No More Cake Thanks!

There's been a whole lot of this going on lately! Time for a cake break though. You kind of get over it after a while!

Cupcakes at the top are Red Velvet. I don't know what the big deal is with the current trend of these right now as it was really just cake. I sure wasn't going to keep adding red colour to it either to get it any redder! Cream cheese icing was great though.

The next lot were Cappuccino cupcakes. They were a hit but not enough flavour to me. I am getting fussy! The top is interesting as it is baked cheesecake on top instead of just a cream cheese frosting. Good fun to try!

& someone had fun blowing out each candle! lol

I Have Been Giraffing Around

I have been doing some craft! This giraffe is for DJ & is from the same pattern book as all the animals I did about 2 years ago for BJ! I am not particularly happy with Hoff, as I have named him. But he's ok. I actually finished knitting it weeks ago, but some days with a couple of kids just doesn't give you a chance to sit & do a thing like this so the sewing up of each bit took a little while too get done. One day I will look at it & think I didn't do a bad job of it after all, even though the legs aren't really in the right place. The most impressive bit is the mane, which is actually knitted in that loopy style! Very clever! For the rest, I don't like the pattern as I don't like how the increases look like holes. I don't like the bottom of it's body which I ended up weaving some extra yarn around to try to fill in the holes, else I expect he would have leaked stuffing in no time. Oh well, he's done & DJ now has one toy too.

I have finally decided on a couple of new projects as I haven't got anything simple to just pick up & do without thinking. For the little time I have in the evenings between getting the boys to bed & my crashing out (very early) it is nice to just be able to pick something up & do a little & feel a little creative. So below is my current little splash of colour this time using Heirloom Bamboo Wool blend. There are lots of little centres all over the place at the moment & that's about all.

For the rest there has been much focus on the family. DJ is growing way too fast. He is cute as ever though. He was sleeping on Daddy yesterday & squishing his little face up in all sorts of cute ways.

If that baby fix doesn't do anything to make you smile then check out these wee ones we have over the fence. We have 6 little lambs in the paddock - not ours, they just spend time eating our grass! They provide a great deal of entertainment, jumping all over the place & chasing the chickens that also come over for a play. They are cute in little black socks & faces, & one is stripy & one has spots! So cute!

Well, it's been a busy little month, but hopefully I will get a chance to do a couple of other things. I have a couple of things in the works at the moment, but getting the sewing machine out is going to be a night time activity I think! So stay tuned for more!

Wow, I Made This!

I am quite proud of myself! I knitted this jumper BJ has on! Woohoo! Is that clever or what. It is done in Aran 10 ply wool. It's lovely to knit up but is like it is felted so will pull apart if pulled too hard, which was a pain when sewing it up! But it is nice & it is warm I expect. I managed to read & decipher the whole pattern pretty much but got stuck on the picking up stitches bit to do the placket... I hadn't done that before & it turns out the way I tried it initially was right. I felt quite clever. I even figured the collar bit out & it looks ok. So how about that then. About the only problem was that it took me a month to finish it off since DJ was born & in that time BJ grew almost 2cm so the body is probably a little bit shorter than I would like on him but it will do for the rest of the season now. DJ will get to wear it later on. The best thing is the pattern I did was the smallest size so I can make bigger ones now too! It really wasn't a hard knit for the most part so I will probably attempt it again later on. But we'll see... lol

Baby Cuteness

A few weeks ago I splurged on a crochet magazine, Inside Crochet Issue 16 from April. I haven't bought any mags for ages as I haven't been able too. But that day I did. I needed something to sit & read as my craft mojo was lacking. Turns out it was hardly a surprise since DJ arrived a few days later. But the mag was great company in hospital as it turned out. I read it pretty thoroughly during our 2 stays in there. I was eager to get some baby wool to whip up the Baby Sneakers in the mag too.

They turned out pretty cute. I would have liked white or cream for them, but there wasn't any in this wool. I used Naturally Baby Haven for these. I wanted to try it out. I didn't like it much to crochet with as it is a splitty wool. Grrrr..... on a hook that is annoying. Might be better to knit with. Anyway, these are my Baby Sneakers. They even turned out the same size! ( I knitted bootees a long time ago & they weren't when I had done them both! lol)

Just another touch of baby stuff, DJ is due today! I'm so glad he came as early as he did! We get a lot of this sort of thing going on around home at the moment! Sorry about the sunny patch behind BJ. The rest of the pic is cute though.

