A Bunch Of Projects

Today I finished knitting the green bag that I have been planning on making for a long time. I unraveled the woolen jumper a while ago and hadnt got around to using the yarn yet. Suddenly I got an urge to knit it. It is not felted yet. I think I will try to get that done tomorrow so its still in its pre-shrinking stage. Once its all felted, shaped and dried, I will have to try and order the fancy ceramic button that I want to get made for it that has a blue bird on it. I am then going to get some felt or embroider and larger version of the bird in the bottom corner of the bag. This is the plan anyway. When I am making bags the plan changes many times before its finished.


I am working on a gift for a lady that I know at MOPS who is having a baby boy in a few months. She is also Megan's adopt-a-teen mum from church and is always doing nice things for Megan so I think its time we did something nice back. She also has two other sons with the oldest one being nearly 4. I have decided to do a fleece blanket for the baby and each brother is going to get a monkey. The monkeys are light blue and dark blue with the colours being reversed for each one so they will know which one belongs to which boy. They are kind of big brother presents. This is the first monkey made and the second monkey is all knitted its just waiting to be stuffed and sewed together. Once that is done I will be able to work on the blanket. I am planning to give it to her at the next MOPS meeting which is on May 7th. I think I have plenty of time. I have embroidered the eyes on these monkeys because the boys are so little. I definitely prefer them with button eyes though.


Of course you have to have the monkey butt shot.


My friend Natalie had her birthday a couple of weeks ago so I decided to make her a shawl for her birthday. She has seen me make them many time for other people and I always got the feeling that she really wanted one too but just never said anything. She really likes purple and Megan helped me pick the right purple to make it in. It only took me about 3 days to make so it was a quick and easy project. It was definitely worth it because she just loved it and said the colour was just perfect. Thats the best part about making things for people or doing custom orders, the look on their face when they really love and appreciate what you have made. I think thats my favourite part of doing crafts and creating things, is that one moment when people receive what you have made and it makes them smile.


This is just a small project that I did last week. Megan's girl scout troop were putting together a basket as a thank you to one of the program directors. We had a meeting where they girls made candles, soaps, shower gel and bath salts to put in the basket. It was an interesting meeting hehe. I made this cotton washcloth as my contribution to the basket. In all the projects I have done I have never made a washcloth. It was kind of fun. I think I will have to make them again. Its always nice to work with cotton especially in the warmer months. As you are knitting with it, it tends to get softer the more you handle it.


I have also been busy working on the Summer Reading Program for the library. I cant believe I agreed to do it again after all my freaking out last year but I have realized after doing it last year it seems a little easier this time around. The theme this year is Catch The Reading Bug so everything will be all about bugs. My partner is the same lady I had last year. We enjoyed working together and I think we are a good pair. We are doing the kids going into Preschool and Kindergarten which means Victoria is in my group and my partners granddaughter is as well. Having the bug theme has made things alot easier as well as there are so many cute ideas that we can come up with its just a matter of which ones to do. We have figured out our 5 week plan and what we will do each week we just have to fine tune it. The 6th week is the big finale so we dont have to have a plan for that day. Megan is going to be a teen helper. She will be helping with the 5th graders. I think its going to be fun.

We just got a note home today about Victoria's class taking a trip to the zoo in May. I am so excited about this because Victoria has never been to the zoo even though every summer I have said I want to go to the zoo and we just havent done it. I get to go along too so we will have a blast. I have went on this trip with Megan when she was in Kindergarten and 1st grade and we had a great time. I will definitely be charging up all batteries and have my camera ready for that day. Its going to be so fun to see Victoria's reaction when she sees these animals in person. I really hope the weather is nice that day. We will make the best of it no matter what I think. We will have to bring some money for the gift shop that day because will definitely want to bring something home.

