Christmas Wishlist

I thought it might be fun to share a few things that are on my wishlist this christmas.  Also I know Corey hates christmas shopping so hopefully this will make his life a little easier.

1 - Nigella Cookbooks - I have one but I would love to add more to my recipe book collection.  I can read Nigella cookbooks like novels.  She has an awesome way of writing.

2 - Sophia Bustier Maillot by Seafolly - I need some new swimmers and I am loving this vintage style one piece.  Plus who can go past a bit of gingham.

3 - Rococo Rose Vintage Maillot by Seafolly - another gorgeous one piece.  I love the blue and the floral.

4 - The Mat - this is a food grade plastic mat that you use to roll out fondant and cover cakes.  My friend lent me hers once and it makes life so much easier.  I would love one of my own.

5 - Wittner Peppermint Heels - Are these not the most perfect heels you have ever seen?  They are to celebrate 100 years of Wittner and they would be perfect to wear with my vintage dresses.  The only problem is I can't choose between these two colours.

6 - Marianne of Maui Coral Hawaiian Fabric - I want to make a vintage style playsuit and this fabric would be perfect.  Such a gorgeous colour for summer!  I am think a circle skirt and top kind of like this.

7 - Bernie Dexter Capri Pants - I have wanted these pants forever!  They are like my dream pair of jeans.

8 - Glass Drink Dispensers - I have visions of parties with glass drink dispensers full of pink lemonade and glasses with striped straws.  I need these in my life!

9 - Wilton Ribbon Cutter & Embosser - this would have made my life so much easier when making Corey's pacman cake.  It's not easy to cut straight strips of fondant with a knife.

So what are you wishing for this christmas?

  

Swap Fun

A little while ago when I posted about this bear hat for Squishy I received a comment from Reana Louise telling me that I should make these to sell.  This sparked a long trail of emails from which we decided to do a little swap.  I would make Reana a grown up bear hat and she would make me something in return.

I was a bit nervous about making a hat for someone else and it being the right size but with the help of Reana sending me her head measurements I found an adults beanie pattern to use as a starting point.  I used this pattern for the hat and then upsized the ears from the original baby pattern.

I also popped in a few little goodies for Reana to enjoy.

And do you want to see the amazingness (yes, that is a word!) that I received in return....

Isn't that picture amazing!  It was inspired by Reana's favourite nursery rhyme "The Owl & The Pussycat".  It is even more gorgeous in real life then this photo does justice for.  I am pretty excited about this dress too! I think it will be a perfect first project for summer after Squishy is born because it isn't too fitted.  It'll be a great dress for summer especially in that gorgeous orange fabric that Reana sent me.  I had so much fun taking part in this little swap.  If anyone else out there is keen to do a little swap let me know. I am always open to sending and receiving happy mail!

Baby Shower

Sunday was a very fun day! My mum threw me a baby shower at her house and it was loads of fun.  I didn't get a lot of photos but I did get photos of the decorations beforehand and the presents afterwards. The decorations were made to match the theme of the invitations.

My mum and aunty spent all morning in the kitchen baking up a storm.  We had a delicious spread of cupcakes, brownies, meringues, marshmallows, musk sticks, sandwiches, chicken meatballs, pizza scrolls, spinach & feta triangles and mini quiche.  It was all so delicious and they did an amazing job!

My cousin managed to get a couple of photos of me unwrapping presents.  My camera was playing up so unfortunately most of the photos are a bit blurry but these two turned out well.  The funniest thing going through these photos is some of the facial expressions I make.  I didn't realise I looked like such a goof sometimes :-)

My little Squishy was super duper spoilt in the present department.  She got so many cute things and my sister even threw in a present just for me, a knitting book of vintage patterns.  I am so excited to start knitting some of these patterns.

How cute are all those clothes! She has quite the collection of dresses now. I just need to buy some more little hangers so I can hang them all up.  A massive massive thank you to all my friends and family who came along.  It was a really lovely afternoon and I feel so loved.

3 Wise Owls

A wise old owl sat in an oak,

The more he heard, the less he spoke;

The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

I really wanted to knit or crochet Squishy a rattle and when I found this adorable pattern I couldn't help but make 3.  One for Squishy and two for my niece and nephew (twins) who are due in around 6 weeks.

