Kitties and Knitties

Happy birthday to me!!! This is my awesome present from my friend Kate, to celebrate reaching 43 of your earth years.

May was full of making and doing, sprinkled with family dramas, broken limbs and cats!

Here's the abridged version...

Two new kittens arrived from the SPCA, after our beloved Piglet went to the Big Catnip Patch in the sky. That's Luna on the left, and Charlie getting a cuddle from Angus.

Luna was a very sick kitty; malnourished, dehydrated and infected; but she has recovered now. She is still very small though, and instead of meowing she squeaks. 

Here is Dangermouse herself, who spent May in a full leg cast after busting her knee. I reckon the Emergency Room should give us frequent flyer points. Cleo did enjoy being fussed over at school and not having to do cross country. The cast is now off and she's limping around, although still no running or excessive bending for another month.

 Here are some yummy socks I made for my Dad's birthday. I liked them so much....

....that I made some teeny tiny ones for my 2 year old nephew's birthday, to go with his Converse All Stars!!

I might even have enough wool left over to make some for me!

My whole family are addicted to these things, we've all got a couple of pairs.

Cleo's vest is nearly finished, I just have to rib the armholes. She has actually worn it as is and it looks SO cute. It's nice wool too, soft and not itchy. Kids hate itchy don't they?

Here are some Happy Pills I made, perfectly legal with no adverse side effects.

A little too large to swallow whole though!

More birthday presents (no not the child, I've had her for a while). She's modelling a hat I crocheted for her friend Hannah's birthday.

The yarn is from Spotlight, and self-stripes in a most satisfying manner.

Finally, I've been collecting yummy fabrics for ages to make into a nice warm quilt for me and Himself, and got it all cut out, laid out and pinned. I spent a very happy 3 hours shifting little squares around until I was happy with the layout.

I did toy with the idea of having some kind of ordered pattern, but that's not really me, so I went with my usual ordered chaos!! I can't wait to get it finished.

Upcoming excitement involves Diva's school ball. I have to knit her boyfriend a tie, make her a floral hair thing and crochet a lacy shrug to wear over her dress (a divine pale turquoise floaty thing that makes her look like an ethereal creature), as well as cleaning out and decorating our huge garage so they can have their after-ball party in it!

At the same time I will be churning out 8 oil paintings for a local exhibition.

Phew.

Must remember to keep breathing in and out!

xxxxxx

Make and Bake!

This is Honey Bunny. We have been babysitting her for our friends next door while they were on holiday. She's going home this week, and I will miss her, although I know her family will be overjoyed to see her again! She's so friendly and snuggly, and makes the cutest noises when she hops over to see you.

The kids have gone back to school after a two week break, so I spent Sunday afternoon baking yummy things to put in their lunchboxes.

I'm always so enthusiastic at the beginning of term when it comes to baking! I made savoury scrolls aswell, which were still in the oven when I took this photo. I know several hours of work will be devoured in about two days though, then they will spend the rest of the week wailing that there's nothing to eat. It's like living with a swarm of locusts.

Mmmmmmm.....cherry and almond shortbread..... The locusts aren't so fussed on these, which is a shame, because now I will have to eat them. Bummer...

The kids did some fishing at the river during the holidays... (not many fish, but lots of jumping in the river!)..

...while I sat in the shade with my knitting, complete with piggish companion. Such a nice way to spend an afternoon.

The girls and I did a road trip up to Keri Keri (7 hours drive north) to visit my Grandma. She's 95 and still sprinting around everywhere. She has given me her old sewing machine as she can't use it any more. It's so bizarre that I now have both my grandmother's Singer machines! I will be able to pass them on to both my girls. 

There's Cleo wearing her anti-aardvark hat (don't ask). I was using up some scraps, and this strange thing materialised. It's her new favourite accessory and she wears it with everything. Diva has requested one aswell! We shopped for wool in Keri Keri, and hers will be green, blue and purple stripes. I did have to talk her out of the baby alpaca wool at $17 a ball though! 

Five projects on the go at the moment! A little excessive I know. A bunny for my new nephew Toby, who arrived into the world last week, a grey shrug cardigan for me, purple stripy long socks for Diva, green stripy socks for my Dad, and a purple cabled vest for Cleo!

I'm so enjoying making this bunny, he's brimming with personality.

Here he is modelling the front bit of his jumper, with the gingham fabric that will become his stylish but comfortable trousers.

