Kelly Brooker from Knit so quaint has been designing some awesome patterns of late and has also been hosting a summer pattern club which has been mega fun.

The blue shrug and two hats have been from the Southern Summer Pattern Club and with one more being released in February.  The Shrug is called Cornwall Park Shrug and is a beautiful item for a wee girl that’s for sure. I knitted this item in some lying in stash cream wool and then when I had finished knitting I asked Miss 3 what colour shall I make it and she decided on blue. So blue it became Looks fab doesn’t it?!  :-)

The hats are awesome with the beanie being knit in many sizes and yarn weights plus two different lace patterns so can match other patterns from Kelly. Clever huh? The sunhat knitted in cotton is called Half Moon Bay Sunhat and the beanie is called Mangere Bridge Beanie

The purple cardigan (Vertebrae Cardigan) at the top left I have already linked about however the small top at the bottom on Holly is called Hine. This has the same pattern as the two hats here as well. The very pink vibrant photo is of a work in progress for DD2 in a size 4. It is the Tama pattern so like the one on Holly but minus the lace pattern on the sleeves.

Thanks!

Kate

100 Challenges for 2012

1. Do this challenge first – buy yourself a notebook. Use this as your journal to document your challemges. Take pictures of completed  challenges where possible and add them to it. Use this notebook to collect all the things you need to write down. Use the notebook for all the lists you have to create during the challenges.

2. Cook in a vintage apron.

3. Buy some dishcloth cotton and crochet a friend a dishcloth.

4. Listen to classical music while doing the housework.

5. Using a piece of handiwork from an opshop, remodel it.

6. Ask a friend if you can baby-sit for them for no reason at all.

7. Go out of your way to do something kind for a stranger

8. Buy a blank canvas. Get 3 favourite colours and with a young child create a master piece together.

9. Create some bubble mixture and give it away as a gift to a child.

10. Buy an utterly frivolous piece of lingerie

11. Run a bath, turn off all the lights and light one candle. Add bubble bath or oil to the bath. Hop in and close your eyes and enjoy the silence. What do you hear and see?

12. Go to the home of a friend who has just recently been sick, take a homemade casserole or soup and help out in any way needed during this time.

13 Cut flowers, weeds, tree branches whatever there is and arrange them in a create way.

14. Help a charity.

15. Have a picnic.

16. Make homemade jam or relish or preserve and give the first one away.

17. Think about a complimentary thing for your waiter/waitress ~ write a little note on the serviette and leave it on your table.

18. Get the children up early one morning and watch the sunrise.

19. Go to a market/fair and look at all the colours, people, stalls etc. Look, listen & smell.

20. Learn to make polymer buttons.

21. Do something to help others in the community.

22. Teach someone a new craft – help them on their first ‘project’.

23. Book a great restaurant and take yourself and a friend out for a dessert-only dinner. You must only eat from the dessert menu.

24. Clean out your closet and donate everything to your local charity shop rather than sell on Trade Me.

25. Buy someone a bottle of bubble bath and a rubber ducky – this has got to be given to an adult!

26. Build a flower garden at the back of the house and plant beautiful flowers with the girls.

27. Ring a friend you haven’t seen for a while and take them out to a movie.

28. Find out what a friend’s favourite cake is and make it especially for them for no particular reason at all.

29. Create an occasion to wear your most impractical pair of shoes.

30 Go fot a walk in your neigbourhood and take your camera. Take a photo of anything you find with a particular thing on it eg shape, number, colour, shape etc. See how many weird shots you can get.

31. Go for a walk along the beach at night – almost dark. Take your shoes off and walk in the water.

32. Arrange a soup swap with friends/neighbours.

33. Send a friend a funny and encouragement packed message via snail mail.

34. Spend one day taking pictures of everything you find beautiful.

35. Host a fancy dress party.

36. Wriet a letter to yourself at seventy from yourself right now. What do you need to tell yourself?

37. Pick a bunch of  flowers and put it in your bathroom.

38. Organise a dessert evening at your home with some of your closet friends.

39. Lay on a blanket with your kids and watch the clouds.

40. Decrease my wool stash – by at least half.

41. Take your camera with you you on the way to school.

42. Take a batch of unusual but yummy homemade muffins to a meeting.

43. Have a veggie garden and give  something away from it.

44. TBA

45. Start to collect something that I like.

46. Buy a creative book for someone in my world.

47. Be a good neighbour/friend and take over a batch of home-made cookies or cake.

48. Buy a hard working friend a take away coffee and drop it off to them.

49. Spend an hour in silence.

50. Put a love note on Dean’s pillow/in his book….

51. TBA

52. Buy a movie ticket for a friend and post it to them, with a note saying where to meet you.

53. Look for a funny childhood picture of a friend or family member. Frame it and give it to them for no reason other than to celebrate family.