Pattern: Stripey Owl Baby Rattle by Lovely Little Life
Hook: 4mm
Wool: various leftovers from the stash

These rattles are so quick to make and are the perfect last minute gift for babies.  They are also great for using up all those little leftover bits of yarn that sit in the stash.  I made all three of these out of leftovers from previous projects.  I love that Squishy will have a little toy that matches her two cousins.  I think we will need to line them all up for a photo once they are all here.

Marlee's Christmas Dress

Wow that is a very unimaginative title! I hate coming up with post titles. They always sound so lame.  Anyway, as you probably guessed I have finished another Christmas present.  This time a dress for my niece Marlee.

I used a Get Creative pattern from Spotlight and made her a size 2.  She is 18 months so I am hoping it will fit her for a little while.  It's hard sewing gifts for kids cause I can't go measure them to make sure I am making the right size so I just have to wing it.

Marlee is the only girl in a family of 4 kids and everything she owns is super duper girly. I thought this fabric was super cute and the pink trim made it that touch more girly.

I took such great care with this dress to make sure that the inside was just as pretty as the outside.  I think when you are making something for someone else it makes you work that little bit harder to make sure it is right.  When I make something for myself and I make a mistake I figure I am the only one who will know so it won't matter.

With this dressed I made sure all the seams were neat and bias bound the sleeves.  I even went so far as to attempt a lapped zipper.  For my first attempt I think it worked out pretty well!

So that is one more Christmas present out of the way.  I only have one more thing that I want to make for Christmas presents and I have 1.5 weeks left to do it so I think I will be fine.  I have only made 3 full presents this year and a couple of little things to pop in with other gifts.  Next year I am hoping to be able to make a few more things not just for presents but also for around the house.  But I have plenty of time to think about that!

Christmas Crafting

I know everyone is hanging to see wedding photos but unfortunately I don't have any at the moment so in the meantime I thought I would share a Christmas present that I made before the wedding.

This blanket is for Corey's nephew for Christmas.  Luckily I know none of Corey's family read my blog so I am safe posting this.  This was super duper simple to make.  It obviously just a bunch of granny squares joined together.

I made the blanket 7 squares x 5 squares and it is the perfect size for a little baby.  It is made with 8ply wool from Spotlight.  It took 1 ball of dark green, 2 light green and 1 white just in case anyone was wondering.  This was super duper simple to make which made it the perfect thing to get my mind off wedding stress in those last few weeks.  I have 2 more presents I want to make for Christmas so I better get cracking on those. Only 4 more weeks!!!

Unicorn Beanie

This weekend I was finally able to gift one of my knitting projects to its recipient and now I can share it with you.  My darling friend Maria from Movie Mazzupial and I share the same birthday and I wanted to knit her something this year.  Unfortunately, I was a bit slow and didn't get it finished in time so I had to give it to her this weekend at my hen's party (more on that to come in another post).  Maria is a massive fan of unicorns and purple so I made her a unicorn beanie.

I did a bit of googling and couldn't find a pattern specifically for a unicorn beanie that I really liked so I made up my own.  I used this earflap beanie pattern and then this cone pattern.  With the cone pattern I started with 36 stitches and did a few extra decrease rows to make it bigger.  For the ears I used the ears from this pattern.  The mane was quite simple but time consuming.  All I did was cut strips of yarn double the length that I wanted the mane and then I double them over and used a crochet hook to pull the loop end through the beanie and then the loose ends through the loop.  That is probably not a very good explanation and I would be happy to do a tutorial but it will have to wait until after the wedding.

So that is how I made the lovely Maria a unicorn beanie.  I forgot to get a photo of her wearing it so here is one I cropped down of here from the hen's party.

OMG it's wedding week!!! I am freaking out already and it is only Monday morning.  Not sure what my posting will be like this week.  I do have a few things to share but not sure if I will have time.  Let's just wait and see how I go.

Cream Crochet Necklace

I have had this pattern saved in my ravelry queue since April 2010 and I have only just gotten around to making it now.  I saved it back when I first decided I wanted to learn how to crochet then I kept putting off learning because I was scared I would fail.  I am so glad that I finally got around to learning because now I can make all those projects I have saved.

Pattern: Ruffled Crochet Bib Necklace by Stephanie Fail
Yarn: Marvel 8 ply
Hook: 4mm (G)
Start/End Date: 15th September/15th September

This necklace was so quick and easy to make and used hardly any wool.  I think it took me about 2 hours from start to finish.  I used some scrap wool that I had in the stash that is just a basic 8 ply from Spotlight.  I think I might make a couple more of these to pop in with some Christmas presents.  Yes, I am already thinking about Christmas crafting.  With the wedding in November I figured I better get started early.  I have already made 1 thing and have another half made.  I have my list of presents written out and hopefully I manage to get them all done.  Fingers crossed!

