RAOK that was not so random, and was more like a swap....

Two lovely ladies did something nice for me recently.  Hannah dyed up some lovely grey wool, and Julia knitted it into a gorgeous baby blanket.

 Lovely isn't it?  They are both very clever women.

I'm shocking at not returning kindness - its in my nature to repay in some way.  Whether its a box of choccies, or something I can make - I aim to do something in return.

Julia has been doing some sewing lately, so I thought I'd whip her up a little cute pincushion, and a WIP bag.  She likes brown - so this knit was dug out from the stash and matched with a cute japanese print.

Hannah apparently likes brown, but it doesn't really matter cause she was getting this anyway - LOL.
I was totally lazy - managed to change to a ball tipped needle for the knit, but didn't even bother to coordinate the thread, so its a dark navy.  Slack huh?

All four knocked up in a couple of hours, and hopefully they show my appreciation to two lovely ladies.  The link to make the mousies can be found here.

Final sum up of 12 Days....

OK - so the best laid plans and all that.......

I meant to post daily with the swap I sent and the swap I received.  But my camera is on the fritz, and life has gotten in the way, and well, here we are at Day 12, and I have a couple of photos to share.

Odette sent me all these goodies.  Just a gorgeous swap - thanks ever so much.  (Stitch markers are missing as they are already in my SM pouch and I can't find them at the moment...)  I've loved the deccies, the gardening stuff is lovely, and the book is really good!  I've not seen the series or read any of the books, and I'm really enjoying it!  I actually would love to be reading now rather than cooking the Christmas lunch, but the big guy is in bed sleeping, so thems the breaks.


This is the final swap that Hannah should have amassed.  Its so strange when you participate in swaps to look at the final product.  I put alot of time into Hannah's swap at a pretty tricky old time.  To me it looks bitzy, but I know each thing in there was thought about and considered.  There are 6 handmade things, a few bought things, and a few things that were jokey.

 

So another Christmas Day is over as far as the kids are concerned.   I am more excited about about the roast chicken in the oven, and the pav and brandy snaps awaiting us!  I did get a pretty special present (apart from the much needed Clarins products and some new knit picks and addi's needles).  I told Shane he owed me diamond earrings after the grief he has put me through.

I helped out by using an old 1/4 carat diamond pendant of mine as one of the earrings, and traded in all my unwanted or broken 9ct gold jewellery, so I now have a lovely pair of sparklies at a much cheaper price than buying new.  The camera is really on the fritz (hopefully a second hand Nikon SLR D200 coming to me in the new year!!!)  so here is a fritzy shot to show the size.  Perfect I would say :) 

 

I hope all your Christmasses are lovely too.  I just have to go and deal with the nearly 6yo who has her first digital camera, and the 4yo who has a noisy digger truck that is driving us all mad!!!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 3 and 4

Oops - its a double post today.  Yesterday was just one of those days.  I forgot appointments and just ran around like a chook all day.

The mugginess has lifted slightly, but now we have that damp feeling that comes with the rain on a warm day.  Still - the gardens are watered by nature, which is great since sprinkler bans kicked in Waipa last night.  Hand held watering still find, but no more sprinklers.  Still - if its hot, not much is going to stop me putting the sprinkler on for the kids to play in!

So - Day 3 received from Odette was a wonderful partner for Mr Claus.  She's pretty happy on the tree near her mate, but I have noticed all the decorations keep changing spots.  At least the decs aren't falling on the ground - not like all the needles.  Hmmmm.

Day 4 from Odette were these great little stitch markers. 

I never have enough stitch markers.  With all the seamless knits I do, I find that lots and lots of these things is an absolute must.

Day 3 sent was this tin.

It was filled with Days 4,5,6 and luckily Hannah has already said what she opened for Day 4, because I had forgotten to write them down before sealing them into Day 3!
Day 4 was a small, densely knitted cloth.  2 ends, and really thick.  Will probably be a great little kitchen scrubber.

Jenna is really beginning to get into this swap.  This morning she quietly came to ask me if she could open day 4.  I allowed her to, since she showed such restraint!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 2

Today is Wednesday.  It was a hard day....  Schools are finishing up.  I had to go to my workplace to empty out my desk for my maternity leave replacement, and there was a concert, a Pippins party and of course nibbles to prepare.

