Christmas Pattern Swap

Oh I do love a good swap! The stalking, the shopping, the wrapping, the posting and the waiting. But most of all the excitement of opening my parcel!

I sent a parcel of Malabrigo sock, chocolate, and a shawl pattern to Hannah and what a lovely surprise to find that Hannah had me too!

Today I received the most gorgeous parcel! I absolutely adore the yarn! Hannah dyed it herself. Isn’t she clever! She sells her yarn too so head over to Red Riding Hood Yarns  to get your own gorgeous yarn! She also gifted the Teachers Pet pattern and I can’t wait to cast on…maybe after Christmas.

She also included 3 handmade personalised ornaments, one for each of the girls. They love them. Thanks Hannah!

         

{Conversations with little girls #3}

While taking Isla to a public toilet

Isla - Mummy, what’s that? (pointing to a sanitary bin)

Mummy – It’s for yucky things

Isla – …pause…for little boys?

Twirling fun!

You know the skirt mentioned here? Well this is it and the enthusiasm Elsa expressed for me to finish it still exists every time it comes out of the wardrobe. She loves it! So do I. Perfect for those warmer days (Summer hasn’t quite hit here yet, we had the fire on the other night!).

Pattern – Barefoot Knits Twirly Skirt

Yarn – Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece

 

If you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all…

I am afraid this is me. I wish it wasn’t a lot of the time and I am learning to not be so much like this. I mean who can sew, knit, craft everything perfectly the first time! Not me! Blogging has been a bit like this lately. I guess I don’t have to tell you as it has been pretty obvious that I haven’t been around much at all lately. It was once again one of those “ I don’t have time to do it perfectly so I can’t do it at all” moments…or months really!

But I am back! It won’t be perfect but I will post more regularly!

Just because the blogging stopped it doesn’t mean the crafting did. Time to get the camera out I think. I will be back….soon.

And the winner is…

Number 2 for the girls set…Kathy

Number 4 for the boys set…Tanya(who I know gave birth to a baby boy only days ago! Congratulations Tanya!)

I will be in touch soon to get your prizes to you.

Blogtoberfest Day 28 {Oaty Apple Pikelets}

This was lunch today for the girls. I had something a little lower in calories!

SO yummy! Oats, apples, honey and spice, what more could you want!

 Oaty apple pikelets (Recipe from here – if you want the healthier one use this recipe, I made mine a little fattier!)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups (500ml) full cream milk
1 cup (120g) oat bran
½ cup (75g) plain flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon mixed spice
2 eggs
1 large apple (200g), peeled, cored, chopped finely
1 tablespoon lemon juice
honey for on top
Butter for cooking

METHOD

Blend or process milk, bran, flour, sugar, spice and eggs until smooth; pour into large jug. Stir in apple and juice, cover; refrigerate 30 minutes (mixture will separate during refrigeration).
Heat large frying pan and add butter. Stir mixture to combine; using ¼-cup batter for each pikelet (mixture will be runny), cook two pikelets at a time, uncovered, until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn; cook until browned lightly. Serve topped with honey. (original recipe had ricotta as well which I think would be divine but we didn’t have any)

{Conversations with Little Girls #2}

mummy knitting a skirt for Elsa

Elsa – mummy just keep on knitting knitting knitting, when the moon and stars come out just keep knitting…but if you get tired you can sleep.

I think she wants this skirt!

Blogtoberfest Day 27 {Sigh}

I was doing so well! Life (ie sick baby) has prevented the daily blogging of late.

No sleep + Crying baby + Tantruming toddlers = No blog posts for this grumpy mummy!

Maybe tomorrow will be better!

Blogtoberfest Day 24 {Alabama Stitch Book}

One of my many birthday presents from my gorgeous husband was the Alabama Stitch Book. I have a few t-shirts from Rivers stashed away ready to make this gorgeous skirt. I chose red and a charcoal marle. Browsing Flickr makes me want to buy more t-shirts in more colours! How many versions of this skirt will be too much do you think?

1. alabama skirt 2, side 1, 2. bloomer skirt, 3. Red/Aqua Bloomers Skirt, 4. New Bloomers Skirt, 5. bloomers skirt, 6. Bloomer's Skirt 2, 7. Renae-Bloomers skirt blue, 8. bloomers skirt, 9. 'Bama Skirt

Blogtoberfest Day 23 {I’m a little teapot}

She definitely is not short and stout but she is awfully cute don’t you think?

 

And yes they are some gorgeous footless tights by BabyLegs you can see poking out there! Don’t forget to enter my BabyLegs giveaway!

Photography by LisaK Photography

Blogtoberfest Day 22 {BabyLegs Giveaway!}

I love BabyLegs! Both the product and the real things(nothing beats the real thing…especially if they are chubby!)