I think a green scarf may be necessary to complete his outfit! I'm having trouble naming him though, any ideas?

xxxx

Easter Bunnies

HELLO!!! And Happy Easter! Here I am with my BBF (best bunny friend) Kate having a wine or three a few weeks ago. I'm so sorry to anyone who may have missed me slightly that it's been a whole month since my last post. I really don't know how March flew by so quickly, it just seemed to be a busy one.

Spencer and Cleo did the annual mudslide on our neighbour's farm, run by the Boy Scouts. It's a wonderful filthy day for the kids, followed by several days of trying to get them clean again. 

I had such good intentions of doing it with them this year, but I chickened out at the last minute. Just the thought of all that oozy stinky mud between my toes....EW!

Cleo had another Kempo grading. At the moment she is one belt below black. At each grading she earns another stripe, and now has three. Once she gets to six she will grade for black belt, in about a year. Not bad for a ten year old! At least I know if she ever gets picked on by bullies she can beat the crap out of them!!! I'm SO proud!

Why do cats love boxes so much? Angus, Piglet and Nutmeg crammed themselves into this one and slept in it for an entire day. It is autumn now and getting cooler, maybe I should try sleeping in a box? The Husband bought a new lawnmower last week and it came in a HUGE box......hmmmm, I'm having one of those Things...a headache...with pictures......an IDEA!!

This strikes me as a good idea too. I had a pet ferret when I was twelve and I love the little critters.

I haven't had a very productive month craft-wise. I've got a couple of knitting projects on the go, which I will photograph when I get batteries for my camera. And I did make a nice bucket hat for my 20 year old nephew, but I forgot to take a photo of it before I sent it away to him!

Anyway here is a knitted clock I made, which drives The Husband bonkers because it doesn't have any numbers, and if it's not hanging quite straight it's very confusing!!

I intend attaching numbers, but I haven't decided how. Maybe buttons? I like the idea of row counters, but they are usually quite big and cylindrical, so I don't really know how I would attach them.

I hope you have a lovely funny bunny Easter, with lots of carrot...I mean chocolate!

Lots of love

Dominique

xxx

Art and Penguins

My Nan would be proud. I was never allowed to sit about being idle, instead I was given socks to darn, onions to chop, recipes to write out, and any other little chores to keep my hands busy. Despite all the moaning and complaining I used to do, I am now completely unable to sit still for more than about 3 seconds unless I am making, sewing, knitting or crocheting! And after this weeks monumental craftathon, I'm pretty sure I would get a nod of approval from wherever Nan is hanging out now.

I started my week with a bit of garden art.  I'm not entirely sure why - when I came across my old painting easel in the garage -  I was inspired to stick it in the garden! Possibly because I have almost completely filled my house with junk, and it is now spilling out into the world?

Art is art I guess, whatever the medium! And I won't have to weed it...

 Look at this marvel of modern engineering! I became somewhat irate and uttered some Bad Words while untangling the jumble of cotton reels in my sewing box. 

 I whipped up this organiser contraption with a bit of MDF and a bunch of nails purloined from the Husband's man cave, an old velvet cushion cover and some upholstery trim.

Luckily all the cotton reels hide how wonky the nails are...
Speaking of modern engineering, my Singer sewing machine used to belong to my Nan. She bought it in 1950 and taught my mother to sew on it. I then learned to sew on the same machine when I was a child. When Nan got very old and couldn't sew any more because of arthritis and bad eyesight, she gave it to me.
Nan died about six years ago at the age of 94. Her sewing machine just keeps going! It sews beautifully, weighs a ton, and sounds a bit like a helicopter, and I treasure it.

This is one of  the many sewing projects I have been tackling this week. I'm copying a dress owned by my friend Kate, don't you love those colours! I will post a pic when it's finished.

The dining table is closed until further notice. It miraculously morphed into a sewing table, while dinners balance precariously on laps... 

Here's Cleo sewing a birthday present for our friend and neighbour Hugo, who is turning 6 this week. Isn't it marvelous that MY daughter is now learning to sew on that amazing old machine!!

This is what she will be wearing to Hugo's Polar themed party, we took her old black sweatshirt and made it so much betterer!! I want a sweatshirt like that!

It's been raining a whole lot lately. I love the rain, I would be happy if it rained All The Time. I just feel so peaceful and content when it's raining.

Although the rain does tend to make my hair a bit frizzy...

Anyway, thanks for checking out my website... (WEBsite? Geddit?)

Hope you have a groovy weekend!
Lots of love

xxx

Is This Gorgeous Creature Related to Me?

My 17 year old daughter Diva, photographed by her best friend Peter.

Cleo trying out her 10th birthday present. It just got a whole lot noisier in our house!

Spencer comforts a startled cat, because of the noise. See above.