Megan got a letter home from school the other day saying that she has been nominated for this Maths and Science Scholar Program in the summer. All we have to do is send in the application by the middle of May and wait to hear back. I just got the application today so we shall see how that goes. From what I have read they will go to a local college and stay in some dorm rooms for 5 days. They will be learning all this Hi Tech Maths and Science stuff and it will be kind of like going to college. Her really good friend who is also super smart got nominated as well so hopefully they will both get to go so she will have someone she knows. Only a handful of kids get the opportunity to do this so its really exciting. The best part about it all is its FREE! My only hope is that its not on at the same time as her girl scout camp. That would really suck to have to choose. I will have to find out when thats on.

Well thats all I can think of that has been going on at the moment. Hopefully the computer wont go crazy again and there wont be such a big gap in posts next time. Apparently when I dont write a post my sister thinks something has happened to me as she mentioned in her phone call last night. This is my family's way of finding out what we are up to on the other side of the world.

Spring Has Sprung!

Last week the girls were on a weeks holiday from school. The weather was warm and sunny and we spent alot of time playing outside and going to the park. Victoria was in her element because she just loves to run around outside. We went on a walking trip around our neighbourhood taking pictures of spring. Apparently we were a little ahead of ourselves because this week there are even more flowers and prettiness about. When we went on our trip we were having trouble finding images of Spring. I guess I will have to take some more photos. Victoria joined me in my picture taking with her Hannah Montana camera that makes all the right noises but doesnt actually take pictures. It was so funny to see her doing all these photographer poses and thinking what would be a good shot. Perhaps she will be a photographer one day. She even had to take a photo of her shoe which would have made my dad proud hehe. Family members would get what that means. She told me she was taking her camera home to load her pictures up on her Barbie computer. I guess she's been watching me a bit hehe. On our walk Megan also expressed an interest in photography and a want for her own real camera. I will have to keep that in mind for her birthday.

Here is a shot of a lovely bunch of crocuses we found. Snowdrops and crocuses always tell me that the snow is on the way out. Its always exciting to see them. I never really cared too much about the flowers coming out in Spring when I was in Australia but when you are looking at snow for months on end its very exciting to see flowers again and the promise of warm weather to come.


Whilst out walking I was pointing out to Victoria the buds on the trees and that the buds meant that leaves were coming. Once she knew what they were she was spotting buds on trees and bushes all over the place. It was even more exciting when we could see leaves that had actually popped open.


This photo is a little blurry because I had spotted this bird on a way to walking home and had already put my camera in its pouch. I hurriedly got it out to try and catch this bird who was in a tree pretty close to where we were walking. I believe that it is a woodpecker. We have had some in the walnut trees in our backyard pecking away and I think this is the same type. If anyone knows differently I would love to hear about it. Im sure my Nanna would have loved to have seen this little guy because she loved to bird watch.

Update Coming Soon

I have been wanting to update my blog for days and days but our computer was acting very whacky and slow. Joe worked his magic and got it all up and running today. I will hopefully be able to do a big update with lots of pictures tomorrow. Lots of finished projects and projects in the works to show off.
Sorry if you got tired of seeing the same old thing to read. Promise there will be something new soon.

Mr Bun Enjoys A Story

Here is Mr Bun who was finished the other day. He just loves to be read to. Here he is learning all about Guinea Pigs. Please note on the right hand side of the photo that Ringo is enjoying the story as well.


Now you can see Mr Bun straight on. Apparently he is a bunny of the 80s because he is wearing a skinny tie. Next time I try to knit a tie I will have to remember to put increases in it so its not so skinny.


This photo helps to show off all Mr Bun's details. He is very soft and fuzzy and makes you want to snuggle with him. This was my first time using safety eyes in my knitted toys rather than embroidering or using buttons. I like the effect and they were quick and easy to put in. I think if I were to make this pattern again I would do the ears a little differently. I would turn them around the other way and knit another piece in a different colour to sew inside the ear.

The Many Faces Of Hershey

I was finally able to sit down and take some good shots of our new little Hershey. Isnt she just the cutest, chubbiest thing? Dont you just want to snuggle with her?