So - hard day for me, I'm tired, its hot, I'm over it.

It's nice therefore to have a wee pick-me-up!

Today I received this lovely little santa decoration from Odette in my Day 2 parcel.  I'm not sure if she made it, but its incredibly well finished, so if she did she's a smartie!!!

Hannah would have opened her day 2 parcel to find this:  Something for the kiddlies :)

In addition to the swap festivities, I got the teacher's gifts together this evening too (x 6 - 4 kindy teachers and 2 school teachers)  6 nice teatowels each filled with about 1kg of freshly dug new potatoes from our vege garden. 

Seems a weird present to give, but with all the wonderful things teachers receive at this time of year - especially new entrants teachers - I like giving a practical easy present that people don't feel bad about receiving or cooking and using!!



On with tomorrow - phew!  This heat is killing me so with the promise of rain tomorrow, I'm already loving the idea of a good night's sleep.

12 Days of Christmas - Day 1

Odette sent me my lovely parcels, wrapped carefully and they look quite exciting!

Today is day one of the swap.

 I'm pleased to reveal what I  sent over to Hannah

Christmas toilet paper.  A must have!

And the lovely gift received, chocolate fig and ginger fruit mince.  Yum!!!!  Not sure what I'm going to use this for, but I do have some shortcrust pastry in the freezer, so maybe I'll get that out and make some tarts!  Yum.

12 days of Christmas swap

Over on Ravelry (my haunt for knitting related guff), the NZ and Aussie knitters organised a small swap for the 12 days of Christmas.
The idea was - 12 gifts, one to be opened each day, max $30-40 spend, and the last day is to be something substantial.

My swap partner is the lovely Hannah aka Rainbowchild, and I have had alot of fun getting it all together, but its done and ready to be posted!

Its all a bit out there, and I think on some days she will think I'm a bit odd, but on other days I think I've hit it on the head.

I've photographed everything individually, so I plan to do a daily reveal of the gift I have received, and the gift I sent.  I'm really looking forward to this!  Except that gifts 4,5,6 are inside gift 3, which is wrapped, and I can't remember the order.....  And gift 3 is actually quite nicely wrapped, so I dont want to pull it apart just to check my numbers.  So 4,5,6 will be on the day 6 all together.

To whet Hannah's appetite, here is the total package ready to be sent out.  Wrapped of course!

Fun fun fun!!

Sock Yarn Swapsies - TNN

It swap time again in the TNN halls of residence!



I received this today - its just lovely! I am going to cast on with it immediately:


Not sure who it is from, I am OK with these things staying a secret usually. I'm not sure why, I guess I just used to get so excited about finding out what things were, I sort of wore myself out.

So there is 100g of sock wool (we specified a good quality mix this time around), a lovely little felted ball which I can't decide what to do with - definitely not for the kids.... and a pattern for socks - Peacock Tail Socks.

My swapper has done a lovely job, the colours are rich and vibrant, and with it being her first semi solid, I think she has done a cracker job.

So - to my Sock fairy in Christchurch (if your return address is genuine....) - THANKS!!!

Selfish Dishcloth swap

This was sent to Alison from TNN for a selfish dishcloth swap. Knitted from Bendigo cotton - very soft, probably better for a face cloth.


I liked it - it was loads easier to knit than it looked, just lots of wrapping and shot rows.

Pay it forward

So a year or so ago I promised to do a PIF that would turn up in 365 days - and I only got 2 responses, and one of them was a little dodgy (not you margaret...)

I am OK with not receiving my PIF - cause really - in these things do you ever "expect" to receive them?

But I want to put it out again since I am just over my year, and I am one for commitments!!! So if you are Oz or NZ please be one of 2 to comment, and I can fulfill my blogworld duty :D

Really - who cares, and who knows, and its all about karma, which I am all into.....

So post first two, and get something nice that suits you in the next month or two - I promise to lurk and stalk to get it almost right :)

Should say that if you want to receive you have to post this on your blog and post to 3 in return within 365 days.........

Swap - How cool is murder.....