This Is What I have Been Up To This Week

BJ would like to introduce you to DJ! He arrived last Sunday.

More Knitting

Back again to show you a couple of other things. This little jacket thing I knitted at the start of June or so. It's from the book 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I had it out from the library & as usual they wanted it back. I used Merino Magic Fleck for this one. I really like it, but..... I can't wear it yet. When I had finished it it took me a while to get around to blocking it a bit. Because of the stitch pattern it is done in it gets quite tight. I have absolutely no hope of trying to wear it with my tummy as it is right now. So I have to wait till I get skinnier again & see if it fits ok then. Else someone else will end up with it! Bummer. But lucky them.

I really love the books by Judith Durant in the One-Skein series. Currently I have the Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders from the library. It's got some lovely things in there too. I have the Luxury One Skein Wonders book, but have yet to see the first of them all One Skein Wonders.

Here's something I didn't knit but wanted to show. Sorry about the blurry bird though. Seems there was a mark on the lens! Darn it... This is a cute knitted blanket with cute knitted animals sewn onto it. My MIL knitted it for baby. She was bored a while back & wanted something to knit. I had just seen this pattern somewhere so got it & off she went. It's a cute book & includes patterns to make toys like all the ones on the blanket too. I will have to get it sometime, so I can make the turtle for BJ. It's cute as.



So there you go. Some more knitting stuff. I will see what I have left to post now. I think I may even be up to date!

Fat Me & Other Stuff

So I have a bit of catching up to do. It's a bit rough when you don't get computer time anymore cos your 3 year old hogs it! Sheesh! Who woulda thunk that huh? But BJ navigates his way around iview ABC for kids all by himself now, just from watching us doing it for him a bit.

I finished work the other day - good & bad. I will miss it & will need to go in for a catch up regularly if I can. So today is my first day home with BJ in day care! Wow! Bonus! After our week last week I need a bit of time out I think.

Here's a picture of fat me anyway. Not an attractive picture cos I don't do nice ones, but fat me all the same. This is 37 weeks. Poor baby has second child syndrome happening already being very neglected in picture department already!

I had said recently that I had been working on a bunch of other things & hadn't taken pictures yet. Well now I will really scare you with another one of me! Ooops, sorry about this. This is my Baktus Scarf that I knitted with sock yarn. I really like it. (just don't like the picture with me in it! Squinting in sunshine btw) It is a Spotlight sock yarn & is slightly scratchy but it is surprisingly warm & not so annoying in the scratchy on the skin like I thought it would be. It's great to wear because when outside with it you can pull it up over your face a little to keep the cold off a bit more. Also it is starting to stretch out a little which is good as I didn't think it was long enough. It was a good project to knit up though as it is all knitting & thoughtless. Very handy at times.

Another thing I have been doing but just in the last week are these little girl hats. While sitting around in waiting rooms etc at hospitals last week I was prepared with knitting & crocheting stuff depending on what I would be in the mood for. Good thing too, as I spent the day in the company of another lady who was doing the same thing. We did a pattern swap on the day & I got stuck into the pink hat here right away. I have been able to churn out a couple of hats since. They don't really take long at all. The pattern is actually one used by the Samaritan's Purse for hats to go in their Christmas boxes. It's a Girls Shell Edged hat which you can find here. I have actually made these now for a playgroup fundraiser, as this is easiest for me at the moment to contribute this way. Hopefully next week when we have our little stall they all go well. I will try to do another couple yet. If they don't go there there will be plenty more to give them away too.

The pink one is done in a cotton/acrylic, My Friends Pallete collection. The next 2 are done from Moda Vera Cashmere/merino blend & the 4th is in Patons Smoothie DK. I really love the feel of this one, it's so smooth & soft. It's only an acrylic but does feel so different than many. Each hat is taking just over a 50g ball. What a good way to use up some of those odd balls of yarn that I have picked up on sales etc but they aren't enough to actually make much else with. Bonus! So I am getting through some stash which is great. I will try to be sensible in what I buy from now on. lol That won't be difficult, knowing what is coming into work in the next little while. Hmmm..... There are some really nice yarns out there. I can't wait till I can get back to work, all going well at home, so I can keep up with all the cool stuff out there in craft world!

I have yet another catch up picture or 2 to come, of some knitting & stuff so hopefully I can get that posted, even though I would be quite happy if I didn't if baby decided to make an appearance already. (please do Baby!)

Almost the weekend so enjoy it!