Hello! Kissy, Kissy!


Munching and crunching on a granny smith apple


This photo shows you just how wide she is hehe.

Ive Been Busy Finishing Projects

Im sorry for taking so long to post. I have been trying to get a few projects finished that needed to be done in a hurry and with Easter as well I just didnt sit down and load photos up and stuff.

We had a fun Easter. The food was good and fun times were had colouring eggs going to egg hunts. I finally found some hot cross buns so Easter could arrive once I had those. We even got some yummy Easter Eggs in the mail from my sister and mum. They didnt last long. Well Megan and I didnt make them last long. Joe and Victoria still have theirs to eat.

Here is a photo of my girls being Easter silly. Megan is wearing Victoria's bunny ears and Victoria is all cool in her purple sunglasses.


These are the flip flops that I finished for the order I got on louellasgoodies.com. I havent heard anything about them not fitting or them being unhappy with them so hopefully no news is good news. I think they turned out pretty well. The reds really seemed to match well even though I didnt have the yarn to compare when I bought the flops.


My friends mum who I was making the prayer shawl for passed away on Easter Sunday morning. The prayer shawl wasnt quite finished yet so I sat down and finished it as fast as I could. It is now all ready to give her. I found a Prayer of Comfort to put with it on the prayer shawl ministry website which was very helpful. Anyone interested in making a prayer shawl should check it out before you start knitting. I wish I had of found it before I started but it helped even finding it at the end. The website is www.shawlministry.com. So here are some shots of the prayer shawl that I made. I ended up using a lace pattern that I found in a book of stitch patterns I have and just knitting a long rectangle for a stole rather than the triangle shape. This yarn is so soft and light. The stitch is very stretchy and open which is what I wanted. Many times I debated on whether I should have used a bigger needle to make the holes bigger but I think the way that it is done makes the different colours in the yarn more visible. I am hoping to be able to give her the shawl tonight hopefully she will like it.




This is the latest edition to our family. Her name is Hershey and she is the fattest, snuggliest guinea pig you will ever meet. I guess its kind of hard to see her face because of her dark chocolate fur. I didnt use a flash because I didnt know if she would like that or not. I will have to take another shot when she is in a different position so I dont hurt her eyes and you can see her better. We picked her up on Friday from my friends house and have been playing with her ever since. Joe says that I am spoiling her hehe. We just sit and snuggle together all over the place. I usually wrap her up in a towel so she can feel secure. We have put her on the floor many times and she doesnt even run which is probably why she is so chunky hehe. We will have to try and get her to exercise more. I had her sitting on the table and the whole time she just sat there kind of changing position every now and then getting lots of pats. Everyone just loves her. Victoria has been making up songs about how much she loves Hershey and Hershey loves her. She loves to feed her lettuce. Ringo was very curious at first but now he doesnt really care and has stopped staring at her cage. He just went back to his regular eating, sleeping, licking routine. Yep looking at that photo I need a better shot to show her extreme cuteness hehe.


On Saturday afternoon I started knitting this bunny pattern which I had found about a year ago and finally had the yarn to make it. This pattern is a very fast knit and he was finished on Sunday morning. I wasnt even knitting the whole time, just coming back to it every now and then. I think maybe because the body and the head are one piece, the other pieces arent that big and the yarn is kind of chunky contributed to the quickness. I used Joann Sensations Angel Hair yarn in beige. I just love that yarn. Its so soft and wonderful to work with. I am planning on making a blanket with it for Joe's cousins wedding present. So Mr Bun Bun as I have dubbed him is all knitted up and he is quite the character. The reason Im not posting a picture yet is because I think he needs something around his neck like a bow tie or tie and right now he just has eyes and Im debating on whether to give him a nose and mouth. Once those things are figured out then he can have his photo shoot.

Well I guess I have filled you in on all the goings on around here. Be sure to tune in for Mr Bun Bun's debut.