Anyway, i am giving away 4 pairs of these gorgeous BabyLegs Legwarmers. So cute on babies and young children. Eve has a pile of them and they are perfect for crawling on our floorboards and to keep her little legs warm. They look so cute with a fluffy cloth bottom too!

 

So, How do you enter?

Simple! Just leave a comment and let me know which you would like to win. The girl set or the boy. If you would like to be in the running for both please leave a comment for each.

Blogtoberfest Day 21 {Twirling fun!}

I did it! I finally got time to sew and finished (well almost) the circle skirts I cut a few weeks ago. Elsa’s still needs the hem done but here is Isla’s in all its twirling glory!

I think I need to make the waist smaller for both of my girls. I did measure their waist but they both have little tummys that poke out and the skirt wants to slide down and sit underneath it so it needs to be a little smaller to not be so loose where is wants to sit if you know what I mean. Elsa (21 1/2 inch waist) actually fits into Isla’s (19 1/2 inch waist) it is a little firm so I think I might try 20 1/2” for Elsa and 18 1/2 for Isla. SO quick and easy once I got started!

Blogtoberfest Day 20 {Day Dreaming}

…yes I missed yesterday :( but I am back today :)

Blogtoberfest Day 18 {We’re Back!}

We are back from our lovely little break from everything. It is so nice to just get away sometimes. I went to bed earlier (funny how it is so much easier to do without a computer to distract me!) and I relaxed! I got a bit of knitting done but was very frustrated to find that one project I took with me I only took the last page which I was up to and in the last 8 rows there was an abbreviation I had never come across before so that had to be put aside. I then tried to start a new project but found that I didn’t have the right cable length! I had lent it to my SIL! So I had to settle for the knitting project I had been avoiding! I am so glad I took 3…and my husband thought that was obsessive!

Anyway, just a few snapshots from the holiday!

Yummy dinner…fresh sourdough, Bruny Island Cheese, Dukkah and Olive oil!

Blogtoberfest Day 17 {99 things about me}

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font
1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the mona lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen michelangelo's david in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies.
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a cheque
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in london
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

Your turn…

Blogtoberfest Day 16 {Chai mix}

I love a good chai. Just the right amount of spice…and sweet, but not too sweet. I had a favourite chai place and they changed the recipe on me :(

I have had a chai syrup recipe in my favourites for a while and last week on another blog i saw it mentioned again, it was a different recipe than I first had favourited and I think if I made it again I would do the original one as this one is a little sweet and not so spicy but you might like it that way

Mix ingredients together (or bash spices in a mortar and pestle if you don’t have ground pepper like me and add to condensed milk once well ‘bashed’)

The recipe said to add 2 tbs to a cup of strong black tea but that was way too sweet for me so I went with 1 tbs. This made it just sweet enough but not spicy enough! Next time I will use the other one.

Store in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 6 months (mine won’t last that long!)

Blogtoberfest Day 15 {Eve}

My littlest treasure…

Blogtoberfest Day 14 {My Creative Space}

Today I am doing a bit of this…

here…

 

Got to love a holiday on Bruny Island!

Blogtoberfest Day 13 {and the winner is…}

Now Isla did not want to miss out on drawing out a name so… we have two winners!

 

Congratulations Sophie and Little Munchkins! I will email you very soon so you can choose your skirt!

Amended draw date for giveaway…

I totally forgot that I was going away for a few days so I will draw the winner of the pettiskirt tomorrow morning. So if you are yet to enter don’t wait any longer or you will miss out!

Blogtoberfest Day 12 {Isabella & Amielle}

Aren’t these two girls completely gorgeous! They were perfect little models with Ami even giving us a few classic poses!

Photography by LisaK Photography

Apologies for the lack of sewing/knitting and the like on this blog of late…I have sadly been too busy with life and getting other things sorted :(

Blogtoberfest Day 11 {Eve’s first visit to the beach}

Today was gorgeous! The sun shone and I was able to wear a skirt and t-shirt without freezing. I dressed the girls in some of their more summery clothing that has been sitting unused for the past 8 or so months. Ok so 24 degrees may not scream summer to a lot of you but for this Tasmanian and her family it does!

Hmm, this sand looks good…

how about a taste…

not too sure about that!

Blogtoberfest Day 10 {Just a peek}

Photography by Lisa K Photography

Blogtoberfest Day 9 {Exhausted!}

Yes it is 11:30 and I really should be in bed. Especially since I have been sitting here thinking how tired I am for the last few hours! I have a very bad habit of staying up late…way too late for someone who still gets up at least once a night to feed a baby and who gets woken early by 3 little girls ready to bounce off the walls!

Anyway, had a great photo shoot and just made it out of the gardens before it closed. I am sure I will have something to show sometime soon but I will leave you with a photo of the gumboots drying. Yes I actually scrubbed them! Can’t have dirty boots for the shoot!

Oh and the cupcakes too…

Sorry for the uninteresting post…it really was the best I could muster. Hopefully after some sleep I can construct a better post for tomorrow.