Hopping along (15/52)

My daughter is in the last few weeks of being a Brownie, next term she will be a Girl Guide. We are busily finishing off a few clauses for the last couple of patches she wants to complete before moving up.

One of the clauses was to have a family member teach you a new skill to make a toy, it could be sewing, knitting, woodwork etc. We started with knitting and quickly realised that this wasn't going to be as easy as I thought despite finding an easy garter stitch dog pattern (remember knitting isn't really a strong skill of mine!). So sewing it was!

We had so much fun making these little bunnies, we raided my stash of eyes and were both surprised how different they looked with just changing the eyes. We sat together chatting and stitching, it seems we don't spend enough time doing that.

We stuffed them with left over wool scraps, talking about how much better that was than going out to buy a bag a fibre-fill. I'm hoping those little thrifty moments will have a life long impact on her thinking. Making something with what you have (we talked about how we could have embroidered the eyes if we didn't have any bought ones at hand), passing on skills and having fun together. All things that don't cost a great deal.

I think I need to make it more of a regular thing.

Guava love (14/52)

Just the thought of Guavas conjures up lots of magical childhood memories. We had a Guava tree in our backyard and visits to my Grandparents meant lashings of Guava jelly. What the Guava jelly was served on I can't quite recall, but that tart but sweet flavour is like a window into my past. I also remember being fascinated by the jars sealed with wax and cellophane.

A few years ago I put in a couple of red Guava trees in our garden, this is the first year that we've had enough fruit to actually make a decent amount of jelly. Three jars, and it's absolutely perfect! It teams up well with fresh pikelets! 

Do you have magical childhood food memories?

Kintted (13/52)

 A few months ago my husband bought a large bag of T-shirt rags from our local recycled clothing shop. It seemed we couldn't supply enough rags ourselves to keep up with his demand for them, so for a few dollars we had a giant bag of them. More than he needed so I went through and picked out some coloured ones that caught my eye, leaving him with the copious amounts of black ones to wipe up greasy car oil.

A few evenings were spent cutting them into strips, the perfect mindless activity to accompany some television time. I had some plans to crochet the strips into baskets, but in the end a new bath mat was knitted up instead. Knitting skills are seriously lacking here, it's garter stitch or nothing! I do quite like those rows of wavy garter stitch though.

There might be a few more colourful T-shirts disappearing from my husband's stash! I hope he doesn't notice.

Woolfest (12/52)

A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of attending the Auckland Woolfest with a couple of lovely blogging friends (thanks for the ride Leonie!). The weather was particularly nasty but we landed a perfect park right out the front and of course the cold makes for perfect wool/fibre buying weather.

I set off with a buying list in my mind, and a cash budget, fibre for spinning was at the top of the list. I am happy to report that I picked up everything I was looking for as well as a few things I didn't even know I needed!

This fibre "Gone bush" from Fibre 2 Go was spun up pretty quickly, I've got a small shawl like scarf in mind for the finished yarn, which I hope will crochet up as quickly as the fibre was spun.

Woolfest was a bit like being a kid in a candy store! So much colourful squishy goodness it was hard not to give it all a hug! I'll share more of my purchases over the coming months as I spin them up! Spinning seems the perfect way to spend these cooler evenings.

While taking the yarn photos I've discovered the little mossy world that is my BBQ table. It might need a sand and a coat of oil before the Summer!

Always changing

One of our favourite places to visit is the Auckland Botanic Gardens, it's free (if we can dodge the cafe!), local and ever changing. It seems that every we visit there is something new to see, new flowers, new plantings and foliage. As long as we visit the childrens' garden first we are free to explore the rest of the gardens at leisure.

We recently took some overseas visitors with us, I was blown away by all the blue flowers, I don't think I've ever seen so many different types of blue flowers in one place. The place was teaming with bees and bumble bees, busily going about their pollination duties.

Possum Pixie (11/52)

I really do enjoy sewing things for little ones, the size means they are often finished quickly which is always a bonus! I had the pleasure of making a little pixie hood coat for my nephew who I met for the first time recently. He lives in a warm land and I wanted to make sure he had something snugly to wear while he was here.

I've made so many pixie hood coat now that they do come together so quickly, I could make one in my sleep. This one I made from a thrifted jumper, a super soft Possum and Merino blend and for the lining my daughter (a proud big cousin) chose a Kiwi print fabric.

I'd forgotten how fast little legs move, especially when they are trying to keep up with big cousins, so photos are limited, but I think you can tell it would be a cosy to wear. It's generous in size so hopefully will last a few Winters, perhaps another visit to NZ too. Well an Aunt can only hope right?

dog's bowl (10/52)

Late last year I popped into a fibre selling market with my boy, with a strict budget and knowledge of exactly what I wanted. Except that boy of mine fell in love with some super soft squishy blue merino sliver and I left without the fibre I wanted, well some of it anyway.

He picked it up and declared that he needed a hat, and I was to spin it up straight away. I did, but in the heat of Summer he quickly realised that it wasn't the most perfect weather for hat wearing. I just knitted a rectangle and at the top stitched it into four points, super easy. I added a few stitches in red on the side too, his favourite colour (it always helps to ensure it will actually be worn).

The weather here STILL isn't hat wearing weather, but last time I looked he was using it as dog storage! I'm hoping the weather cools soon, I think it's a bit wasted as a dog bowl. Don't you agree?

Taste of Autumn

So many of my favourite things to eat are in abundance in this Autumn weather, Figs, Blackberries, Guavas! All growing in our small backyard and oh so delicious fresh off the tree! Even if I have to try and beat the birds to them all!

 Do you have a favourite season for freshly grown food?

Overdyed (9/52)

A long time ago when I started experimenting with acid dyes, I started off practicing on some pre-loved woollen baby clothes. It seemed a great way to see how the dyes reacted and I wasn't ruining my precious (spent a million hours spinning it) hand spun wool. The most I had to lose was a small amount of dye and a thrifted cardigan.

I went a bit crazy dying lots and lots of wee cardigans. Most needed slight repairs, a missing button or two, or a seam gently pulling apart. For the most part they have sat unfinished in their freshly dyed state for quite some time.

A few weeks ago, I decided the time had come to finish a couple of them and gift them to a couple of little baby girls I know. A few crochet flowers and new mother of pearl buttons and they were done. Hopefully they'll be keeping their new owners snugly and warm in the coming cooler months.

Now to finish off the dozen or so other jumpers I've got stashed away, and to find myself a cardigan in that perfect shade of green!