Clapotis finished!

Yay - this is the wrap finally finished.



I do love it - knitted in Silk Garden Lite, it took me about 4-5m to get done, a bit longer than expected, but them's the breaks.




I did an additional 8-10 repeats in the straight section cause I wanted it long, and it surely is!!


Very happy to have another WIP knocked off.

Call that a wool delivery......

THIS is a wool delivery!!!!!

Check out the size of this box that arrived for me from Little Knits in USA this week :)



And this is what was inside....




They had Noro on sale, so I may have bought a little bit. I have all the best intentions of onselling on Trade me - not all of it of course ;) - but first I want to pat it for a while.

Sue from Little Knits was awesome. This only took about 10d to come from USA, and because it was over a certain amount, she split the international costs with me.

I also got some Brown Sheep products - Wildfoote, Lambs Pride Worsted and some Serenditpity Tweed that I think will go towards winter hats and scarves.

I love wool :)

Thanks Mandy! RAOK Swap

Mandy from Australia sent me this absolutely stunning wetbag she made from recycled woollen blanket. It is just.... GORGEOUS!!! On the other side of the bag there is a ladybird on a leaf.



She was also super clever, and sent me the seeds as well from a local organic supplier, so I am looking forward to getting more garden beds in.

Actually, Shane did them yesterday when I was at work, so they just need to be filled with soil, and we are good to go!

Thanks so much Mandy - there is no way this will be a wet bag with Shane doing most of the nappies now. More like it will be a knitting project bag for me :)

Thanks Meagan!

A bit remiss of me - I have not yet posted the photos of my Australian Bag Lady Swap from Ravelry :)



Meagan from Australia sent me this great package! It also had a Yarn mag with it, but I couldn't find it when I was taking photos this morning.

Thanks Meagan - its a wonderful gift, and I love it heaps. The kids love the books too, so far I have managed to keep little miss off the stickers as I want to "control" her putting them in the book for once.

Really appreciate your work - especially the killer postage!!

Anzac Day

Its a small thing, but every ANZAC Day I try to make these - Anzac bikkies from the Edmonds cookbook. Most kiwis would know what I am on about, but the aussies are going to be lost!

The Edmonds cookbook is a must have in any kiwi kitchen. I think its been published since the 50s and it has evolved with NZ. I love it - specially since it has all the handy conversions in the front. So whenever I am cooking USA recipes, I have to pull this out to convert ;)



This batch were interesting! Everytime I make them they are a little bit different, sometimes they are stodgy, other times chewy. I admit I like the chewy ones best - I think its a function of the butter!

So I think the origins of Anzac bikkies were that they were the ingredients readily available during WWI, (but I can't see butter being available.....) and I think they were baked and sent over to the troops. The other great thing about them is they are great for kids to make as they dont have any egg, so the mix can be eaten raw, which obviously is great when you have little hands with you. Jenna loves cvooking with me :)

Its my first Anzac Day back in NZ for a number of years, and it was nice to see the NZ spin on the day. I have missed the kiwi feel to the "celebrations". Anzac Day always makes me feel very sad - I could never let my children go to fight in a war, and I dont know how parents do it - even now. I hate the waste of life, what a horrendous waste, and while I know those poor boys and men did it for the good of the country, sometimes I wonder. Specially with the political nature of the wars of today. Surely there were ways to avoid Gallipoli and the whole bloody war??

Finally finished it!

Sheep washcloth (http://www.knittingknonsense.com/bobbles_sheep.html) - what a nightmare!!
I have never done bobbles before, so this was a very sharp learning curve. SOOOOO many of them!! About 45.



Still, its finished, I'm having a month where I am trying to get as many things off the needles as poss, and this was eating away at me.

Its now successfully being used in the kitchen. Actually Shane is reacing for the home made clothes more and more, they really get the crap off the table and the bench, so thats pretty cool :)

An even bigger girl!!

So wow - Jenna first term at kindy is over, and it seems like she is still so little to be going, but she loves it.

Today was the end of term, and there was a concert in the next door baptist church, and here is a photo of all the kids. OMG I could probably be sued if they knew I posted their kids on the net, but they are just so cute :)



So I just threw Jenna up on the stage cause we got there late (we had been planting the new gardens!!!) and I didn't even pay attention to te fact that she was ripping it up, but it was only afterwards, when a couple of the parents commented to me that she was totally into it, I really realised she was! Specially when I playback the video of my camera and I see all the other kids her age just standing there with their arms by their sides, liek little stunned rabbits!!
So here is a special photo to show my little girl getting into it, and even better, half the songs were Maori, which I love even more since its a private Montisorri kinder, in a very "white" town, and they are totally going against what I thought :) Love, love, love it!!!!!!!




Oh - by the way, mine is the little one with the red top and the denim shorts :)