54.  Go on an op-shopping adventure with a friend

55. Make all our presents this year.

56. Light a candle and put on great music

57. Find a project/recipe/idea on line and do one of your own.

58. Look for some inspiring cards and frame them.

59. Read a magazine that you would not normally read

60. Do Christmas cards by the 10th of December 2012

61. Knit a shawl and give it as a gift

 62. Write a list of things you would like to do or achieve before you die – ‘Bucket List’.

63. Look through your old recipe books, choose one book and try cooking every recipe in it!

64. Send a hand written note/letter to three friends letting them know how much their friendship means to you, include a gift. For no reason other than friendship.

65. Get some old magazines and look through them and pull out anything that is attractive to you. Paste them in the book and write down why you like it.

66. Give someone a hug, let them let go first.

67. Find a favourite piece of poetry – frame it

68. Plant spring bulbs.

69. Sew something you have never made before and give it away.

70. Create a piece of wall art.

71. Create an eco-friendly home by making all cleaners.

72. Make something for your children. Wrap it up and put it where they sit at breakfast time.

73. Write down 7 separate places in your life that you hope to take your children to see.

74. Read a biography.

75. Write a poem

76. Write something inspirational or copy something inspirational on lovely paper. Put it in an envelope and put it under someone’s wiper in a car park.

77. Send a surprise I-think-you’re-fabulous handwritten note to someone

78. Choose a photo of you and a friend. Write something on the back and send it to them telling them why you like the picture

79. List every colour you can think of.

80. Write down 100 things you are grateful for in your life.

81. Who is Kate? If someone could describe you, what would they say? Write them down and read them everyday for a week.

82. Donate to a charity in memory of someone.

83. Go outside in the rain and get really wet!

84. Make 20 Christmas cards in October. Separate them into 4 bundles of 5. Give away three bundles.

85. Fly a kite with the kids.

86. Find a favourite poem or verse and memorize it.

87. Read a book you have always said you would read.

88. Have a family meal by candlelight.

89. TBA

90. Get dressed and take yourself out on a date . Invest in yourself.

91. Surprise your children. Keep each of them (one at a time) off school/kindy one day and have a fun day with them.

92. Organise a night away with your husband for no other reason than because you can.

93. Bake a cake for someone and go overboard decorating it.
Do this once a month.

94. Learn a fancy way to fold serviettes and do it randomly for dinner one night.

95. Let the kids decide the dinner menu one night, help them to make it, set the table and decorate it with whatever they want.

96. Have a disco with the kids!!!

97. Grow something from seed and give it away.

98. Don’t use the computer for a day! Eeekk!

99. Make a scarecrow with the kids for the garden

100. Do this challenge last – go somewhere for a night! Take your journal of the challenges with you and look back through it.

The recipe is from another user on Ravelry.com called Knitfrogknit.

From knitfrogknit project page:

DIY Wool Wash

4 cups boiling water
4 cups lux soap flakes (or grated pure soap like Sunlight soap or ivory soap)

Mix well using hand held stick blender
Add 1 cup methylated spirits and 1 Tbsp (25 ml) of Eucalyptus essential oil
Mix again using held held stick blender
It will make a greenish water, leave in a wide mouth glass jar overnight and it turns into a firm white jelly.

To use rub into stains or dissolve 1 Tbsp in warm water, swish or soak garment, rinse well in warm water.

This made 2x jars (Dolimio style jars).

DIY Wool Wash

Oriental Lilly

Oriental Lilly for Miss 6 made from the Magic Yarn Ball swap from my friend Sarah.  Beautifully hand dyed by Sarah I might add.

Helena Cardigan

Helena cardigan made for my friend’s baby girl who is 3 months younger than Holly. I opted for shorter sleeves and am happy with this option. Beautiful colour yarn from Hannah at Red Riding Hood Yarns. ♥

I have recently finished this knit for Holly. It is a fab pattern that is great to keep babies (and older children) warm on their backs. I knit the Baby Vertebrae for Holly but there is also a New Born and child version of this pattern. Here is a the link to my project page for this.