OK - I have finally read through the file and I can state that my swapper was Christine. Thanks so much. It was the flash of light I needed :)

My swap theme was I guess murder? Hard to say since I got sent a case file which I hope I dont actually have to solve. VJ did an awesome job of this swap, only 100g of wool which is awesome as I love quality, not quantity, and her colours are perfect for me. Has she been stalking???

SO the box arrives - big case file, and I was already smiling ;)


Open in up, red splatters everywhere and I see the evidence bags. Wool. Sock stitch markers on a noose. Chocolate - dark. A novel. And a case file.

Admittedly I went straight for the goodies and looked (yay - wool and chocolate and reading....) , and glances over the rest, but it was clear to see a lot of work went into this swap.


From the getgo I thought it was Christine because she does insanely themed and overcommitted swaps that makes everyone say (gee I wish she was my swapper...) and I am stoked to be on the receiving end :)



So those that know me. I am a massive murder novel freak. I love them all - name a murder author, I have probably read ;) My fave over the last few years is Karin Slaughter. (keep in mind I have small kids, so if you have a new author you think I should read, please leave a comment.)

Red is my colour. Specially the deep red that Christine got.

I love sock wool - enough said. Patonyle is awwwwwwwwwesome.

100g is perfect.

Books are good.

Choc is OK, it sweetens up him, and goes nicely with red wine ;)

Sock patterns - yes I collect patterns and wool, yet rarely knit.

Recipe - I am a closet wannabe chef so all cooking goes down well here.

Tattoo shot - yes I have a tatt, and while its not the extreme that VJ pictured, I am still "drawn upon..."

I am always losing my bloody stitchmarkers, so everytime I cast on yet another project (I currently have 3 pairs of socks, 2 dishcloths, 2 shawls, 2 tops, 2 dresses, 1 soaker, 1 blanket....) my stitchmarkers (and KP's tips) have to be stolen off one project, and on to another...


Thanks VJ - lovely swap.
PS - yes I have read the book, and I already have a new swap in mind. Yes I have read the case file, and I found the VJ hidden amongst all the comments, so gut no longer matters, I have evidence!!!!!!

YSV3

Yarn Swap Version 3.

This was sent to Sheryl in Taranaki. She has let me know she received it, and she knew it was from me, so here is a shot.



Its Bendigo Rustic 8ply, and the theme is honey.

I originally dyed this up to make another rainbow dress, but I ended up liking it so much, and it fit with a theme so nicely, so I decided to send it to Sheryl instead. She is on a campaign to knit a sweater a month at the mo, so I doubt socks will make on her needle until she gets through her February and March jumpers ;)

Lunch Bag

TNN are doing a series of yarn swaps at the moment, I have just sent off #3, so I shall put that up next week when my swapper receives it.

But this project was started right back from V1. Its been sitting there because I had run out of white 10ply hand wash wool. BUt I found some last week in my stash, and decided to put it to good use.

So here is the before shot:


And the after shot:



I need to find a fun button (oh damn - a trip to spotlight, or knit world.....) but I'm pretty happy with the result. A new lunch bag!

Pattern was from Knitty, and is called Brown Bag. I never found out who this swapper was, but I hope they like what I did with the wool.

(I'll be honest and say I pushed this project ahead cause I needed my 6mm, 40cm addis for another project ;) )

Bag Swap

Gee - I just love swaps! Well actually thats not entirely true....

I dont like the stress of getting the swap out, but I love receiving swaps and I also love getting my swap wrapped up and out the door!

My latest was a bag swap with TNN - The Nappy Network - which is an NZ cloth nappy website.

The criteria was a $10 max spend and the bag had to be made yourself. I decided to knit a bag since most of the others were sewing, and well, knitting is so much more portable! Actually the real answer is my sewing table is covered in uni stuff, and I can't be bothered sorting it until I have my new office at school.

So unfortunately I didn't get the swap finished by the deadline, which was about the 20th Dec, and as we flew out to Oz on the 16th, I was kinda stuffed. Luckily I got an extension, which was very nice, and here I am showing my swap before its sent.... I think the post office is closed now isn't it? No point in not showing it :)

It is the Elissa Nest Tote from the Purl Bee (I love this website!!!!!) and I'm pretty happy with it. The applied I-cord border took me a couple of goes, but I got there in the end.


