right now! Second time this week. But now he has his own apron too! Good weather for a bit of baking since we are stuck inside & at home. He's been really good so I have to humour him a little too.

It Has Been Busy

I have been totally stuffed all week. I haven't done anything much at all since being sick. But yesterday I finally picked up the sock to finish it off. There wasn't much to go & I was too tired for much of anything, even knitting really but I did it. (actually truth be told I just grafted the toes now! I need a youtube video to help with that!) So there are the finished pair at last. I stuffed the first one up though. I discovered when trying to do the second one. So I had to work out how I stuffed up the first one so I could do the second one the same! That was hard! hahahahaha... Oh well, you wouldn't know it to look at them that they are slightly wrong. They are still wearable but probably better on someone with smaller feet! Oh well, I will not do heels or toes when tired in future. I need to really, really concentrate on those!

Extra tired yesterday after a daily jaunt to Hobart on Saturday. As you do! Just for the heck of it! Actually we had family down there having a holiday so we went down for the day to see them! We took mum with us as well. To some people it seems like a strange thing to do - drive 3.5 hours to hang out with people for 6 hours & then drive 3.5 hours home again! I hadn't really thought about it like that. I was more thinking about the fact of whether we were all going to be well enough for a big outing & was the car going to be well enough for a big drive. Well we were well & the car was made better on Friday. (bloomin' rats eating the leads making car run very badly! Don't laugh, as according to the mechanic it is becoming a common problem! He showed Stuart the leads with the teeth marks on them! Ewwww.... ) So with all those things in our favour we ventured very, very early to a very freezing cold Hobart. Aunty Judy & Aunty Jana were excited to see BJ, & maybe the rest of us too. lol BJ thought it was pretty fun seeing Aunty Juey. He started saying it suddenly! Very cute. It's a big trip for a kid but he was really good. We checked out Salamanca Market. I saw a couple of stands there that I know I have read the blogs of! (so if that is one of you, then Hi!) We showed BJ the Cat & Fiddle doing it's thing in the arcade. He was quite mesmerized by that. I guess it is something that will be an ongoing feature for kids of all ages. I remember sitting there watching it as a kid myself! Mind you, there was no Donut King or Muffin Break of McDonalds in the way back then!

Anyway, I will leave it here with a pic of Aunty Juey & BJ in the mall on the big white ... ummm... big white ... ahhh.... thing with a face! BJ thought it was pretty cool but not cool enough to sit on!

Mathilda's Market This Saturday

If any of you are lucky enough to be in Brisbane this Saturday then check out Mathilda's Market won't you. Don't ask me for directions or anything as I have no idea where it is, but I really think you should go there all the same. Check the link which will tell you it is at the Brisbane Racing Club at Ascot (where ever that is!). It's a good thing I am not going myself as I suppose I wouldn't find it. BUT... if you are lucky enough to go, look for my puzzle blocks won't you? They will be there on one of the stalls so look out for them. If you don't find them yourself ask people if they have the puzzle blocks by Fell4U. But I don't think you will miss them. Really I don't, as there should be quite a few to see! I hope you support that stallholder anyway & make a purchase of some blocks for yourself or for someone for Christmas! Remember if you support the stallholder you are often supporting someone else waaaay back there in the back ground... or in another state of the country altogether as is my case!

Have fun at the market won't you!

Well There You Go

I have always wondered how families managed when the whole family was sick all at the same time! Well I know now! I have a "Been there, Done that" moment. One I would prefer to have not done but it is & we will gradually get back to normal! Takes a little while for the wonky legs thing to pass but hopefully it is really soon.

After not looking here for a number of days I did come back to see the end of the voting on my poll. Thanks to all of the people that voted on what sock wool to use next. Well it is a draw between Plum & Denim Cream. I will have a vote at home sometime when I get to start them. The other sock has had some delay since the Farm was sick. So I hope to get onto that in the next few days. So stay tuned & once again thanks to all who voted! It was fun!

My Creative Space

Today isn't so very crafty creative unfortunately. It turned into more of a "how to entertain a 2 year old" type of creativity. It is an important way to be creative & be prepared. Waiting rooms aren't like they used to be & you can wait for up to an hour these days to get in to your appointment. Luckily it wasn't quite that long today, but still I do go prepared with things to try to keep him happy & entertained & as disruptive to other people as possible. I don't care that I am reading to a room full of people as well as BJ though. lol

To see other creative people who may have had a chance to be crafty today check out the list at Kirsty's place.

But while you are here please check out yesterdays post with some colours of yarn I have. Help me decide on the poll on the right, which one to use next! Thanks!

Help Me Decide!

I have this stash of sock wool. It's pretty groovy mostly. Now I have just realised though there is one missing. Oh well, it will miss out this round of voting. Help me decide which one to use next. I have almost finished sock 2 on the other pair.

Please go & vote in the poll on the right. Don't worry, the nation won't collapse based on this vote. It has nothing to do with work choices, red hair, debates or kissing babies. It's just a stress free fun vote! Thanks so much! I will of course knit up the one with the most votes next week.

I quite like Norah Jones

I like her songs & it really cracked me up when I saw this song of hers on Sesame Street. She did a nice job changing it for the letter "Y".

Who would have thought?

If you told us at this time last year that we would move house & have our own little 'farm' I wouldn't have believed you! Never imagined such a thing.

But here we are in the winter & outside digging the rather huge vegie patch to prepare for spring planting. We are excited at the prospect of picking & eating our own grown food again. Last summer we did, but we can't take the credit for the work that went into setting up the garden as that was already here when we moved in. We were very lucky. We really wondered whether we would manage & we are really, really enthusiastic to do it ourselves.

We really love it for BJ. He is loving the outside activities. I am beastly cared about how dirty he gets obviously! lol

BJ had great fun digging & playing with worms. We had to save some worms from being beat up though & told him they had to go back in the ground to sleep. Hmmm... so then he wants to keep seeing them sleeping.

He has the idea of birthdays in his head again after another party yesterday. So he also walked around with his bucket giving us dirt "birthday cake". Mmmm... so yummy. Unfortunately one time he forgot to pretend & did eat some dirt. Who knows what he was thinking! It kept us busy, eating pretend cake & finding worms.

Here is daddy eating his cake...

It's all good. Lovely fresh air (yes quite fresh still for winter of course!) & the idea of freshly picked vegies before too long. Can't wait. It will be worth all the fun in the mud!