Baby Vertebrae for Holly

Isn’t Holly just the cutest? She is growing so damn fast – now 7 months old! Crikey.

Anyway, now I am up to date I better get to bed. Night all.

Kate

This is my favourite lot to be honest as these are the gifts for my family for Christmas.

Knitting:

My friends have been knitting this scarf pattern a lot and I had been meaning too since the Garden City Scarf was released.  It is cleverly knitted in a way that makes the most of the yarn quantity you have. I bought some digital scales to make this process easier and now it is super handy in weighing the wee bits of wool I have as well as be better indicator of yarn used for test knits. With the Garden City Scarf you knit the tip of the scarf and then weigh that part (or the remainder of the ball) so you know how much yarn is needed for the other tip. You knit the rest of the scarf till you have the tip weight left (plus 1 or 2 g to give you some leeway ). Easy ah?

The Garden City Scarf is designed by Sheryl Greenfield who wanted to pay tribute to Christchurch, her hometown, which has been suffering thousands of earthquakes since September 2010. On February 22nd 2011, the city was devastated by a 6.3 earthquake that resulted in 181 people being killed.

The once proud Christchurch Cathedral now in ruin.

Heartbreaking and the story and recovery of the city is still continuing. Sheryl had proceeds of the pattern going to NZ Red Cross who are administrating funds to help people. Christchurch is dear to me as well as I grew up in Canterbury and went to University in Christchurch. Many of my extended family and some of my husbands family live there too. Kia Kaha Christchurch.

I chose colours that the ladies in my family would suit & love to wear. The yarn is 100purewool and it is beautiful and soft so a perfect match for something to be worn around the neck and face.

Four Garden City Scarves

For my Mum I used the vibrant “Happy Rose” colour, for my my sister in law (Husbands sister) I used “Santino Trim”, my youngest brothers wife chose the beautiful “celery” as her colour and for my mother-in-law I chose “splendid” a beautiful blue.

I had one more to create for my other sister in law (wife of my younger brother) but I wanted to do something different for her. The Colosseo Moebius has been in my queue to knit since it was released as well. The construction is unusual and fun at the same time. It is a reversible cowl that you just pop over your head to keep your neck & chest warm. No scarf ends to tuck away.

Colosseo Meobius

I now want to knit one for me now!

So that is the knitting side of things for my family Christmas presents. Now onto the sewing….

Sewing:

For my eldest niece I made this Shirt Dress  which wasn’t a shirt as such but I fashioned it with a mock shirt front to give it that look with some button stacks.

I then teamed the dress up with a circle skirt and one for her sister Miss almost 2.

I also made Miss almost 2 a reversible a line dress that ties at the shoulders. I looked up a tutorial on line to convert the pattern I had (a burda one I think) into being reversible.

I also made another reversible dress for my other niece Miss2 using some vintage material from her Grandma, my mother-in-law’s material stash. seems I didn’t grab a photo of the dress before I gifted it. Hopefully I get a photo of Miss 2 in it sometime soon.

For my nephew Mstr 4 I pimped up two plain coloured t-shirts with his name on using fabric paint. It was lots of fun.

All in all, December was busy but fun! Lots made with a great sense of satisfaction.

My new favourite thing is refashioning or upcycling. Its fun and creative. I have just spent some time on Pinterest pinning some tutorials for more fab projects. My crafty group will be doing an up-cycling theme swap too at some point this year so that will be damn fun. I have started making a list of links to help us and get the creative juices flowing. The idea is to use something we have into something else with minimal cost.

The day after we came back from our Christmas holiday I for some reason found myslef sorting out the big girls wardrobe! To be honest it was the wardrobe where boxes were put when we moved almost two years ago and then kind of left as it was.  I sat down and went through each box and biffed and sorted till there was only a box of stuff that was left. Something’s were put into the kids craft box, something in our gift wrapping/card box. I found my old pin board that I used when I was a kid. Yes, I do like to hold onto things in case they will be useful…. so I thought I either use it or throw it out. Decisions!

So here it was

Before makeover

I had some cheap fabric in my stash and some left over ribbon from the Christmas decorations I made. I got out the handy stapler I found also in the cupboard and Away I went.

After makeover

The usual school notices and phone list have a home now.

All set

Love it. Organised chaos. Now onto the next project…decluttering the clothes from my life. My husband will be pleased as will my floor.

