Good Clean Fun

I do love Persil's (a laundry powder here in NZ) slogan - 'Dirt is good'. I agree wholeheartedly, and the kids having been having such a ball in the backyard in the last week or so, soaking up the sunshine and exploring all the things that have grown or appeared since autumn.

Had to add this pic - Tim is sporting his favourite hat at the moment. Last summer I couldn't get him to wear a hat, this year he loves this reject of Penny's. This is actually an unposed photo - the kids love to climb the steps and sit there together waving to me.

But, there's nothing like a bit of good clean fun too. You know, the kind where kids don't have to be bathed and dressed again following. We discovered a great outing the other day. Down the road at the bottom of 'our' hill is a fabulous reserve, Percy's Reserve. On Friday, the last day of the holidays, I had a sudden urge to take the kids somewhere and do something rather than letting them run wild in the backyard. We threw the trikes in the boot and grabbed the remainder of the bag of bread off the bench and off we went.

The kids jumped on their trikes the moment they were out of the car and proceeded to slowly inch their way up the hill to the entrance where we were greeted by a Mummy duck and her tribe of very cute and not so obedient ducklings (she had 10 of them, I wondered how she really was feeling trying to keep track of all of them). Anywho, we had a lovely time - the ducks and their ducklings were obviously hungry - and the kids really enjoyed having pretty much the run of the place and being able to bike along the paths.

And the fab thing was that Tim on a trike is SO much slower than Tim on foot. Though he did get off to do a bit of duck chasing with his sister...

Actually, we had such a lovely and peaceful time down there that today we headed back with Blair/Daddy (and the camera). The ducks seemed a whole lot less interested in us today - but on throwing our bread bag in the bin we saw it was overflowing with other bread bags and so know now that Friday is probably a good day to head to the Reserve...hungry ducks!

Wheeeeee - Tim just about to head down the path

'Grrr Mama! But I was hungry too!' (after mentioning to madam that the bread was really for the ducks)

September Round-up

My needles have been working so hard lately that I've been expecting to see smoke coming off them! It's all working towards our Coco Kids stall at the next Craft 2.0 on the 30th of October (any stock not sold on the day will go up here too in my 'Items for Sale' tab in case you're after a few Chrissy pressies)

So, a collection of items you'll see at Craft 2.0:

A range of Eden's - these are little singlets/vests that can be worn on their own, under clothing or as a vest layer over the top. I've knit some in 4ply merino (great for babies) and 8ply wool and 10ply cotton, in a variety of colours and patterns

    

 

A range of Milo's - again a vest or singlet, this one is chunkier looking with a little cable pattern running down the front

 

 

Some Versa Vests

 

Dresses and tunics for girls? There'll be a variety of knitted dresses and tunics, ranging from:

Rainbow Dresses

 

Eden's Eve's

  

Versa Tunics

 

  

Teacher's Pets

 

  and The March Sister's Pinafores

 I've also got some Hotshot's lined up...

 

As well as some Young Einstein cardies (these ones I popped cables into the raglans)

 

A Roaring Meg and Poppy Hat set or two

 

And how about some shrugs? Both Confection Shrugs and Leafy Shrugs - perfect for that spring/summer weather

 

Perhaps maybe a Breezy or two

 

What else....well, all going to plan, there'll be some items for people without kids to buy for ;) These will be great for pressies for others too I think. You might have to watch the stall for these - or check in here following the 30th.

I'm trying to think of what else I should whip up between now and the 30th that I can offer? It's not really going to be hat weather is it?! If you've any thoughts or items you'd love to see on our stall let me know! Or size/colour requests? I'll see what I can do!

Coco Kids can guarantee that we have licenses or permission from the designers of ALL the patterns we knit. We respect the wishes of the designers regarding copyright and have either purchased the rights to knit their items or have written permission.

Deliciously Selfish

This is still a work in progress, but after knitting like crazy lately to build up stock for Coco Kids' first ever Craft 2.0 stall (as well as being 20 weeks pregnant and looking after my other two preschoolers) I'm a little run down and have been battling feeling like I've been hit by a bus for the last week - unsuccessfully I might add.


I thought perhaps it was time I cast on something for myself (which is unheard of around here!) so I purchased some gorgeous lace yarn from Morag at Vintage Purls and the wispy pattern and have cast one on as part of the VP Sweater KAL. I probably won't finish it before I start knitting for Craft 2.0 again, but I thought it was about time for some 'me' knitting just to get me through a wee slump I can see on the horizon.


Here it was in the skein (photo borrowed from Morag's site)

Limited Edition 'Mmm, Brownie'

And here it is at the moment - don't be fooled, there's still A LOT of knitting to do.

Did I mention it's 2ply/lace? But it'll be a fabulous garment for this spring/summer once I get it completed. It might mean I do need to break my 1 work in progress rule though, I do have Craft 2.0 to keep making stock for when I find my mojo again.

Priceless

Tonight I was drawing with Penny and her mega sketcher. She decided she wanted to draw my hand so asked me to put it down and she drew around it (a little generously, I may have short stumpy fingers, but they're not that bad). Anyway, I said 'How about some fingernails?' and then continued chatting about something with Blair.

'All done mumma' - and she proceeds to put the mega sketcher on my knees.

Look at the big hand in the centre, the little ones Blair and Penny added while I was fetching the camera

Oh how I wish it was drawn on paper, I love this so much.

Spring Has Sprung!