Cheshire Cat Blanket

A little more stash busting has been taking place at my house this week.  I have managed to use up a few more balls of wool on this darling little hooded blanket.

Pattern: Hoodie Baby Blanket by The Thrifty Knitter

Yarn: Marvel 8 ply

Needle: 5mm straights

Start/End Date: September 4th/September 15th

I love the stripes! They remind me of the cheshire cat hence the name. Can't you just imagine how cute it would look with a newborn all swaddled up inside.  But apparently Corey's family can only birth boys.  Out of 13 kids in Corey's family there are only 4 girls.   Those are not good odds!  So into the gift box this blanket will go until someone has a little girl that it can be gifted to.

I blocked the crap out of this blanket but for some reason the hood still rolls.  I didn't do any edging cause I ran out of yarn and I didn't want to buy anymore.  That would just defeat the purpose of stash busting!  So I have decided to let it go and embrace the imperfection.  I think it's cute with or without the rolling!  This was a bit of a mindless knit being basically a stockinette square so I think I might need to make something a little bit more interesting for my next project.  Stockinette is a bit boring after a while!

Grace's Cupcake Apron

Yesterday was my cousin's daughters 5th birthday and we celebrated with a barbecue at Burleigh Beach.  Burleigh Beach has got to be one of the nicest beaches on the Gold Coast but it was so damn windy and cold it was a bit of a bummer.  But Grace had fun riding her new bike up and down the footpath and that is all that matters.

 

If Grace turns out anything like her mother she is going to be an amazing cook and have a great love of food.  So, to foster that love of food I decided to make her an apron so she can start helping her mum in the kitchen.

I used this tutorial and just changed the neck strap a little.  Instead of using a d ring to make the strap adjustable I put a button on the inside of the apron and a few button holes on the strap.

I paired the apron with a set of alphabet cookie cutters.  Grace is starting prep next year and I figured learning letters and spelling is going to be a lot more fun if you can learn with cookies.  I know I would prefer to learn that way!    I had so much fun making this birthday present that I am hoping to make a few Christmas presents this year too but with the wedding I don't know if I will have much time.  I have made a list though so hopefully I can get a few done.  Fingers crossed!

Comfy & Cozy

Earlier this year I taught myself how to crochet.  I used an online video tutorial and taught myself how to make a granny square.  Now I can make granny squares in my sleep!  They are so much easier than I thought they would be.  Since then though I have been wanting to learn how to crochet something different but for some reason crochet seems to scare me a bit.  So, on Friday I had a day off for the Gold Coast Show public holiday and decided to spend my day relaxing and teaching myself how to crochet something new.

 

Pattern: 

Yarn: Carnival Soft 8ply
Hook: 4mm (G)
Start/End Date: 2/9/11 - 3/9/11

 

I used this tutorial from the lovely Oh My Good Knits blog.  This tutorial was fantastic!  The pictures made it so easy to follow and they worked up quite quickly too.  I am really happy with how they turned out and I am excited to try out some more crochet projects now.  I think I might make a few more of these too to add into some Christmas presents.  They are perfect for stash busting.  These ones only used half a ball of yarn!

No. 99 - Try Embroidery

I have had this item crossed off my 101 in 1001 list for a while now but have not posted about it. That is because I have been waiting for little Miss Marlee's 1st birthday so I can give her the present I made before I posted about it.

I have to say I am pretty happy with how this worked out! I was not sure what to get Marlee for her first birthday. I wanted to try and steer away from clothes and toys since that is what everyone seems to get kids and I thought something for her room would be nice. Marlee is the only girl in her family with 4 brothers so I thought it would be nice to make her room super girly for her.

My embroidery still leaves a lot to be desired and there are a lot more stitches that I want to learn but I am glad I have jumped in and given it a go. Now that I have done it once I think it will be more likely I will do it again.

This was so much easier than I was expecting it to be and is the perfect gift for new babies. I think I will definately be making a few more of these in the future! I also think I will definitely be doing more embroidery. I have a little embroidery kit that I want to make and use as a panel for a pram quilt so that is next on the list.