I did another Japanese Knot WIP bag and wheat bag for one plus some other wee treasures:

The Japanese Knot bag had two different fabric on the outside and some vintage material from my Mother In Laws sewing stash.

The second swap package also had a wheat bag as this is a busy Mum.

I couldn’t resist the babushka salt & pepper set and then of course the matching nail file and tweezers!

Holly and I got spolit as well!!

I got a package of hand made crochet beaded necklace in my favourite colours ♥ it so much! Plus a container of handmade stitch markers, handmade magnets, homemade vanilla essence, packet of rooibos tea and some much needed oven mitts.

Holly had the same swapper as me (lucky us!) and had hand made doll rattle and a mushroom rattle. Holly also got too very cute bibs which are just fab for her teething dribble and keeping her looking tidy while out.

Thanks so much Jo of Crazy Crafty NZ fame.

December was fairly busy on the creating & crafting front so here goes a big catch up post for you.

I was involved in two Secret Santa swaps one with my Crafty Group and an online forum of like minded Mums.

I will split this lot up as there is lots to get through

Crafty Secret Santa involved me putting together four gifts so the girls and I get a gift back…

The Mummy gift:

Japanese Knot WIP bag, lavender wheat bag and crochet flower necklace

The crochet necklace was easy enough to do.

Child gift #1

Miss L who is 4yo. I made her a Shirt Dress and a circle skirt.

Circle skit & shirt dress

With the shirt I left the pocket on and then cut it into a an “L” which Miss L loves ♥ I did some contrast stitching down the shirt opening and around the L for bit of a funky effect. I also decided against the middle elastic as I thought it would fit best as it was. Fingers crossed I am right!

Child gift #2

This was a challenge but I got there. Mstr 9yo is a tough customer so I had asked him Mum for some help and she mentioned he is into wizards at the moment. I came across a wizard wand tutorial and thought it was possible he may like it & possible I could make it LOL. His Mum gave the nod and that settled that.

It was fun to make and Miss 6yo made a fairy wand at the same time as me.

Wizard Wand

Child gift #3:

This one is for a sweet 1yr old girl. I decided to make her a reversible smocket with one side having a hand painted babushka doll on it.

Reversible smocket.

I was pretty chuffed with myself after all of this…

I would also like to share some of what the girls and I got.

Holly got this fabulous crochet bird wall hanging

Ariana got a “Castle Building Kit” which she wanted to set up right there and then!! The next day we set it up although her Dad’s method was a lot nicer and better. Got to love the Army training for castle building LOL

Miss 3 got a wee bag with Littlest Pet Shop set in it. She has been playing with it lots….

I got some very funky bright yarn in pinks and greens.

It was a fab swap and day of getting together to exchange the pressies.

]]> http://chevgirl.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/christmas-crafting-round-up-part-1/feed/ 3 chevgirl DSCF8261 crochet necklace DSCF8248 DSCF8268 marta dress holl hanging castle http://chevgirl.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/deck-the-halls/ http://chevgirl.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/deck-the-halls/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:56:14 +0000 chevgirl http://chevgirl.wordpress.com/?p=2505 Continue reading →]]> with handmade decorations!! A forum I am on had a hand made Christmas Decoration swap.  They are so awesome and a real delight  to look at on the tree. The girls choose the ones they wanted  to hang up.  There is a range of ideas and different mediums used too. I can’t wait to do it again next year although I will need a taller tree!!

These were the ones I made. I made them up based on quilling.

Makayla who is 3 has made some with her wee girlfriends last week. The four girls aged 3 & 4 crafted away with us Mums helping as needed. Cara & “my girls” had so much fun. Here are soem photos of Makayla’s creations also on the tree.

Makayla's Star

Makyal's sparkly bauble

Here is the recipe:

Apple cake

• 4 C apples chopped (3 large apples)
• 2 C sugar
• 2 C flour
• 2 tsp soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 C oil
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 C chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix apples and sugar together and set aside.
Sift dry ingredients
In large bowl mix oil, eggs and vanilla. Add apples and mix. Then stir in dry ingredients. Pour into a greased 9×13 inch pan (I used a 9×9).
Bake at 175 degrees for 45 minutes

Its delicious!!

~~ Apple Cake ~~

~~ Up Close ~~

Let me know what you think of this recipe! Its a firm favourite here now. Thanks Sharron. ♥