As it was late I decided to add a couple of extras - some hot pink tea-towels, a ball-band dishcloth in contrasting colours, some choccy and I have regifted some seeds from the lovely Shae, as we already had these in our stash ( and I thought the idea of brown packet, rainbow silverbeet worked well with the whole theme ). Its now wrapped up in monster fabric and ready to be sent on Monday!

I received a lovely package in return from my swapper in Hamilton.



Not sure who - I am hopeless at trying to figure these things out! 3 bags, I think they will be good for the library. Red and black pirates for Hamish, purple butterflies for Jenna, and a nice black and green bag for me (I guess?).

Thanks so much swappers (for your patience and your great work) and here's to the next swap. Hand Dyed yarn swap in Feb 09.

Some little mushies....

These form part of my next swap for TNN. Its a hand dyed wool swap, with some extras. I dyed the wool up ages ago, and I have been having trouble deciding exactly what do theme it around.



Its nice having a theme :) Sort of ties everything together.

So this is one part of my swap - and I hand felted them this morning in the kitchen, and they are rocking cool!!! Like really - I wont show an after pic as I want the whole swap all captured together, but these are just so nice.

Pattern is here and can I just say its rare that my finished items look like they do in the pattern, and this time they do :) Happy little knitting fi!

Hopefully I will have the swap off in about a week. I am working on the big part at the moment, and I think that I will have to hand felt it, which IS NOT COOL.

Yarn Swap - sent and received!

I recently joined in a yarn swap on TNN - the NZ Nappy network for hand dyed wool. There was more than just that criteria though, The swap had to be themed - and had to also include a recipe, a pattern for the wool, a knitting gift and a small gift.

So this is the lovely surprise I received in the mail on Tuesday :) An Apple for the teacher. Isn't that cool??



I'm not sure what I will use the wool for - its great colours, limes, green, pink yellow - all very cool as these are colours I have trouble getting when I dye with the acid dyes I have. It looks like a handspun, or a very loose 5-8ply wool. Loverly ;)

And of course my lovely swapper went above and beyond - there are all sorts of gifts in there. Tea bags, a knitted cloth, a cool bag, some apple cinnamon dessery stuff, a bath bomb, an apple decal - I'm sure I am forgetting something....

Anyway - thanks to my swapper in Ham, which I dont think is where she is from - maybe?? All gratefully received.

I sent this off to someone in Australia - its a fire themed swap since Aussie is so hot ;)




Sock wool, the firestarter sock pattern (love this sock!!!), some KP DPN's, a recipe for an above ground hangi, and a flames dishcloth. I feel a bit ordinary since my swapper put so much into their package, but I know that everything I sent was still OK. And the receiver seems to be happy. I see she has put the pattern in her ravelry queue.....

Love swaps :)

Death by Hat!!

This weekend the Death by Hat comp started through Woolaholics, a knitting community I belong to.
The "targets" were released on Saturday morning, and the pattern released at 2pm NZ time Saturday afternoon.

My target isn't a NZer, so it will take about 5-7 days to get to her in WA, so I thought I had better get cracking! I have no doubts that I will be killed quickly - I expect I will only knit one hat, so here is my finished product. Actually - not quite, its blocking at the moment :)



The pattern is the slouchy copy cat hat, and it was really easy to knit - using about 2 balls of Kureyon, colour 150.

I am sure my victim will be happy to die with this hat ;)

RAOK

This is a swap I put together for a woman in Aus for the Woolaholics Random Act of Kindness swap. Its a great idea, because when you sign up for the swap, all you know is sometime in the next 6m a parcel will arrive on your doorstep.



Courtney is a knitter, and budding crocheter, and is expecting a little girl very soon. I hope that the little girl gets alot of use out of this dress - its the little sister dress pattern which was great to knit.

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!!

Bag swap finished!

In the nick of time......

This is my contribution for the Australian Bag lady swap from Ravelry. I'm sure my swapper doesn't read my blog, so I'm not worried about posting it.




Its knitted from Possum/Merino wool, and its really lovely I think!