It's officially Spring in the Southern Hemisphere now. Oh how I love Spring! The kids can get outside, plants and flowers grow, the house gets decluttered plus there are tons and tons of family birthdays to celebrate (like 7 in the next 3 weeks!)

We even all got out in the garden on the weekend (don't look at the state of my gardens, just notice the cute kids!)

To share my love of Spring I thought I'd discount my Teacher's Pet pattern for the rest of the month.

Last Chance

Tonight the 3rd and final night of auctions closes over in Woolly Butts store. All the items up for auction have been lovingly made and donated by wonderful families in New Zealand and Australia to help fundraise for the Kate Buntine Foundation and Juvenille Diabetes. Because all the items have been donated, 100% of the funds raised go where they should.

I wish I'd thought to blog earlier, but tonight is the last night and there are still some stunning items left - check out this one of a kind quilt that's been made and donated, out of very special and impossible to get now fabrics.

This precious quilt made by Bel is just waiting for the right bidder - at the moment it's only had 1 bid and is sitting at $200AUD (which includes postage within NZ or Aus) which is a bargain for such a special and one of a kind item made with love. Have you a wee princess that would treasure it as a Christmas pressie?

And how about thisCitron - at the moment it's sitting at $44AUD (which includes postage within NZ or Aus)!

 

And a Milo for $17AUD

 

There are all kinds of things that will close tonight, including WIP bags and yarn:

Custom spinning slots for fibre you might have:

Yarn:

Handmade buttons:

Matching mother and daughter aprons:

And heaps heaps more! Pop over and have a look - it's feel-good spending and the prices are really reasonable! Did I mention that all prices include postage to either NZ or Aus, so there are no hidden postage surprises either

Flights of Fancy Yarn Club

This year, after releasing my Little Hoodlum pattern I rewarded myself with joining my very first yarn club. Tash from Knitsch was running her very first yarn club too - and I loved the sound of it and the choices club members would be offered and so signed up. I've bought a few other skeins of 4ply Knitsch before and love them and was keen to add a few more of them to my stash.

So, now that it's all done and dusted (apart from me knitting them all up) I thought I'd share my gorgeous packages! I should mention too that Tash offered people a 'mystery escape' option, or a 'plan ahead' as each month she dyed 2 colourways, one semi-solid and one variegated. I'm a surprise me type person, but I do love semi-solids at the moment so just to be difficult asked if I could just get the semi solid option each month.

June - the first installment

A WIP bag, 2 supervery stitchmarkers, 120gms of 4ply merino in the semi-solid colurway 'Peacock in the Parlour' and a pattern for some fabulous handwarmers.

July - the second installment

A WIP bag, cool pencil, excellent sock pattern and 120gms of 4ply merino in the semi-solid colourway 'June' (it is more reddish than the colour shows)

August - the final installment

A WIP bag, 120gms of 4ply merino in the semi solid colourway 'Victoria' a pattern for what looks like a lovely shawl and

A 'certificate' ironed inside the bag for being a founding member of the yarn club

I am someone that normally suffers from things like food envy when we're out for a meal - but I have to say I LOVE all the yarns I was sent and am really really pleased with them. Tash has said she's going to be running the club a little differently next time around - but I'm hoping to have knit some of these beauties up so I can justify signing up again next time! 

Versa

I  knew when I saw Shannon Passmore release this pattern that I wanted to knit it straight away. The Versa can be knit as a vest, tunic, dress or babydoll and is shaped to fit nicely around the torso.

I've knit both the tunic...

  

The pattern doesn't include the eyelet holes for the ribbon around the chest, but it's definitely an option if you'd like

And the vest...

 

This of course can also be knit in girly colours!

And have plans to knit a babydoll shortly, it's a great knit with lovely results. The Versa can be knit from NB up to a size 10 and is a very versatile piece of clothing - being able to worn on it's own or over a long or short sleeved top.

I am able to knit these for sale. Contact me via email if you'd like to make an enquiry about getting a Versa of your choice custom knit for you.

August and Everything After

I don't really like August much. It's normally miserably cold and rainy - so the washing (we love using modern cloth nappies here but there's a weeny bit more washing because of them) starts to get on top of us.The backyard turns into a swamp and the kids and me all get a bit of cabin fever I'm sure.

But it's also a month that takes us back to 2007 when my Dad was dying of pancreatic cancer. In the past, we used to celebrate Dad's birthday on the 11th of August, and then Mum's exactly a week later on the 18th. My g'ma's birthday is a couple of days later as well (she turned the ripe old age of 91 this year, not bad at all for a woman still living on her own!).

Back in 2007 though all my family were at Ma and Pa's house for his birthday. There was a bit of fence fixing going on for his birthday - and me and Penny (6 months old at the time) hung out with Dad/Pop inside. That weekend was the last time I hugged my Dad. He died on the 28th of August, and his well-attended funeral was held on the 1st of September which happened to be Father's Day and Daffodil Day.

So, I know that my family often feels relieved when September rolls around. Spring is here, August is over.

Earlier in the month I was thinking about August and I thought of this CD 'August and Everything After'. I loved it and played it to death since I got it. I think it was back in 1995, my 7th form year - but I blasted it all through my Uni days, introducing many flatties to The Counting Crows (who sadly lots of people only know for a theme song on Shrek these days). Listen to good old 'Mr Jones' here or the 'Round Here' here.

Anywho, it's been played a lot during August. I feel like I've been reunited with a good friend.

And Spring, you know I'm always pleased to see you. August is another 11 months away now.